Sören, you founded CoreMedia in 1996. What's changed since then?Everything has changed, and nothing has changed. Since we started in 1996, almost every detail of our work has been transformed – yet, when you look at the big picture, you see that we're still sharing the same values and same vision as we did in '96. Back then we were a typical start-up. Full of ideas and enthusiasm – just like today – but with barely any experience, and very few contacts. No-one knew us. But with lots of hard work and courage to try things, we overcame our lack of experience. We hard to learn a lot, and fast, just to survive on the market. At that meant one or two tough lessons. Our first projects after the company was founded were developing individual software solutions for Hamburg-based media companies. In those days we were called "HigherOrder". XML didn't exist. Content management systems were just being invented. Mobile business was a concept nobody had heard of. But we were among the first to identify the opportunities offered by internet, and we won the German press agency, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and Axel Springer press as our first clients. It was more-or-less a perfect start, and it shaped our path in the years that followed. In our with the dpa, we learned a lot about working with information in a professional way – after all, the dpa has more than 50 years' experience with high-quality, topical information. Our solutions helped these media firms to exploit the internet as the medium of the future. We quickly recognized that many companies faced very similar challenges. So we grasped the opportunity: using our newly-gained expertise, we developed an innovative software solution called the "CoreMedia Publisher". The product was a big success and it changed our company. We transformed ourselves into a creator of standard software. As a sign of this transformed, we changed from HigherOrder GmbH to CoreMedia AG. Today CoreMedia is purely a software provider. Sales and implementation of our products are handled by our partners – a global network of more than 80 systems and consultancy firms. Our first two clients from Hamburg we joined by more than 2000 other companies from more than 30 countries. Among them are some of the world's biggest companies: Deutsche Telekom, Nokia and Vodafone, for example. Our small team grew into a staff of 145 highly qualified and motivated employees in a number of countries. And this is just the beginning. And what has stayed the same?The core. Our values and our commitment. When we decided to leave the university, we wanted to create an environment in which working was fun, where fairness was prized and where individuals were valued. We wanted to give our best and work towards finding the best solutions. We wanted to question the accepted way of doing things, and find new approaches. We wanted to create innovations and change the world. For us, anything seemed possible. I think we simply wanted to prove that we could do it. This attitude has made us who we are. It has – just like our way of working – essentially remained unchanged. Our role as pioneers is a key to our success. Our clients and our partners have grown to know that they can expect highly innovative products and solutions from CoreMedia. They trust us and they trust our ideas. They're ready to entrust us with the responsibility to find innovative solutions - even when it comes to their strategically most important projects. Our enthusiasm for innovation is probably best explained with the story of our foundation. CoreMedia AG has its roots in a European research project, in which the University of Hamburg was active. When the research project was finished, the idea arose to found a company. Taking part in the project was Professor Joachim W. Schmidt, the head of the department at that time, Professor Florian Matthes and Andreas Gawecki, who is still today working in research and development at CoreMedia, and myself. On the 19th April 1996, the four of us founded the company. The experience we'd gained from five years of groundwork research proved very useful to use. For example, we quickly developed an acute sense for pioneering solutions. And today, still, we research with our partners and clients to find new, practice-oriented approaches. We're always working on improving our products. We're ready to question existing limitations and venture into unknown territory. Nobody can do that alone. That's why team spirit and open communication has always been an important part of our culture, right from the start. Cohesion and harmony with the team: we consider this to be one of our most valuable assets. We encourage an open exchange of ideas and opinions between every member of the team. All of us are very committed and professional – without sacrificing the sense of fun in our jobs. How do you see the future of CoreMedia?I'm very optimistic. The truth is that it's a great pleasure to work together with a team of over 130 inspiring colleagues in shaping the future. We've never lost our fascination with new ideas and we're always ready to learn. So I'm very confident about CoreMedia. With our product for digital rights management, CoreMedia DRM, we've succeeded in establishing ourselves as a global leader in this segment. We working within a market of tomorrow, and helping build the important foundations for the information society: the effective protection of digital information. The number of our staff members is also growing. We're planning to create 20 new jobs in the next months. We see the telecommunications market as offering great potential for growth through further technological innovations. Already, CoreMedia is active not only in Germany but also in the USA, Great Britain, Sweden and in Singapore. And we're going to continue with this strategy of internationalization in the coming years. To do this we need new people: people with energy, commitment and openness to new ideas and different cultures. So we're always happy to receive job applications from individuals like this. Who exactly should apply to CoreMedia?The people who work at CoreMedia enjoy a great deal of freedom; in return it's expected that everyone acts with a strong sense of responsibility. Over the years we've learned that people with excellent qualifications, high levels of social competence and the courage to innovate feel most happy in a workplace atmosphere like ours. The type of person who's best suited to us is someone who has never stopped being interested in trying new things, who loves to experiment and learn, who's ready to work together with the team to achieve a shared goal rather than playing power games, who's flexible and who respects and values other people. Right now, we really need IT graduates with a few years of work experience. We're looking for people with solid IT expertise and a real enthusiasm for new technologies, plus excellent social skills and team skills, business savvy and an understanding of complex systems. The expertise of our team members is in high demand from our clients and partners. So we need people with good English language skills, who enjoy meeting and working with a broad range of different people and cultures, and who are prepared to travel frequently. You expect a lot from your staff. What do you offer in return?Anyone who's visited us senses it immediately: working with us is fun. In our offices, all doors are open. Everyone's ready to talk; mutual support is something we take for granted. Hierarchies are flat; when you set out to do something, you can quickly produce results. That makes it fun to work, because it makes success possible and immediately creates a strong sense of team spirit. In addition, we offer attractive remuneration models, flexible trust-based work times, internal information events, opportunities for professional training and lots of those pleasant things that make a workplace more comfortable. There are also a lot of opportunities for the personal development and they should be used. Is there anything else you'd like to communicate to men and women who are considering applying to CoreMedia?Yes: we're going to keep growing, and keep developing. So now's the perfect opportunity to join the team and shape the future of CoreMedia. I invite everyone to visit the "Career" section of our website and check out the positions we're currently offering. Of course, our Human Resources team will be delighted to receive applications from any qualified individuals who want to contribute to the CoreMedia story. | |