History

Certification in accordance with ISO 27001, awards and new versioning system

At the end of 2018, Projektron employed 93 members of staff, more than half of whom were IPMA and PRINCE2 certified. We now have more than 700 customers – most are SMEs, but there are also some large corporations and public institutions. 46 customers from primarily large companies took part in the 6th User Conference in Berlin.

After a successful audit by TÜV Süd in February, we received the ISO 27001 certificate for our information security management system, which is used for development, support, technical customer support, and internal IT administration. Shortly thereafter, we also received the “Qualität und guter Service aus der Hauptstadtregion” Berlin-Brandenburg 2018/2019 award, which honors quality and excellent service in the Berlin Brandenburg region.

Our work in human resources was once again honored by GPTW, with Projektron taking second place in Berlin Brandenburg, third place in the ICT sector, and fifth place across Germany as a whole. The team was also delighted to receive the TOTAL E-QUALITY distinction once again.

Our teams organized numerous company events for the employees, including three employee gatherings, two hackathons, an advanced training trip with certification in Portugal, barbecues, a summer party, Christmas crafts and our Christmas party, as well as a games night, a World Cup betting game and a foosball league. A running seminar was organized to ensure the health of our employees was also not forgotten, with 18 of our sports enthusiasts also taking part in races.

63% of Projektron customers participated in our customer satisfaction survey. Our technical customer support received an average score of 1.5 (with 1 being the best mark, 6 the worst).

As of this year, the first number of the version number designates the year, while the second number indicates the quarter of its release. The first release of 2018 was therefore named Projektron BCS 18.1. Thanks to the new system, users can now determine the age of their version at a glance.

It also clearly demonstrates that we develop Projektron BCS within the framework of an iterative agile procedure, enabling us to react quickly to new requirements. Our development department has been working according to the Scrum development method since 2009; four versions with extensive function extensions are released each year.

Projektron BCS has continued to grow:

• 18.1
  Year-based project planning
  Copy view settings
• 18.2
  BCS and Office 365 synchronization
  Graphical network map for products
• 18.3
  Revised navigator
  New offline app for time recording and entering expenses
• 18.4
  Extended management of risks and countermeasures
  Support of Java 11 and OpenJDK

Host of the BPUG e.V. annual meeting

Car manufacturer Porsche and logistics company Hermes Fulfilment both joined our customer base this year. Other new key accounts include service provider Loh Services and the Federal Motor Transport Authority. The sold-out User Conference in Berlin gave our customers the chance to meet and talk to one another.

At the end of the year, our company has over 90 employees, who all work together closely and whose ideas contribute to the continued development of our products and the company. We took first place in Berlin Brandenburg in the Great Place to Work competition for the fourth time, and are also one of the top employers in both the ICT sector (third place) and in Germany as a whole (12th place).

Our teams organized numerous company events for the employees, including employee gatherings, barbecues, a summer party, our Christmas party, and our first running workshop, which used a mix of theory and practical exercises to introduce employees to the topic of “running healthily.”

We also organized numerous networking events, including the annual meeting for BPUG Best Practice User Group Deutschland e.V. (BPUG), which we hosted at our site for 50 participants.

The results of the continued development of Projektron BCS:

• 7.36
  Scrum Board and Kanban board for projects (tasks)
  PRINCE2 with Projektron BCS
• 7.38
  Week-based resource request
  Mobile travel expense submission
• 7.40
  Project portfolio
  Kanban board for tasks (Tickets)
• 7.42
  Dynamic diagrams
  Extensions to circulars in BCS

Anniversary, Awards and PRINCE2

Projektron celebrated its 15-year anniversary in February. In total, the software company now boasts 91 employees, of which 42 are women. More than half the staff are IPMA and PRINCE2 certified. Projektron BCS has attracted over 600 customers, 90 of which over the course of this year, with its reliable technology, flexibility and market proximity. 43 of our customers visited the 4th User Conference in Berlin.

Projektron was named the most family-friendly company in the “Unternehmen für Familie – Berlin 2016” (company for family) competition and received the Best Pers Award for the third time. This drew the attention of Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, and Berlin’s Governing Mayor, Michael Müller. During their visit, they learned how individual and flexible working models enable the reconciliation of private and professional life.

Since fall of this year, the SERVIEW CERTIFIEDTOOL seal of quality confirms the PRINCE2®-conform implementation of project management processes for the Projektron BCS product. The independent SERVIEW management consulting company tested the software for certification using over 600 assessment criteria. Our customer, DVZ Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, received the Best Practice Award from the BPUG Deutschland e.V. for excellent services in project management.

Projektron BCS now also supports phased plans, risk diagrams, project proposals and idea management. New additions also include boards for working in accordance with Scrum or Kanban. This year, Projektron BCS provides even greater support for users in support departments by offering services times, reaction times and early warning stages in the ticket system.

And thanks to the support of Apache Camel, Projektron BCS is even easier to integrate in company-wide information systems. This is Projektron GmbH’s way of supporting its customers in Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).

Best Practice for Human Resources

During a visit by the Berlin Labor Senator, Dilek Kolat, and the Managing Director of the IHK Berlin, Jan Eder, as part of the “Unternehmen mit Frauen an die Spitze” (Companies with women at the top) initiative, Projektron presented itself as a “best practice” example with flexible working hours and management in part-time positions. Members of the working group “Future of Work” from the Humboldt University in Berlin visited Projektron to learn more about these topics.

The Berlin-based software manufacturer was again honored for its human resources work this year. According to GPTW, Projektron is among the best employers nationwide, coming in 7th place in the GPTW competition “Best Employer in ITC 2015”, and taking 1st place for the third year in a row in the competition “Best Employer in Berlin-Brandenburg 2015”.

A staff member from Projektron, Simone Dümchen was honored by the University of Potsdam for her Bachelor's thesis on the concept of personnel controlling in business-related standard software. In addition, Projektron was once again awarded the TOTAL E-QUALITY distinction for equal opportunity and was awarded the first-ever distinction for diversity.

Projektron reports on its human resources work during panel discussions and at network events organized together with its partners. The guide “Die neue Vereinbarkeit” (new compatibility) published by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs lists numerous Projektron measures as being exemplary.

Currently, 42 percent of Projektron employees are working part-time – roughly the same amount of women as men; some even in management positions. In total, the software company boasts around 85 employees, of which 46 are men. The steadily increasing number of employees was the reason to add an additional floor to the main office in Berlin. The Stuttgart site moved to a larger office with a training facility in a central location in the Swabian state capital.

The user conference was a complete success and attracted 40 visitors this year.

As of version 7.20, Projektron BCS offers a bi-directional Jira interface. The latest additions include solutions for resource management in the matrix, a new search algorithm as well as marking and reuse functions in the ticket system, and an integrated job application management system.

Awards, PM Camp and BCS App

Projektron receives the Ruban d’Honneur at the European Business Awards for the “Employer of the Year 2013/14” category. The Great Place to Work-Institute (GPTW) has once again honored Projektron 2nd place in the nationwide ranking “Best Employer in ICT 2014”, 12th place in the competition “Germany's Best Employer 2014” and once again 1st place in the cross-sector comparison “Best Employer in Berlin-Brandenburg 2014”.

In addition, GPTW has awarded Projektron the first-ever special prize for “Equal Opportunity and Promotion of Women”. Following receipt of the award, Berlin's Senator for Labor, Integration and Women, Dilek Kolat visited the company. Projektron supports the “Unternehmen mit Frauen an die Spitze” (Companies with women at the top) sponsored by the Senate Labor Department and Berlin's Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and provides suggestions for flexible, software-based personnel management in the form of networking events.

In cooperation with our partner for advanced training, PM Pocket, Projektron conducts four-day camps three times a year, which focus on a practice-oriented introduction to international standards in project management in accordance with IPMA.

Following its relocation, the Munich office now has more space and a function room used for on-site trainings. Projektron also widens its services to Open Workshops. This format was firstly introduced at the Projektron user conference and was highly praised.

As of this year, it is also possible to record efforts in Projektron BCS with a smartphone via a special app. Furthermore, the software offers a new planning view for the Scrum module. GPM has honoured a staff member from Projektron, Francisco Josué Artaza, with the Deutscher Studienpreis Projektmanagement (German Students Award for Project Management) for his Bachelor's thesis on introductory projects.

Excellent Workplaces

For the first time in company history, Projektron participated in the benchmark study conducted by the independent research institute Great Place to Work.

Back in January, the Berlin-based company received the first award: 5th place in the nationwide ranking “Best Employer in IT 2013” for the 50 – 100 employees category. In April, the company climbed the winner's rostrum and achieved 1st place in a cross-sector comparison “Best Employer in Berlin-Brandenburg 2013”.

In 2013, two institutes confirmed the fact that Projektron is among the best in its size category in Germany. The company ranked 23rd in the Great Place to Work ranking “Germany's Best Employers 2013” and was honored as the “National Champion” at the European Business Award for the “Employer of the Year” category.

The Projektron team also delivered an outstanding performance in 2013: a total of 12 consultants had their project management expertise certified by the German Association for Project Management (GPM).

In 2013, Projektron celebrated the premiere of its user conference. The event was a complete success and will be held annually.

Projektron BCS has been offering an external support portal, JIRA interface as well as tachometers for costs, efforts and profits since 2013.

More than 450 customers in Europe are using Projektron BCS.

For large and small:
Projektron BCS 7

In 2012, Projektron BCS version 7 drew all eyes with its completely redesigned interface and set new standards, not only in terms of operational concept.

With Projektron BCS.start the Berlin software company offered an edition tailor-made for project teams with up to 15 employees. Large corporations such as Hella Aglaia and Volkswagen benefited from new features for process management.

Projektron BCS stands for project success – this was confirmed in 2012 by an enthusiastic professional audience: The University of Potsdam has selected Projektron BCS as "ERP System of the Year" for service providers, and the German professional association for technical communication – tekom – awarded the documentation of Projektron BCS for the second time.

10 years Projektron

IT sector is fast-paced – trends come and go. Meanwhile, Projektron celebrates its ten-year anniversary, focuses on reliable technology and convinces – with flexibility, market proximity and the extra mile for its staff. 

In 2011, not only the company anniversary was cause for celebration: The project management software Projektron BCS was nominated for the award ERP system of the year and was included in the Best of IT list for medium-sized businesses.

From an innovative start-up to a software company active all over Europe: A challenge that Projektron accepts also in terms of human resources. Its high-quality personnel work was honored in 2011 for the first time with the TOTAL-E-QUALITY award and the BestPersZertifikat.

New space for creative minds

The offices in Kreuzberg became too small. Over the years, not only did the know-how grow at Projektron, so did the size of its team. At the beginning of 2010, the team, which by then consisted of 60 employees, was too big for the former Projektron headquarters.

A modern office building directly in the center of Berlin was chosen as the new main office. There, the large offices do not only provide enough space for creative minds, but also allow continued growth.

Booming in the midst of the economic crisis

Just as the new economy crises, the economic crises did not affect Projektron in any way. With numerous interested parties and new customers, the innovation company from Berlin was even able to expand: Since 2009, sixty employees advise and support the nearly 300 customers.

In particular the aerospace specialist EADS contributed to Projektron's success. With a total of 500 Projektron BCS licenses, the German-French EADS research was the largest Projektron customer in 2009.

Knowledge and project management in one

With a continuously growing team, the question of knowledge management adapted to company needs becomes more and more important, even for the Berlin software company itself. An intranet based on Wiki technology proved to be the best solution for Projektron.

In order to benefit from existing knowledge in the best way possible, the Wiki for  know-how was followed by the connection to the internal Projektron BCS. With this expansion, which is also available by default to customers as of version 6.8, any parts in Projektron BCS can be linked with suitable Wiki entries.

The Berlin company broke new ground, not only in terms of internal communication. In addition, the information materials for Projektron BCS users were completely overhauled thanks to the experts from the new Technical Documentation department.

Projektron dedication to customers and neighborhood

With subsidiaries in Munich, Hamburg, Bonn and Karlsruhe, the competence team consisting of 20 persons has long been on duty for customers all over Germany.

However, the neighborhood where the success story of the triumvirate started remains unforgotten. With the support of the integration project Lange Tafel and the district parent association for daycare centers, Projektron contributes to life in Kreuzberg.

Of course, the customers are also supported by Projektron. With the support founded in 2007, a complete department is always available for wishes, suggestions and questions regarding Projektron BCS.

Tickets to ISO

The best-possible support for more than 100 Projektron customers in five countries - no problem for the competence team with the Projektron BCS support system. Support and service enquiries from customers directly reach the right contact person via a sophisticated ticket system. This saves time and increases productivity – not only for the Berlin team.

Customers also equally benefit from the optimized Projektron service as well as the enhanced Projektron BCS functionality. In this, the tickets for companies striving at an ISO certificate are especially important. Since 2006, the companies can not only successfully coordinate ongoing projects with BCS, but can also realize their complaints management in line with ISO.

No limits to project management

The simple language configuration of the web-based project management software Projektron BCS also convinces across country borders.

SiMedia AG was the first Italian company that relied on the project management solution from Berlin in 2005. The Internet agency from South Tyrol marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Projektron. In the next years, additional customers in other European countries followed.

Projektron BCS is also used in neighboring countries - as usual across sectors. Among others, an Austrian financial company and a French industrial group use the web-based project management system for their project successes.

Standard-compliant with Projektron BCS

The workflow component first presented at the CeBIT exhibition in 2004, was primarily aimed at customers from industry. With the latest Projektron BCS function, they could easily depict their ISO-compliant company processes in the system. Other interested parties soon discovered this further development. Because: if the suitable workflow is anchored in Projektron BCS, recurring activities can easily contribute to an increase in productivity – regardless of industry and size.

With thirty new customers in the fourth business year, not only the new Projektron BCS module, but also the proven recipe for success, proved to be profitable.

Know how - know-how from the expert

The Projektron team also grows along with the increasing number of customers. In the third business year, eight employees supported the nearly forty customers.

Among them: Projektron's first apprentice. Sales, marketing, finance and product management – the IT systems management assistant learned the fundamental practical know-how from the expert in project management.

Distinguished across sectors

Systematic project management pays off. Even across sectors, thanks to the flexibility of Projektron BCS. While mainly software companies use the program for successful projects in the first business year, Projektron GmbH was able to significantly expand its range of sectors already in 2002. In the second business year, companies from the IT sector as well as industry and services companies brought about an increase in the number of customers by fifty percent.

Not only companies, but also the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as well as the Federal Association of Young Entrepreneurs (BJU) took notice of the performance of the Berlin company. In addition to securing numerous new customers, Projektron won the start-up competition Multimedia of the Federal Ministry and also won the BJU start-up workshop competition.

Innovative and practical right from the very start

What must a project management software be able to do in order to ideally support project teams? The founding fathers of Projektron, Maik Dorl, Dr. Marten Huisinga and Jörg Cohrs already dealt with this question before the company founding. Their exploratory market discussions with companies from Berlin helped the project experts in finding the answer: A platform-independent system, adaptable to project and company needs, contributes to realistic project planning with transparency and flexibility, simplifies project processing and allows for comprehensive cost control.

On 12 February 2001, the innovations team completed the preparatory phase and started its first business year. Including: a sophisticated business plan and the first version of the Business Coordination Software Projektron BCS.

The successes of the first business year prove: If you are well prepared and have Projektron BCS, projects can succeed. In the same year, Projektron secured ten customers with the web-based software for project success and received the first award, the Internet World Award in the category Best Application.

Innovative and practical right from the very start

What must a project management software be able to do in order to ideally support project teams? The founding fathers of Projektron, Maik Dorl, Dr. Marten Huisinga and Jörg Cohrs already dealt with this question before the company founding. Their exploratory market discussions with companies from Berlin helped the project experts in finding the answer: A platform-independent system, adaptable to project and company needs, contributes to realistic project planning with transparency and flexibility, simplifies project processing and allows for comprehensive cost control.

On 12 February 2001, the innovations team completed the preparatory phase and started its first business year. Including: a sophisticated business plan and the first version of the Business Coordination Software Projektron BCS.

The successes of the first business year prove: If you are well prepared and have Projektron BCS, projects can succeed. In the same year, Projektron secured ten customers with the web-based software for project success and received the first award, the Internet World Award in the category Best Application.