| Embrace

Before we introduce the new (er) e Embrace MT, we would like to look back on 2024. We say a Christmas greeting to a special year, where we have developed hard, beautiful implementations for new (and existing!) Embrace organizations were allowed to celebrate, sometimes being too optimistic with roadmaps and expectations, but all in all, they had a healthy year full of growth. We look back on the basis of a number of did you know... figures.

Did you know that?

Does the Netherlands have 8.3 million homes? Of these, 2.3 million fall under social housing, of which Embrace manages 1.4 million with our software solutions together with Aareon NL. The digital services Embrace Customers suite was introduced in 2024 to 7 new corporations, including WoonFriesland, Accolade and Woonwaarts.
As a result, 65+ corporations are working better and more fully with Embrace. Newly delivered functionality in 2024 — such as the AI assistant, the digital income statement, new omnichannel modules and more functionality in the field of data-driven work (PowerBI analytics and Azure Synapse connection) and business-oriented work (quality of life records) were successfully implemented in 2024.
In addition, there are 1.1 million commercial rental properties (CRE), of which Aareon has a market share of 54%. For Embrace, this is a completely new market. Thanks to a number of great Customers implementations, such as Hoekstra and Schep, we went from 0 to 4 CRE customers this year!
All those homes are located in 342 municipalities. 9 of them became Embrace Social customers this year; our employee portal. This brings the total to 131 municipalities that start the working day with Embrace. That is 38.3% of all Dutch municipalities and involves approximately 78,000 government professionals!
Embrace Social remains the best-rated social intranet in the Netherlands: together with ARAG, we won prizes this year!
Embrace Social also remains popular in healthcare: a warm welcome to other Greater Rotterdam and Interzorg. Or what do you think of the community platforms for Sigra and Anders Werken in de Zorg?
We attended many events, such as Corporatieplein and The National Intranet Symposium. Our own events received great results: the Social webinar received 8.2 and Customers User Day 8.8! Next year, we will do it for all our products user days on location in Burger's Zoo.
Finally, we would like to thank our 9 new (integration) collaborations and partnerships: Facilitor, AFAS, ONS Nedap, ChatGPT (OpenAI), Blue Mountain, Shift2 (SIM), REMS, Covenant Data Standards (Aedes).

Part of the Aareon family

In March 2023, Aaron took The Netherlands takes over Embrace's shares. Through the cooperation with Aareon, Embrace has been given more opportunities to achieve its ambitions. The European network, the strong position in the real estate market and the strong partnership with Microsoft make Aareon the ideal partner.

Martin Holwerda, director of Embrace: “We found it important to find a strategic buyer for Embrace who not only wants to invest in further growth, but also wants to offer us the space to remain independent and, above all, ourselves. Aareon is this party.”

Two years later, in Q1 2025, Martin Holwerda (CEO) and Martijn Weesjes (COO) will say goodbye to Embrace. Ilse Polak, current Head of Consultancy, will also leave Embrace. Although this was known internally for some time and a lot of work has been done on a transfer, with 6+23+8=37 years of joint service, we will miss a lot of experience, quality and fun.

New (er) Embrace MT

After an end, there is also a new beginning: a new (er) MT. The new Embrace MT will be supported by Aareon's executive team. Jeroen Kuiper (CEO Aareon NL) has expressed confidence in this composition and recognizes the importance of an autonomous Embrace MT.

Just introduce yourself

Although the names below are familiar faces for many of our customers, Erik, Hans, Johan, Rutger and Dennis are happy to introduce themselves (again).

Erik Thijssen, COO

As COO, Erik is responsible for the daily management of the operational activities within Embrace: ensuring operational efficiency, increasing customer satisfaction and optimizing business processes. He does this by leading the Delivery, Service & Support, and Platform (DevOps and Infrastructure) departments. In addition, together with Aareon, Erik is responsible for Security & Compliance.

Erik has been working for Embrace since 2018. Before that, he was almost twenty years old (!) part of Qvision, the precursor to the current Embrace Housing. As Head of Software Development, Erik already had a lot to do with process automation within housing corporations.

Erik started in 1987 on an IBM PC XT with 640 KB memory and wrote his first software in GW-BASIC. This real computer geek worked for a long time in Ghana as a volunteer school coordinator, teaching students basic Word and Excel lessons (if there was enough power that day!).

Hans Eilers, CPO

CPO stands for Chief Product Officer. In normal human language, this means that Hans is primarily responsible for all Embrace product (development) and product development.

Hans has been working at Embrace since 2018. This gives him more than 20 years of experience in various technical roles. From developer to technical consultant, and from product owner to head of product. Prior to Embrace, Hans did this at software suppliers Clockwork and TheFactor.e.

Hans grew up in South Africa and studied Commercial Law here (in both English and Afrikaans!). Today, Hans lives multigenerationally with his parents, brother and mother-in-law in Wijster.

Johan de Boer, CFO

Johan, our Chief Financial Officer (or financial all-rounder), is responsible for policy and implementation of everything about finance & control.

Johan is our most experienced MT member. Johan has been working as CFO for Aareon NL since 2014. Add to that nearly twenty years of various positions (from business unit manager to director) at ImTech and five years of controller at KPMG, and you arrive at an impressive source of knowledge and experience.

Did you know that Johan studies Russian in his spare time? Russia is a bit dubious these days, but languages are particularly interested. Now just wait until Russia can be visited safely again...

Rutger de Vries, Head of Sales

As commercial manager, Rutger is responsible for all account management, business development, sales and marketing within Embrace.

From most experienced to least experienced! Rutger is the youngest Embrace MT member (26) and has been with Embrace since 2019. Once started as a graduate researcher before studying Business Administration, and after a years of role as account manager, he moved on to Head of Sales.

Did you know that Rutger is fluent in Mandarin?! This is because, as part of his development process at Embrace, he studied in Taipei (Taiwan) for a number of years. The Chinese language was part of his MBA here; since then, speaking Mandarin better and better has become a useful hobby.

Dennis van Kuilenburg, Head of Consultancy

As head of consultancy, Dennis is responsible for all implementations, projects and (business) consultancy within Embrace.

Finally, our newest MT member: Dennis. And where the role as an MT'er is new, Dennis has been a familiar face to our customers since 2019. This in the role of business consultant and project manager. In addition, Dennis has years of experience in similar roles at Batavia Group, Wortell, KPN and Getronics, among others.

Dennis is skilled in everything about technology (resulting in a 100% smart home) and grows red peppers to get away from the keyboard. Spicy!

No price increases and additional indexation for existing customers in 2025

We have seen in the market around us that after recent acquisitions, there is a trend of additional indexing in the following years on top of the agreed prices and delivery terms. Somehow, this is understandable; integrating companies involves additional costs that have to be recouped somewhere. In addition, we also experience considerable additional costs due to indexing suppliers such as Microsoft (such as Azure platform price increases) and rising salaries of software developers. Despite this, the Embrace MT decides not to apply price increases for existing customers (or additional indexation) in 2025.

“We work with the Embrace employee and tenant portals primarily for local governments, housing associations and healthcare. All organizations with an important social purpose. That is why we find it crucial to have a transparent pricing policy and not to provide our customers and partners with unexpected costs.”
Erik Thijsen - COO Embrace

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! <3

There is plenty planned for 2025. We will soon share the roadmaps for the coming year for digital services (Customers) if the employee portal (Social). Because great collaborations, implementations, products, partnerships and new functionalities are also planned in the coming year. But first: enjoy the well-deserved holidays together! We wish all our customers, employees, partners and suppliers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let's all make it an even better 2025! 🚀