Even though Mårten Nilsson officially works with developing software and ERP systems, he didn’t start out as a developer or coder. The technology and systems aren’t the main focus but rather the tools that enable his clients to get the most out of their business model. It's always the business value that Mårten prioritizes.
– I’m a business architect who learned to code many years ago because I saw the potential that SaaS development would have for Swedish companies. Today, it’s possible for most companies to build their own systems entirely based on their processes and needs.
In 2013, Mårten Nilsson founded the software company Struqtur when he saw a great need for customized ERP systems in the construction industry. A few years later, the company had developed systems for companies like Derome and Beijer Byggmaterial, with over 800 corporate customers and 7,000 users in their systems. Mårten then sold the company.
– At that time, the construction industry had a great need for new digital services that could streamline administration and case management and ultimately the entire business model. At the same time, digital maturity in the industry was low.
– After a few years, I saw that the technical development of cloud services and SaaS was about to lead to a paradigm shift where the cost and time required to build a custom ERP system had become so low that it was no longer a barrier.
For Mårten, the technological development has primarily meant that his desire to help companies streamline business processes could take the form of fully customized ERP systems that do precisely what a company needs for its business model to operate as efficiently as possible. As a business architect, he strives to develop each client’s business-driving operations and processes so that the business model works as optimally as possible. In 2021, he founded The ERP Company, which helps businesses achieve exactly that.
– What drives me is to first identify, together with our clients, how their process looks when it works optimally, and based on that, build a system that makes the optimal state the norm. Business value always comes first; technology is just the tool to get there.
– A good example of this is that I have two different types of meetings on a weekly or monthly basis with our clients. One is a product meeting with the CEO, where we only talk about the product, meaning the client’s business. And then there’s a technical meeting with the CTO or developers, where the CEO or owner doesn’t need to be involved because that’s when we’re only discussing the technology.
Mårten's goal with The ERP Company is to help as many companies as possible optimize their business processes so that the original business idea can function as efficiently as possible.
– Technological development will only continue; for example, we’re now using AI tools that can create, validate, and explain code. We weren’t doing that just a year ago. But that doesn’t change the fact that business value is the main focus, and that's always where we have to start.
