location Dortmund, Date 2024.05.27

The IT group Materna, which specializes in IT consulting and digitalization projects, continued to demonstrate its financial strength last year with a 21.5 percent increase in Group sales (20 percent organic) to a total of 673 million euros. EBIT also developed positively. In addition to the key financial figures, Materna was also able to further expand its position on the market. With a record increase of more than 630 employees, the Group now has around 4,400 employees worldwide, which underlines the company's attractiveness as an employer.

"Our growth is stable and clearly exceeds the industry average. We want to continue this positive development in the long term," explains Michael Hagedorn, CEO of the Materna Group. "With the introduction of our GRIP2 corporate strategy at the end of last year, we set ourselves ambitious goals that we are tackling with determination."

The aim is to increase turnover to one billion euros by 2027 and to further consolidate and expand Materna's market-leading position through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). As a trusted partner, Materna accompanies its customers - companies and public authorities - in a pioneering way in the adaptation of AI in all specialist areas. "Our goal is continuous growth with a clear focus on our employees," emphasizes Hagedorn. "As a family business, it is important that each individual has the opportunity for personal development. This strengthens our ability to develop innovative solutions for our customers together."

Innovative strength through AI: Materna sets new standards with Aleph Alpha and Bundesbots

Materna's rapid success in the field of AI is particularly noteworthy, where the company is already generating numerous projects with renowned partners. The recently established platinum partnership with Aleph Alpha highlights Materna's innovative strength, whereby Aleph Alpha's language models are used for the development of AI applications. These applications are realized with the help of the Materna Generative AI Factory for the public and commercial sectors.

The trend towards the digitalization of public administration remains strong. Driving forces such as the eFile, the digitalization of specialist procedures and the modernization of registers made a decisive contribution to the 30 percent year-on-year growth of the Public Sector division. "Digital technologies are the key to efficient and modern administration," explains Michael Hagedorn. "It is pleasing to see how we can help authorities to successfully shape the path to digital administration, both internally and for their customers. AI is now improving this process even further."

One key project is the consolidation of federal services, in which Materna is implementing AI-supported chatbots called Bundesbots. They supplement the existing communication channels and make it possible to automatically provide information and services from the federal administration and answer inquiries.

Materna expands mobile solutions for digital transformation

With the growing need for innovative solutions in the course of digital transformation, Materna is increasingly focusing on the development and provision of mobile applications for public authorities and companies. With SecurePIM from Materna Virtual Solution, the group offers a successful and established solution for the protection of ultra-mobile communication on iOS and Android. By integrating the app developer Brace Enterprise into the newly created Mobile Solutions department, the Materna Group has further strengthened its development capacities in order to offer a wide range of services and customized solutions for the digital transformation of its customers.

SAP consulting business remains an important pillar

The Materna Group's consulting business in the area of SAP-based business solutions for industrial customers, realized by cbs Corporate Business Solutions, recorded sales growth of around 21 percent last year. This growth is being driven by the digital transformation in the manufacturing industry, which is striving to introduce globally standardized and flexible business process platforms. With the acquisition of projekt0708, a specialist in human capital management, cbs has expanded its offering to include human resources (HR) solutions such as the SAP SuccessFactors cloud solution. The Materna Group is thus strengthening its comprehensive portfolio in the areas of employee experience and HR.

ServiceNow and agineo drive growth in Enterprise Service Management

In the area of Enterprise Service Management, partnerships with BMC, OpenText and ServiceNow are driving business growth, with ServiceNow standing out as the main revenue driver. As a comprehensive platform, the technology provider offers IT departments detailed solutions for IT service management and supports a wide range of business functions and specialist processes. agineo, a subsidiary of the Materna Group that specializes in the agile implementation of service processes with ServiceNow technologies, recorded impressive growth of 50 percent last year and has established a leading position in the German market.

A key factor for this growth was the successful use of ServiceNow in the public sector, which was further strengthened by the successful start of the internationalization of the business unit. Uwe Scariot, the Materna Group Management Board member responsible for this, therefore emphasizes the goal of intensifying cooperation with ServiceNow: "ServiceNow is developing into a central platform that is seamlessly connected via interfaces with software from SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft and Oracle, for example. With the ServiceNow AI solution Now Assist, which integrates other market-leading AI systems, organizations can make their business processes significantly more efficient. Materna has in-depth knowledge of both ServiceNow and various specialist areas, including the public sector, logistics, human resources and various security solutions, and thus ideally complements ServiceNow as a platform for platforms. This makes us ideal partners."

Materna Radar Cyber Security adapts to dynamic market conditions and focuses on innovation

Cyber security also remains an important growth area for the Materna Group, which offers comprehensive end-to-end solutions for this. "In view of new regulatory requirements, advanced attackers and the use of AI, innovative and quickly adaptable solutions are in demand," explains Uwe Scariot. Materna Radar Cyber Security is responding with a strengthened leadership team and a focus on innovation for dynamic market conditions. "We are expanding our offering by using standard products and technologies and deepening our cooperation with leading technology providers such as Elastic in order to meet the growing requirements," says Uwe Scariot.

Investments in innovation strengthen market position

In 2023, the Materna Group invested around 40 million euros in innovation, with a significant proportion going towards employee training in key technologies such as ultra-mobile communication and cyber security. In addition, the Group strengthened its core competencies in HR through the acquisition of projekt0708. "We are strengthening ourselves very selectively in strategic core areas. Thanks to our robust capital structure, the Materna Group can finance all transactions from its own funds independently of the capital market, which gives us a high degree of financial flexibility even in changing market conditions," says René Rüdinger, CFO of the Materna Group.

The successful business development supports the continuation of GRIP2. "We are focused on stringently implementing our corporate strategy. The aim is to make the best possible use of market opportunities through continuous innovation, the development of new markets and the effective use of synergies within the Materna Group," explains Michael Hagedorn.

Materna sets new milestone with innovative headquarters in Dortmund

This strategic orientation is also supported by the upcoming infrastructural expansions. The construction of the new company headquarters in Dortmund is in the final phase of completion. With an investment of 120 million euros and more than 1,800 modern workstations, the new headquarters will meet the highest energy standards and integrate advanced e-mobility concepts for employees. Other highlights include the spacious visitor center, a landscape staircase and a "green center" as well as a sky lounge with a roof terrace. The move to the Phoenix-West Innovation and Technology Park is planned for June 2024, marking another milestone in Materna's corporate history.

Image material

Michael Hagedorn, Chairman of the Executive Board (CEO) Source: Markus Mielek

The Materna Executive Board team (from left to right): Uwe Scariot (Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Board Member Cross Market Services and Industries), Michael Hagedorn (CEO and Board Member Public Sector), Dr. René Rüdinger (CFO) Source: Markus Mielek

Visualization of Materna's new company headquarters at Phoenix-West in Dortmund Source: Gerber Architekten

About Materna

The Materna Group implements sustainable IT and digitalization projects for customers from corporations, SMEs and public authorities. With currently more than 4,400 employees worldwide, Materna generated sales of 673 million euros in 2023. Know-how and expertise are bundled along nine focus areas. Materna has been a market leader in the focus areas of Digital Administration, Enterprise Service Management and Data & AI for many years. With the focus areas SAP Transformation, Cloud Transformation and Cyber Security, Materna offers solutions for today's most pressing challenges in almost all industries. In the focus areas of digital experience, sustainability and resilience, Materna offers solutions that enable customers to position themselves sustainably and generate added value in the long term.