Bechtle – A German-based IT Company That Took A Spark In The Campus Of Heilbronn University.
Bechtle AG is a multinational company with its headquarters based in Neckarsulm, Germany. The company mainly offers IT services in direct link with the sale of hardware and software IT products. Bechtle has a diversified client base, hence it is also responsible for the operation and maintenance of various IT infrastructures including the public sector. Founded in 1983, currently it has a massive business spread globally with 80 system houses. It has established e-commerce companies in fourteen European countries and nearly 70 different locations in german-speaking regions. The main business factor that makes a company adaptable for every type/size of business is its blend of IT product sales with integrations services.
Founding Bechtle
The idea of founding Bechtle took a spark in the campus of Heilbronn University with Klaus von Jan, Ralf Klenk and Gerhard Schick. These members of the university founded Bechtle GmbH EDV-Technik on 21st July 1983 as a microbusiness. They started the company from inside the campus and initially focused on programming technical calculation software for commercial purposes. In the first fiscal year, the company earned 66,000 German marks. After a couple of years, Bechtle became a certified IBM distributor and the team shifted to a bigger office. With six people running the company, the annual revenue climbed up to 2,245,000 German marks by the end of 1985.
Expansion
By the end of the 1980s, Bechtle already established itself as a market leader. IBM recognized the company as Quality Dealer of the Year three times in a row and it also expanded the team and became a company with a total of 37 employees. By the end of 1989, the revenue of the company became 13,015,000 German marks. With the advent of a new decade, the company focused on campaigning and branding as it was crossing regional borders. In 1992, Bechtle became one of Southern Germany’s largest system integrators. The number of employees became 85. One of the turning points in the history of the company’s growth was in 1993 as two of its main competitors were bankrupt. Bechtle seized this opportunity to expand in more locations and also hired executive members from prominent IT companies.
Two years down the line, Bechtle focused on taking the company online and launched its website. In the same year, Amazon and eBay were also founded in the US. After launching the company in the e-commerce market, it soon became a pioneer and also started making acquisitions. It expanded to a few locations like northern Baden-Württemberg and Leipzig and the outcome was a three-fold increase in the annual revenue. From 1995 to 1996, the company doubled its employees. In the same year, Bechtle was recognized as one of the top five IT system houses in Germany. Also, in the same year, Bechtle first opened an international office in Switzerland.
Present Days
In 2000, the company went for an IPO and the capital from the shares was used to expand in France and Belgium. In 2004, the company reached a new milestone of surpassing the 1 billion euros revenue mark. The company moved to its new headquarters in Neckarsulm. In 2004, it made four new acquisitions to add more locations to the company’s list. In 2008, Bechtle celebrated its 25th anniversary, and the business expanded to Ireland and Austria. The international expansion continued as it opened the business in Portugal, Poland, Hungary, and several other countries. In 2014, Bechtle became the top IT system house in Germany. Bechtle currently has more than 12,000 employees and it is impressively growing in terms of revenue even in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.
Thomas Olemotz – CEO of Bechtle
Thomas Olemotz is currently the CEO of Bechtle and has worked with 11 different companies. Some of the companies where Olemotz worked before joining Bechtle are Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mittelstandsberatung, Delton AG, and Microlog Logistics AG. He joined the company in 2007 and became the CEO of the company in 2010. He also played his role as Spokesman of the Executive Board and CFO at Bechtle.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more