Drive digital transformation with low-code business process applications : K2 software

The Silicon Review

“We power the people who build great companies.”

It all started in 2000, in Johannesburg, South Africa when Adriaan and Olaf had a vision to make building workflow based solutions on the Microsoft platform easy and allow organizations to run their business in a more agile and competitive way. Since then, K2 has grown into an award-winning business application software company with five offices and over 500 employees globally. K2’s business process application platform helps people everywhere to rapidly creating apps that deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. More than 2 million users in over 84 countries, including 30 percent of the Fortune 100, are using K2 to drive their digital transformation by automating business processes that are often manual, paper heavy, and error prone. This approach enables customers to expedite approval processes, meet regulatory and audit requirements and deliver application faster by capitalizing on K2’s low code approach to application creation. The company serves customers in many different industries including financial, pharma, manufacturing, logistics and
many more.

Read on below for more information about K2 through a Q&A with CEO and Co-founder, Adriaan van Wyk.

Tell us about your first product that was launched.
In 2001, we launched the first version of K2, and didn’t sell a single copy. The fundamentals were right, but we needed to do more to show people what it was capable of. In 2002, K2 released version 2 to help organizations rapidly build and deploy low-code business apps. It was this version that launched the explosive growth that catapulted the company around the world in months. We knew that it was only the beginning. We had so many things that didn’t make it into that version. It was also clear that our customers were not just buying into a version of our software, but rather into a vision and a much longer partnership.

What do you feel are the reasons behind your product popularity?
Innovation. But it’s not just our innovation. You can see the DNA of our customers, staff and partners in our software, and you can see that evolve with every version we ship. We focus on outcomes. When our customers use our software, intent turns into reality. They can rapidly see how K2 helps them achieve their own goals and deliver returns to their businesses. When that happens, your customers become your biggest evangelists. There is no better proof of a vision turning into reality than successful customers. K2’s unique ability to drive digital transformation with low-code business process applications – organizations can use visual designers to rapidly build and deploy low-code applications. In using K2, organizations have the flexibility to easily customize applications and focus on the eatures and functionalities that matter most, versus getting boxed-in by some of the more rigid, traditional software systems.

What kind of responses have you received from your customers over the years?
K2 puts a lot of time and effort into innovating and growing its product portfolio. Our goal is not to meet customer expectations but to exceed them by combining their feedback, both positive and constructive, with our own innovation. We wake up in the morning for our customers, it’s the reason why we exist. It’s a fine balance, taking in both the good and the constructive feedback from customers, but we believe that it makes for a much better product in the end and we are fortunate to have their partnership to make K2 the best it can be.

This feedback constantly pushes our innovation and drives our passion for our customers and partners. Customers such as TransLink, Kimberly Clark, and Roche are just a few of the more than 2,000 customers across a variety of industries using K2 to digitally transform business operations to drastically improve efficiencies across their organizations. We recently released a Total EconomicImpact report in partnership with Forrester Research that demonstrates a 466% ROI with a payback period of just over 9 months, which isfantastic to see! We’re excited to share the value that K2 is delivering for customers around the globe, and this report is another great example of how we are helping customers succeed with K2 to move their businesses forward.

Do you have any new products getting ready to be rolled out into the market?
K2 recently announced new capabilities for K2 Mobile, K2 management, K2 RESTService, integration with DocusSign and Microsoft SharePoint 2016. These updates are available on-premise via blackpearl 4.7 and in the cloud via Appit. We have an exciting roadmap of new products for 2017, and we will disclose more in the coming months.

Where do you see you and your company a couple of years from now?
As a company, K2 is really excited about changing the way people work. Just as software in the enterprise has evolved, the future of business applications and processes will be a far cry from the traditional technology we think of today. Machine learning, access to data, smart technologies and actionable insights are a few of the severalfactors affecting the future of business apps. K2 will continue to be at the forefront of innovation where customers can lean on us to help solve future business problems.

Meet the Master Duo

Adriaan van Wyk is the CEO and Co-Founder of K2 Software. He assumed his current position upon inception in 2000. Since then, he and his co-founder have grown K2 from a small South African startup to a global software company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

Olaf Wagner is the Senior Vice President of Product Management and a Co-Founder of K2 Software. He assumed his current position in 2000, when the company was created in South Africa.