Medium-sized companies - Consulting Archive

Cloud computing 21. March 2021

Digital sovereignty in companies through open source?

More and more companies are using technologies and are constantly expanding them with individual functions that increasingly support processes in companies. The data obtained in this way are often worth protecting and critical for the company. The non-transparent storage of the data therefore creates a risk for companies. As early as in the coalition agreement, the governing parties commit themselves to preserving and regaining technological sovereignty. The focus is on alternatives to current US providers, which often offer cloud and software solutions without sufficient transparency. Due to the fact that we will become more and more dependent on technologies in the future, the sovereignty over their administration should lie in the hands of the German entrepreneurs. This article shows current risks in the cooperation with large US providers and explains the use of open source software as an alternative solution for creating digital sovereignty. Risk 1: Vendor LockIn The reason…

Careers in IT 21. March 2021

Study: Satisfaction of applicants in small and medium-sized companies

To this day, the middle class is Germany’s secret weapon.Peter Altmaier During my doctorate, I made the decision to focus on small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) or medium-sized companies (owner-managed). The most important differences to large companies are the focus on often rapid growth, low budgets, short decision-making paths and the “myth” about the founder. Now, in the evening of some days, you ask yourself: where should I work? Where are people happier? In SMEs or large companies? Reading tip: Differences between SMEs and large companies To shed some light on this, the Stepstone 2019 (Q2) portal surveyed over 19,000 specialists and managers from all over Germany and obtained exciting results through a significance analysis, i.e. separation of the results according to large companies and SMEs. I would like to summarize the most important ones below. Reading tip: Link to the study Skilled workers are the backbone of companies and…

Agile organization 21. March 2021

IT product house – this is how you scale your software

Do you have a great software product and already have your first customers? Now is the product also to be scaled in the market and the first major customers to be served with it? Many companies and startups face these challenges. In order to give recommendations, I have created a framework, which I would like to present in the following. It serves as an impulse for your strategy development. My idea is that you form a team to copy the product Scrum meaningful and well developed. It receives requirements and feedback from a technology board. The product is customized for customers by special teams. example : Think of it like a laptop. You provide the laptop with basic settings and the special teams install certain software on the laptop depending on the user and use it to adapt the laptop. The Technology Board The Technology Board consists of the architects…

Medium-sized companies 4.0 21. March 2021

Online marketing for medium-sized companies? Does that bring anything?

The digital transformation is now state-of-the-art in medium-sized companies. The marketing of many companies is also to be digitized. This often includes the inclusion of online and Web 2.0. But creating a Facebook page or blog is not enough. I’ve been blogging for some time now and I have regular meetings with some medium-sized companies to exchange ideas. The questions are often pretty much the same: online marketing should be digitized and online channels should offer new potential. In this article I want to share a few tips about what I have learned over the past two years. Reading tip: Agile Marketing Content Marketing and Blogging Content marketing means that you passively advertise with exciting content. This can be, for example, a blog article about the GDPR in medium-sized businesses. Another example could be a blog article about designing the perfect resume. It is important that you offer exciting content…

Digital change 21. March 2021

Tips for the company blog – this is how it works!

In the meantime, many companies have their own blog and are trying to use the possibilities and potential offered by so-called content marketing. I have been blogging for more than 2 years now and am in good contact with some medium-sized companies on the subject of business blogging. I would like to summarize these tips for building a company blog below. Reading tip: agile marketing Search topic First of all, it is important that the blog has a clear topic. The blog serves to present the company as an expert. So there should be few topics that are dealt with deeply and extensively. For example, I have chosen digital leadership, work 4.0 and agile organization as topics and have now produced 40 articles for each area. This has the advantage that a reader will find a lot of information in one place and you will also rank with the major…

Medium-sized companies 4.0 21. March 2021

Influencer marketing for medium-sized IT companies – does that make sense?

Influencer marketing is one of the new forms of advertising and is becoming more and more popular as well as criticism. More and more companies, especially from the fashion and product industries, are making use of this trend and you can already find some success stories. But can this model also be exciting for medium-sized companies or IT companies? Does it make sense for cool Youtubers or hip Instagramers to promote your company? what is influencer marketing? In influencer marketing, bloggers or youtubers, i.e. high-reach opinion makers, are used to strengthen a company or product through an article or targeted contribution. So it is primarily about using the trust of the influencer to send a brand message. Usually, companies pay a sum of money for this or the influencer receives the company’s products for free. An influencer can be someone who runs a blog, Instagram or Youtube channel. Not every…

Medium-sized companies 4.0 21. March 2021

Special features and characteristics of SMEs in contrast to large companies

In my PhD I research with a focus on SMEs and I am often asked what the difference is and why SMEs have to be researched separately. Many also like to exchange ideas with me about SME 4.0 and ask themselves why I sometimes strongly separate my articles into SMEs and large companies. I would now like to give you an answer to that. Characteristics of SMEs The entire German corporate landscape is predominantly dominated by small and medium-sized companies (99.3% of all companies are SMEs in Germany), which are an important pillar of the German economy due to their innovative ability and experience. According to the definition of the EU (IfM Bonn 2018), SMEs are divided into three categories: Small business (up to 9 employees and 2 million euros in sales) Small companies (up to 49 employees and 10 million euros in sales) Medium-sized companies (up to 249 or…

Big data 21. March 2021

What is big data definition

The mountain of data available on the Internet and in companies – this fact is known as big data – is getting bigger, more confusing and difficult to process. Ever more technologically sophisticated tools and programs are intended to tame the flood of data (source Big data insider ). The flood of data is getting bigger and bigger and presents companies with the challenge of saving, preserving and, above all, evaluating them. That’s what it says Big Data Insider magazine continue: On the one hand, he describes the increasingly rapidly growing amounts of data; On the other hand, however, it is also about new and explicitly powerful IT solutions and systems with which companies can advantageously process the flood of information. But many readers still wonder: what is big data? Is it just having a large Excel or a large amount of paper documents? Is that big data or if…

Internet of Things 21. March 2021

What is Industry 4.0 – definition

The current understanding of Industry 4.0 encompasses more than the vision of a fully automated and technology-oriented development in German industry. The so-called fourth industrial revolution is characterized by the increasing networking of people, materials and machines.This guiding vision undoubtedly creates complexity, because Industry 4.0 is more than just working with an Internet connection. It should change the world of work at a rapid and unstoppable speed. Digitization in the context of Industry 4.0 shows that organizations are changing and work is becoming faster and more virtual.But what does that mean in concrete terms? What is Industry 4.0? This article is intended to collect definitions and at the end give an overview of what Industry 4.0 could mean and possible concrete examples of what Industry 4.0 is and what is not. What is Industry 4.0 There are numerous definitions of Industry 4.0 and I also ask myself: What is Industry…

Internet of Things 21. March 2021

What is Industry 4.0 – definition

The current understanding of Industry 4.0 encompasses more than the vision of a fully automated and technology-oriented development in German industry. The so-called fourth industrial revolution is characterized by the increasing networking of people, materials and machines. This guiding vision undoubtedly creates complexity, because Industry 4.0 is more than just working with an Internet connection. It should change the world of work at a rapid and unstoppable speed. Digitization in the context of Industry 4.0 shows that organizations are changing and work is becoming faster and more virtual. But what does that mean in concrete terms? What is Industry 4.0? This article is intended to collect definitions and at the end give an overview of what Industry 4.0 could mean and possible concrete examples of what Industry 4.0 is and what is not. What is Industry 4.0 There are numerous definitions of Industry 4.0 and I also ask myself: What…

Medium-sized companies – Consulting