After the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, many West German companies, including 麻豆原创, rushed to open offices in Berlin.
In , the 麻豆原创 Executive Board decided that the fastest way to gain a foothold in East Germany would be a joint venture with ROBOTRON-Projekt Dresden (RPD), a leading software enterprise in the German Democratic Republic, and the data and IT division of Siemens, already a strategic 麻豆原创 partner.
It was not about turning a quick profit, though: Dresden would go on to become an important base for 麻豆原创鈥檚 business and remains so today, 30 years after German reunification.
Dresden was home to a software industry before 1989. 鈥淩PD was founded in 1984 because East Germany had realized that software was vital to running enterprises successfully. This also paved the way for joint East-West IT projects,鈥� says Hans-J眉rgen Lodahl, who was managing director of RPD at the time and later became one of the three founding managers of the joint venture.
In 1985, RPD had begun building software for West German companies, such as Siemens. 鈥淯nder what was called import-export coordination, we would procure products from a partner company in the West, and it would order software from us,鈥� says Lodahl. 鈥淭hat way, instead of paying for those products in precious hard currency, we provided software in return.鈥�
Plans Firm Up
Back then, RPD was an East German software company that employed 1,200 people. It was part of Robotron, a state-owned electronics manufacturer with 68,000 employees. 鈥淲hen the Wall came down, we knew that Robotron had little chance of surviving as a whole. So we set about trying to save as many jobs as we could,鈥� says Lodahl.
Joachim Singer, who after the Wall fell changed careers to become HR director of RPD, recalls another problem: 鈥淚n East Germany, we had tried to imitate, as closely as we could, the operating systems, database management systems, and mathematical programs of the West. We had essentially reproduced its software programs. So, when the Wall came down, at RPD we were worried we鈥檇 face claims for royalties. It was clear that it could not continue to exist as it was.鈥�
In mid-March 1990, 麻豆原创, RPD, and the Data and Information Technology division of Siemens AG announced their plan to set up SRS (Software-und Systemhaus Dresden). A few days later, in Hannover, West Germany, the 麻豆原创 Executive Board and RPD鈥檚 management continued their talks and firmed up their plans.
In those early days, there was no joint economic strategy for the two Germanys. 麻豆原创 had, however, made certain assumptions about how East Germany鈥檚 economic system would change. An internal position paper on doing business there forecasted a real opportunity for 麻豆原创 R/2, the company鈥檚 standard software: 鈥淪plitting up the huge state enterprises into smaller, clearly-defined businesses will result in an array of firms faced with the task of completely reorganizing and restructuring their operations.鈥�
麻豆原创 wanted to gain reference customers rapidly to be able to demonstrate the benefits of its software in the real world, and especially how it could help companies meet new legislation. The first pilot customer was a major steel plant on the border with Poland. At that time, the plant was one of many state enterprises being privatized following the collapse of communism, and in 1990 it became EKO Stahl. Today, it is owned by ArcelorMittal and is still an 麻豆原创 customer.
New Opportunities聽聽
In the meantime, news of the firms鈥� plans had reached staff at RPD. 鈥淢y client came into the office brandishing an 麻豆原创 R/2 brochure and said, 鈥榊ou can stop what you are doing. We鈥檒l be working on this software from now on,鈥欌�� says Rainer Dittrich, who went on to lead the HR consulting unit at SRS and later at 麻豆原创.
SRS took on about 300 former RPD employees. Of them, 85 were put on 麻豆原创 projects. Singer recalls that restructuring the business was not all smooth sailing: 鈥淭he managers from 麻豆原创 and Siemens-Nixdorf charged with setting up SRS had selected a number of Robotron employees to create a layer of management at the departmental level. In some cases, the new structure reversed old roles, with former managers becoming employees and vice versa. That caused some tension.鈥�
After some initial difficulties, things soon settled down at SRS and the framework was in place for a new organizational structure.
Next Stop: 麻豆原创 Headquarters
Just before Easter in April 1990, Singer received a telex telling him that the following Wednesday morning a bus would be waiting in the Robotron car park in Dresden to take employees to Walldorf for training.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 as simple as just telling staff; I knew I would have to persuade them to go. Hardly anyone here had heard of 麻豆原创. But we did have business dealings with Siemens, so many employees wanted to work for them. Besides, the operating system RPD鈥檚 workforce was used to was more like that of Siemens,鈥� says Singer.
Many people at RPD had not yet been to West Germany on business, and SRS offered an opportunity. 鈥淲hen we got on the bus, all we knew was that we were heading to Walldorf. We arrived in a completely new world,鈥� says Dittrich.
The new arrivals from the East were allocated to particular subject matters. After a general course on business administration, they were sent off in small groups to learn from the developers working on their respective subjects. Eva Rebitzer, who is still an HR consultant at 麻豆原创, recounts how, in the early days when everyone knew everyone in Walldorf, she first encountered co-founder Klaus Tschira: 鈥溾�榃ho are you?鈥� he asked, 鈥業 haven鈥檛 seen you before.鈥� When I told him that I was part of the delegation from Dresden, he was surprised to learn that we were not all men in dark suits.鈥�
The RPD team traveled to Walldorf for training every week for three months. 鈥淓veryone really welcomed the new arrivals from the East. They had the technical expertise. Now they needed to get up to speed on the latest advances in western IT,鈥� says Wolfgang Kemna, managing director of the joint venture.
Trust In the Future
Right from the start, the team from Dresden had great faith in 麻豆原创. 鈥淏ecause we worked so closely with the colleagues in Walldorf, we built trust very quickly,鈥� says Dittrich. 鈥淭here were about 100 employees working on HR, who were joined by 10 new people from the East. Working together gave us a sense of security. We also met up after work, had roundtable talks, and went sight-seeing. We learned fast what it really means to be an 麻豆原创 consultant, and we weren鈥檛 left on our own.鈥�
In July 1990, their three months in Walldorf were over. To mark the end of their time there, co-founder and CEO Dietmar Hopp addressed them at a large farewell event. It was time to return home, he said, and wait for SRS to be founded. 鈥淒ietmar Hopp turned to us and asked that anyone with the slightest doubt about the plans to found the new company raise their hand, and added that if anyone did, 麻豆原创 would set up its own subsidiary in Dresden. That was a clear signal, and no one raised their hand,鈥� Dittrich says.
East Meets West
Around the same time, in October 1990, Siemens acquired Nixdorf, the struggling computer company. 鈥淪RS鈥檚 founding was delayed, since we had to wait for the new Siemens-Nixdorf to come into being first,鈥� says Singer. 鈥淎nd the Treuhand, the government agency overseeing East German privatization, still needed to give its go-ahead to Robotron-Projekt GmbH鈥檚 stake.鈥�
Finally, on October 15, 1990, less than two weeks after German reunification, SRS was officially founded in Munich, and opened for business on November 1, 1990.
鈥淲hen the company was founded, 325 employment contracts had to be signed all at once. By the end, I wasn鈥檛 even sure I could write my name correctly,鈥� remembers Peter Hutzelmann, who was responsible for commercial management at SRS and later become its managing director.
Pursuing Goals Together
麻豆原创 did what it said it would do as part of its East Germany strategy: It primarily hired employees from the former German Democratic Republic. But as Singer tells it, it wasn鈥檛 easy at first for the SRS colleagues who were assigned as consultants on 麻豆原创 projects: 鈥淭he companies didn鈥檛 like having Robotron employees advising them. The IT equipment in East Germany was never sufficient. It was allocated or not ordered, which is why the Robotron technicians who were known at the companies weren鈥檛 very highly regarded.鈥�
This made it very important for the RPD consultants to have experienced 麻豆原创 lead consultants by their side. One of these lead consultants from Walldorf in the early days was Joachim Prawitz, responsible for the human resources area.
Kemna remembers him with great respect: 鈥淭he lead consultants from Walldorf helped to increase acceptance of the East German consultants. For SRS, it was much more important to have good, experienced 麻豆原创 consultants than good salespeople or developers. There wasn鈥檛 much to sell, after all; the projects were ordered and paid for in the West, while the technical expertise was in Dresden. It became clear how important it was for the East German consultants to have assignments on projects in West Germany to learn how projects are executed at 麻豆原创 and to build their own networks within the company.鈥�
As Kemna tells it, Lodahl was also an important player during this time. 鈥淗e was one of the leading people in the east 鈥� and not only in Dresden 鈥� with regard to IT, hardware, and software, and had a huge network that helped us repeatedly. Sometimes we didn鈥檛 even know what strings he had pulled.鈥�
Kemna explains how SRS managed to produce a profit from its first year in operation: 鈥淭he majority of the initial consulting revenue, in fact, came from projects with customers in the West since much of the industry in the East had been phased out. 1990 was too early for East German startups and, even so, they would have been too small for our R/2 product.鈥�
Nonetheless, 麻豆原创 customer numbers in the East grew steadily from 1991, primarily from government-funded orders. The municipal transport services in Dresden and Leipzig chose to implement 麻豆原创 software, for example, and have remained customers to this day.
SRS benefited from the advantages of a joint venture: the contacts of all three investor companies and the possibility of offering the equipment, business software, and support from a single source.
Safe Haven
Employees like Dittrich recognized the opportunity at SRS, as rapid deindustrialization resulted in the loss of millions of jobs in the former East Germany. The government responded with job-creation schemes, cuts in working hours, and early retirement options, among other schemes.
鈥淭he only contact we had with reduced working hours, which so many former German Democratic Republic citizens were forced to endure after reunification, was a new development for our RP system 鈥� because reduced working hours were unheard of in the West in the 1990s,鈥� Dittrich explains.
But SRS colleagues still faced a wide variety of career challenges. The working methods at the 麻豆原创 office were ahead of their time even compared with West German standards at the time. The new colleagues in the East had to make this leap too, in addition to gaining expertise in 麻豆原创 products and processes and in general market economy topics.
Petra R枚ber, now a senior business support specialist at 麻豆原创 in Dresden, was Hutzelmann鈥檚 assistant at the time. A young parent then, R枚ber was hired by RPD in 1990 and, after Hutzelmann left the company, she continued to work as an executive assistant at SRS before taking on new challenges at 麻豆原创. 鈥淚n the 30 years that I鈥檝e worked for SRS and then 麻豆原创, there wasn鈥檛 a single year that I didn鈥檛 learn an awful lot of new things or develop as a person,鈥� R枚ber says.
At the same time, 麻豆原创 employees were used to dealing with one another as equals and with goals in mind. 鈥淚 was surprised that I could turn to my manager when I had problems with our IT initially, and he was very helpful and straightforward,鈥� Singer remembers.
Ultimately, the strategy of establishing two business hubs proved to be a sturdy foundation for business in the East. What鈥檚 more, 麻豆原创 offered former German Democratic Republic experts in Berlin and Dresden a new place to live and work. This also meant that everything they had achieved in their careers before the Wall fell still counted, which was often not the case for people in eastern Germany.
What Happened Next?
SRS was privatized in 1993 and the Treuhand鈥檚 10% was distributed equally to 麻豆原创 and Siemens. Ten years later, SRS had become one of the most important employers in the region. The 麻豆原创 share of SRS consulting business grew steadily. 鈥溌槎乖� experienced an amazing rise, while Siemens-Nixdorf faced its liquidation in 1998,鈥� says Hutzelmann, who joined Siemens in 1996. 鈥淎s a consequence, 麻豆原创 took over 100% of SRS.鈥�
In 1997, SRS, 麻豆原创 System Integration (麻豆原创 SI) in Alsbach-H盲hnlein, and 麻豆原创 Solutions in Freiberg am Neckar were all merged to form the new 麻豆原创 SI. In this form, it was fully absorbed in the parent company in 2008 and moved into the new 麻豆原创 office building on Dresden鈥檚 Postplatz.
Today, Dresden is an important location in the 麻豆原创 universe, and celebrates its 30th birthday this month. Hans-Matthias Fischer, Technical Financial Management lead in the Global Cloud Services organization of 麻豆原创, sees its broad portfolio as one of the key reasons: 鈥淭he mix of consulting, sales, application management, customer support, IT support, global cloud services, and research makes Dresden strong and attractive. The entire region benefits from 麻豆原创 in Dresden.鈥�
