COLUMN

Wolter Smit, CEO of TOPdesk

Adoption

A while ago I was a guest at the IKEA Concept Center in Delft. The
Deputy Store Manager, a Frenchman, explained to me what goes
on in there. What a lot of people dont know is that the Delft store
is also IKEAs headquarters. It is the place where they experiment
with store formulas, where people from all over the world are
taught the IKEA mindset, and from where the store formula is
introduced to stores all over the world.
I was curious as to why they chose Delft as the location for the
IKEA Concept Center. Besides the most obvious reasons, such as
the nearby airport and the attractive conditions for establishing a
business, they specifically told me that the Netherlands is a very
good test market. If it currently works in the Netherlands, it will
also work in other countries in a couple of years, they said. This
gave me pause.
IKEA obviously noticed that the Dutchman is quite progressive.
He also likes to try new things and doesnt mind it if it doesnt
work out (you just stop doing it). Perhaps an even more
important observation: if it works in the Netherlands, other
countries start adopting it in a couple of years.
This tickled me and I randomly wondered: is this also the case
with service management? Can we also state that new things are

So its not strange that TOPdesk has been promoting a better

tested in a country like the Netherlands and then used in other

integration of the two departments for several years now. Not

countries later on?

just by overseeing this fusion process, but also by making the tool

I came to the conclusion that we do indeed see this

more able to really serve both target audiences.

phenomenon in our area of expertise. Let me give you an

I can see more collaboration between service departments in

example: Shared Service Management. Around five years ago it

other countries as well. I saw the best indication of this at a UK

became clear that Dutch IT and Facilities departments started to

convention last year, where different competitors also mentioned

work together more closely. More than that, they often merge

that they support Facilities. It is clearly in demand right now.

into a single service department. It is also striking that many

Now, it is quite easy to mention that you do Shared Service

Facilities students were hired in management positions the last

Management on your show stand. Luckily, we have been working

few years.

on it for at least five years and have made our tool fit for the task.