A look back at 40 years of growth, development and innovation

Matrix Software is 40 years old!

Matrix Software, part of the Civenso Group, is the specialist in building automation. "We supply software and services to structural engineers, concrete factories, steel builders and frame producers," says general manager Heico Heuver. "From our offices in Nijmegen, Winterswijk, Mechelen (Belgium) and Vilnius (Lithuania), 52 experienced and passionate employees take care of the development, sales, delivery and support of modern automation solutions. 40 years after our start, we have about 1,400 customers in the Benelux, 9,000 active software licenses and 19 powerful software packages." A look back at 40 years of growth, development and innovation.

Matrix Software's success story starts in 1983, when founders Ton van Rijswijk and Hans Scholten saw an interesting opportunity in the market. "The founding synchronized with the rise of the personal computer," says former technical director Ron Weener, who joined the company as its first employee in 1983. "At that time, the mainstream computers still consisted of mainframes and mini-systems, which, because of their size and price, were mainly used in computer centers. In 1982, however, the microcomputer was introduced, which instead of Dfl. 250,000 cost 'only' Dfl. 25,000. This made it commercially interesting to develop software for intensive calculations, such as strength calculations for engineering firms." Most software companies for mainframes and minisystems decided to downsize their package to the minicomputer, he says. "This created limitations because each company could only run one brand of computer. Instead, we started from the drawing board. This led to a uniform software program for calculating forces and deformations in structures, which was supported by all computer brands at the time. This made us unique in the market. The calculation, based on mathematical matrix calculations, was also the driving force behind our company name: Matrix Software."

Steady growth

Engineering firms were soon followed by software programs for steel construction companies and the frame industry," Weener says. In the years that followed, Matrix Software grew steadily. Both in software packages, target markets and number of employees. To accommodate all these employees, the company moved several times. In 1988 to the Keizer Karelplein in Nijmegen and in 1993 to the current building on the Wijchenseweg. "This move coincided with the 10th anniversary of Matrix Software and with the 40th anniversary we will soon grow to our next office building." In 1989, the Matrix Software team was strengthened with Heico Heuver.

Management buyout

A new turning point in the market emerges in the mid-1990s, when Microsoft breaks through Windows with Windows 95. "Over 10 years of software development for MS-DOS had to be converted in its entirety to software for the Windows platform," says Weener. "After a few pilot projects, we came to the conclusion that this required a lot of development capacity. In fact, because of the major differences in technological platforms, conversion was virtually out of the question. New software was necessary. As management of the architecture department, Heico and I wanted to start this as soon as possible, but unfortunately we did not get the cooperation we hoped for. This was because the programmers in the Construction Department were already assigned to the projects of a new and fourth target group: marketing information systems (CRM). The founders wanted to focus on this, which resulted in a management buyout in 1996. This still gave us the freedom to realize our plans."

Expansion towards Lithuania

Meanwhile, fellow companies had already completed their software for Windows 95. "Fortunately for us, a new Windows version had meanwhile been developed, which was many times more powerful," says Weener. "This gave us the opportunity to focus completely on this new development." Heuver: "The only problem was that we ran out of programmers. And as a result of Y2K and Euro conversion, the supply of new programmers was very scarce. So we decided to move to a low-wage country. After thorough research, we ended up in Lithuania. In October 1996, the greenfield operation Matrix Software Baltic was established in Vilnius, from where the rebuilding of our software took place. This allowed us to keep the bulk of our customers on board!" Meanwhile, the software developers in the Netherlands were given a new task, says Weener. "They were allowed to design the software in cooperation with our customers, which was then programmed in Vilnius. Started in 1997 with seven programmers, we now have a successful and decisive team of 20 programmers, analysts and project managers. Together with the 32 employees at our offices in Nijmegen, Winterswijk and Mechelen (sales, support, product management and management), the Matrix Software group now consists of 52 employees."

Acquisition of businesses and activities

"Because we developed our software again in Vilnius from the drawing board, with skilled programmers, we laid a very good foundation," Weener emphasizes. "Even today this is still visible. Our software is very professional and flexible, which has given us a large and loyal customer base." In addition to Matrix Software's organic growth, the company also chose to grow through company acquisitions. This has resulted, for example, in the acquisition of Softwarehouse Hilversum (1999), CAE Software (2000), Kooijman kozijnsoftware (2007), Precision Technics (2009) and ATS (2022). Moreover, with the acquisition of iTConcrete in 2017, Matrix Software took its first steps into the concrete industry. And at the beginning of October 2023, Techwin in Mechelen was acquired, with which Matrix Software intends to further strengthen and expand its customer base and geographical position in Belgium. In 2021, Matrix Software became part of Civenso Group from Sweden; a group of international software companies specializing in software for the design and production of building structures. Since then, overall day-to-day management has been in Heuver's hands. Weener is now pre-retired, but remains involved as a consultant.

Moving toward cloud-based software solutions

Anno 2023, Matrix Software is betting high on cloud-based software solutions. Indeed, following the transition from mainframes and minisystems to the minicomputer and from MS-DOS to Windows, a new market turn is currently taking place: from networked computers to the cloud. "As Matrix Software, we have been quite at the forefront of this trend," Heuver says. "In 2015, we already had a complete cloud-based web shop environment for window frames, which we are still building on. Our goal in the coming period is to bring all our software solutions to the cloud. Not only nationally, but also internationally." Indeed, under the wings of Heuver and supported by the international software companies of the Civenso Group, Matrix Software wants to expand further in Europe. There are also great opportunities in Asia. To be continued no doubt....