Pliezhausen, 11 March 2025 – DATAGROUP expands its Defense Cloud by Bardioc, the semantic data platform of subsidiary Almato. Being the first provider with a BSI certificate for a Managed Private VS-NfD (Classified Information – Restricted) Defense Cloud, DATAGROUP enables secure use of semantic technologies, AI-supported data analysis and machine learning in security-critical environments with this integration. The platform helps to significantly increase efficiency of military and intelligence applications and makes a major contribution towards European digital sovereignty.
The integration of Bardioc into the Defense Cloud marks an important step forward for the security-critical IT infrastructure in Europe. The platform enables semantic linking of heterogeneous data sources and their context-based processing. As a result, complex information is analyzed precisely, patterns and anomalies identified early, and sound strategic decisions are made. Bardioc provides major advantages thanks to its real-time analysis, especially in security-critical scenarios where fast response times are crucial.
“We are convinced that this integration is a real game changer down the road to a European response at a historical turning point”, emphasizes Christian Sauter, Management Board of Almato. “By combining Bardioc with the Defense Cloud, we create an efficient and sovereign platform for the European security and defense landscape.”
To detect patterns and anomalies in data pools at an early stage, Bardioc uses state-of-the-art semantic technologies, AI-supported data analysis and machine learning. The platform features the highest security standards and granular access control. An integration into DATAGROUP’s Defense Cloud ensures that data is processed in line with strict compliance and governance guidelines.
“With the addition of Bardioc to our Defense Cloud, we have set new standards in the security-critical IT infrastructure”, says Hartmut Graf, Managing Director at DATAGROUP. “Combining highly secure VS-NfD cloud operations with the possibility of state-of-the-art AI-supported data analysis helps our customers to evaluate information in a faster and more precise way – on a platform that meets the highest compliance and security requirements.”
While new IT systems in security-critical areas often require long project terms, Bardioc is ready for immediate use. As software-as-a-service (SaaS) in the Defense Cloud or as container solution for on-premises installations, the platform can be used productively at once. This provides a fast and efficient solution for public authorities and organizations to analyze data without having to face lengthy development and implementation times.
This innovation underscores DATAGROUP’s leading role in the development of security-critical IT infrastructures and strengthens Europe’s digital sovereignty in the security and defense industries.
The Managed Private VS-NfD Defense Cloud information network is operated autonomously by DATAGROUP and includes all infrastructure, organization, personal and technical components that are necessary for the provision of such services. It uses products which have been approved and verified for security by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The Defense Cloud is specifically designed to store and administer multi-client capable, confidential information and classified information (VS-NfD). The network meets all legal requirements concerning the physical separation of virtualized customer infrastructures (VS-NfD) as well as dedicated management zones.
As a full-service provider, DATAGROUP offers flexible and hybrid delivery models for modularly scalable IT operations as-a-service. These business models cover both environments with restricted classified information and mixed systems (regular networks and environments with restricted classified information). DATAGROUP enjoys many decades of experience as a data center operator in technology, housing, hosting and services.
Almato AG is a leading provider of software solutions with a focus on sovereign individual software, automation and artificial intelligence. Bardioc, Almato’s semantic data platform, supports companies and authorities in exploiting the full potential of their data. The platform enables independent storage and combination of data from different sources, offering clients in-depth insights into their business processes, markets and customer relationships. Furthermore, Almato offers solutions for automating workflows with the help of AI-based reasoning engines, translating knowledge into action. With its broad range of products and services, Almato helps companies to navigate the path to digital transformation.
Almato AG is headquartered in Stuttgart with further sites in Neu-Isenburg, Reutlingen, Bonn and Barcelona. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of DATAGROUP SE.
Almato’s customers are both public authorities and leading companies from different industries, including Deutsche Telekom, DZ Bank, HanseMerkur, Deichmann and Lidl.
Anke Banaschewski
Investor Relations & Unternehmenskommunikation
anke.banaschewski@datagroup.de
Pliezhausen, 31 May 2023. Market research institute Lünendonk & Hossenfelder has published the current Lünendonk List on the market for IT services in Germany. IT service provider DATAGROUP is once again placed in the top 10 of the leading IT service companies in Germany in 2023.
DATAGROUP has been ranked sixth and thus is again among the Top 10 in this prestigious list. Some 100 IT service providers and approx. 120 CIOs were surveyed for the lists of Lünendonk & Hossenfelder with the help of comprehensive, qualified questionnaires.
“We are very happy that we have performed excellently in this year as well. Our continuous growth is the result of our consistent focus on the needs of our customers. We can provide optimal support for all major IT topics with our service portfolio and our dedicated experts and reduce the burden on companies in Germany by taking over their IT operations”, explains Andreas Baresel, Chief Executive Officer of DATAGROUP.
The study has always included the analysis of the market’s trends and developments. Notwithstanding the crises of the past year, IT remains a growth market – for both the skills shortage and the fast pace of technological changes ensure that companies depend on the support of experienced IT service providers. Based on the study, investments are focused on information security and cyber security, process efficiency and process automation as well as IT modernization. In this context, companies place high demands on IT in particular in the areas of security, flexibility and availability.
With its CORBOX product portfolio, DATAGROUP has created a modular suite of services which are geared to supporting exactly these needs. Companies can choose individual services, for instance in IT security or cloud services, or place responsibility of their entire IT in the hands of DATAGROUP. These companies benefit from the high quality and expertise of the IT service provider and can concentrate on their core business.
The new 2023 Lünendonk Lists “Leading IT Consulting and System Integration Companies in Germany“ and “Leading IT Service Companies in Germany” are now available for download (free of charge) under www.luenendonk.de.
Some 100 IT service providers and approx. 120 CIOs of Mittelstand companies as well as large companies and company groups were surveyed for the Lünendonk Study on “The Market for IT Services in Germany” – with special sections on IT Mittelstand and on the leading internal IT service providers. The findings deliver important figures and comprehensive information for the planning of IT service providers and their customers. The study is expected to be available for free under www.luenendonk.de from the end of July 2023.
Sarah Berger-Niemann
Corporate Communication
presse@datagroup.de
Pliezhausen, 1 June 2022. Last week, market research institute Lünendonk & Hossenfelder published the latest Lünendonk List. Among the leading IT service providers in Germany, DATAGROUP takes sixth place among the Top 10 IT service providers.
Some 90 IT service providers and approx. 140 CIOs were surveyed for the latest lists of Lünendonk & Hossenfelder on the IT market in Germany with the help of comprehensive, qualified questionnaires. It was found that IT service providers have benefited from the accelerated digital transformation in the second year of Covid-19 as well.
What stood out in this survey was the high demand for cloud transformation, IT modernization, data analytics, development of individual software, and digital experience. It is striking that digital transformation has not yet generated its full impact today and, in parts, is being held back by the IT skills shortage. Additionally, the need for IT experts is higher than ever before in the light of catch-up effects driven by the digital transformation – this also means that the “war of talents” in the IT industry will continue.
Having the right talents, IT transformation solutions as well as IT solutions, DATAGROUP’s comprehensive portfolio offers exactly what is needed. Helped by best practices, experienced IT consultants provide their support in transforming existing systems into efficient digital processes and infrastructures. DATAGROUP does not only provide customized solutions but also implements them exactly where needed – in a pragmatic way and at eye level with the customer. The success of this strategy is once again substantiated by the high customer satisfaction and the company’s consistent sales growth.
The new 2022 Lünendonk Lists “Leading IT Consulting and System Integration Companies in Germany” and “Leading IT Service Companies in Germany” are now available for download (free of charge) under www.luenendonk.de.
Some 90 IT service providers and approx. 140 CIOs of Mittelstand companies as well as large companies and company groups were surveyed for the Lünendonk Study on “The Market for IT Services in Germany” – with special sections on IT Mittelstand and on the leading internal IT service providers. The findings deliver important figures and comprehensive information for the planning of IT service providers and their customers. From July 2022, the study can be downloaded for free under www.luenendonk.de.
Sarah Berger-Niemann
Corporate Communications
presse@datagroup.de
Pliezhausen, 29 November 2021. In the current study on IT outsourcing in Germany by the market research institute Whitelane and the consulting company Navisco AG, DATAGROUP once again achieves top marks and lands in fourth place in the customer satisfaction ranking. Customers particularly appreciate the flexibility, the profound understanding of business processes and the transformation services of DATAGROUP.
For the IT Outsourcing Study Germany, more than 180 outsourcing customers were surveyed, who together hold around 500 outsourcing contracts and around 330 cloudsourcing contracts. The study is the most comprehensive study of the IT outsourcing market in Germany. With a customer satisfaction of 81% out of a general customer satisfaction of all providers in the study of 74%, DATAGROUP reaches fourth place. For the seventh year in a row, the IT service provider DATAGROUP thus occupies one of the top ranks.
In the areas of contract flexibility, business understanding and transformation, DATAGROUP is ahead of all providers in first place. In the area of cloud capability, DATAGROUP again performs excellently with second place.
“For us, it is crucial to know our customers and their processes precisely in order to be able to offer them exactly the IT services that will help them and their company move forward,” says Andreas Baresel, Chief Production Officer at DATAGROUP.
With the core product CORBOX, a modular and flexibly combinable suite of IT services, DATAGROUP covers the entire spectrum of IT services as a full IT outsourcer. All service processes are certified according to ISO 20000, standardised and quality assured. This makes IT easy for customers so that they can fully concentrate on their core business. The latter was also cited by companies as the main reason why they would like to rely more on outsourcing in the future.
In this context, CORBOX also acts as a cloud enabling platform, in whose offer DATAGROUP integrates existing cloud solutions, refines them with additional services and combines them with its own cloud and outsourcing services in a modular way. DATAGROUP is a one-stop shop for the cloud and offers a broad spectrum from the management of sensitive data in a private cloud from one of DATAGROUP’s data centres in Germany to public cloud services and hybrid models.
Max H.-H. Schaber, CEO of DATAGROUP: “The study confirms that we score with our know-how about customer processes as well as with our deep IT expertise. The satisfaction of our customers is very important for us, so we are all the more pleased about the great result.”
DATAGROUP is one of the leading German IT service companies. Some 3,500 employees at locations across Germany design, implement, and operate IT infrastructures and business applications such as SAP. With its CORBOX product, DATAGROUP is a full-service provider, supporting global IT workplaces for medium and large enterprises as well as public authorities. The company is growing organically and through acquisitions. The acquisitions strategy is particularly noted for its optimal integration of new companies. DATAGROUP is actively participating in the IT service market’s consolidation process with its “buy and turn around” and its “buy and build” strategy.
Whitelane Research is an independent organization that focuses exclusively on IT outsourcing throughout Europe. In its unique and comprehensive annual IT Outsourcing Surveys, Whitelane interviews the CIOs of the organizations with the highest IT spending in different countries about their outsourcing plans and service providers. Further information can be found at www.whitelane.com.
With a good 20 years of focus and expertise from over 400 projects in the area of IT benchmarks, sourcing and IT transformation, Navisco AG is one of the leading independent sourcing consultants in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We support international corporations in optimizing their IT organization, application landscape and infrastructure services in order to drive the digitalization of their business. Further information is available at www.navisco.com.
Sarah Berger-Niemann
Corporate Communication
T +49 7127 970-060
sarah.berger-niemann@datagroup.de
DATAGROUP has gained another certification with the SAP Partner of Expertise (PCoE) certification. With this certification, SAP recognizes DATAGROUP’s outstanding service and support quality.
To become an SAP Partner of Expertise, an SAP partner company must undergo a very complex and extensive certification process that covers the most diverse areas of SAP license maintenance. These range from support processes and the use of SAP Solution Manager as an ITSM tool to individually certified, expert employees for the supported SAP solutions.
With a total of 10 SAP certifications and more than 500 SAP experts, DATAGROUP is well prepared to accompany customers on their way through the complex SAP structures. From consulting to system management to transformation to S/4HANA and the corresponding support, DATAGROUP offers the entire range of SAP services.
Hendrik Schultz
T 089 996 87 22 25
hendrik.schultz@datagroup.de
At the end of 2020, the UK left the EU. Until shortly before the end, it was unclear how things would continue in 2021 and what contractual arrangements the EU and the UK would agree on. Thus, until December 24, 2020, the working basis for the conversion of the SAP systems was the hard Brexit. With the deal, however, other requirements then applied, which had to be implemented accordingly.
The changes to be implemented are diverse and affect a wide range of customer ERP systems, whether SAP ECC 6.0 or S/4HANA. To name just a few examples of necessary adjustments in SAP due to the Brexit:
It was important to DATAGROUP to sensitize customers to the effects of the Brexit at an early stage and to inform them in advance about the upcoming changes they would have to make in their system. For this purpose, DATAGROUP developed a guideline that covers a range of different customer situations:
With the Brexit guide, DATAGROUP was able to proactively approach customers, offer them appropriate support, and tailor the installation of the notes provided by SAP and necessary manual adjustments to the specific customer situation. The guide was continuously updated based on new developments.
DATAGROUP organized consulting and analysis meetings, assisted both in identifying the adaptation requirements relevant for the customer in each case and in the subsequent implementation in the SAP system. In addition, DATAGROUP was also the first point of contact for any queries during the complete test process and the subsequent live operation.
This approach enabled our customers to go live with the implemented SAP adjustments in time for the UK’s exit from the EU.
Eckhart Heidemann
SAP Application Management Services
T +49 911 65004 154
eckhart.heidemann@datagroup.de
Pliezhausen, December 1, 2020. STARK Deutschland GmbH, a leading builders merchant, relies on IT service provider DATAGROUP. DATAGROUP had undertaken the carve-out of the IT infrastructure from the former parent company, Saint Gobain, and will provide the following IT services going forward: Service Desk, Data Center, Mobile Device Management, End User Services, and Network Services. The contract has a volume of EUR 15m.
The carve-out project started in October 2019. Not only the entire underlying infrastructure of the parent company in France had to be reorganized in DATAGROUP’s data centers in Germany, but all of the approximately 5,000 employees of STARK Deutschland had to be provided with new devices as well. IT carve-out and device replacement were executed successfully and without any restrictions for the users despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus such as the closing of borders and a short-term shortage of hardware.
Due to the guidelines of the former parent company, it was not possible to use the standard migration process via the Veeam security software. DATAGROUP therefore opted for an agile approach in close cooperation with the French IT division. “We manually copied the servers to hard disks and then uploaded the data to our data centers”, says Dino Huber, Manager Business Development DATAGROUP. “It was possible to implement this migration within ten weeks and prior to the corona-related closing of borders for the most part. Without any downtime for the customer.”
Likewise, the effects for the employees were limited to no more than thirty minutes when it came to the backup of user data. For this purpose, DATAGROUP has developed its own tool. The users can back up their data via a simple, intuitive surface and transfer them to the new PC with a stick. This means, the customer retains full data sovereignty.
“DATAGROUP has been a flexible and reliable partner in this project. Together we managed to deliver a successful project in the required period and in a good overall quality despite very challenging general conditions (keyword: corona). There have certainly been restrictions for our employees every now and then. Taken together, however, things were running surprisingly well and without any “real catastrophes”. DATAGROUP has reduced the large ticket volume at the end of the project to an acceptable level in a relatively short time and with a great deal of commitment”, says Dirk Scheffler, Director IT / CIO at STARK Deutschland.
Since the completion of the transition phase at the end of August, DATAGROUP is engaged with providing the following IT outsourcing services for STARK Deutschland: Service Desk, Data Center, Mobile Device Management, End User Services, and Network Services.
Claudia Erning
Investor Relations
T +49 7127 970-015
F +49 7127 970-033
claudia.erning@datagroup.de
The analysts of Experton and West Trax rated DATAGROUP as ‘rising star’ among the SAP HANA service providers. This is the result of an independent study of the two analyst firms that was published today. This very positive view is primarily based on the takeover of more than 300 IT specialists from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) by the IT service provider, including more than 100 specialists experienced in SAP HANA.
There is no question: DATAGROUP put itself in a leading position among the SAP HANA service providers virtually right away by taking over the IT experts from HPE. As such, the Pliezhausen-based company follows its future strategy DATAGROUP 2020 which, among others, provides for significant growth in SAP HANA. Since September 1, 2016, the IT service provider has more than 100 very experienced experts in this area, including over 60 with a SAP HANA certification. Consequently, one of the largest SAP HANA teams in the German provider landscape is working under the roof of DATAGROUP. These specialists have gained considerable experience from a multitude of projects for international companies and corporations from both industry and trade. They currently secure operations of more than 140 SAP HANA databases both on DATAGROUP’s hosting structure and the customers’ infrastructure. The data volume of the managed HANA databases amounts to more than 200 terabytes. Under these aspects, the assessment of Experton’s and West Trax’s analysts does not come as a surprise.
The analysts have not yet been able to account for the actual performance of DATAGROUP’s SAP HANA team in the “SAP HANA Service Provider Vendor Benchmark 2017“, as the takeover of the HPE specialists was announced after the survey’s end in July. Therefore, the IT service provider is specified as “follower” in the current Benchmark and thus well below its actual significance in the SAP HANA service provider market. To avoid a distorted presentation in the market the analysts rated DATAGROUP as “rising star” after the HPE deal had been announced and implemented. They intend to express that the service provider is well on track to be among the top providers within 12 to 24 months. At the time the award is received, a “rising star” should have a promising portfolio and the necessary roadmap with the respective focus on the most important market trends and customer requirements, as explained by Experton. Additionally, such a company should have an excellent management that maintains an understanding of the local market. Apparently, both of the above is the case at DATAGROUP.
“We are very pleased about the qualification as “rising star”, says DATAGROUP CEO Max H.-H. Schaber: “Our customers notably benefit from the expertise of our very experienced SAP HANA specialists. After our extended competence became known we have been receiving an increasing number of inquiries related to SAP HANA from industrial and trading companies of the Mittelstand. We are now able to offer them further developed, flexible and scalable solutions in the areas of operation, data migration but increasingly also in the introduction of SAP HANA and the consulting services.”
The customers’ operations particularly benefit from the fact that DATAGROUP’s services are “made in Germany”: The data centres for SAP HANA are located at the world’s largest internet hub in Frankfurt am Main and are certified in accordance with the highest safety standards, as are all of DATAGROUP’s data centres. The services range from infrastructure solutions on shared environments to dedicated customer-specific solutions.