Excellent Together

Vincent: Alexander, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about the acquisition of Integration Matters. Let's start by asking how the acquisition came about in the first place?

Alexander: Digital transformation will only be truly successful through networked customer experiences. And to do that, customers need to be able to connect data, applications and processes quickly and easily. To help customers develop an overarching integration strategy for digital transformation, Salesfive had to decide whether to build its own team or look for a partner. We opted for the latter and, after some discussions with Integration Matters, decided to pursue this ambitious goal together in the future. In this way, we are also creating a further basis for our overriding goal: to become the leading Salesforce partner for digital transformation in Europe!

Integration Matters is the perfect partner for successful integration projects with over 18 years of experience in a wide range of industries, use cases and technologies. The integration consulting is a perfect fit, starts at the strategic level, takes into account corporate culture specifics and accompanies the operational implementation. And in the past, Integration Matters has had the privilege of supporting major international brands together with technology partners in the digitization of business processes.  

In order to be able to acquire these large projects under its own steam, Integration Matters also needed to take a growth step. And we, i.e. Salesfive, are the perfect partner for this next growth step because of our customer-oriented focus, our corporate culture, our broad portfolio in the Salesforce environment and our strong presence in the market.

What do you see as the similarities between Salesfive and Integration Matters and what are the differences between the two companies? 

Both Salesfive and Integration Matters are known for making digitization easy for businesses. Both are out to achieve "customer excellence" through the digitization of business processes.

But each of us has a different focus: While Salesfive focuses on customer experiences, Integration Matters focuses on the networking of data, applications and processes. And it is precisely this combination of both topics that is crucial to success if customers want to implement their digital visions and become or remain market leaders. This is why Salesforce acquired MuleSoft in 2018. 

And because of our close partnership with Salesforce and MuleSoft, our offerings really complement each other perfectly in order to provide our customers with holistic advice on the subject of digital transformation, to ensure successful implementation and, if necessary, to support operations.

That sounds promising! Now we all know that behind all the business aspects there are also...

I know what you're getting at - ... people standing?  

That's right. People are the first deciding factor in successful collaboration. And yes, we are different! Salesfive covers a broad portfolio of Salesforce products and has achieved incredible growth in German-speaking countries since it was founded five years ago, also due to its very clever marketing.

Integration Matters has been a go-to partner for successful integration projects for 18 years, with extensive experience in a wide range of technologies, requirements and industries. And that's where we complement each other so well - each with their own expertise. This is also great for our diverse teams - so each individual can contribute his or her wealth of experience and through the exchange, innovative ideas are created that are then implemented together.

We are sure that Salesfive and Integration Matters can achieve incredible things together because the foundation is right - starting with our corporate culture, our values and our customer focus. We are team players, communicate openly, love challenges, support each other and value eye-to-eye exchanges. All this with the goal of always achieving the maximum for our customers.

You mentioned earlier that our common goal is "customer excellence," but that our focus is different. What does that mean in concrete terms for our individual business units? 

Both we and Integration Matters are Salesforce and MuleSoft partners. In terms of content, Integration Matters will continue to execute integration projects in the future - Salesfive will focus on Salesforce implementation, BI & Analytics, project management and change management.

That makes perfect sense! What will happen to Integration Matters after the acquisition?

Integration Matters is and will remain an independent company under its well-known management. The name Integration Matters also represents a well-known brand in the integration market that has been built up over many years.

Finally, we are of course very interested to know what advantages the merger will bring for customers.

There are a few! For example, the merger allows us to offer a broader range of consulting services, including both Salesforce implementation and integration solutions.  

Since Salesfive and Integration Matters are specialists in their respective fields, the integration of Salesforce systems and other applications can be improved. In addition, by pooling skills and resources, we can optimize processes and leverage synergies to achieve better results for customers. 

Last but not least, thanks to the merger, customers will have more resources and specialists at their disposal, which can lead to better and faster processing of their inquiries. And because we will be working closely together, we will also be able to exchange expertise and ideas and thus develop innovative solutions for customers.

My very last question: What are the benefits for Salesforce and MuleSoft from the merger?

The merger of two leading companies in the Salesforce and MuleSoft ecosystem also increases the added value for Salesforce and MuleSoft - due to growing synergetic effects and the possibility to serve large projects across current topics.

It all sounds very well thought out and like an exciting new chapter in the Salesfive story! Thank you for your time and good luck for the future with Integration Matters!