Since it was founded in 1925, Atradius has become the market leader in the field of credit insurance for every type of business in the Netherlands. SMEs, large international companies and multinationals can choose from a complete range of products to cover their payment risks.
But what risks is Atradius faced with, that it wants to cover? Rijs refers to a number of disasters that have been reported in the media and says such things can happen to any company. “Our building on the outskirts of Amsterdam is almost entirely made of glass, so in the event of a disaster there can be considerable glass breakage which means we can no longer work from there. Nor is it possible to eliminate the risk of fire in our offices or in our surroundings. It’s not just us that wants to ensure optimum cover against those risks but our parent company in America also agrees with the need for that.”
Parallels with COIN
In its search for the right business continuity partner, Atradius put several candidates under the microscope. Smoorenburg: “We found other parties wanting; their services were fragmented and uncertain, and that’s something we can’t allow. Workplace recovery is COIN’s core business. That’s the big difference. They think proactively with us and propose the right solutions. We can also see clear parallels between our services and those of COIN. Our clients use us to insure against the undesirable situation of payment defaulters. We have a contract with COIN to insure us against undesirable situations whereby we can no longer use our own workstations.”
Atradius employs 500 people in Amsterdam. In the event of a disaster some of them can immediately go to COIN’s recovery location, where data and telephony are available within 4 hours. This means Atradius is able to ensure its clients optimum communications and continuity of service.