3 questions to...Wiz-Team Advisory Board Member Eckhard Frank
Eckhard Frank – Advisory Board Member
Eckhard Frank, an engineer by profession who transitioned to the finance sector before holding senior positions at Longines, Swiss Timing and ETA, has been a Member of Wiz-Team’s Advisory Board since 2018. Having retired in 2016, Eckhard still enjoys being involved and sharing his experience, especially with young, ambitious and forward-thinking companies and their people.
Eckhard has known Wiz-Team’s Chief Operations Officer (COO), Tim Goethals, for quite some time, first through Swiss Timing and Tim’s involvement in the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), and later by living in the same neighbourhood. When Tim told him in 2018 about his plans to register Wiz-Team as a Public Limited Company (LTD), scale up, and create an Advisory Board, Eckhard’s entrepreneurial mind was immediately hooked, ready to support this exciting journey.
We caught up with Eckhard to hear his thoughts on Wiz-Team’s development over the past few years, what he believes sets them apart, and which industry trends to watch out for.
What do you think about Wiz-Team’s journey and how did you support it?
I think it has been an extraordinary journey, with Wiz-Team proving to be an exceptionally agile company. Having led several scaling-up processes during my own professional career, I wouldn’t have dared to imagine the speed of Wiz-Team’s growth over the last few years. Clearly, this is the result of considerable effort at the management level.
Within the Advisory Board, we had a few members who pushed for rapid growth, while others – including myself – wanted to be a bit more conservative at first. In the end, the drive for growth proved to be the right path forward! I am proud of what Wiz-Team has achieved and very glad to have played a part in it.
Given my professional background and career, I have probably been most useful in the areas of finance, business development and relationship building. At ETA, I oversaw more than 9,000 people in this area, which enabled me to advise Wiz-Team on the many legal and regulatory requirements that must be met under Swiss law during the growth process. Staying ahead of these legal needs is certainly easier when you are on the Advisory Board!
What do you think sets Wiz-Team apart?
It all comes back to agility – Wiz-Team moves much faster than others, especially in comparison to larger, more traditional companies with long-standing clients.
In addition, thanks to Johann’s (i.e. Wiz-Team Founder and CEO Johann Woringer) outstanding event management know-how, they own a very smart solution which they can configure and deliver quickly to a wide range of clients. It doesn’t take them long to turn things around.
A good example is their volunteer management tool, which was provided at short notice to the organisers of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne to handle the registration of, and data collection from, 4,000 volunteers. Likewise, the Baton Relay Nominations and Route Planning application developed for the 2022 Commonwealth Games proved to be a timely and popular solution – not only in Birmingham, but also among organisers of other major international multi-sports events.
Finally, a key success factor is undoubtedly Wiz-Team’s leadership. Johann, as CEO, and Tim, as COO, are a great match, complementing each other perfectly. The composition of the Advisory Board, with its wealth of relevant expertise, is also a significant asset.
Which industry trends do you think will be most relevant for Wiz-Team in 2025?
Three things come to my mind: security, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and partnerships.
Let me start with security, which I see as a horizontal task: we must ensure the security of our products while making life as easy as possible for our clients. Wiz-Team handles a lot of data and must do everything possible to prevent potential cyber threats. Security is also vital internally, in terms of organisation, structure and processes. Wiz-Team must always be able to deliver – I firmly believe successful delivery is the driving force behind all future activities.
Secondly, we have AI, which is having a significant impact across virtually all sectors – and event management is no exception. We need a clear strategy for how to approach it: how to leverage AI’s benefits in our work and products, and how to manage the associated risks.
Thirdly, strategic partnerships will continue to be key to Wiz-Team’s success. We must keep making conscious choices about which service or product providers to partner with and carefully evaluate the benefits for both parties. Wiz-Team doesn’t need to do everything in-house – when specific expertise is required, we can partner with others to deliver the best solutions quickly and efficiently to our clients. One example that comes to mind is face recognition technology: we can integrate existing solutions into our platform. Integration is key – now and in the future.
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