RALF SUERKEN
Naples
Summary
Visionary and results-oriented executive with broad-based leadership expertise that includes strategic planning, leadership, financial management and new business development in the area of software (perpetual and SaaS) as well as services and support. Responsible for start-up initiatives as well as public companies that require immediate growth of business ventures plus operational accountability for various software environments. Extensive international experience in Asia, Latin America, Europe, South Africa and North America. Very Driven. Fluent in English (Business and Legal) and German (mother tongue)
Overview
44
44
years of professional experience
Work History
CEO Europe
Freudenberg IT (FIT)
Weinheim
07.2016 - Current
- I joined Freudenberg IT (FIT) after I was approached by FIT to join their management team to "re-vitalize" the European business of FIT. FIT Europe suffered from years of unsuccessful sales teams resulting in a lack of growth and a lack of profit.
- The main priority was to re-focus the organization. FIT Europe focused on mainly private cloud hosting with its own data centers in Weinheim as well as traditional SAP consulting und business services. The main profit drain were non-successful software assets in the area of Asset Inventory, Workforce Efficiency as well as its own proprietary software for the shop floor. We closed some of the assets down and transformed the shopfloor assets to a true cloud solution based on SAP technology. A further drain on the business was the SAP consulting business, which had failed to modernize itself towards new technologies over the last couple of years. We reorganized it and focused on new topics such as cloud integration , S4/HANA and IoT. In addition, we decided to restructure the existing management to take cost out.
- Lastly, we refocused the sales efforts with a leaner, more streamlined organization and focused on sales execution resulting in good sales success, peaking in the largest sales quarter for the company in Q4, 2016 and a subsequent record sales year in 2017.
- 2018 was the largest revenue year for FIT Europe with above plan achievements in both revenue and profit.
- All these actions needed board approval and corporation with the workers council. All in all, it resulted in a more streamlined organization with greatly reduced SG&A, more sales success. EBIT is expected to grow in 2018, 2019 and beyond.
- FREUDENBERG IT is an independent business group within the Freudenberg Company, a nearly €10B revenue, privately held, manufacturing Company. The IT Services group (FIT) is designed to compete in the open market and is a leader in hybrid cloud managed services, IoT and Industry 4.0. as well as SAP S4/HANA consulting
- (www.freudenberg-it.com)
Vice President Global SAP Line of Business
Velocity
Charlotte
01.2014 - 06.2016
- After my return from Germany I assumed responsibility for Velocity's global SAP Line of Business, with operations in the US, Europe and Singapore as well as offshore locations in India.
- VELOCITY is selling virtual private cloud solutions for major enterprise solutions including SAP, Oracle, JDE, INFOR. In addition, VELOCITY is a KRONOS cloud hosting provider as well.
- My responsibility spans over sales and marketing, delivery and hosting operations. Prior to my arrival the SAP business was not performing well due to a lack of leadership and lack of sales and marketing operation.
- It was very important to deliver market relevant marketing content and use the existing marketing engines (Marketo) including digital marketing and lead generation to its fullest extent. We were able increase lead flow immediately during the first quarter.
- The second focus was on rebuilding the sales team and sales execution. We churned low performers and brought in some new talent that are driven to succeed in "large" deal business.
- During the first year we added significant accounts such as Genuine Parts, Lloyds Bank, BCBG Max Azria, i3 Electronics, Crown Equipment Corp., Singapore Refining, Heptagon or Singapore Post to name a few. We were able to double the revenue performance 2015 over 2014 and enjoy a bookings increase of over 400% for the same period.
- VELOCITY is a leader in cloud hosting, application hosting and managed service. VELOCITY offers a full suite of offerings ranging from strategic consulting, implementation, outsourcing, managed services and business process outsourcing in both the Oracle Enterprise as well as the SAP environment.
- (www.velocitycloud.com)
Managing Partner – European Operations
Velocity
Charlotte
01.2009 - 12.2013
- Responsible for all European Operations including sales and delivery of projects. VELOCITY is a global contracts business in the SAP and Oracle space focused on HRO implementations, Cloud Hosting, Outsourcing and Support.
- The initial challenge was to integrate two acquisitions in Europe. We purchased an Oracle and an SAP systems integrator. Both companies were acquired to gain a territory footprint, but were losing money. Making the necessary changes organizationally was essential to return them to profit and to integrate them into VELOCITY's contract business model.
- The European operations currently return the highest EBITDA in the VELOCITY group. We consistently provide between 25% and 30% EBITDA to the corporation and enjoyed 15% growth after the organizational changes were made.
- During my tenure at VELOCITY Europe, we were able to convert numerous clients from a traditional implementation client to VELOCITY support using our managed service capabilities.
- VELOCITY is a leader in cloud hosting, application hosting and managed service. VELOCITY offers a full suite of offerings ranging from strategic consulting, implementation, outsourcing, managed services and business process outsourcing in both the Oracle Enterprise as well as the SAP environment.
- (www.velocitycloud.com)
Senior VP and General Manager Manufacturing Solutions (Officer)
SoftBrands
Minneapolis
01.2005 - 12.2008
- SoftBrands is a $100M public company with two divisions. Hospitality is a $50M business. I ran Manufacturing which is also around $50M in revenue.
- All business functions in manufacturing reported to me including sales, consulting, support, product development, marketing and finance. I accepted the challenge to "re-grow" the business and to establish a brand new relationship with SAP. The manufacturing business had two very different aspects to it. The legacy portion of the business was a declining business with roughly 1700 customers worldwide. The SAP portion of the business was an ISV model within the SAP partner world. The growth of the SAP business had to more than offset the decline of the legacy business.
- The SAP business went to market two-fold. We established a channel model with 90 distribution partners in North America, China and various European countries to sell to small and medium enterprises. We were also selling our software to manufacturing sites, distributions sites or service centers of large SAP centric accounts. Our solution was based on an SAP platform and integrated well with larger SAP systems. In order to achieve the mission a complete rewrite of the current offerings was in order while software needed to be sold.
- Further, the manufacturing division was the business providing the profit for the entire SoftBrands organization as the hospitality business was not making money at the time. I reframed the business over time to drive more profit from the legacy business in order to fund the investments needed on the SAP side of the business. The business eventually performed at benchmark profit levels.
- Key accomplishments at SoftBrands were
- - Provided 100% + growth for the SAP business every year to offset the decline in the base business.
- - Achieved major SAP awards every year including top revenue producer, top solutions provider, top ten club for SME partners
- - Sold a mid-market solution to marquee SAP customers like Nestle (50+ sites), Coca Cola (25+ sites), Hershey (10 sites), Philip Morris International (13 sites), VWR China (10+ sites), MAN Germany (45 sites) etc.
- - Established sales channels in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), China and the US with over 90 distribution partners
- - Kept maintenance attrition in the legacy business under 6% worldwide
- - Significantly improved business' operating income to 47% and doubled profit from fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008
- - Only global "Platinum" SAP Business One Deployment Partner
- - Achieved early partner status for SAP Business By Design, SAP's on demand enterprise solution
- SoftBrands was a leader in providing software solutions to the manufacturing and hospitality industries worldwide. (SoftBrands is now part of Infor)
- (now: www.infor.com)
VP Americas – Services
Portal Software Inc.
Cupertino
03.2003 - 12.2004
- Recruited to run all North and Latin American Consulting operations for Portal Software. Main responsibilities included services sales, quality delivery, program management with full P&L responsibility for the services line of business. Managed a 40% plus margin which ranked highest in the company by implementing operational excellence and the use of weekly KPI measurements.
- Major accounts sold and implemented during my tenure are Sprint Canada, AOL, OnStar, Boeing Connexion, Colombia Movil, CableVision Mexico and Internet Group Brazil. I also served as executive sponsor for all Vodafone related program management functions with major focus on Vodafone K.K. (Japan) and Vodafone Pacific (Australia).
- Portal Software provides revenue assurance software and billing engines mainly to large Telecommunications, large ISP, Media and Content Providers. (Portal Software was acquired by Oracle)
- (www.portal.com)
Head of Operations BU Marketplaces Americas
SAP America
Palo Alto
06.2002 - 02.2003
- Responsible for the North and South American Operations for SAP's Business Unit Marketplaces. That includes responsibility for sales, consulting, account management, business development and support.
- Successes are the implementation of Tradecom, a leading Brazilian horizontal marketplace as well as sales successes at TradeRanger, ExoStar and eScout, which are part of a competitive "win-back" strategy for public marketplaces by emphasizing strategic buy decisions.
- Multinational provider of enterprise sytems in the area of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Finance, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing as well as e-Business functions such as Public e-Marketplaces and others.
- (www.sap.com)
Vice President Professional Services
SAP America
Palo Alto
08.2000 - 05.2002
- Built SAP's Professional Service Organization for marketplaces and exchanges to roughly about 75 consultants. Involved in managing the Professional Service Organization from selling service contracts, presales activities for the actual software sale, career building and team building to hiring. Fully responsible for the units finances with utilization well above 75%.
- Major successes are marketplaces such as Enporion (utilities), Quadrem (mining) and Forest Express (wood and paper).
- Negotiated and closed new deals such as eAECglobal, a private construction marketplace in Europe, and Tradecom, a horizontal marketplace in Brazil.
- Multinational provider of enterprise sytems in the area of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Finance, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing as well as e-Business functions such as Public e-Marketplaces and others.
- (www.sap.com)
Chief Executive Officer (America)
Itelligence Group
Bielefeld
09.1992 - 07.2000
- Led the management team of the company, which included a CFO, a COO, CTO and an EVP of Business Development. The business closed over 200 SAP deals during my time as CEO. Grew the company from zero to $30 million in revenue between '94 and '99, which represented 100% growth each year. That includes '99, in which the ERP market had its worst downturn of the decade. The company finished at $40 million by the end of '00.
- Successfully grew culture with almost no employee turnover by creating excellent employee benefits and reward programs.
- Hired and maintained 180 employees in 7 offices. Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, Parsippany, Atlanta and Dallas were all profitable entities. Grew Itelligence America to the second largest entity within Itelligence's $250 million group. Contributed significantly to the companies successful IPO in May 1999 by showing strong growth in the Americas as well as high margin numbers.
- Became the largest SAP reseller in SAP's SMB channel. SMB stands for small and medium business. Owned the exclusive selling rights in 16 US states. This was achieved with both organic growth and acquisitions. Led the acquisitions.
- Management Consultant and Project Manager
- January '91 – August '92
- Provided technical and management consulting in the areas of production planning, sales/distribution, and materials management. Developed innovative ABAP/4 (SAP proprietary programming language) application programs for project system and capacity networks. Responsible for up to 25 consultants on 3 major SAP projects.
- Was sent to US in order to evaluate the market potential and founded the US subsidiary to facilitate international expansion. The US division with its Cincinnati office was the first office abroad at that time.
- Systems Integrator and Software Channel Partner for SAP solutions focused exclusively on small and medium size manufacturing companies. Largest SAP reseller in the US and worldwide.
- (www.itelligencegroup.com)
CEO
Baemler Fahrzeugbau (Vehicle Manufacturing)
Rietberg
01.1989 - 12.1990
- As co-founder and business partner manufactured a patented construction vehicle. The vehicle was sold to various construction firms from large commercial builders to small residential service firms.
- Highly specialized vehicle builder for the construction industry. Manufactured "rolling workbenches" that proved highly flexible in various construction settings.
- (same time as I.A.M )
Partner and Construction Site Manager
I.A.M. GmbH
Rietberg
01.1989 - 12.1990
- Managed large construction sites for industrial conveyor systems mainly in the automotive industry. Major clients included Ford Germany, Opel Germany, Mercedes Benz and Audi.
- Installer of industrial conveyor systems mainly for the automotive industry and the mining industry.
- (same time as Baemler)
Mandatory Military (Bundeswehr)
Hamburg
04.1987 - 06.1988
Production Planning Department
Claas OHG
Harsewinkel
02.1985 - 03.1987
- Largest European Maker of Harvest Combines, Tractors and Farm Equipment
Apprentice (Industriekaufmann)
Claas OHG
Harsewinkel
09.1982 - 01.1985
- Largest European Maker of Harvest Combines, Tractors and Farm Equipment
Education
Certified Computer Scientist -
b.i.b. International College
Paderborn, Germany01-1990
Skills
- Strategic planning
- Financial analysis
- Business development
- Sales execution
- Cloud services
- Operations management
LANGUAGES
Fluent German (Mother Tongue), Fluent English (Verbal and Written)
Accomplishments
- Restructure of the European Business at Freudenberg IT to achieve higher EBIT numbers. This included board level engagements, workers council negotiations and organizational change.
- Finished 2018 with the all-time best revenue performance for Freudenberg IT
- Achieved highest order entry for Freudenberg IT in Q4, 2016 by focusing on hands on selling, executive sponsorships and sales methods. Record order entry numbers for Freudenberg IT in 2017.
- Doubled the MRR (Monthly Run Rate) business for Velocity during the first year with a 400%+ bookings increase year over year.
- Grew monthly recurring revenue by 32% during my first quarter as Head of Sales at KeyedIn Solutions
- Converted VELOCITY's European Operations from losing money to 20+% EBITDA in 4 years
- Successful integration of VELOCITY's first European acquisition.
- Established Large Enterprise Sales within SoftBrands with significant success (see below)
- Established a brand New SAP business from scratch, with key SAP awards and 100% growth
- Significantly improved operating income performance of the SoftBrands manufacturing business
- Doubled profit from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2008
- Operational Excellence: Revenue and Margin focused. Achieved 40%+ during my time at Portal software.
- Founder and CEO of one of the largest SAP reseller and consulting firms in America. Itelligence America grew to $40M in annual revenue under my leadership.
- Assumed responsibility for Portal Software's consulting practice in the Americas and Japan's largest customer in Vodafone Japan.
- 125% revenue growth achieved in 1999 year despite massive downturn in ERP market during my time at Itelligence.
Timeline
CEO Europe
Freudenberg IT (FIT)
07.2016 - Current
Vice President Global SAP Line of Business
Velocity
01.2014 - 06.2016
Managing Partner – European Operations
Velocity
01.2009 - 12.2013
Senior VP and General Manager Manufacturing Solutions (Officer)
SoftBrands
01.2005 - 12.2008
VP Americas – Services
Portal Software Inc.
03.2003 - 12.2004
Head of Operations BU Marketplaces Americas
SAP America
06.2002 - 02.2003
Vice President Professional Services
SAP America
08.2000 - 05.2002
Chief Executive Officer (America)
Itelligence Group
09.1992 - 07.2000
CEO
Baemler Fahrzeugbau (Vehicle Manufacturing)
01.1989 - 12.1990
Partner and Construction Site Manager
I.A.M. GmbH
01.1989 - 12.1990
Mandatory Military (Bundeswehr)
04.1987 - 06.1988
Production Planning Department
Claas OHG
02.1985 - 03.1987
Apprentice (Industriekaufmann)
Claas OHG
09.1982 - 01.1985
Certified Computer Scientist -
b.i.b. International College