Doing it the aap3 way

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result.”

What has made aap³ successful in the past three years, as the market has been suppressed and the economy slowing?  

Rod Jackson. At aap³ we have tried to do a few things well, having a very clear strategy that is constantly communicated to our employees. In addition we have maintained a diversified but interrelated portfolio of product and service offerings that have balanced each other out in the changing economic conditions. Our business strategy has been focused around "Core v Context" both as a business enabler and a go to market strategy. We help our customers understand the contextual work they undertake to support their business, and we make this our core, which allows them to devote more resources to their core tasks. We have lived within our means, keeping a tight rein on finance, whilst looking at low areas of return for disinvestment while continuing to invest in the more profitable activities. Our commitment to the community is reinforced through our comprehensive CSR programme, which has helped us maintain strong loyalty in our workforce partners and customers. In addition we are 100 percent dedicated to total quality across the company through industry-recognised accreditations.

What are some of the key decisions you have taken to support your success?

RJ. Approximately three years ago we consolidated our product offerings into three core solution groups, recruitment, engineering and business solutions. More recently we have further consolidated these into a single focused product-based portfolio sharing common objectives, all underpinned by our resourcing expertise. Another key decision was to re-brand the company from Preferred International to aap³ (all about people, process and productivity), giving us a more easily recognised brand with clarity of purpose in our name.

We have also taken some strategic decisions on how we grow the company targeting 25 percent of our growth through organic growth, and the rest through strategic acquisitions. In the last three years we penetrated the US market by acquiring a managed service company in San Jose, and nearer home we consolidated our leading position as a recruitment business by acquiring our original parent company Preferred RS.

What is your strategy and ambitions for aap³ over the next one to three years?

RJ. To continue developing our business model adding more products and support capability to our solution set in areas such as hosting, software as a service, and support packages for the small to mid-markets. I also envisage a strong push in the US and APAC.

What do you see as the major barriers to your continued growth and success as a company?

RJ. The biggest barrier has to be the uncertainty in the global economy, whilst it is possible to mitigate for some of this, all business is susceptible to the prevailing economic conditions of the markets they operate in. The second barrier is cash flow. As a company grows it burns a lot of cash and this must be diligently managed.

If you had to give one piece of advice to your peers in the industry what would it be?

RJ. Stay focused on your mission, and keep communicating to your employees partners and customers, remember my favourite quote: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result."

About

Rod Jackson joined aap³ in January 2008 as President & CEO. Prior to aap³, Jackson was at Cisco Systems as VP & CIO EMEA, had 17 years with Intel as Intel Online Services Director and commenced his IT career at Raychem. He trained as a commercial banker with Lloyds PLC.