March 10, 2010 : Company announcement

Successful business year 2009

Consist sees growth in sales of 6%

The Kiel IT company Consist closed its fiscal year 2009 with sales of EUR 18.4 million. Against a backdrop of a generally difficult economic situation, its industry independent strategy has proved especially successful. Long-term maintenance agreements, new software products, and continuing investments in employees augment Consist's course.

Kiel – Despite the tense economic situation in Germany in 2009, Consist Software Solutions GmbH saw sales growth of 6% for the past fiscal year. Turnover for the Kiel IT company, a specialist in the development and maintenance of custom software, thus rose to EUR 18.4 million. This primarily was the result of an increase in project business as well as a significant increase in product business. Consist also brought new software products into its portfolio, such as the browser-based help desk solution SysAid.

Consolidated sales including the Hamburg subsidiary Consist ITU Environmental Software GmbH rose to EUR 18.8 million. Consist ITU provides Europe-wide IT solutions for waste management. There is currently great demand for the Modawi software package. This package permits waste producers, transporters, and disposal companies to comply with new legal requirements applicable as of April 1, 2010, mandating the electronic exchange of data in the disposal of hazardous waste.

"Our industry independence allows us a good deal of risk distribution in the current economically difficult times. In 2009, we gained 20 new customers from a variety of industries, and we had the same solid results as in previous years. Moreover, long-term maintenance agreements will continue to ensure a solid basic level of employment for the next few years," remarks Martin Lochte-Holtgreven, Managing Director of Consist Software Solutions. For 2010, despite continued uncertainty in the economy, it can still be said today that there will at least be a stable business situation.

Consist as interesting employer: Continuing education and development tracks

For an IT service provider like Consist, qualified, motivated employees are the most important pillar of success. For years, Consist has continued to invest in the continuing education of its team; in 2009, the company increased that investment again by a good third.

The Kiel IT company formulates development tracks for its employees that describe their career orientation in detail. After estimating the current situation and the employee's own goals in combination with the strategic goals of the company, these development tracks indicate concrete measures to achieve those goals. This may include business or methodology training, continued education, or certification. Certifications are currently in progress primarily for software developers and architects, as well as for project managers – for the latter, based on the IPMA standard.

"We think it is important to offer our employees a diverse field of work in which they can develop further. That's true both for young new hires and for our more experienced colleagues who have been with us for years," explained Consist Managing Director Ines von Jagemann. The 175-person company plans to continue to hire new IT experts, for example Java, COBOL, and SAP developers, as well as database administrators.

download text