Stronger together: our first year as Witted

It’s exactly a year since Software Sauna became fully part of Witted. The first year in this new setup has been fairly business as usual, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

We have continued to operate quite independently, focusing on our own customers, people and business performance. At the same time, we’ve been preparing joint offers and have already won some new business together. The deeper integration with Witted is still largely ahead of us, but the groundwork is partly in place. For instance, we already use the same CRM and HR systems.

Why joining a group is personal

I have to mention that when you spend years building a company from scratch, joining a larger group is not just another business decision. It’s also a very personal one, as you have built your own culture, ways of working, customer relationships and a team you genuinely care about. Naturally, you want to make sure those things don’t disappear along the way.

What surprised me: how little has changed

Maybe the biggest surprise is how little has actually changed so far. When a company becomes part of a larger group, you expect things to start evolving quite quickly. In reality, the transition has been more gradual.

On a personal level, one of my biggest learnings has been that these processes take time. As an entrepreneur, I’m used to making decisions quickly and moving things forward. A larger organization naturally has more stakeholders, different priorities and sometimes different ways of approaching things.

What each side brings to the table

I believe Software Sauna brings Witted a well-established international delivery organization with strong technical talent in Croatia and the Western Balkans, along with years of experience building and running a highly profitable nearshore business. In return, being part of Witted gives Sauna access to a broader customer base, a stronger market position and opportunities that would be harder to pursue independently as a small player.

What comes next

The next phase will be more interesting from an integration perspective. We need to combine the strengths of both organizations without complicating things that already work. We also need to build genuine collaboration between teams, not just align processes and org charts. In my view, those are the things that will ultimately determine how successful this combination becomes.

For me, success goes beyond financial results. I’d like to see Sauna’s people keep developing, new opportunities open up across the group, and the entrepreneurial culture we’ve built remain part of nearshoring organization’s DNA.

I’m already looking ahead to next year, but first, let’s wrap up this one before the holidays!