“This is an ambitious goal,” confirms Managing Director Dirk Schäfer, who came on board in 2006. Mr. Schäfer heads the subsidiary 7P B2B Mobile & IT Services GmbH. “But we know we can make it. We have all the parameters you need. Enterprise mobility is a huge growth sector with promising perspectives, and we have already implemented a new organization and structure in order to support our activities in this field. We moved away from a location-oriented organization to a topic-related organization. We have all the necessary basic IT technologies available. ‘Enabling your business’ is our slogan, and we are able to do this end to end. We also offer consultancy end to end. In the last years, there was a dominating trend towards building a high wall around all IT activities. This is not going to work in the future. ‘Bring your own device’ is the future. That means that not only the employees but also, for example, all trade agents use their own devices with access to the company network. In the coming years, enterprise mobility is going to change the current business landscape completely.”
Thanks to its subsidiaries and branch offices located throughout Germany, Austria and Great Britain, SEVEN PRINCIPLES combines the strength of a stock-listed corporation with the speed and flexibility of a small company.
The group covers the entire supply chain, from consultation and conception to development to implementation, quality assurance, training and the management of complex IT solutions. Client support comes from 7P Solutions & Consulting AG.
The subsidiaries 7P ERP Consulting GmbH and 7P bicon GmbH focus on SAP, and 7P InfoLytics AG is an expert in project-based low-level software. 7P B2B Mobile & IT Services GmbH concentrates on mobile enterprise services and IT services.
7P Austria GmbH in Vienna represents the subsidiary in Austria, while 7P UK Ltd. is the group’s London-based office. 7P Trusted Experts GmbH provides additional consultants for the rest of the group.
“Enterprise mobility is our strategic growth project,” says Mr. Schäfer. “In this field, we cooperate with renowned names such as Pro7SAT1, Deutsche Bahn, Deichmann, Osthannoversche Eisenbahn or the city of Munich and several banks. We even have clients in Austria.”
The clientele of 7P is manifold and encompasses companies from all economic sectors. “Our technological layer can be used by all industries, by trading and service companies,” says the managing director. “They all face the challenge of realizing enterprise mobility. Similar to the introduction of the Internet, enterprise mobility is a quantum leap. New technologies enable new possibilities, process optimization, quality improvement and lean processes. All these are crucial factors for long-term business success. Today, the employees are often better equipped at home than at work. It is important to introduce a certain standard to all businesses.”
Germany is still the company’s key market. Vodafone, O2, Deutsche Telekom, NetCologne and 1&1 are only a few renowned names from the company’s reference list.
In fact, 7P B2B Mobile & IT Services operates the fourth-largest quality center worldwide for Vodafone. Around 25% of the business volume falls to export activities, mainly within the DACH region.
“We unite know-how in mobile communication solutions with IT expertise,” Mr. Schäfer explains the company’s success. “This means that we draw on trans-technological knowhow. This is unique in Germany, and this combination clearly distinguishes us from competitors. We will always try to get in touch with new technologies early and look for integration possibilities because this ensures our leading market position.”