In September this year, two leaders in the technological innovation market, the Lithuanian company TeleSoftas and the Estonian giant Helmes, joined forces. Helmes acquired 70% of TeleSoftas’ shares. Despite this change, both companies will maintain their identities, management teams and clients. And yet, there is no doubt that this collaboration of 1.500 specialists will be able to compete for larger projects, not only in the Baltic countries but all over the world.
The unified approach to employees
When Algirdas Stonys, the founder of TeleSoftas, handed over the CEO role to his long-time associate, Šarūnas Putrius, earlier this year, he spoke about his goals for the company. One of which was to open wider doors to the global market for the company and its employees. In his eyes, the partnership with Helmes is a purposeful step towards this goal.
“We had a brief and very fluent negotiation with our partners from Helmes. Their expertise and experience in the technology market did not raise doubts, but the main motive for joining forces was the same values of our companies – employee happiness, cooperation, trust and friendship. Now, based on these values, we are planning the development of the team in other countries”, says A. Stonys.
Stonys is convinced that the Estonian company also appreciated TeleSoftas’ strengths. Be it professionalism, employee motivation or the experience of creating IT products used by more than a billion people worldwide. He is confident that a professional and friendly team that constantly shares knowledge and develops products with high-added value is attractive to both new customers and employees.
“The times when Lithuania was known as a country of cheap IT labour are long gone. On the other hand, the first investments in service centres allowed a new generation of professionals to rise. Now our teams that develop IT solutions are not enterprise cost centres. The experience and expertise of our professionals have become profit centres for our clients. The time is coming when we can share profits and shares with our employees” says the founder of TeleSoftas.
In addition, both companies expect the partnership to help create even better conditions for employees. Helmes’s shareholder and board member, Andres Kaljo, states: “Our dream is also to be the top employer in IT in the Baltics. Our vision is to be the best partner for growth for IT talents, an environment where they can nurture their strengths and keep both work and personal life well-balanced. Why do we speak so much about our core values in employee well-being? Because our most important core value is “care”. Based on aligned values, we can build a living ecosystem of well-being, where every aspect of our work-life is supporting caring of each other, and also of ourselves”.
Strengthen positions internationally
According to A. Kaljo, the companies will work on the partnership principle where added value can be created for customers. “Our vision is to be a reliable partner for customers when it comes to development and growth. We aim to create the same value for the colleagues we work with. The foundations of the Helmes company are autonomy, professional growth and trust – we will apply the same principles when working with TeleSoftas”.
For 30 years, the Helmes group has been at the forefront of implementing digitization projects in Estonia. The company developed about 30% of the e-Estonia project. And they are trusted by international business clients for whom Helmes creates and develops software.
“Regarding the digitisation of the public sector, we are happy to share good practices with our colleagues in all Baltic countries. And, of course, we will look for synergies in the further development of projects in this sector. For example, Helmes Estonia is a digitalization partner of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, creating a new tax accounting system. Helmes Latvia has worked together with the Latvian State Revenue Service for more than 10 years and is now building a next-generation e-customs platform for Latvia. Thanks to TeleSoftas joining Helmes, we now have strong, experienced digital innovation teams in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We have become one of the most valuable partners for both the Baltic private and public sectors. We see the main strength in our aligned values and state-of-art unique software development methods,” shares A. Kaljo.
