CAD Studio company grows and changes name

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Cesky

1.10.2002: CAD Studio company announced acquisition of the i-Systems company and change of company name to Xanadu s.r.o.

Xanadu s.r.o. is a member of AAC holding and it will continue to be present on the market under the brand names "CAD Studio" and "i-Systems". CAD Studio and i-Systems become divisions of Xanadu s.r.o. The company, based in Ceske Budejovice, has subsidiaries in Prague, Pardubice and Ostrava and plans turnover of more than 230 mil.CZK (about 7.5 mil. EUR or USD) and 60 employees for the year 2003. Xanadu becomes one of key players on the Czech IT market of value-added services and solutions.

From the interview with Karel Veverka, the managing director of Xanadu s.r.o.

What does the change actually mean for the company?

The changes that are under way are giving a signal to our partners in business and to customers to the effect that the original focus of CAD Studio mainly on CAD has been extended to include ERP, CRM, as well as printing and network solutions. For our customers and the market in general this means that we will be present in six locations in the Czech Republic, offering comprehensive solutions for a whole company. We want to be a partner not only for small and medium but also for big businesses and state administration bodies, and to become No. 1 through 5 in each segment we decide to enter. Therefore we have to, among other things, improve the quality of our services and customer support. The current situation requires the Xanadu management to improve the quality and increase intensity of their performance. E.g. the year-on-year increase in revenues will be ca. by 100% (to 236 million CZK) and the number of employees will grow from 36 people to nearly the double. Therefore we have to further improve the quality of management processes.

Anyway, why Xanadu?

Xanadu is a name of the historical Kublai Khan empire ­ it was an idyllic place, full of magic, beauty and freedom, covered by a hemisphere which protects the residents from natural and supernatural dangers ­ I like the idea. It is a place praised also in the most romantic poem in the English language, by S.T. Colleridge. Moreover, both the domain and company name were available which is very rare. The change in the name will enable us to integrate into Xanadu more business lines and companies while the name is fairly general and non­restricting.

Why did you opt for i-Systems?

We have been negotiating with a number of potential partners. The fact we have reached an agreement with i­Systems is a result of roughly two years of efforts. Our human views of the world are similar and the portfolio of i­Systems fits well into our plans. But there are more reasons. We, in CAD Studio, have also got mature and I suppose the time has come to make the step without threatening what we have already built.

What are your personal feelings about such a major change?

Talking about my personal feelings - I am now implementing what I planned two years ago ­ so this is no surprise for me. Even now I keep looking to the future and I am 2 years ahead of what is happening now...
And my feelings about changing the name of CAD Studio? It is like marrying your daughter ­ you know she is an adult person and has her own life. Moreover it was me who found the groom (i­Systems) and the new name (Xanadu). Certainly there is some sorrow and nostalgia in it. I am marrying my only daughter...

What do you wish to Xanadu for the beginning?

I have used the parable of marrying a daughter so it is easy to go on ...
I wish to Xanadu to keep on the right track, to guess well how to overcome storms that are sure to come, far­sighted management with good intuition and strength to implement changes, employees believing in a common goal and customers who will be successful and profitable thanks to Xanadu know how. And I also wish health to everybody involved in fulfillment of my wishes as it is certainly the most important...