Econocom Group SE is a European provider of business-to-business digital services.[2] It was founded in 1974[3] by Jean-Louis Bouchard as Europe Computer Systèmes (ECS).

Econocom Group SE
Euronext Brussels since 1986
IndustryIT Services
Founded1974 (1974)
FounderJean-Louis Bouchard
Headquarters,
Belgium
RevenueDecrease € 1.77 billion (2013)[1]
Increase € 44.1 million € (2013)[1]
Number of employees
8,300
WebsiteEconocom.com

History of the group

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Inception and early years

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1974: Jean-Louis Bouchard founds the group under the name Europe Computer Systèmes (ECS)[4] in France.

1986: Jean-Louis Bouchard sells his stake in ECS France to Société Générale but buys back all the foreign subsidiaries and merges them with Econocom, an American SMB he had recently taken over. The subsidiaries and group are renamed "Econocom".

1986: Econocom Belgium is listed on the secondary market of the Brussels stock exchange.

1993: Acquires Asystel Belgium, making Econocom Distribution the leading IT distributor in the Benelux.

International expansion

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1996: Econocom is listed on the primary market[5] of the Brussels stock exchange.

2000: Econocom is listed on the secondary market[6] of the Paris stock exchange. The group diversifies by setting up Econocom Telecom.[7]

2000: Exchange offer for Infopoint.[8]

2001: The group employs 2000 people.[9]

2002: Acquires Comdisco-Promodata[10] in France (administrative and financial IT asset management).

2004: Acquires Signal Service[11] France.

2005: The group concentrates its business in 5 European[12] countries: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Econocom sells off its Swiss subsidiary and closes its financing operations in the United States.

2006: Branches into telecoms by acquiring Avenir Telecom's business division.[13]

2007: Expands its telecoms division and acquires the Carphone Warehouse[14] France's "Business" division. The group doubles its sales force in Italy by acquiring Tecnolease,[15] an Italian IT leasing company.

2008: Acquires Databail,[16] a French IT infrastructure funding company.

2009: Opens a nearshore remote service facility in Rabat, Morocco, which employs 300 multilingual staff.

October 2010: Société Générale sells ECS:[17] Jean-Louis Bouchard buys back the company he set up over thirty-five years before and merges it with Econocom.

2010: Launches "7 Remote Services[18]", an enterprise solution[buzzword] designed to assist companies in migrating their IT estate to Microsoft’s latest operating system.

2011: Véronique di Benedetto, former Deputy Managing Director of ECS, is appointed Deputy Managing Director of the new group and managing director of Econocom France.[19] A graduate of ESCP who began her career as an Account Manager at IBM, Véronique joins the management board, chaired by Jean-Louis Bouchard, along with Jean-Phillippe Roesch[20] and Bruno Lemaistre.[21]

2012: Econocom continues its expansion in the virtualisation sector by acquiring Ermestel,[22] a pioneer in the Spanish market, and acquiring a stake in Centix,[23] a Belgian company specialising in cloud computing solutions.[buzzword]

2012: Acquires Tactem,[24] a provider of telecom expense management solutions.[buzzword]

2012: Acquires France Systèmes,[25] France's leading Apple reseller in the education and research sector, and enhances its IT security offering by buying Cap Synergy,[26] a French systems integrator specialising in network and IT system security.

2013: Econocom buys out French systems integrator Exaprobe, thus expanding its security, network and communications division, now worth €30 million in revenue.[27]

2013: Econocom announces its new strategic plan MUTATION 2013 – 2017[28]

2013: On 12 September 2013, Econocom finalises the acquisition of a majority stake in Osiatis, a major infrastructure service provider and related applications specialist. This transaction has resulted in the creation of a major new digital service company, with over 8,000 employees in 20 countries and total revenue of around €2 billion.[29]

2013: in October, Jean-Maurice Fritsch and Bruno Grossi, co-chairmen of the Osiatis Management Board, have joined the Econocom Executive Board.[30]

2013: Econocom Group unveils its new visual identity and adopts a new branding system.[31]

2013: In November, successful friendly public offer by Econocom on Osiatis. On 22 November 2013, Econocom finalises the acquisition of the entire share capital of Osiatis.[32]

2014: Georges Croix and Econocom join forces to create Digital Dimension, a cloud and digital solutions[buzzword] provider.[33]

2017: Econocom continues its involvement in EdTech by investing in the venture capital firm Educapital[34]

2017: Econocom and Microsoft are announcing a partnership to distribute Hololens on the European market[35]

2018: Robert Bouchard takes over as CEO of the Econocom Group.[36]

2018: Louise Beveridge joins Econocom as Head of Brand[37]

2018: Econocom strengthens its retail offering by acquiring a majority stake in altabox, a Spanish "leader in the development of omnichannel marketing strategies"[38]

2018: Econocom presents e-vigilante, its new robot for monitoring industrial sites.[39]

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Today

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Econocom currently employs 10,700 people, has 40 years’ experience and 7.0 million digital assets managed. At the end of 2012, the group established itself in the smart solutions[40] market by setting up a research and development programme with Istituto Superiore Mario Boella in Turin, Italy.

Business sectors

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The group's three areas of business are:

  • Technology management & financing
  • IT & Telecom Services
  • Products and Solutions

International operations

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Econocom has operations in 20 countries. In 2013,[41] the group's main markets were:

  • Northern and Eastern Europe: 10% of total revenue
  • France: 51% of total revenue
  • Benelux: 19% of total revenue
  • Southern Europe: 20% of total revenue

References

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  1. ^ a b "Econocom - 2013 Full-year results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
  2. ^ "Econocom: confirme ses objectifs annuels 2012. - Votre Argent". Votreargent.lexpress.fr. 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  3. ^ "Europe Computer Systèmes SA: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. 2010-10-28. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  4. ^ Michel Lombard. "L'Annuaire des décideurs d'entreprises, administrations et collectivités locales". Annuaire-decideur.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  5. ^ "Les loueurs informatiques épargnés par la crise". 01net.com. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  6. ^ "Infopoint rejoint le groupe Econocom. | L'Atelier: Disruptive innovation". Atelier.net. 2000-05-25. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  7. ^ "Econocom rachète Tactem et son expertise dans la gestion des factures télécoms". Distributique. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  8. ^ "Econocom et Infopoint : nouveau grand en Europe". 01net.com. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  9. ^ Annual report
  10. ^ "Econocom progresse de 24 % au premier semestre" (in French). Itrnews.com. 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  11. ^ "Econocom Group : acquisition de la société Signal Service". Boursier.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  12. ^ "Groupe Econocom: Résultats définitifs 2005" (in French). Boursorama.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  13. ^ "Econocom reprend l'activité entreprises d'Avenir Telecom". Distributique. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  14. ^ "Econocom absorbe le pôle entreprise de The Phone House" (in French). Itrmanager.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  15. ^ "Econocom rachète Tecnolease et se renforce en Italie - JDN Web & Tech" (in French). Journaldunet.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  16. ^ "Ouverture de filiale et rachat de Databail par Econocom - JDN Web & Tech" (in French). Journaldunet.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  17. ^ Reynald Fléchaux. "En mettant la main sur ECS, Econocom prend du poids dans les services aux infrastructures" (in French). Lemagit.fr. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  18. ^ "Econocom lance sa 5eme solution d'entreprise". iTPro.fr. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  19. ^ "ECONOCOM : Véronique di Benedetto nommée Directrice Générale Adjointe du groupe Econocom et Directrice Générale d'Econocom France" (in French). Boursorama.com. 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  20. ^ "Jean-Philippe Roesch, Directeur Général d'Econocom". Boursier.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  21. ^ "Nomination de Bruno Lemaistre de Econocom" (in French). Express.be. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  22. ^ "ECONOCOM GROUP : se renforce sur le marché de la virtualisation en Espagne". Zone bourse. 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  23. ^ "Econocom investit dans Centix, spécialiste belge du cloud - Le Monde Informatique". Lemondeinformatique.fr. 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  24. ^ "Econocom: rachète la société Tactem. - Indices & Actions - Le Figaro Bourse". Bourse (in French). Bourse.lefigaro.fr. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  25. ^ "Econocom rachète France Systèmes, le 1er revendeur Apple en France pour l'éducation". Distributique. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  26. ^ http://www.boursorama.com/actualites/econocom-acquiert-cap-synergy-2ddf1060b4fc877ac64ecaa7744d3032 [dead link]
  27. ^ "BT". Lemondeinformatique.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  28. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. ^ "Econocom invests in Educapital". Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Econocom and Microsoft announce a partnership to distribute the Hololens in europe". Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  36. ^ "Robert Bouchard takes over as CEO of Econocom group". www.econocom.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  37. ^ "Louise Beveridge joins Econocom as Head of Brand". www.econocom.com. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  38. ^ "Econocom strengthens its Retail offering by acquiring a majority stake in Altabox, a spanish leader in the development of omnichannel marketing strategies". www.econocom.com. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  39. ^ "Econocom presents e-vigilante, its new robot for monitoring industrial sites". www.econocom.com. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
  40. ^ "Econocom : crée un programme de R&D (solutions intelligentes)". Zone bourse. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  41. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)