Different Work Culture, Same Pains Across the Atlantic

As a long term partner of ours, not only has Cleo helped us improve the services we offer in Europe, but we’ve helped Cleo reach new customers across the Atlantic as well. We asked Frank Kenney, the Director of Sales Enablement at Cleo, about his view on the differences and similarities between American and European based companies, and why the relationships between software developers and service providers is more important than ever.

Differences and Similarities

“Though you will find a huge difference when it comes to work culture, you will see the same pains when it comes to business itself. European companies like to keep things personal, take time to unwind during the day, but still keep a high level of professionality. In the States, it’s go-go-go, business is business and shouldn’t be personal. The Dutch way tries to make work more enjoyable, which I completely support. When it comes to pains, most companies are struggling with digital transformation and integration,” says Frank.

Why We Need Cross Cultural Relationships

For a company that has resellers and users all over the globe, it shouldn’t be a surprise that cultural adaptation is a big part of Frank’s role. But just because he works for Cleo does that mean he’s credible to every European audience he approaches?

According to Frank, having a partnership with a company like ECS gives him more credibility than if he was on his own. Businesses may be wary of the American salesman, but we can vouch for Frank and Cleo that the solutions they provide are doing just what they should be doing, solving digital transformation problems for modern businesses.

Governance vs. Architecture? What's More Important?

“In the US, when tech is deployed there are a lot of after thoughts. We have a specific industry around governance tools which you don’t get in Europe because Europeans expect for those things to be built in to their solutions. In the States I don’t have to be a security expert with our solutions, but in Europe I have to at least understand the basic requirements of monitoring and managing any data interactions that go through our software. How things are managed are huge for the Europeans and that brings a layer of maturity that we don’t see in the States. American businesses will have to know their stuff when it comes to security, governance, management and protocols to have any sort of success in the European market,” explains Frank.

Users and Providers Play a Big Role

Frank also adds how important it is for tech developers to know how their solutions actually impact the people implementing them, providing service for them and ultimately using the solutions in their daily business transactions. For Cleo, the feedback from users is not disregarded. Some of the pain points we’ve noticed here at ECS have been directly addressed and improved upon.

It’s for reasons like these that we continue to put our trust and faith into the software that Cleo develops. By acknowledging the power of their partners and their users, and cultural differences, its safe to say that Cleo is consciously paving a way across the Atlantic.

We’d like to thank Frank for sharing his thoughts with us! If your company is struggling with digital transformation or ecosystem integration in the States or in Europe, you can contact one of our experts at ECS to see what solution could help you on your way.