Issue 9 2019

10 Acquisition International - Issue 9 2019 Aug19036 Founded in 2006, Huddle is a privately held cloud-based collaboration software company that is headquartered in London, with additional offices in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Cape Town. As we explore their work, and the inspiring leadership of CEO Mark Wrighton, we discover the secrets to Huddle’s success. espite being an early pioneer in the business productivity and collaboration (BPC) software market, Huddle can’t afford to be complacent. Its solution, which is designed to help organisations to better collaborate not only internally, but also externally with their clients and partners, is under constant pressure to evolve and meet the needs of an ever-changing market. “The way in which organizations work has changed so much since the business was founded over 10 years ago. In the early days, just being able to share files and collaborate through the Cloud was cutting edge! Today, employees are so much more advanced and demanding. They are also more mobile, and – importantly – need to work not only with their direct colleagues, but also with an extended network of stakeholders such as external clients and partners,” explains Mark. It’s this last trend that has focussed Huddle’s (and Mark’s) attention! “Despite the advances in technology software, it remains challenging to be able to collaborate seamlessly across multiple groups and organisations. Network and application restrictions often make it impossible to extend content access to client and partners outside of a business’s firewall. These limitations can make it increasingly difficult to get work done, and so organisations default to less secure sharing apps, or simply email. This is where Huddle comes in,” says Mark. Believing that organisations today need a better way to work, Huddle offers a single, secure, collaborative space where anyone involved in a piece of work can come together to work seamlessly around content, towards a common goal. With all the activity, content and context in one secure location, work gets done quickly, securely, and with a level of engagement that other methods cannot match. Now focussed on this single, clear ambition to help people and organisations work together better, Huddle believes that collaboration not only drives productivity, but also improves the experience for everyone involved. “We work hard to ensure that the security and technical aspects of Huddle are well hidden from users. Collaboration should be fluid. You shouldn’t have to think about it. It should just work.” Mark has focussed Huddle’s operations around two major sectors; professional service firms, and government. Huddle : The Company Making Collaboration Simple and Secure D Firstly, organisations who thrive on building lasting client relationships see real value in the company not only because of the security and productivity gains that they deliver, but also because they deliver a game-changing client experience. In competitive markets such as accountancy and consulting, organisations want to collaborate with tools that allow them to deliver clients a modern, collaborative, and high-impact digital space. Secondly, governments are often restricted to using mandated tools and must follow strict data protection policies. The firm has been working with government organisations for over a decade, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. In fact, the company was the first cloud-based collaboration tool to be certified for use in the U.S. government, and now works with federal agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration. In the UK, a staggeringly impressive 80% of UK central government agencies have also used Huddle in their work. “The market is very much coming to Huddle,” adds Mark. “More and more commercial organisations are beginning to invest in the client experience, even going as far as hiring client experience directors to oversee operations. The desire to be client-obsessed has to be grounded in technology that can deliver for all parties involved. It’s no use claiming to offer a differentiated approach to client experiences, and then deploy a painfully slow application to share content and collaborate with clients (or worse still, use email). Clients expect a more transparent and engaging partnership with their service providers, and Huddle delivers this.” In the wake of serious security breaches, Huddle is also seeing usage from organisations that want to protect sensitive content. Whether it’s attacks that compromise email communications, or employees using consumer-grade sharing apps, organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the necessary balance between security and ease-of-use. To ensure that vital client data is not compromised, and lasting brand damage is not dealt, a collaborative platform like Huddle is perfect for maintaining security and corporate governance, whilst still delivering an easy-to-use, brand aligned experience for users. With a career steeped in software leadership roles, Mark’s focus is on hiring talented individuals, inspiring them to deliver the best work of their career, and motivating them to take responsibility for delivering significant business outcomes. A strong commitment to team, a