Global-Columbus announces new Focus23 strategy; US organization changes to align with Focus23

Minneapolis, Minnesota – 16 December 2020: Columbus has announced a new three-year strategy, Focus23, with the goal of further positioning the company as the digital trusted advisor for clients, driving increased customer value. For more information on Focus23, see link here: Focus23 strategy.

A customer-centric U.S. organization focused on SMB and Enterprise

With the launch of the Focus23 strategy, Columbus US is aligning the organization into two business units, with the following executive leadership changes:

• Enterprise Division - focused on enterprise-size clients. Paul Gomez will serve as CEO and VP, Enterprise Division. Paul joined Columbus US in late 2019 as Vice President of Enterprise Delivery. Paul will continue building Columbus into a leading Microsoft Dynamics partner in North America, helping Enterprise clients in their digital transformation journey.
  “I am humbled and honored to be leading this dedicated and talented team. While 2020 has certainly brought unprecedented challenges, I’m extremely proud of how our team seamlessly adapted and shifted to empower our clients as they faced these challenges and continued onward with their digital transformation journeys” said Paul Gomez, CEO & VP, Enterprise Division. “The dedicated focus on digital advisory and consultancy that we initiated earlier this year was just the start. Our global Focus23 strategy is the next step, enabling us to stay closer to our clients and offer them our complete 9 Doors to Digital Leadership® solution portfolio, including Cloud ERP, Digital Commerce, Modern Workplace, Data & Analytics and Application Management.”
• SMB Division - focused on small and mid-sized clients. Thomas Hauge will serve as VP of this division in addition to his current role as CFO for Columbus US. Thomas has been CFO since 2015. He joined Columbus in 1993 and from a leadership position quickly began the expansion of the organization throughout Europe and in 1999 established Columbus in North America, serving in executive leadership roles for Columbus US since then.
  “Attracting and retaining the best consulting talent to support our more than 1,300 SMB clients has been a key motivator in the 21 years that I’ve been with Columbus US,” said Thomas Hauge, CFO & VP, SMB Division. “With our Focus23 strategy, Columbus will be able to stay close to our valued SMB clients, advise and guide them with their cloud solutions and the rising demand for technology innovation, business intelligence and analytics, remote working, digitization to improve business sustainability.”

Dedicated focus on digital advisory and consultancy

With these changes, Columbus US is aligning into two distinct business units with a shared customer-centric focus on helping clients in their digital transformation journey. Coupled with the formation of a dedicated Digital Advisory Team earlier this year, clients can continue to expect industry and business process-focused advisors helping them drive Digital Transformation by helping them to create better business outcomes leveraging Microsoft technologies and moving to the cloud.

“A key priority in Focus23 will be to drive profitable growth by developing our business to become a more focused and simplified operation with increased customer centricity and a digital advisory approach,” said Hans Henrik Thrane, Interim CEO & Corporate CFO. “Columbus US customers can expect this focus on services and solutions that serve their specific industry and needs.”