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Strategic assumptions of the Atende Capital Group

for the years 2020–2021

Summary

Over the next two years, the Atende Group is planning to develop based on the use of market advantages, resulting from extensive engineering knowledge and accumulated technical skills. The main growth directions will be based on the Group’s advantages and the development directions set out in the previous company strategy, with even greater focus on sales of services, development of new products and strengthening of synergies in the Group.

Priority will be given to the provision of integration services and IT maintenance for demanding customers while simultaneously increasing the sales of proprietary solutions based on innovative software and sales of products which are electronic devices designed in the Group’s laboratories.

The experience of previous years has shown that these services and solutions can also attract interest in foreign markets. It is precisely the sales in foreign markets that is becoming one of the most important objectives to be achieved in the coming years.

Excellent financial standing, including no credit encumbrance, increases the Group’s potential to fulfil strategic objectives.

Strategy implementation in 2018–2019 and strategic objectives for 2020–2021

Implementation of the 2018–2019 strategy

The previous strategy for 2018–2019 set four main strategic objectives:

Maintaining and developing key areas of expertise;
Shifting offering towards subscription-based services;
Development of proprietary software based on new technologies;
Export of products and services with global potential.

The analysis carried out at the end of 2019 shows that the strategic objectives for 2018–2019 were achieved. However, there is some variation in terms of effectiveness of implementation of the main strategic assumptions: two of the strategic objectives, namely Objective 1 (“Maintaining and developing key areas of expertise”) and Objective 3 (“Development of proprietary software based on new technologies”), were fulfilled in a fully satisfactory manner. The two remaining strategic objectives were also fulfilled, but the effectiveness of their implementation must be improved.

Strategic objectives for 2020–2021

The analysis of the Group’s successes over the past two years has shown that the chosen direction is the correct one and there is no reason to dramatically change the strategy. Therefore, the main strategic assumptions made so far will be consistently continued in 2020–2021. However, we are making the necessary modifications, in particular taking into account the leading global innovative technologies, such as 5G telecommunications, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, as well as by placing more emphasis on subscription services and export.

The main strategic objectives for 2020–2021 are as follows:

Maintaining and developing key areas of expertise, including in the field of mobile telecommunications, taking into account the 5G technology;
Development of software and services based on it, as well as development of design and construction of electronic devices based on proprietary technical solutions, including IoT, AI and blockchain technologies;
Intensification of development and sales of services, with an emphasis on subscription services;
Development of export based on sales of own products and services.
An important element of the strategy in a listed company is increasing the company’s value. Due to the poor condition of the capital market, no such increase was achieved in the previous period. However, it was possible to pay the shareholders significant dividends with a growing value.

We intend to pursue the policy of sharing profits with shareholders in the form of dividend payments and an important objective for 2020–2021 — complementing the four above objectives — will be:
Increasing the Company’s value.
The actual value of the Company will obviously depend on the economic improvement of the capital market. As far as possible economic improvement is concerned, the Management Board of the Issuer is optimistic.

At the end of 2019, Atende was a Capital Group consisting of eight companies with growing market potential, with a number of innovative products, a good history of first sales in foreign markets, as well as a significant cash reserve. Therefore, 2020 and 2021 should be years of rapid growth and a strengthening of the Group’s market position.

Vision, mission and values

We will continue to develop the Company without changing our vision, mission and values.

1. Vision

To be the partner of first choice for companies and organisations requiring the highest standards of IT support.

2. Mission

To build the success of our clients through innovative IT solutions.

3. Values

top quality
ethics and responsibility
passion

Implementation of strategic objectives in 2020–2021

Maintaining and developing key areas of expertise and development of proprietary software based on new technologies

The main strategic objective is still maintaining and developing key areas of expertise, as well as development of the Atende Group’s own products. In the field of mobile telecommunications, critical infrastructure, multimedia telecommunications, smart power industry and healthcare, unique solutions have been created and developed in the group. They are implemented in the production environment and used by customers. It is necessary to continue these directions of development in a consistent manner, taking into account innovative technologies, both in the parent company and in subsidiaries.

The Issuer will keep specialising in the execution of complex integration projects, characterised by the highest level of technological complexity, based on solutions of leading global suppliers. It will be much more reliant on its own products and services, in particular through previously gained experience and knowledge of new trends in technology — 5G and blockchain technologies.

Subsidiaries will continue to develop services and software, as well as design and manufacture electronic devices, using their technical competences and previously acquired experience, including in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or the Internet of Things (IoT).

Intensification of development and sales of services, with an emphasis on subscription services

Our intention is for the share of sales of proprietary software and services based on this software to dominate in the Group’s total revenue and margin, as is already the case for the majority of subsidiaries. We are planning to create new innovative services, which will be sold on a continuous and recurrent basis.

In order to step up the development of services in the parent company, organisational changes are being implemented. At the beginning of 2020, the Dedicated Services Solutions Division was created, whose task is to develop and sell services based largely on proprietary products and products of selected third-party companies.

We will be striving more than ever to achieve a structure of sales between sectors, with particular emphasis on increasing sales to the financial sector while maintaining a good position in the telecommunications and media sectors. The possibility of using the Group’s innovative product in the power sector will depend mainly on new political openness in the field of energy strategy for Poland, which, in the opinion of the Management Board, has a chance of becoming a reality.

Companies from the Group can boast many innovative products, taking into account the latest global technological trends. The brief characteristics of some of these are given below. These products are prepared for both the domestic and global markets.

Development of export based on sales of own products and services

The Atende Group will pay particular attention to the intensification of exports of own products and services, in particular those with global potential. In the previous period, both Atende and the Group companies were able to take the first steps in foreign expansion and therefore it can be assumed that the years 2020–2021 will be a period of significant revenue and profits from sales outside the domestic market. It should be expected that digital transformation will also result in further increase in interest (in foreign markets) in the flagship products from the Group’s portfolio associated with online television, smart power industry or IT outsourcing.

It is worth adding that foreign sales will be developed on a two-track basis: organically, through development activities as part of existing products and competences, as well as through potential acquisition activities.

Increasing the Company’s value

The key element of care for increasing the Company’s value is implementation of the above strategy within the scope of operational activities, which are intended to lead to stable growth in revenue and profits. The next two years should be crucial for achieving this objective due to the accumulated capital in the form of many new and promising products created in the Group.

The Company will also seek to conclude favourable cooperation agreements with both supplier counterparties and customers of technologies and products created in the Group’s laboratories. Good relations with counterparties will, in the opinion of the Management Board, contribute to mutual success. Examples of such relations are partnership agreements concerning innovative projects, signed recently with Apator S.A. and NASK S.A.

An essential element of the increase in the value of the Company is the construction of its brand. We intend to continue to build the brand of Atende and the Atende Group through active participation in prestigious conferences, congresses and other events, while always emphasising our particular position in the hierarchy of high technology companies and that of a company with uncompromising business ethics. We intend to continue to support the University of Warsaw in organising the annual Science Festival and other pro-educational activities aimed at creating Polish IT potential from the ground up. We are also planning to support the leading cultural institutions and high culture projects, inter alia by retaining the patronage of the Polish Theatre in Warsaw and the Silesia Theatre in Katowice.

The Issuer will also take care of the shape of the Group’s structure, seeking synergies in cooperation between its companies. On 27 December 2019, an agreement was concluded for the sale of all shares of the Issuer in Sputnik Software, for the amount of PLN 16.2 million. The obtained funds can be used to finance the development or acquisition of companies which will, in a short run, bring strengthening of the Group’s market position and increase in the profits.

Both the Issuer and all companies of the Group intend to pay much attention to care for the employees, their continuing education and a good working culture. We are planning to continue to successfully select the most talented workers from the market and their development in line with the principle that the most important company capital is human capital.

The Issuer intends to continue to finance development in a secure manner, while attempting to limit itself solely to using its own resources. We believe that keeping debt at a low level is the key to financial stability of the Company. The expected effect of the strategy described above is a sustainable combination of a stable dividend policy with rational funding of initiatives oriented towards the growth of the Company’s value and consistent development of the brand’s value.

Strategic action areas in Atende

Outsourcing services for demanding customers (Atende, Trust IT)

As a result of an increasing number of business applications and the need to handle both employees and customers in the network, the expectations of businesses vis-à-vis internal IT departments are changing. For this reason, ICT network and system maintenance services will be more and more frequently outsourced by our customers. We are striving to achieve a much bigger share of outsourcing services in the total sales of the Group. As Atende, we are anticipating a particular opportunity to develop in this area due to long-standing experience with leading manufacturers of hardware and software, as well as due to having a team of certified engineers with exceptional qualifications. The offering is supplemented in this regard by Atende Business Cloud — a proprietary cloud offered in the IaaS model (Infrastructure as a Service). Our outsourcing offering in respect of HelpDesk services, on the other hand, is complemented by Trust IT.

Packet networks, 5G and SMaCS, i.e. dedicated solutions for operators (Atende)

Our experience and competences are valued today by customers from the telecommunications operators sector, in particular as regards user and transmission quality management, network monitoring and the service settlement systems. We have been working with Cisco Systems for years, implementing the Packet Core solutions for all major customers in the mobile telecommunications sector in Poland. We have already taken the first step on the path to implementing 5G in operators’ networks and these activities will be intensified in the coming years. In response to rapid changes in technology and new scenarios developed by mobile operators in respect of their services, we are developing our proprietary system, SMaCS (Service Management and Charging System), among others in respect of the 5G network. With the SMaCS system, Internet service providers can improve the quality of products offered — through meeting the needs of their customers — by creating new services and placing them on the market fast and at a relatively low cost. SMaCS will also be offered by the company in foreign markets.

Atende ChainDoc (Atende)

Atende is one of the market leaders in terms of the number of commercial deployments based on the blockchain technology. Our concept is to create private blockchain networks dedicated to specific industries, based on the entities admitted to this network and their trusted nodes, as well as the Central Trusted Node supplied by NASK S.A. Thanks to attributes such as non-repudiation, invariability and durability of recorded transactions and/or documents, the solution is perfectly consistent with the digital transformation trends of companies and institutions and allows for development of solutions in the “paperless” model. The largest number of projects implemented by Atende so far concerns the so-called durable medium to be used in communication between banks and consumers — within the framework of the ChainDoc system. Further development of sales to the financial industry is planned, as well as sales to other industries, including logistics. The company also intends to promote the solution in foreign markets.

Smart Monitoring and the Managed Services offering (Atende)

The proprietary Smart Monitoring system is based on three pillars. It is a tool for monitoring the ICT and technical infrastructure (tailored to the needs of the customer based on dedicated sensors), depending on the selected model of service, supplemented by the knowledge of Atende experts and engineers and response to alerts in the monitoring system. Thanks to the Smart Monitoring system, we are able to anticipate possible malfunctions at the customers’ end, and thanks to the written-down response procedures based on the ITIL library, we can pro-actively respond to them. The service is addressed to customers from the medium and large enterprise sector, in particular those whose own IT resources and whose customers’ IT resources are limited in some areas, whose IT departments focus mainly on supporting business processes in their organisations and which seek a competent and stable partner that will secure their business continuity in terms of their infrastructure. The Smart Monitoring service is supplemented by the Managed Services offering. In its basic version, Smart Monitoring is a good starting point for more advanced service projects.

Cyber-security (Atende)

We are successfully developing and planning further development of integration of cyber-security solutions — from technology for ensuring network security (including firewalls, IPS, DNS protection, anti-DDoS) and security management systems (including SIEM and SOAR) to ensuring the security of terminals and data. One of the key sectors in terms of further development in this area is the power sector (including OT security, SCADA systems). We are also expanding the offering for the telecommunications, finance and public sectors.

Areas of strategic action in Group companies

The redGalaxy internet TV system (Atende Software)

Atende Software is planning to maintain the leading position in the Polish market, as far as providers of technology for internet TV are concerned, in particular for broadcasters, mobile operators and cable operators, based on its proprietary product: redGalaxy. The company is planning to develop sales abroad, having completed its first large reference project, carried out for the American company All Media Baltics, whose assets cover Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The services are provided in the subscription-based mode.

Smart power industry solutions (Atende Software)

Smart Grids are new-generation electricity grids linking traditional distribution networks with ICT technologies. They are the inevitable future of the global power industry due to the fact that current from smart grids can be cheaper and more ecological, and the grids themselves can be managed much more efficiently. The company has successfully implemented a large-scale smart metering system for Energa Operator. The implemented system, redGrid, is a complex platform that allows for remote reading and parametrisation of measuring equipment, implementation of business processes of electricity grid distributors and provides comprehensive service of measurement and business data. In anticipation of the increase in contracts for software for smart grids in Poland, Atende Software is developing a proprietary IT platform, besmart.energy, to manage energy clusters (entities cooperating with each other within the so-called distributed power industry). The solution was developed within the framework of the project implemented by Atende Software, co-financed by the Intelligent Development Operational Programme.

Internet of Things software (Phoenix Systems)

The real-time operating system Phoenix-RTOS by Phoenix Systems is capable of handling the necessary functionalities of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. In 2018, the company made its software available in the open-source model on the GitHub portal. A special version of the system was used to construct an “intelligent” gas meter — iSmart — produced by Apator Metrix. In the coming years, there are plans to develop cooperation with Apator in the context of production of a new generation of electricity meters, which fit in with the concept of construction of the LTE 450 network for the purposes of the electricity system. It will be one of the first solutions of this type in the global market.

E-health (Atende Medica)

After years of stagnation, Poland has joined the worldwide trend in the computerisation of health services without circulation of medical documents in paper form. New legal requirements related to the introduction of electronic medical documentation (EMD), electronic prescription handling systems (e-prescription), electronic referrals (e-referral) and regulation of the status of remote service provision or stricter control of trading in medicines and medical materials will require healthcare entities to adjust their IT systems. Atende Medica is fully prepared to meet this demand.

eCars — electromobility software (A2 Customer Care)

In view of the planned development of the electric car market in Poland, A2 Customer Care extended its product offering to include the eCars system — software to manage electric car charging stations and collection of money for recharging. A good starting point for a widespread market launch is the fact that the solution has so far been used in the pilot implementation in Warsaw and at petrol stations of one of the significant fuel suppliers.

Design of integrated circuits and electronic devices (OmniChip)

OmniChip is planning to further develop its main area of expertise, based on designing integrated circuits. In subsequent years, particular attention will be paid to the creation of so-called IP blocks for integrated circuits used in Near Field Communications (NFC). This technology is increasingly used in the world of Internet of Things (IoT). Examples of applications include the food industry (maintenance of appropriate food storage and transport conditions), clothing industry (verification of product authenticity) or Bluetooth connectivity. The company will focus on the development of foreign sales.

Akadi — air quality measuring device (OmniChip)

Smog and its impact on our lives is becoming an increasingly important problem not only in the opinion of the young generation, but also for policymakers, the central administration, local governments, as well as companies and corporations which care about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). OmniChip has designed and manufactured an air quality measuring station — Akadi, which meets high measurement standards, obtained through cooperation with scientists from the Warsaw University of Technology. The device allows for reliable and diligent measurement of suspended particulates (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10) and other impurities (e.g. nitrogen and sulphur oxides). Current pilot programmes confirm the quality of the devices. Intensive development of sales of this meter is planned.

Tailored software (EDL, Codeshine)

Energy Data Lab, which specialises in software for the power industry in the field of demand control, has undergone thorough product restructuring due to the complete standstill in this area in Poland. It also changed the brand name to Codeshine. The objective for the coming years is to provide customers from different sectors with high-quality online software, including consultancy, development support and maintenance services. One of the first projects implemented according to the new assumptions of the company is the TGI Smart application, executed in close cooperation with and for Kantar. It is an innovative platform for monitoring consumer phenomena, located in the AWS cloud, offering standardised analytical reports. Codeshine, using previously gained competences within the scope of processing Big Data, has an interesting offering, which it intends to use mainly for foreign expansion.