March 11, 2009 : Company announcement
In the black in 2008
Consist grows sales again
The Kiel IT company Consist Software Solutions GmbH recorded a sales growth in 2008 of 18%, to EUR 17.3 million. The mainstay of sales continued to be project work. The sales share of service contracts for custom software grew considerably. The provision of specialized technical solutions for niche markets continued strong, as well. For 2009, the company expects great demand for its solution for the forthcoming digitalized waste management.
Kiel – For Consist, 2008 started with the celebration of its 25th anniversary, with 300 guests at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) in Kiel and guest speaker Peter Harry Carstensen, Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, and continued successful. The company was able to increase its sales from EUR 14.7 million to EUR 17.3 million. The consolidated sales including Hamburg subsidiary Consist ITU Environmental Software GmbH, specialized in Europe-wide IT solutions in waste management, grew by 17%, from EUR 15.1 million to EUR 17.7 million.
As in previous years, the mainstay of sales was project work, although the areas of maintenance and continued development of custom software grew significantly. The increase in maintenance contracts contributes to the company's stability. Consist has many customer relationships going back years, and has also gained 15 new customers from various industries.
"In the past, for a long time we primarily relied on IT projects, but today we are increasingly fortifying them with maintenance contracts. These secure ongoing business operations for our customers, and in contrast to classical project work, they are far less dependent on the investment climate. Our high degree of technical expertise and extensive industry independence ensure our continued good fortune in the project arena as well," explains Consist Managing Director Martin Lochte-Holtgreven, speaking of the success of the company's service portfolio. In addition to the pillars of "Professionals & Projects" (IT consulting, projects, sourcing), and "Managed Services" (Application Maintenance Services and Consist-internal offshore development), the IT company also offers "Solutions". With these specialized IT solutions, Consist develops its new business in specialized niche markets such as waste management.
Waste management: topic of the future
Due to the enormous amount of waste in our society (21 million metric tons of hazardous waste every year), efficient control of waste flows is of vital importance Starting in 2010, the records procedure for the disposal of hazardous waste will be converted to an electronic procedure (eANV) – and as of 2011, the use of electronic signatures will be mandatory. The goal of this change is to provide more safety, lower costs of bureaucracy, and simplified processes.
Consist has developed the IT solution Modawi for this industry, a solution for electronic data exchange between the participants in waste management (producers, transporters, and disposal companies) which supports all the processes for the maintenance and archival of electronic documents as required by the Ordinance on Waste Recovery and Disposal Records.
"Thanks to legal requirements, the implementation of the electronic records procedure in waste management will secure the license business for Modawi in 2009 and 2010," says Martin Lochte-Holtgreven.
Modawi is assuming a pioneer role in the industry. Tönsmeier was the first company in Germany to develop a complete disposal process using electronic consignment notes – completed on February 18, 2008 using Modawi software.
New employees needed
Consist hired 20 new employees in 2008, primarily in the maintenance and project divisions. Thus the company's sales force has grown too. Today, Consist is working with 170 employees and freelancers – and growing. "We want to continue to expand our team, and therefore will also continue to be looking especially for experienced Java developers and architects in the future," says Managing Director Ines von Jagemann.
An intensive, structured personnel management is important at Consist. Over the last year, the Kiel-based company also invested in the continuing education of its team in a variety of technical and non-technical skills. Consist is also increasingly decentralizing leadership responsibilities, relying on the integration of young, newly hired IT specialists.
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Ines von Jagemann and Martin Lochte-Holtgreven (management of Consist Software Solutions) agree: Consist's enterprise strategy is on the right track – as shown by black ink in 2008.
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