15 Years of ondeso – Interview With the Management

A lot has happened since our last interview five years ago to mark our 10th anniversary. What has personally impressed or surprised you the most at ondeso in recent years?

Peter: What is still impressive is what we have achieved and successfully implemented with our relatively small team. This has not only got us through the difficult years, but has also enabled further growth. I always find it incredible that, in contrast to other companies, we have neither lost customers nor had our license volumes reduced. This shows how useful and important our products are and speaks for the quality of our software and employees. Not only have we been able to assert ourselves in the industrial IT endpoint management environment and prevail against our competitors, but we have also made a name for ourselves in the industry, which our existing customers are happy to pass on as a tip.

Martin: If you focus on the past five years, you also have to consider the adverse circumstances of the pandemic that have affected the company and how we as a corporate team have defied this challenge. For example, the way in which we address our product to customers, such as through personal meetings and on-site presentations, was no longer possible from one day to the next due to the sudden market changes. Our strength has always been to convince customers in person. I was all the more impressed by how we adapted our sales model, customer approach and project implementation to the new circumstances based on this experience, which is now paying off more and more with increasing customer requests. What continues to surprise me, however, is the fact that we are still serving a market with our system that no other company is addressing in this way.

Let’s now look back on the company’s overall development. Which milestones from 15 years of ondeso do you particularly remember?

Martin: Looking back at the foundation, one of the major milestones was finding an investor to support us in our vision. After we were awarded first place as ICT start-up of the year by the German BMWi (Federal Ministry of Economics) in 2012, it was surprisingly easy for us to reach this first major milestone. After the initial development phase and a first product version, the next major milestone was to acquire customers and partners. One of the first points of contact was Siemens in Karlsruhe, and we have been in contact with our colleagues from Karlsruhe ever since. We are now a listed Siemens partner in the Siemens AddOn catalog. At around the same time, we held our first talks with Daimler, which was still operating under this name at the time, in Sindelfingen, Düsseldorf and MDC in Kölleda. And so we conquered the market across all sectors and were able to prove that the theory, namely that of a manufacturer-neutral solution, works on the market.

Nevertheless, for me as the founder, it remained a mystery at first why not every producer immediately recognized how indispensable a software solution like ondeso is. But that was also part of the learning curve: Not every manufacturing company has the necessary level of maturity to administer and manage its industrial IT environment in a structured way. At the same time, we always pursued a growth approach in order to be able to meet increasing customer requests and requirements. If you had to summarize the whole thing in one sentence, you could say that the realization of our founding vision has been very successful. We also expect to be able to further expand our market success with our new owner Everfield.

Peter: I first joined ondeso in 2013, the third year of the company. The most important milestones for me at the beginning were, of course, the first major customer projects. Primarily consulting, which then led to corresponding licenses and the establishment of the Professional Services department. With the first group contracts, we also had to adapt to the processes and structures of large companies and were gradually able to expand and gain experience in almost all industrial sectors, from automotive manufacturers to chemicals & pharmaceuticals, the food industry, semiconductor production and many more. Today, with 15 years of experience, we can confidently say that there is no production environment in which ondeso SR would not work or would not offer significant added value.

Today, ondeso’s software solutions run on over 100,000 OT clients. What does this success mean to you and how did you manage to achieve this reach?

Peter: Initially, we were very proud when we sold the first 1,000 licenses and at the same time almost a little awestruck by the responsibility that comes with this, especially in these highly sensitive environments. We didn’t reach 100,000 licenses overnight and also received a lesson or two. We improved stability, expanded functionalities and gained invaluable experience together with our customers and local contacts. I think we got there by always being able to rely on our word. We have kept our promises and earned the trust of our customers. In retrospect, this huge number shows me what is possible with the reliability and foresight that our founders already had. And yet it is only the beginning of a market that is only just taking shape with CRA, NIS-2 and KRITIS and will also grow significantly beyond EU borders.

Martin: To achieve this, it is important to understand how the market works and what requirements affect a production environment in order to develop a solution that meets these needs without causing problems. Because nothing is worse than a production that does not produce. That is the technical aspect! However, this is worth nothing if you cannot find or address the gateway to the market. It is only in conjunction with sales and the market penetration strategies that have taken place up to that point that it was and is even possible for us to talk about this volume of end devices today. It was and will continue to be one of ondeso’s success factors to develop market-oriented products, but at the same time to have the knowledge of how to place them with the customer.

How have the requirements of customers and the market changed in recent years? What developments have you observed in the area of OT management?

Martin: If we look specifically at the customer, the requirements with regard to production systems have changed to the effect that more and more systems are finding their way into production from a stable Windows environment, which continues to make it more difficult for the operator to manage his zoo of systems. This also increases the demands on the ondeso system in terms of supported operating systems. What can also be seen is the increasing cost pressure in production, which means that there are still legacy systems that we can manage excellently with our software. In addition, we must increasingly support customers with our solution so that they can use our system to compensate for increasing complexity as well as staff shortages without taking any risks. Compliance with legal requirements and regulations is also becoming increasingly challenging, and violations can have significant consequences.

Peter: Regulations may provide the necessary reason for some to “finally have to do something”. However, many departments already knew what needed to be done and where to start, but now it is easier to argue their case to the C-level. There are topics such as patch management in the area of basic security measures as well as backup and recovery in business continuity management, where we no longer have to explain why this should be done, but only “how” and share our experiences. Other topics such as user management without Active Directory, software distribution and license management in OT environments are not yet on the radar of every customer, but with our solution they are well equipped for them and don’t have to look for additional products later on.

In 2024, ondeso became part of the Everfield Group. What has changed since then and what prospects does this offer for the future of the company?

Peter: Through the integration into the Everfield Group, we have become part of a software universe in which we can gain a lot from the experience of Everfield directly and, above all, in exchange with the other portfolio companies. For topics that are not the focus of software development, but are just as essential for a company, such as finance, marketing or recruiting, Everfield provides us with centralized resources that help us to be more professional, more efficient and better equipped for the future. Of course, such an integration also entails adjustments and challenges, especially in the areas of reporting and communication. However, with our personal contacts for the DACH region, we were able to complete the onboarding process as quickly and almost silently as possible so that we could get back to our core tasks and customers.

Martin: We assume that Everfield will provide us with the necessary support in areas that may not have received the necessary attention in the past. We also assume that we will implement the positive impetus now visible on the market professionally and with full focus on the customer thanks to Everfield’s support. The owner may have changed, but not the center of our attention, namely satisfied customers!

There have also been personnel changes since the beginning of the year. Peter, how did you experience your start as CEO and what are you currently focusing on?

Peter: From my professional career, I am used to facing new challenges every 3-5 years and growing with them. Every new job in the past has involved at least three months of orientation during which you first have to sort yourself out, understand and organize yourself. First take over and continue and then align yourself with your own ideas. I’ve always done well with this so far. And of course I felt very challenged for quite a while, perhaps even temporarily and briefly overwhelmed. However, with the solid foundation and knowledge that our founder and previous CEO Rolf-Dieter Metka left me and passed on to me, I already had a very good basis for this position. I was also able to rely on my employees at all times, so I didn’t always have to take care of every last detail myself. And after six months, I’ve largely settled into the role. I’m no longer just busy with getting things done, working through things and “not overlooking anything”, but have also created space for far-sightedness and visions for the further development of the company and our market.

How would you describe the team culture at ondeso today and what do you particularly appreciate about it?

Martin: What impresses me most is that, despite our small team, we manage to provide our customers with the highest quality of professional service. The reason why we are such a powerful team is probably because we are almost like a family thanks to our employees’ many years of service and everyone can rely on each other almost blindly. True to the ondeso motto: “We leave no one alone!”

Peter: From the outside, our customers often overestimate how many employees we actually are. We are a close-knit team in which everyone can rely on each other. We work highly efficiently and support each other with our knowledge and in completing our tasks. Nevertheless, there is never a shortage of fun and cordiality. As in any other company, there are always local tensions, especially during restructuring or realignment. But after so many years, everyone knows how to treat each other and no one gives up on the others or leaves them alone. As a result, we have been able to celebrate our successes together and will continue to pass on this spirit to new team members as we grow in the future.

What would you like to say to our customers, partners and employees to mark our 15th anniversary?

Peter: Even if the company changes, grows, reshapes and evolves, we will stick to our original core messages. Our software was developed in production and for production, with all the experience and challenges that entails. Our focus is 100% on the shop floor, control rooms and other industrial environments. And as in the past, we will remember and keep our promises, even if this may not always be possible at the pace we were used to with a larger number of customers.
In any case, I would like to thank all our companions for their many years of loyalty. Everyone, whether customer, partner or employee, has contributed with their requirements, ideas, knowledge, criticism and advice so that we can look into impressed faces after every product presentation today. We have grown with every single person who has accompanied us or continues to accompany us and today we can consider ourselves lucky to be celebrating 15 years together.

Martin: We are only able to celebrate 15 years of ondeso today thanks to our outstanding team over the last 15 years, our customers, partners and investors. The ondeso team will continue to master the challenges that arise in the future with flying colors so that we can celebrate many more anniversaries.

Finally, a look into the future. Where do you see ondeso in five years’ time and what goals would you like to achieve?

Martin: As the concepts that still work today are now almost 20 years old, it is important to design new products in such a way that these ideas continue to set new standards for the years to come. This must be the goal for the coming years: To be able to offer our new and existing customers more great products and solutions with the new products in order to maintain or even extend our innovative lead. When the company was founded, we set ourselves the goal of becoming the global market leader in OT management. We want to continue working towards this goal in the coming years and successfully conquer the market.

Peter: The first five years were about proving that there is a market for our software and that it can be used and works there. After that, we worked our way up to group level and proved that the solutions can be used and scaled in the environment of small and medium-sized companies as well as global corporations. Over the past five years, we have proven our industry and manufacturer neutrality across a wide range of sectors. In the next five years, we need to grow both directly and with our partners and machine and system manufacturers in order to create the basis for long-term stability in the market and new products.

Many companies are only just beginning to manage industrial IT environments. However, we also have customers with whom we have formed strong partnerships for over 10 years and who are ready to take the next steps, for example towards the partial and full automation of processes – also in combination with other products. We will continue to build the bridge between IT and OT and also look at how, for example, very current topics such as AI can be used sensibly in 30-year-old environments, while not losing sight of the fact that it was not the trend towards cloud compulsion that has brought us this far with our customers.

Thank you very much for the interesting interview and all the best for the future!