Sirena Group CEO:
”Cittros are Top Professional – and Dare Say No”
On the threshold of introducing a brand-new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system the CEO asked for external expertise to avoid any blind spots. All aspects were to be examined.
By Henrik Kastoft, freelance journalist
Hardly any would know the company by name. Yet, if Atlantic cod, saithe, haddock, Greenland halibut, red fish, cold-water shrimps, or other seafood products are on the menu often Sirena Group North of Copenhagen played its part to make it happen. In the Danish market as well as abroad.
Sirena Group is a global leader in sales and marketing of North Atlantic frozen-at-sea seafood products known to enrich consumers with excellent tastes and nutritious high-quality food.
Rock-solid IT infrastructure is mandatory to successfully manage a global company with 12 offices located in Denmark, the UK, Canada, China, and the US. The industry is heavily regulated with strict documentation requirements and – for Sirena Group – on top the MSC-certification for sustainable fishing with respect for a vulnerable environment at sea.
Second opinion from outside
It was about time to leave a 15-year-old Microsoft Axapta platform behind and replace it with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. In that process Sirena Group CEO, Boe Spurré, reached out for Cittros:
“I have great confidence with our regular IT vendor. Over time, however, blind spots and old habits can manifest. In the Autumn we organized a session of workshops with Cittros assisting Sirena Group as well as our external IT vendor – asking questions that made us take into consideration all relevant aspects to precisely define those processes needed to achieve our ambitions. As a result of that process, I decided that standard solutions would be one mandatory requirement. Neither we nor our external IT vendor should get caught up in programming or exotic distractions likewise,” says Boe Spurré.
Achieving your goals is indeed about knowing where you want to go. And how you want to get there.
“The process is comparable with buying a new car. If I have three kids, it would probably be reasonable for me to look for a car with three back seats and doors. At the end of the day, it is me – not the Skoda, Mercedes-Benz, or Hyundai car dealer – that must live with the choices made with my signature on the contract”.
Want to be challenged
Sirena Group is a global enterprise with only 100 employees: “We get up early in the morning,” as CEO Boe Spurré puts it. With a small organization Sirena Group does not have an in-house IT department to manage the implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform.
“I am not an IT expert. Yet, I have been around the block several times in my career. It was important that external advisors came to us with professionalism and a vast amount of knowledge – as well as the courage and capacity to say no. That’s why we chose Cittros,” says Boe Spurré in his closing statement.
Fish and seafood from the cold North
Sirena Group was established 35 years ago. With global success the company managed to specialize itself in sales and marketing of frozen-at-sea seafood. The four fishing vessels in the fleet will usually be at sea in the North Atlantic Ocean for 5-25 days. The crew onboard varies from 16-22 and work is conducted in 6-hour shifts. As the vessels port the crew will unload 400–600-ton fish and shellfish frozen-at-sea and packed in 20-ton containers ready to be shipped to the global market. Sirena Group is also partner in the world’s only commercial scale cod farm close to Trondheim in the Norwegian Sea. The Sirena Group headquarter is in Naerum North of Copenhagen with sales offices in Denmark, the UK, Canada, China and the US. Seafood from the North Atlantic Ocean is greatly appreciated by consumers worldwide. Fish and shellfish living in the cold ocean grow slowly with top quality and unique taste as the result.
