The Materna IT group, which specialises in IT and digitalisation projects, has once again closed the past financial year with record turnover. Group turnover for the 2021 financial year grew organically by 21.9 per cent to 433 million euros (355.1 million euros in 2020) – whilst profitability also increased. The ‘Mission 2025’ strategy, launched last spring, is clearly bearing fruit after just one year. The workforce grew by around 500 employees in 2021. The group currently employs around 3,200 people worldwide.
Materna is responding to this outstanding performance by reorganising its management team and associated departments. With effect from 1 April 2022, the existing Executive Board, comprising Martin Wibbe (CEO) and Dr René Rüdinger (CFO), will be expanded to include two new members. Michael Hagedorn will take charge of the new Public Sector & Security division, whilst Uwe Scariot will be responsible for the new Enterprise Service Management & Internationalisation division. Both are moving from the Executive Management Board to the Executive Board, which remains unchanged and comprises the existing Executive Board team as well as Martin Brochhaus (Human Resources), Dr Christian Schumer (Corporate Development) and Tim Thomas (Marketing & Communications).
“With our ‘Mission 2025’ strategy, we at the Materna Group aim to increase our turnover to over 700 million euros by 2025 and grow our global workforce to over 5,000. The performance in the 2021 financial year shows that we are on track with our ‘Mission 2025’,” explains Martin Wibbe, CEO of the Materna Group.
Growth drivers in the 2021 financial year
The Public Sector division made a significant contribution to last year’s business success with revenue growth of 35 per cent – accompanied by strong staff growth and very good profitability. The SAP business also recorded outstanding revenue growth of 24 per cent, achieved through the wholly-owned subsidiary cbs Corporate Business Solutions Unternehmensberatung GmbH. In the equally highly profitable Digital Transformation division, solutions based on ServiceNow technology were the biggest revenue driver, delivered through the subsidiary agineo GmbH. Materna IPS GmbH, which specialises in solutions for automated passenger processing for the international aviation industry, grew by 27 per cent and exceeded the €30 million turnover mark for the first time.
Acquisitions and ecosystem underpin growth
Acquisitions of companies whose products and services strengthen Materna’s key focus areas are underpinning organic growth. At the end of last year, Materna acquired TraffGo Road GmbH. This was followed in February 2022 by the acquisition of Virtual Solution AG. A few days ago, the Materna Group also acquired the consultancy firm Trebing & Himstedt Prozeßautomation GmbH & Co. KG to complement its SAP business and strengthen its industrial operations. The acquisition has been integrated into the subsidiary cbs. “As the Materna Group, we have a rock-solid capital structure with a long-term focus, which allows us to finance transactions from our own resources, independently of the capital markets,” says Dr René Rüdinger, CFO of the Materna Group.
Furthermore, Materna is continuing to expand its ecosystem for tech start-ups, for example through partnerships such as that with the start-up accelerator xdeck, in order to build up expert knowledge and foster innovation.
The new Executive Board portfolios
The new executive board portfolios represent a key strategic move by the company’s management to streamline areas of responsibility and thus enable more targeted action. In the Public Sector & Security division, Materna intends to consistently continue and reinforce its track record of success and use it as a model for other divisions. The Enterprise Service Management (ESM) business, in which Materna is already the European market leader, will also be further strengthened and, in particular, further internationalised.
To address further sectors in a more focused manner, Materna is creating the new “Industries” Executive Board division, which will be the responsibility of CEO Martin Wibbe. “In the ‘Industries’ division, we are pooling our experience and expertise across further sectors and aim to gain domain expertise within this ecosystem. Our focus is on clients from manufacturing, the process industry, energy, utilities and logistics, as well as selected clients from other sectors. Through cbs, we are already firmly established in this market environment and will leverage synergy effects more effectively in future,” says Martin Wibbe. The key theme for these clients is Journey2Cloud, for which we were able to secure major clients in 2021, particularly in the area of application transformation to the cloud. Furthermore, key areas of focus within this division include Intelligent Industry – such as Smart Factory, Digital Twins and Industry 4.0 – as well as Employee and Customer Experience, based on the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics and automation. The associated Digital Experience offering serves as a catalyst for further growth.
The new Executive Board division: Public Sector & Security
Michael Hagedorn will head the new Public Sector & Security division. Consultancy, IT and digitalisation projects for public sector clients account for over a third of the Group’s turnover, with a workforce of just over 880 employees. “With a dedicated board portfolio, we will be able to serve this important client group even better at federal, state and local government levels,” says Michael Hagedorn. Key drivers include legislative frameworks such as the Online Access Act (OZG). Over the past four years, Michael Hagedorn has been responsible for the Public Sector division at Materna as Executive Vice President and a member of the Executive Management Board. He is also Managing Director of the IT consultancy subsidiary Infora GmbH. Hagedorn holds a degree in mathematics and has 28 years’ experience in management and consultancy at IT companies, 25 of which have focused on public sector clients, having previously worked for Sopra Steria and Software AG, amongst others.
A key focus of this board portfolio is cyber security. The threat posed by cyber attacks has continued to grow in Germany and worldwide. Materna offers a range of services that enable organisations to significantly reduce the risk of cyber security attacks and their impact. These range from information security consultancy and project planning to the secure operation of specialist applications in traditional working environments, as well as Materna’s own Security Operations Centre, which serves as a cyber security control centre for clients’ IT infrastructure. Its subsidiary, Virtual Solutions AG, enables VS-NfD-secured communication and collaboration in ultra-mobile working environments. With its specialised security portfolio, Materna caters equally to all target sectors and markets.
The new Executive Board portfolio: Enterprise Service Management & Internationalisation
Uwe Scariot will be responsible for the new Executive Board portfolio of Enterprise Service Management & Internationalisation. Until now, as Executive Vice President and a member of the Executive Management Board, he has led the Digital Transformation division, focusing on software and digitalisation projects for corporate clients across various sectors. He is also Managing Director of the IT consultancy subsidiary agineo GmbH. A graduate in computer science, he has been with the Materna Group since its early days; he has been with the company since 1983. “Enterprise Service Management has been one of our core competencies for decades and is a highly partner-focused business. We enhance the technologies of vendors such as BMC, ServiceNow and Micro Focus with value-added services that make us particularly attractive to our clients,” says Uwe Scariot. Materna is already the European market leader when it comes to services for complex Enterprise Service Management solutions. ESM enables organisations to simplify their workflows and streamline processes across all departments organisation-wide. The aim is to internationalise the established Enterprise Service Management business. The subsidiary cbs serves as a model in this regard, having very successfully managed to grow internationally through joint global projects with clients in recent years.
Attractive working environment
Nationwide, Materna ranks among the top 5 employers in the IT sector (Stern/Statista ranking). Over the past twelve months, the company has been recognised a total of six times as one of Germany’s best employers. In 2021, the group grew by a record number of over 500 new employees. Further growth in the workforce to over 3,500 employees is planned by the end of 2022. In the first three months of 2022 alone, more than 200 employees joined the company.
Modernisation and expansion of sites
Materna is currently building a new corporate headquarters at its main site in Dortmund, with more than 1,800 workstations and a total investment of well over 120 million euros. The new building will offer a modern working environment, meet the highest energy efficiency standards and provide advanced e-mobility solutions for all staff. The move to the Phoenix-West Innovation and Technology Park in Dortmund is scheduled for early 2024.
In addition, other sites are being modernised. As part of this process, Materna has moved from Bad Vilbel to new premises in Frankfurt, where it is establishing the first Materna Innovation & Technology Centre (MIT). At the MIT, Materna showcases a cross-section of its projects from various focus areas and use cases, bringing projects, technology and innovations to life for customers and partners so they can experience them first-hand.
