George Hasapakos: We decided to set up in Cyprus to offer our existing European clients a second choice of location for Nearshore Support and Services

The Sword Group’s decision to open an office in Nicosia was prompted by the company’s goal to offer its existing European clients a second choice of location when it comes to providing Nearshore Support and Services, according to George Hasapakos, Business Development Director - and the man in charge - of SWORD Group Cyprus.

Another key reason was that Cyprus has a wide network of double tax treaties, allowing companies to avoid double taxation which is critical for international tech companies, he said in an interview with CBN.

SWORD Lebanon recently expanded its operations by establishing a local presence in Nicosia to leverage on the existing Lebanese experience and to further scale up the team capacity through new recruits for serving both Cyprus and the European clients.

Can you tell us about Sword Group? When was it established in Cyprus?

SWORD Group is an international Consulting, Service and Software company driving global leaders in their digital & technology transformation.

Created in November 2000, the group has a current headcount of 3,000+ staff operating for clients in more than 50 countries. SWORD offers its customers comprehensive and integrated responses, on both the strategic approach and the execution.

As a system integrator and consultancy company, SWORD offers a range of specialised, high added-value solutions and services.

We combine an understanding of our customers’ businesses with market knowledge and technical expertise to develop competitive advantages for our customers.

• In the field of IT Services, SWORD provides strategic and technology consulting services, high value-added integration and digital transformation.
• In the field Software, the Group offers leading products in financial asset management, risk management, patent and intellectual property management, as well as products designed for the health sector.

Our permanent goal of excellence and leadership is built in line with the group's founding values: Respect, Rigor and Involvement.

Specialties

Digital Services, Data & AI, Digital Workplace, Platform & Security, Digital Transformation, Managed Services, Information Management, Software Development, and Risk & Compliance

Sword Group Presence:

The Group has offices in 17 countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, England, France, Greece, India, Lebanon, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States) and is working on projects in some 50 nations.

As of 31 December 2023, Sword Group employed over 3,015 people and had a consolidated revenue of €288.1 million.

How easy was it to set up offices in Cyprus? Was the process seamless?

The support we have received from Invest Cyprus has been very positive and the team we collaborated with have been professional and friendly. The process was quite straightforward, and we have also had the help of our local financial company consultancy office.

Our office in now in the heart of Nicosia, located at 121 Prodromou Street, and we welcome anyone who wants to know more about our group services offering to come and visit us.

In Cyprus, we already have an established team of experienced professionals working on diverse client projects across the EU, delivering software development and consulting services across a range of technologies.

We are looking forward to the future of Sword Group within Cyprus and we expect to see the island become a key tech hub in the region.

How exactly does Sword Group help its partners streamline their business, improve quality and reduce costs?

As a company with strong, sustainable and profitable growth, the SWORD Group follows a development plan based on specialisation, proximity and the quality of its expertise and services.

By working with carefully selected organisations, we continue to bring innovative ideas to our customers, while maintaining our business knowledge, technical expertise and innovation capacity.

Sword has developed unique expertise in the following targeted markets:

• Health
• Luxury Industry
• Aerospace & Defence
• Sport
• Energy
• Finance
• Transportation
• Government
• International Orgs
• Construction

In these markets Sword is a day-to-day partner for these organisations across its entire range of services, providing them with support for their IT strategy and key operational issues.

Sword Group helps its partners streamline business operations, improve quality, and reduce costs through several key strategies:

1. Digital Transformation: Sword assists organisations in adopting digital tools and technologies, enabling more efficient processes and better data management.
2. Consulting Services: Sword Group offers strategic consulting to identify inefficiencies and provide tailored solutions, ensuring that businesses can optimise their workflows.
3. Custom Software Development: By creating bespoke software solutions, Sword helps automate processes, reduce manual errors, and improve overall productivity.
4. Data Analytics: Sword’s expertise in data analytics allows partners to make informed decisions based on real-time data insights, enhancing quality and reducing waste.
5. Cloud Solutions: Implementing cloud technologies enables scalable operations and better resource management, ultimately lowering costs and improving flexibility.
6. Training and Support: Sword provides training for teams to maximise the benefits of new technologies and processes, ensuring smooth transitions and sustained improvements.

Overall, Sword Group focuses on leveraging technology and expertise to create a more efficient, cost-effective, and quality-driven environment for its partners.

Sword Group has collaborated with some major international brands. Which ones would you say stand out?

Over the years Sword Group has been collaborating successfully with various technology companies such as Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, ServiceNow, and SAP. Recently Sword Group Middle East is building a team of Liferay (open-source company focused on enterprise portal technology) consultancy and development experts.

Furthermore:

- Sword Luxembourg was recognised was as the winner of 2024 Microsoft Luxembourg Partner of the Year.

The company was honoured among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.

- Sword has signed an Exclusive Partnership (as the exclusive IT service provider) with WADA - the World Anti-Doping Agency.

- Sword established a partnership with Esker to market its Accounts Payable Solution. Esker is a worldwide leader in AI-driven process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing. Esker’s automation platform complements Sword’s solution portfolio and will allow Sword to provide its customers and prospects with the most comprehensive offer, encompassing all aspects of financial processes.

- Sword Group has also partnered with Aurachain (the low-code software development platform) to deliver high-impact process automation solutions to enterprise organizations in the Middle East.

- Sword Completed the First Electronic Signature of a Contract on a Blockchain in France. For this first contract, Sword Group decided to use the Bitcoin blockchain for the security that it provides. Access to the blockchain, management of its keys and the encryption processes were completed using the solutions provided by the French software company Woleet. Proof of the signature is stored in a Bitcoin transaction and was implemented in compliance with the Chainpoint protocol.

The contract signed involved the new partnership for the distribution and integration of electronic signature solutions on the Woleet blockchain by Sword Group.

- For the third year in a row, Sword is the Premium Partner of the Olympique Lyonnais Women’s Team.

It’s also important to celebrate the trust and loyalty of all our customers, regardless of their size. Their confidence in our services motivates us to maintain a high level of support and continually improve.

Overall as Sword Group our biggest customers are:

• British Petroleum UK| US
• DG Digital Services BeNeLux
• DG for Justice and Consumers BeNeLux
• DG for Taxation and Customs Union BeNeLux
• Etat de Vaud Switzerland
• European Parliament BeNeLux
• European Patent Office BeNeLux
• Richemont Switzerland
• Serica Energy UK
• UBP Switzerland

However we are also appreciative of Sword Middle East Group (in which Cyprus belongs to) customers such as: CMA-CGM, Eurocontrol, UEFA, WADA to name a few.

How high is demand for digital transformation solutions right now? What trends do you expect businesses to follow in the next few years?

We currently witness a strong demand for digital transformation solutions in the EU and Middle East. Digital transformation aims to improve speed, security, agility and operability. As digital transformation remodels the modern enterprise, businesses are increasingly reliant on the smooth, secure, reliable and agile operation of custom developments, integrated systems or the bringing together of numerous components that underpin digital performance. Companies continuously strive to be ahead of competition and use technology in the best way to improve processes, productivity and operational efficiency. We see a strong turn to the use of Big Data, AI in various industries, especially for predictive analysis and reporting. AI can help businesses collect, analyse, and visualise data more efficiently and effectively. This can lead to improved decision-making, increased productivity, and reduced costs. We are seeing more customers interested in cybersecurity services, investing in green energies, operational efficiency, cost reductions, resources optimisation.

As investors, what is it that attracted the group to Cyprus?

The Sword Group’s decision to open an office in Nicosia bolstered Cyprus’ reputation as a central tech hub in the European market.

This decision was also fostered from our goal to offer our existing European clients a second choice of location when it comes to providing Nearshore Support and Services.

Additionally, Cyprus has a wide network of double tax treaties, allowing companies to avoid double taxation which is critical for international tech companies.

The Cyprus business entity of Sword acts as the bridge between the Middle East and Asia, whereby we employ IT skilled resources to support our customers in Europe.

What do you believe the country can do to improve its business environment?

That’s a very good question and thank you for allowing us to answer it and give our point of view. Cyprus has many positive attributes for many companies of foreign interests. We are experiencing a challenge in finding skilled IT professionals especially software developers, ERP solutions consultants, hence we inevitably turn to nearby countries for resources. It would be advantageous to Cyprus to promote and invest in technology education.

Having a workforce with the skills that are in demand contributes to sustainable growth, leads to more innovation and improves companies' competitiveness. But we also need to attract the right skills to our country, skills that help companies and strengthen Cyprus’ growth.

We as SWORD offer software engineering internship opportunities across our application development teams in Nicosia. The teams are responsible for researching and developing web and mobile software solutions using the latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, JAVA, Angular, and REACT, etc.

This way we give the opportunities to students in their final academic year to put in practice their skills and knowledge in various projects, and at the same time they gain expertise and exposure to working in a professional multi-cultural IT environment. Upon graduation, we also aim in recruiting some of these young professionals.