IT and telecommunications service provider MATERNA has grown by 16 per cent
Foreign growth continues
Dortmund, 2008-07-08
MATERNA Information & Communications, Germany, an expert in the IT and telecommunications sector, has achieved a group turnover of 175 million Euros in the business year 2007. This reflects an increase in turnover of 16.6 per cent compared to the previous year (2006: 150 million Euros). “Our company strategy aims at profitable growth, which we achieved last year – as in previous years,” says MATERNA Group’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ralph Hartwig. Foreign sales accounted for a significant share, which increased to 17 per cent last year (2006: 13 per cent) of total sales.
Business Unit Information:
The focus of this sector, which contributed 64 per cent of the group’s turnover last year, is business process optimisation solutions for large and medium-sized companies and the public sector. Just under one quarter of the company’s sales are generated in the public sector. MATERNA has become involved with the sectors of virtualisation, the EU directive on services in the internal market, and business process management for the first time this year, offering a comprehensive portfolio featuring IT consulting and implementation services.
Another focus for the current year is the v3 version of the IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®). ITIL is an established de-facto standard and describes tried and tested concepts and techniques which support IT departments in companies and government agencies in automating their IT operations, running them more efficiently and effectively. MATERNA is expecting another boost in this segment this year. MATERNA has launched another survey among their customers about trends in the IT service management sector and the application of ITIL. The results are expected in autumn 2008. Last year, 76 per cent of participants oriented their operations by this set of rules. Consulting and implementation services in the IT service management and ITIL segments count among MATERNA’s core competences, BMC and IBM being major software suppliers and partners in this segment. CIOs from various industries expect IT to produce a sustainable value proposition for the whole company. Consequently, the services supplied by the IT sector must be adapted to the business requirements of the individual departments and supplied in a standardised fashion.
Business in the sector of solutions for the automation of business and administration processes in government agencies, such as customs, legal authorities and security agencies has been developing strongly. An important issue with federal agencies continues to be the development of agency and staff portals to support an acceleration of internal administrative processes. A new issue in the government agencies market is the EU directive on services in the internal market, MATERNA’s IT consulting and solutions approach generated great interest at this year’s computer fair CeBIT. 2008 has seen MATERNA launch a survey among foreign trade-oriented German companies to find out which strategies they use to adapt their customs processes to the new challenges in foreign trade. More than 550 companies participated in the 2007 survey. MATERNA advises import and export-oriented companies on the implementation of the upcoming changes.
MATERNA’s recently-created infrastructure management sector offers its customers a comprehensive range of consulting and implementation services in the virtualisation, consolidation, system management, workplace management and IT security segments. A recent addition to the MATERNA service portfolio is the virtualisation check. Virtualisation separates logical IT systems from physical hardware resources, ensuring optimised efficiency in their utilisation.
“In addition, we have consolidated our Eastern European activities, which we launched last year,” says managing director and partner, Dr. Winfried Materna. “We launched a new office in Vilnius in Lithuania at the beginning of May. Our Northern European business continues to be a priority and has been developing extremely well,” adds Dr. Materna.
Despite the continued lack of skilled employees in the IT industry, MATERNA has recruited around 30 new employees since the beginning of this year. The company is looking for another 170 staff, among them consultants and software developers.
Business Unit Communications:
The MATERNA Communications sector stands for a combination of technology and creativity that is unique in the market, combining in its product portfolio content and device management, platforms and gateways, national and international MVNE solutions and attractive solutions from the mobile marketing and mobile entertainment sectors.
The MATERNA group’s telecommunications sector enjoys great renown for its innovative technology products: the high-performance MACS service delivery platform, for example, fulfils top content and service delivery requirements and supports the delivery of all kinds of contents to mobile end devices (mobile phones, PDAs etc.). MATERNA’s telecommunications experts have also developed customised content such as ticker messages and SMS services, as well as mobile marketing campaigns which supply topical information to recipients and open new opportunities for advertisers to reach new target groups and strengthen customer loyalty. Based on the MACS platform, reliable billing systems and input from its creative department, MATERNA Communications offers a full range of one-stop services for professional content marketing through network operators, service providers, companies and media enterprises.
The demand for network elements for mobile internet access has been increasing in recent months. This is a sector where MATERNA Communications has acquired a great number of customers in the former Soviet states and Asia.
The TRILINK platform for convergent messaging, chosen European Excellence in Technology of the Year by Frost & Sullivan in 2007, and the renowned Mobile Internet Gateway are only two of the high-performance network elements from the MATERNA Communications portfolio which allows companies to establish their own mobile telephone network brand. As the first German MVNE, the telecommunications service provider acts as a mobile network operator for its customers under the “vistream” brand, supplying its technological, legal and administrative expertise. In addition, the company has developed together with its customers internationally oriented models which include, along with tariff development and a variety of accounting modules, a wide range of value-added services based on SMS, MMS and speech solutions. Around 25 companies are currently offering mobile telephone services based on vistream. “Along with lively domestic demand, we have been receiving promising enquiries from other European countries almost on a weekly basis. Our unique market position has been a factor for many potential customers,” comments managing director and partner Helmut an de Meulen. Potential mobile virtual network operators from Italy, Spain, Poland and Turkey in particular are interested in MATERNA’s MVNE services.
The Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona saw MATERNA present its range of telecommunication services under the new MATERNA Communications umbrella brand for the first time. The portfolio had been marketed under the Anny Way brand since 2000, the company’s external presentation now also reflecting the changes and developments in its service range with the new brand name.
MATERNA Information & Communications
As a leading software provider specialising in information and communication technology, MATERNA employs around 1,300 staff throughout Europe. The company achieved a turnover of 160 million euro in 2008. In addition to its headquarters in Dortmund, Germany, the company operates offices and subsidiaries throughout Germany, as well as in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Finland, Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The portfolio of its information technologies sector includes process and technology consulting as well as the implementation of IT solutions for organisations and government agencies. MATERNA offers extensive expertise in the service management, infrastructure management, business process management and government & applications sectors. Its business unit communications sector supplies service platforms, premium content services and speech and video applications. In addition, the subsidiary vistream GmbH has a successful market position as MVNE and is an internationally recognised provider of fixed line network services. Its portfolio also includes CUSS solutions for airlines and airports. Its expertise in solving demanding and complex challenges for its customers has made MATERNA a sought-after partner for network operators, service providers, companies and agencies.
Further Information:
MATERNA Information & Communications
Vosskuhle 37, 44141 Dortmund, Germany
www.materna.com
Business Unit Information
Christine Siepe
Phone +49 231/55 99-1 68
Email: christine.siepe@materna.de
Business Unit Communications
Antje Krämer
Phone +49 231/55 99-83 96
Email: antje.kraemer@materna.de
