DS IT goes CAMAO TEC
For a little more than half a year they have been an integral part of CAMAO TEC, the team of the IT service provider DS IT from Heilbronn. Through the merger with DS IT, we have not only gained great growth, we have also created a completely new branch of the company, namely IT Solutions. Now it is time for a conclusion. We spoke with Dirk Schmidt, former Managing Director of DS IT, now Division Lead of IT Solutions, and asked him: What were the past few months like?
Dirk: The last few months have been very exciting for us. After the decision was made that I would sell DS IT, everything happened very quickly: We packed our metaphorical moving boxes and “moved” to CAMAO TEC. Here, of course, everything was new for us: a new environment, a new team that we had to fit into, a new system – and of course the new area that was created for us, IT Solutions. We also had to find our way around at first, but thanks to our great new colleagues we were able to integrate super fast.
The new IT Solutions division was created for you. What services do you offer there?
Dirk: Basically, the service we offered at DS IT has not changed – rather, we have been able to expand our field of business. On the one hand, we have our IT services: This starts with consulting, continues with conception and implementation, and ends with support. We always see ourselves as the central coordinator. Often, customers do not know who to turn to when they have problems. That’s where it’s important to be. Customers come to us and ask: “What do you think, should I buy this? Is this the right thing? Is this what I need? They’ve known us for a long time” and that’s exactly what happens. Some of our customers have been with us for over 15 years – that’s a very long time.
On the other hand, of course, you can get any hardware and software licenses from us, we offer cloud models and also install on third-party systems. In short, we offer all-round IT support. In the other business areas, we are now also in the process of finding our way again. We are currently strongly expanding our full-service offerings, such as managed services, and are also active in new, innovative fields withimmersive technologies such as augmented, virtual or extended reality. New in our portfolio: our 24-hour IT on-call service. We have already received customer inquiries and have sent our first offers to our customers.
The question that is of burning interest to many: What made you sell DS IT back then?
Dirk: The main reason was actually our common history. Many people don’t even know this: In 2014, we took over IT at CAMAO TEC and restructured it in the process. Due to this special constellation, we were already a part of CAMAO TEC at that time and were also involved in some projects. So everything was already moving in the direction of collaboration at that time. As time went by, the idea arose on both sides that it would be possible to unite forces after all.
You also have to admit honestly: As a small system house that has been DS IT, at some point you only move sideways, many tasks are similar – precisely because you simply do not have the capacities to start new types of projects. In a company as small as we were at the time, projects, diversity, opportunities and further development are limited. I wanted to enable my team to flourish, take on exciting projects, develop and think outside the box. This was an insanely great opportunity for us and I saw it as an opportunity to do something great.
And was it the right decision?
Dirk: I have to say, for us it was a huge step out of our comfort zone . Sure, there are still challenges to face. It’s just different from small businesses. But I think, at least that’s how I perceive it, that motivation is extremely high among us and people want to pull the cart forward – and we’re all really pulling along. To come back to the question:Yes, it was exactly the right step for everyone.
Now you have been with CAMAO TEC for a little more than half a year. What has changed since then?
Dirk: New business areas were added and, accordingly, new employees. We used to have 13 employees, but now we have 33. At that time, we only moved horizontally and could not develop further because we lacked capacity. Today, for the first time since DS IT, we are at a point where we can also move vertically and thus go into specialization. To explain: In the past, we were all all-rounders. Everyone did everything. Of course, that also has the disadvantage that it didn’t go into as much depth. Now we are lucky, and this is what the team wanted at the time, that we havedifferent experts in our different areas: Project Management, Purchasing, Sales, Customer Communication and so on. Employees can finally focus on their specialization and develop the way they imagined.
What are your goals for the future?
Dirk: For us, everything is under the motto “full service”, so we want to provide our customers with an all-round package in many of our areas, starting with IT. Here we are currently focusing on the topic of Managed Service Provider (MSP). For customers, this means much less stress, as we are the single point of contact for all IT services, whether hardware or software, security, cloud hosting, penetration tests or data analytics, and all this at clear and calculable costs.
We would also like to further expand our sub-brand in the area of “X-Reality”, XRGO further expand. We would like to start more projects in the XR area. Currently, customers are already getting their HoloLens from us. If desired, we can also provide additional support during implementation in regular operations. In the future, we would like to drive forward more innovations for and with our customers. Through workshops, we want to give them the opportunity to get up to speed and understand how they can use the technology profitably for their business. For this reason, we are currently also expanding our strong partnership with Microsoft , which is a pioneer in the field of “Industrial Metaverse”. With our three specialist areas of Technology, Agency and Consulting, we also offer our customers an all-in-one package when it comes to X-Reality, enabling people, brands and machines to work together in line with the 360-degree approach we live by at CAMAO TEC.
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