Effective immediately, Diederik Vos has taken over leadership of SQS Software Quality Systems AG, the world’s leading specialist in software quality.
As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board, he replaces SQS co-founder and former CEO Rudolf van Megen, who is stepping down. Vos has been a member of the SQS board since March 2011, in the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Part of SQS’s international footprint is SQS Group Limited South Africa, a leading independent testing company in South Africa that was founded in March 2004. Located in Durban and Johannesburg, SQS South Africa currently has about 150 employees.
SQS South Africa provides offshore as well as local testing services with focus on Functional Testing (manual & automation), Performance Testing and Quality Assurance.
Diederik Vos has made a key contribution to driving the strategic development of SQS AG over the past year. In his role as COO, he identified the core drivers in markets relevant to SQS and aligned the company’s product and service portfolio for further growth. Principally, Vos has focussed the business on six core industries of banking, retail/logistics, insurance, energy, manufacturing and telecommunications. He has been instrumental in growing SQS’s managed (testing) services, in particular, and has focussed the company’s business on major projects.
“At SQS, I am taking over as the head of the world’s leading specialist in software testing and quality management”, says Vos. “In Europe, we rank among the top four players in the market. For several years, our growth rates have significantly exceeded those for the general IT services market. This can attributed largely to Rudolf van Megen, the co-founder of SQS who has led the company for 30 years. Building on the foundations created by him, we now plan to further consolidate SQS’s position in international markets.”
SQS is set to continue to grow faster than the market for software testing and quality management overall, according to Vos. “We are looking to achieve that growth by focussing strongly on our core industries and expanding our managed services activities.” Vos’s goal over the next two years is to boost earnings from software testing in the form of managed services to 40 per cent of total revenue. In addition, the new CEO will be looking to build SQS’s business in the US and expand its activities in the areas of software testing and certification of software products.
“This growth will be accompanied by a further increase in SQS’s profitability “, he explains. “Clients appreciate and benefit from the added value services that SQS provides. Thanks to our clear differentiation in the marketplace and 30 years of experience as a specialist in software quality, we increasingly find ourselves operating as a business partner to our clients. In addition, we invest heavily in talent management, helping to boost performance, above all in offshore test centres, a sector which we will continue to build upon.”
A native of the Netherlands and experienced international manager, Vos, 48, has extensive expertise in the areas of managed services, IT services and management consulting. Before joining SQS, he helped to drive change processes at a number of companies, increasing profitability and customer satisfaction. His previous career includes spells at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Avaya and International Network Services.
Staff Writer
