Perfecting the art of business partnerships

Feka ICT may be just one company, but you get the feeling that it’s an important part of many. When speaking to director Jos Honig, it’s easy to see why. 

At a time when many organizations are focused on the next quick win, Feka has consistently shown its commitment to driving long-term success with its customers. A provider of high-quality and safe ICT services, Feka has worked tirelessly to earn the trust of customers by positioning itself as an extension of their customers’ businesses. 

The company’s partnership-centric mindset helps explain why some clients have been with them for over 35 years. “With some customers, we know more about the history of the company than some of the employees!” says Jos proudly. 

This is the natural result of a deliberate strategy to be, as Jos terms, “on the same side of the line as the customer.” 

From service provider to partner

As an organization, Feka puts its money where its mouth is.

Back in 2007, before consumers across the world started paying monthly fees for things like Netflix and Spotify, this Mijdrecht-based ICT business went down the everything-as-a-service model route. The switch from a pay-per-hour to a subscription-based service provider was bold. For Jos, however, it was a clear statement: “We wanted to be on the same side of the line as our customers.” 

The subscription model was Feka’s way of demonstrating its commitment to providing a great customer experience, regardless of how many hours it took. Quite simply, it would be in everybody’s best interests for systems to run smoothly and potential issues to be proactively addressed and root causes of problems solved to avoid them happening again.

In this partnership-style approach to service, time is money – for both parties. “When the customer has a problem, we have a problem,” Jos says. Likewise, a great service is rewarded with the elimination of repeat site visits for the same tedious issues. 

Being on the same side of the line, it seems, is a win-win for everyone. 

Offering troubleshooting and hands-on IT services for a fixed amount, Feka naturally has an ever greater vested interest in the success of customers, and Jos and the team has been more than up to the task. An Openprovider Member, Jos and Feka understand the value of the subscription model. “Our customers really like knowing what they have to pay beforehand.” It’s about adding a little bit of certainty to an increasingly uncertain world. 

How to get the best out of people

Despite some challenging times, “I never thought of giving up,” says Jos. It’s hard to imagine how Feka’s approach to fixed-fee servicing could last the test of time without a strong organizational culture. To this end, Jos is quick to point to the Feka team. “Along the way we were able to build a nice team with good people. Here, everyone is responsible for their own job.” He recalls entrusting one employee with the sales of laptops, thinking “this would be the end of the company” if he failed. That person was able to sell even more than seasoned veterans. “I think the most important lesson I learned was the importance of giving our people the trust and responsibility to do their job and make their own decisions,” says Jos. 

He has been able to avoid the dreaded comfort zone through continuous learning while maintaining his fierce curiosity about the world of technology. Born in Wilnis, a town between Utrecht and Amsterdam, Jos talks about how, when growing up, “All of my hobbies came back to computers. Everything I start ends in IT.” He talks about learning how to use technology to implement automatic water refreshment in the family home’s fish tank. But in the shark tank that’s the business world, the learning curve would be much steeper. “One of the best pieces of advice someone once gave us was to say no to jobs that don’t fit,” he says. “It’s a very hard lesson – still hard to keep. We are still learning and trying to keep doing only the stuff that is a good fit for us.”

Feka ICT started in 1987 with four people and is still going strong. “I think, for us, the most important thing is to stay small and have time for our customers,” says Jos. When asked about business advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs, Jos doesn’t have to think very long: “In my opinion, you have to have a good idea and then believe in yourself and work hard and work smart. It’s very easy to get lost in all the rules and complexity of a company, but in the end the business model is what you do it for.”

Based in Mijdrecht, The Netherlands, Feka ICT has been providing high-quality and safe ICT services for more than 35 years.

Feka has been a loyal Openprovider customer since 2005 and is also an Openprovider Member. 

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