A successful partnership
Success story from Hochschule Stralsund
The partnership between the Berlin IT company Projektron GmbH and Prof. Dr. Michael Klotz is a prime example of a successful transfer for the benefit of all parties involved. This ongoing collaboration originated at an event for start-ups, where the two Projektron founders, Maik Dorl and Dr. Marten Huisinga, met Professor Klotz. Occasional discussions quickly led to close cooperation, which initially focused on teaching.
Successful start to the collaboration in the 2002/03 winter semester
In the winter semester of 2002/03, a student project team from the Business Informatics programme at the Stralsund University of Applied Sciences worked intensively with the Projektron BCS project management software produced by Projektron. The students mapped various project procedure models (e.g. the V-model or PMBOK) in Projektron BCS, and the results are still up to date today. Since then, the company has supported the university with lectures and by assigning study and final theses.
Internships and career opportunities for students in Stralsund
Projektron also offered internships to students in Stralsund. In October 2002, the first student from Stralsund, Mr Daniel Kretschmer, completed an internship at Projektron. He was followed by other students from Stralsund. Three of them were hired directly after their studies.
Expansion of collaboration and regional support
With the company's business success, the owners also thought about providing regional support to customers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It was convenient that a Projektron-supported project by the Student Unternehmensberatung Stralsund (SUS) student business consultancy, which included the introduction of Projektron BCS at a research institute in Greifswald, had just ended. The project manager of this successful project was about to complete his studies. So it made sense to integrate him into the development of the new Projektron office in Rostock. Since 2008, Christian Voigt, a graduate in Business Informatics, has been the point of contact and consultant for local Projektron BCS users. The research-oriented collaboration was intensified with the founding of the ‘Stralsund Information Management Team’ (SIMAT) by Professor Klotz in October 2008.
In third-party funded projects financed by Projektron, students from the Department of Business Administration are working on the integration of current management approaches, such as risk, compliance and contract management, into project management. This makes Projektron the central cooperation partner of the SIMAT ‘Project Collaboration Management’ centre of excellence. The Projektron managing directors also participate in the SIMAT start-up corner and advise people in the region who are willing to start up a company on topics such as company structure, sales and marketing.
There is no question that this long-standing successful cooperation will continue and deepen. Soon, teaching will be further supported by the offer of a course on project management with Projektron BCS.
Further ideas for research projects are being discussed – and Projektron is defying the crisis with its expansion course, so that interested and committed students are always in demand as student assistants, interns and employees.
