Effective immediately, Diederik Vos has taken over leadership of SQS Software Quality Systems, a specialist in software quality.
As CEO and chairman of the board, Vos replaces SQS co-founder and former CEO Rudolf van Megen, who is stepping down. Vos has been a member of the SQS board since March 2011, in the role of COO.
Part of SQS' international footprint is SQS Group SA, an independent testing company in SA that was founded in March 2004. Located in Durban and Johannesburg, SQS SA currently has about 150 employees. The company provides offshore as well as local testing services, focusing on functional testing (manual and automation), performance testing and quality assurance
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In a statement, the company notes that Vos has made a key contribution to driving the strategic development of SQS over the past year. In his role as COO, it adds, he identified the core drivers in markets relevant to SQS and aligned the company's product and service portfolio for further growth.
Principally, the company explains, Vos has focused the business on six core industries of banking, retail/logistics, insurance, energy, manufacturing and telecommunications. He has been instrumental in growing SQS' managed (testing) services, in particular, and has focused the company's business on major projects.
"At SQS, I am taking over as the head of the world's leading specialist in software testing and quality management", says Vos. "In Europe, we rank among the top four players in the market. For several years, our growth rates have significantly exceeded those for the general IT services market.
"This can be attributed largely to Rudolf van Megen, the co-founder of SQS, who has led the company for 30 years. Building on the foundations created by him, we now plan to further consolidate SQS' position in international markets."
SQS is set to continue to grow faster than the market for software testing and quality management overall, according to Vos. "We are looking to achieve that growth by focusing strongly on our core industries and expanding our managed services activities."
Vos' goal over the next two years is to boost earnings from software testing, in the form of managed services, to 40% of total revenue.
In addition, the new CEO will be looking to build SQS' business in the US and expand its activities in the areas of software testing and certification of software products.
"This growth will be accompanied by a further increase in SQS' profitability", explains Vos.
A native of the Netherlands and an experienced international manager, Vos, 48, has extensive expertise in the areas of managed services, IT services and management consulting.
Before joining SQS, he helped to drive change processes at a number of companies, increasing profitability and customer satisfaction. His previous roles include spells at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Avaya and International Network Services.
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