NO4 2022 SECURITY SERVICES A hot topic for everybody NTS EXPERIENCE Relax, We Care for NTS customers CLOUDY INSIDE The fitting Cloud strategy from NTS WECARE://WWW.NTS.EU
WITHOUT COMPROMISES! I love being an entrepreneur. I consider it to be a reputably nice task to lead a business, to be responsible for employees along with their employment conditions, for partners and for several hundred customers with their specific needs on top of everything else that is related to it. From the very beginning, along with this sense of responsibility, this is how HermannKoller and I have guidedNTS, almost likewith the touch of an invisible hand. Twenty-seven years later, this sense of responsibility that was exemplified by management has been extended to all areas of NTS. It continues to be the fertile soil that nourishes our growth, that keeps the NTS team together and that naturally helps us keep our promise RELAX, WE CARE especially during challenging times such as during the recent two years. There is no other secret for the success of NTS, neither from the outside nor from the inside: Mutual respect, being open and transparent, a friendly and trustful cooperation, reliable products as well as know-how of the highest quality are all ingredients of the uncompromising responsibility thatwe have taken on. This year, we have surpassed the threshold of 500 employees. This is clear evidence that our path toward customer satisfaction is the right one and it is a well-earned success, forwhichon this occasion I personallywould like to cordially thank all parties involved. In the current edition of our RELAX magazine, you will be able to readwhat has happened at NTS andwhat is going to happen in the future. I wish youmuch enjoyment browsing and reading this edition! With best regards, ALEXANDER ALBLER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER EDITORIAL MEDIA OWNER AND EDITOR NTS Netzwerk Telekom Service AG OWNERS NTS Alexander Albler, Hermann Koller PUBLISHER Content Performance Group GmbH, Hainburger Straße 33, 1030 Wien MANAGEMENT BOARD Eva-Maria Kubin, MA und Mag. Xenia Daum EDITORIAL STAFF Harald Müller, Kunigunde Weissenegger, Daniela Haag (NTS), Franz Lammer (NTS), Lisa Hauser (NTS), Ivana Puskaric (NTS) PROJECT MANAGEMENT Katharina Tieber (COPE), Franz Lammer (NTS), Katharina Wagner (NTS) ART DIRECTION & GRAPHICS Bozica Miloseska (COPE), Joanna Jagiello (COPE), Lisa Hauser (NTS) PROOFREADING Barbara Hofmann, Daniela Haag (NTS) PRODUCTION Styria Media Design – m4! Mediendienstleistungs GmbH & Co KG, www.styria.com/mediadesign MANUFACTURER Druck Styria GmbH & Co KG, Herstellungsort: Marburg, Slowenien The editorial staff compiled this magazine with the greatest possible care. Nevertheless, some information might be out-of-date since the editorial deadline. All personal terms are considered gender neutral and shall be read as male or female. The responsibility for the printed advertisements lies exclusively with the respective advertising companies. DISCLOSURE IN ACCORDANCE WITH §25 AUSTRIAN MEDIA LAW www.copegroup.com/impressum/offenlegung COVER PHOTOGRAPH Lupi Spuma IMPRINT Setting the course for the future (from left to right): Michael Seewald (Chief Operating Officer), Petra Seewald (Chief Productivity Officer), Alexander Albler (Founder and Chief Executive Officer), Vinzenz Ferk (Chief Financial Officer) and Thomas Bartl (Chief Commercial Officer). LESEN SIE! READ IT! LEGGA! Do you prefer to read on your tablet, smartphone or on your monitor? Then find the online versions of RELAX on www.nts.eu/relaxmagazin in English, German and Italian as well as a downloadable PDF version. Photo by: photoworkers.at This product consists of material made from FSC®-certified forests that are managed to the highest standards, from recycled material and from other controlled sources. 3
6 NTS TIME TRAVEL An unabridged flashback 8 INTERVIEW ALEXANDER ALBLER The insides and outlook into the future 10 INTERVIEW HERMANN KOLLER A man who looks for the bigger picture 12 NTS MANAGEMENT Who’s who at NTS 14 NTS EXPERIENCE Ba boom! At the pulse of our customers 16 CLOUD SERVICES – SUBSCRIPTION ECONOMY Cloudy moods with NTS. Do you still buy or are you a subscriber? 18 DEFENSE SERVICES 360 degrees comprehensive carefree package 19 SECURITY SERVICE NTS is the BBG security partner 20 MANAGED SERVICES NTS experts for responsibility 21 ADV – AUSTRIAN DIGITAL VALUE About the digitalization professionals 22 WE CAN BE HEROES Joyful into the NTS universe 26 A MEETINGWITH THOMAS HAUSEGGER AND HARRY NEUMAYER Two driven men pushing the throttle 28 GRAZ Grown-up growth 29 VIENNA Collect your customers, don’t run them over 30 KLAGENFURT Enchanting must-see office 31 SALZBURG Convincing standards 32 LINZ The star, our team 33 INNSBRUCK Software and Humanware 34 DORNBIRN In the digital portal of the Rhine Valley 36 SUCCESS STORIES AUSTRIA Red Bull, KNAPP, KAGes, BRZ, FH Kärnten, Barmherzige Brüder, Porsche Informatik, AT&S, OMICRON, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe, SKIDATA, voestalpine 52 MEETING JÜRGEN TABOJER Everything on target, always on the go 54 FRIEDRICHSHAFEN With both legs on the ground at Lake Constance 55 AUGSBURG Between a historic center and the new opening 56 ROSENHEIM We remain the same and NTS stays! 57 LEIPZIG The Leipzig switch-hunter 58 REUTLINGEN The Swabian dream came through 60 SUCCESS STORIES GERMANY Haufe, ifm, Die Zieglerschen, Landratsamt Bodenseekreis 66 BOLZANO Italian technological curiosity 67 MEETINGMATTHIAS PLONER About the comfort zone Bolzano 68 SUCCESS STORIES ITALY SPORTLER, InfoCamere, Brennercom, GKN Aerospace 72 RED CARPET Major and small moments alike – we celebrate all of them! 74 REFERENCES Who recommends NTS? 18 22 72 8 10 16 CONTENT NO EMPTY PHRASES FROM THE NTS FOUNDERS A. ALBLER AND H. KOLLER. 14 CLOUDY INSIDE VISIONARY WITH THE NTS EXPERTS. NTS UNIVERSE HOW DOES IT REVOLVE. GOLDEN MOMENTS A TWO-YEAR JOURNEY WITH PICTURES. WOW-EFFECT SUCCESSFUL WITH THE FITTING CX STRATEGY. COMPREHENSIVELY CAREFREE WITH NTS DEFENSE SERVICES SO THAT YOU CAN SWITCH OFF COMFORTABLY. 5 4
Rating: 1 = very good, 5 = unsatisfactory CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: 1.04 Average for the year 2021 THE STORY SO FAR 1995 Founded by Alexander Albler and Hermann Koller as “Koller und Albler OEG” 1996 NTS becomes a premium reseller of Cisco 1999 Relocation to the present location Raaba-Grambach 2000 Founding of the Vienna location, 14 employees 2002 Change of legal structure from OEG to AG 2005 32 employees in Raaba- Grambach and Vienna 2010 77 employees at 4 locations 2006 Dell EMC became a manufacturing partner 2007 Founding of the Linz location 2009 Founding of the Innsbruck location 2011 Founding of NTS Italy, first Cisco silver partner in Trentino-Alto Adige, VMware partner 2012 NetApp gold partner, with already 127 employees 2013 Expansion of the NTS headquarters in RaabaGrambach 2014 Founding of the Dornbirn location and NTS North America 2016 Founding of the Klagenfurt location, a revenue of more than 80 million Euros, 200 employees, Cisco Gold Partner in Italy 2017 Founding of NTS Germany and NTS Switzerland, partnership with Microsoft, 250 employees at 12 locations, a revenue of 91 million Euros 2018 Founding of the Rosenheim and Leipzig locations, Cisco Gold Partner in Germany, 284 employees 2019 Founding of the Augsburg location, 355 employees 2020 Building extension of the NTS headquarters in Raaba-Grambach and 25th anniversary 2021 Founding of the Reutlingen location, 500 employees NTS Netzwerk Telekom Service AG headquartered in Raaba-Grambach near Graz was founded in 1995 by the owners Alexander Albler and Hermann Koller. Many milestones, employees, technology partnerships, openings of new locations, awards as well as highlights shaped the path of NTS during the recent 27 years and a leading IT service provider emerged from a small IT company. See for yourself, as you are gladly invited to follow our time travel though the world of NTS. We can already reveal as much: from our side the future is going to remain exciting. 2015 Founding of the Salzburg location, a revenue of more than 70 million Euros Luck is elusive – the satisfaction of our customers can be measured! Always in real-time and up to date on our webpage www.nts.eu 7 6
cause it is not allowed, but because the technologies will be different. Simply put, itwould be like some people useyellowenvelopes andwould only be able to post and open yellow ones, while the other people wouldonlyuse greenones.Whatwe see today,where the entireworld is converting in an unlimited technological way will not last forever – for example, today you can write an email to someone inChina, or you can access any website from anywhere in the world. One thing must be clearly expressed: The fact that everything is drifting apart is alreadybecoming reality. THE WORLD IS DRIFTING APART It is alreadyhappening now, as you can see when looking today at important applications which are predominantly used in China – WeChat, Alipay and so on: We think differently, and not in that way. Opposite to us, they don’t use Google, WhatsApp or Facebook… Especially for Apps, the global usage has become considerably more difficult. Mainly with payApps you notice the way in which we contemplate technology is drifting further and further apart. Therefore, I think that it will be a central issue for NTS to translate between the technologyareas. Froma technical standpoint for safety reasons, but also As a visitor at NTS you will always get the feeling that you are welcomed, entertained, andwaited on byhosts as social interaction, modern technology and knowhow are basic pillars for NTS and are still provided by NTS today. It is therefore not surprizing that AlexanderAlbler is serving the answer to thequestiononahot plate, as towhere the challenges forNTS could be in 27 years fromnow. FUTURE CHALLENGES “The challenges forNTSwill be huge. However, it is of course difficult to pin down howthiswill look like in everydayworking life. In IT, it will not necessarily revolve around problems such as ‘why is this running so slow’ or ‘why is the device running faulty’ – we already tried to solve this 25 years ago andwehavenot succeeded so far, therefore, this will not change a lot. No, I think that, compared to today, it will revolve around truly VERY complex questions. I alsobelieve that thevirtual area and the technology in general will not be as global as theyare today.Thismeans thatwe will have geopoliticallyseparate areaswith their own self-contained technology and with self-contained software. You can see this already today in the Far East, this formation of a separate integration. There, it will be important to translate between these technologicalworlds basedona technical standard.Toput it invery,verysimple terms, it will be the case that a mail server that is located in the Far East will not be able to simply communicate with a mail server that is based in America. Not, bejust simply to be the service provider that helps the customer and that knows how it works. This means: How do I manage the translation between these technology areas as a company that operates in the West as well as in other areas? Incidentally, some of our customers are already approaching us regarding this topic as they alsowant toplease everybodylong-termin a global perspective. You don't have to be a prophet to recognize that technology areas are separating. For several years already it is the aim of some world powers to nevertheless be able to continue to function internallyshould they be cut off from the global internet for whatever reason. To put it simply, different areas demarcate themselves already today economically and politically in order to reach a certain independence. Because of this, everybody who wants to create their own areawill therefore have to implement profound changes to their technology, which is automatically going to create diversity. Here, we talk about decades, but it could also happen rather quickly. CHALLENGE OF TALENT At any rate, I believe that this entire field will be an immense task for NTS. And in the meantime, up till then, getting people into engineering will be the biggest challenge. I am not very convinced of singling out a certain group of people and to tell them ‘Please enter the engineering field’; thiswould appear too pushy. I rather think that you have to reduce the barriers that A MATTER OF THE BOSS ABOUT TIME, SPACE AND THE TALENT RACE 27 years ago, Hermann Koller and Alexander Albler decided to jointly open an internet café. Amongst other factors, it was certainly a gut feeling that they both eventually opted for a different line of business. Words by: Harald Müller Photo by: Clemens Schmiedbauer NAME: Alexander Albler BIRTH DATE: February 8th, 1976 DOMICILE: Graz POSITION: Founder, Owner and CEO EDUCATION: Executive MBA General Management at the University of St. Gallen, Cisco certified internetworking expert CCIE #11113 Emeritus, several other CISCO certifications » LONG-TERM AND IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, OUR CUSTOMERS WANT TO PLEASE EVERYBODY. « are the reasonwhypeople are not entering jobs where there is a shortage of qualified employees. These barriers are mainly knowledge barriers of different levels - for example, the kind that manypeople have a predefined idea of a companywith technical products such as NTS. In this concept, everything consists of extremely dry, unemotional matter that has no linkage to human beings. However, it is nowa known fact that many, especially young, people that are about to choose a career want to deal with human beings. And many of them are under the impression that at companies like NTS theywill have to sit in front of the computer for hours on end to enter series of numbers or something like that. However, the reality looks completely different as the engineering work ultimatelyONLYdealswithhuman beings. All challenges that I have seen so far, and all problemswere not of a technical character but rather of a human character – thiswas because of communication issues or because the counterpart wanted something else compared towhat Iwanted or because Ididnot graspwhatmycounterpartmeant. Thus, there is the human aspect all day long – frommorning to night. NERDS, FREAKS, TECHNO SAVVY ROLES For this, one has to proceed very fundamentally. I believe that it is here particularly important that we provide a socially positive image. This is not onlyvalid for IT, but also for the engineering profession in a broader context. At NTS, we are trying to contribute a certain share with our advertising strategy. However, I think that for us as a society it must generally count even more to appreciate people in technical professions rather than be taken in by stereotypes as the images that are conveyed on our side are those of a nerd, a technology freak, a plain type of person that’s buried inside a dark cubicle bolting parts together. Therefore, it is absolutely evident that this is not a good advertisement for engineering professions as it is notveryattractive to look like that neither for a man or for a woman or to even perceive such a job. Thus, at a roughguess, the image of the engineering profession that is conveyed –via the media, in movies or by stereotypes – is definitely not the one that corresponds to its responsibility in society. What’s more, contrary to popular opinion, as an engineer one is not the smallest cog in a machine.This is provenbya simple, clear logic as for the customers, the client pyramid is reversed. "BOSSES" BEHIND THE CURTAIN! The customer is not interested in the NTS Management somuch, and not particularly in sales. The customer ismore interested in the engineers as they perform their job, and theyarepivotal for the customer’sperception if NTS isperformingwell ornot. As a manager, I am not able to contribute directly to the job. However, I can create the climate, I can create transparency, which means that one canfind out a lot as towhat is happening in the company. I can also generate a sense of community, the possibility for the employees to develop themselves, and I can take on themutual respect that I have to exemplifymyself. You can tell others that respect is important, but I think that for people who have been told by someone to change, the chances of changingare significantlylow. In the caseof NTS, the mutual respect and the respect for the customer is so pronounced as there is a strong lead-by-example culture.When I as Alexander Albler showgreat respect to my management team, then the likelihood is very high that they in turn will treat their teams the sameway. You obviouslyneed to have managers whose characters include this spirit. It will be of no use if you have managers or team members that do not show this trait, and that do not stand for the same values. This is simply a choice of staff that has to be made, but that each company makes for itself. At NTS for instance, the corporate culture was guided very strongly from the beginning by the founders. I always ask myself questions about how I interact with my employees. Often these are also very small questions, such as: Should there be common meeting rooms at the top floor or is this where the executive's office and the management's regal roof top terrace is situated? Or, do employees have to interrupt their meeting when the boss arrives or are they sometimes allowed to say "no" to seniors? Or is the parking place closest to the entrance for visitors or is it reserved for the CEO? That’s what it is all about. These are the questions I ask myself. From my point of view, these are the issues that are a matter of respect. So, when I amaskedwhy Iwant to start to work for NTS as a simple engineer, then Iwould immediatelyreply– this is a central fact at NTS– that I don’t have to feel like a simple engineer, because here you are truly valued as a human being, irrespective of what you do.” 9 8
to date with all NTS related issues. Every couple of weeks I hold a meeting with Alexander Albler, where we exchange views. Anyhow, I am also always putting out my feelers, but less toward product development as I am too much removed from the technical topic and, moreover, NTS has its own dedicated department for it. Yet, during all the travels I simply observe movements and trends that will eventually have an influence on the economic development of Europe and thus on NTS. It is needless to say that I share these observationswith Alexander Albler.” Not many people know that he was responsible for the construction of the current NTS building. It stands to reason that he was also responsible for executing the extensions of the building for the NTS headquarters. But howdid one arrive at the decision to take the demanding, expensive step of a newbuilding compared to just simply going to some other location? “Youdon’t become a cosmopolitan,youcan only shake off your shackles”, a clever personwas oncequoted. HermannKoller definitelyshook off his shackles, if he had ever worn them. Some years ago, the manwith the eye for important things packed his bags and left the operational business of NTS to move the center of his life to Los Angeles, California. The world became a small place for the co-founder of NTS as he commutes four times a year between Europe and the US. Furthermore, he mentions occasional detours toNewZealand or to Brazil just as he would have to make a choice between theVienna opera, aTyrolean Mountain summit or a city square in Graz. It is just part of the bigger picture whenhehas tobrieflyreflect inwhich state of the US the NTS office is currently situated (it is inArizona). However, the native Carinthian does not want to leave behind the “Island of the Blessed” as you could call Austria due to its social security system. He still frequents his home turf for private andNTS reasons. Howdoes the NTS everyday life look for someone that brought a company fromzero to an imposing size during a period of a quarter of a century? I have many points of contact and I am of course available for everything that is important for NTS over there. However, I don’t have any official, documented function. In the meantime, I hardly attend manufacturers conferences – in the past this was something I did several times per year. Nevertheless, I am trying to keep up This had very rational reasons. The last open plot, where a larger extension was possible, was available here. The question came up if we should add another building stage as we required space and there was a change in the building lawback then. Aswe have been here in Grambach for 22 years andhave alwaysmoved, several times, into larger offices, we decided at some stage: Yes, we still want to have ONE building, which is purposelybuiltONLYforNTS–all the other ones were always heterogenous buildings with other tenants as well. This one was now built for NTS only. The first brainstorming session for this project started already in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, we built a provisional parking space as we were alreadyguessing that this iswherewe wanted to build.We decided relatively earlythat it should integrate all experiences of thepast decades,visuallyand functionally.” Onemust not forget thatHermannKoller is actually a graduated technical physicist. Later he also completed his studies inControlling and Finance at the Vienna University of Economics. Both studies generated a mindset that not only helped him to direct construction sites but also to run a business like NTS. Even more, his education bestowed on him the ability for interdisciplinary thinking aswell as to cultivate problem solving as a part of his real-life skill set. “Corona** could have caught us big time, but we were more than lucky during the construction here. At the beginning of INTERVIEW CALLING SHORT DISTANCE: BACK TO THE NTS FUTURE Cruising through L.A. in his DeLorean – Hermann Koller interrupted this fulfilled dream so that he could answer (less) questions about the construction of the new NTS headquarters in Grambach near Graz and say (more) about what is still connecting him to NTS and what it entails to solve problems. Words by: Harald Müller Photo by: NTS » YOU BECOME MORE RESILIENT, WITH THE MORE TASKS YOU’VE HAD DURING YOUR LIFETIME. « March 2020 (note: first lockdown started mid-March 2020), the local authority issued the construction permit, all orders were placed already and a part of them were delivered very quickly. Thus, we started immediately. We finished on schedule at the end of the year, in December 2020 – and this without any cost increases! This is unbelievable looking at it now, even today, due to all the delays caused by the lockdowns for steel and timber deliveries not forgetting quarantined workers, and, and, and.” Howhave you coped during the recent decades with the constantly increasing space requirement since the company has had such tremendous growth rates? “Being an entrepreneur, you deal with issues that are not, or hardly, apparent for the employees. In general, it was always the case that in the course of the history of NTSwe alwaysmade some smallmodifications every two or three years to somehow have more space for people. Actually, in order to accommodate more employees, once again, it was always like that, that the generous availability of office space was slightly reduced every couple of years. Even now, the new building is filled well, but there should still be some spare workspaces available.” Koller is looking out of the window, and he contemplates if he should state the following: “One alsohas to say, that the home office situation thatwas caused by the pandemic has changed a lot regarding the operation of office buildings and as a result, the space situation is relaxing a little bit. The rooms are not empty, not even close, but it is likely that because of it, this familiar office growth has slowed down a little bit and in future youwill have to assume that a part of the employees will utilize office spaces only in turns. I may note in passing that you can naturally blow your own trumpet when working in a property that you own as the rooms were almost empty during the lockdown and it would of course not be very attractive from an economical standpoint topayrent and associated costs for them.” Do you knowall the tricks regarding problemsolvingwhen you are managing a business like NTS? “I was in the US when the pandemic started and now and again, I really was afraid that there would be problems during the construction – I mean that you are placing orders for millions, and I did not know whether everything would crash as initially nobody knew what was happening. I only returned back at the end of April 2020 and at least everythingworked outwith the construction.” Mentioning “at least” in conversations like this, always animates one to want to askmore. What kept Koller going (whose home was on two continents during a pandemic)? “We were not allowed back until June 2021. This was certainly challenging as I started an Art & Design business over there together with mywife. All was rented and the grand opening of the studio was planned for the end of March 2020. And thenwe could simplynot do anything for almost one and a half years. These plans eventuallywent down the drain, and we had to leave it all up to fate. Up until today I am trying to get this going again.” During the conversationwewere always hitting a major topic: problem solving as priceless ability. Koller agrees quite embarrassed: “Well, at some point you have to learn how to deal with this. You become more resilientwhenyou’ve had tomanage somany tasks over the years. Thereby, you also have to learn that you should not take everything to heart or to not panic. Back in 2020, I had two problems: I was putting millions into a construction project in Europe, and I did not knowif it could be built or if it would eventually be used. On the other side, I had a private project in theUS, I established a company that was also not needed. Once I came back to Austria to complete the construction, for one and a half years Iwas not able to return to theUS to take care of my business there. Thiswas veryeducational as it influences the thinking for the future.” What was the Koller “Relax,We Care” moment? “You are facing the problemand you are trying to solve it. We tried to pull all the stops. That’s howyou solve problems. If it is going well then it is one step after the other, when it is not going well, then it is one attempt of a solution after the other. To attempt cocky tricks is ultimately always the path that createsmore problems. When you realize this, then you can’t blame yourself.” **Note: We did not want to include the Corona pandemic in RELAX. However, with the same enjoyment as Helmut Schmidt who used to smoke on live television, Hermann Koller assumed the right for himself to tell us about some pandemic connections. NAME: Hermann Koller BIRTH DATE: September 4th, 1965 DOMICILE: Vienna POSITION: Founder and Owner EDUCATION: Dipl.-Ing. Technical Physics at Graz Technical University, MBA Controlling and Finance at the Vienna University of Economics 11 10
13 12 Administration Facility Management Engineering Processes Accounting Controlling Defense Education Finance Process Management NTS Experience Legal and Compliance Design & Implementation Products & Technologies Software Operations Center Alliances Project & Process Management Marketing Quality Sales Operations IT Human Resources Billing Logistics Procurement Trade Operations Sales Sales Excellence ALEXANDER ALBLER Chief Executive Officer WOLFGANG MOSER Operations Director HELMUT HÖDL Product & Technology Director THOMAS HAUSEGGER Sales Director AT & IT JÜRGEN TABOJER Sales Manager DE HARRY NEUMAYER Design& Implementation Director MICHAEL SEEWALD Chief Operating Officer PETRA SEEWALD Chief Productivity Officer VINZENZ FERK Chief Financial Officer THOMAS BARTL Chief Commercial Officer NTS INTERNAL NTS INTERNAL MANAGEMENT TEAM Approximately 500 employees cater for impressedcustomersand long-standing partnerships with super services and technical passion. Together with selected high-end manufacturers, the NTS team creates solutions for the areas of network, security, collaboration, cloud and data center. The Management Team around Alexander Albler is setting the course for NTS on their path ahead with expertise and passion. THE SPIRIT OF NTS RELAX, WE CARE: Powered by this motivation, NTS accepts responsibility, designs and supervises IT solutions with care, quality and certified experience. Words by: NTS Photos by: photoworkers.at » AT NTS, WE ARE FLEXIBLE AND OPEN FOR NEW THINGS – WE REACT TO CHANGES AND WE IDENTIFY POSSIBILITIES AS OPPORTUNITIES. « Petra Seewald, Chief Productivity Officer » WE ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD AND WE PUT THE CARDS ON THE TABLE. FOR US, TRANSPARENCY AND TRACEABILITY ARE ESSENTIAL. « Vinzenz Ferk, Chief Financial Officer » RELAX, WE CARE DEFINES OUR ACTING, OUR PERFORMANCE AND OUR COLLABORATION. « Alexander Albler, Chief Executive Officer » WE ARE ALWAYS GIVING OUR BEST WITH RELIABILITY AND EXPERIENCE. THEREBY, WE TRUST ONE ANOTHER. « Michael Seewald, Chief Operating Officer » IT IS OUR GOAL TO ENHANCE THE TARGETED CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE. « Thomas Bartl, Chief Commercial Officer
15 14 Who is ‘Kunde 21’? Kunde 21: Kunde 21 stands for customer focus in the 21st century. We supply ideas and agile approaches so that businesses can make their customers (even more) satisfied. We are not content with “satisfied”: For us, it is all about enthusiastic customers and customer relationships filledwith “value”. For this purpose, the analytical part is covered for us by Top Service Austria by means of honoring Austria’s top companies with regard to service and customer orientation. In a fewwords: What do you understand by customer experience? K.21: To make a difference! We are all continuously experiencing points of contact as well as brands, services, and products. If we succeed in making a difference in the experience for the customer along the customer journey, then we have a fair chance that the customer associates it with a positive experience. The Regarding the topic Customer Experience, a lot has happened since the last edition of the NTSmagazine. Concrete activities and steps developed out of ideas and schemes, out of avision, and realitywas born. In the German version of Wikipedia, you can find the term “Customer Experience” defined as follows: CX or Customer ExperienceManagement describes the creation of positive customer experiences for the formation of an emotional bond between the user and the product or the provider. It is the main goal of CX to turn satisfied customers into loyal ones and to turn loyal customers into “enthusiastic ambassadors” of the brand or of the product. Like any other company that occupies itself with a new topic, NTS has walked the CXpath too,with the help of external consultants. Since March 2021, the basic CX elements were thus worked out in intensiveworkshopswith thehelpof colleagues from all departments of NTS. Together with our partners ‘Kunde 21’ and ‘netzcustomer becomes aware of us, remembers us, buys from us again, and is establishing a long-term relationship with us. In this century, satisfaction and good quality are not enough anymore: good is not good, when better is expected. Why is CX important?Which companies should acquire a CX strategy for themselves? K.21: The question should be: Which companies shouldn’t? All companies that work in highly dynamic market environments, that must innovate, “keep their customers at it” and that have to motivate and develop their employees: These businesses have no other choice than to follow their customers and their customers' needs. Those times are gone when themarketswere not saturated and when it was impossible for customers to source or to compare products from a distance. Back then, only a large marketing budget guaranteed a rise in sales. WE ARE AT THE PULSE OF OUR CUSTOMERS Customer Experience (CX) has been discovered in the “Relax, We Care” DNA. At NTS, the customer has always taken center stage, but currently the ongoing CX activities are strengthening this trend even more. Words by: Georg Trzil Photos by: NTS Interview with Barbara Aigner, Ph.D. and Alexandra Nagy, Managing Directors of ‘Kunde 21’, about customer loyalty and satisfaction. Words by: Georg Trzil » NTS HAS DEVELOPED ITS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY TOGETHER WITH CUSTOMERS AND WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY ADAPTING IT TO NEW CHALLENGES. « Thomas Bartl, Chief Commercial Officer, NTS » THANKS TO INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PERFECTLY PURSUE OUR CX-JOURNEY THAT HAS LED US TO EVEN BETTER QUANTIFIABLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES. « Georg Trzil, Head of Alliances, NTS werk P’ the following have been established: a CXvision (“We are at the pulse of our customers”), principles (customer relation, customer understanding, mindset, innovation, unique selling position, strategy), targets (customer confidence, unique customer experience, CX mindset), processes, roles (Customer Success Manager) and an NTS CX playbook that describes everything. By doing this, it was determined that NTS employees have alreadyworkedwith their customers according to, and livedby, these principles. Therefore, the existing method just had to be brought into a standardized form, so that every (new) team member, nomatter if in sales, in engineering or in a central department, is exactly aware of their role regarding customers - hence making the customer experience unique. Why has this change in the exercise of an ideal customer relationship become necessary? Because the nature of the busiNTS INTERNAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ness is changing with a lasting effect. The way how to collaborate with the customer needs to change due to the shift from project-oriented, nonrecurring handling of hardware deliveries towards hard and software license agreements that must be renewed constantly and periodically, as this increases the flexibility of the customer. It is not enough to work with the customers on their projects shortly before the lapse of the product utilization cycle (usually3years); it is important to support themregularlybyoptimizing the products and solutions that are used by the customers. Thus, one shifts from a mere supplier to a “trusted advisor”. What is changing for thecustomer? Insteadof activities of a reactive product partner, the customers get pro-active “wow experiences” that escort them on their journeywith solutions byNTS. NETZWERK P In the field of CX, NTS collaborates in Germanywith the partner ‘netzwerk P GmbH’, who stand for their values “courageous, authentic, high-performing”. Besides the areas MarTech consulting, B2B e-commerce and performance marketing, ‘netzwerk P’ support customers during the setup of customer journeys. Thus, they transport the topic customer experience into organizations that specifically gain and lastingly maintain the right customer base in order to create the foundation for a profitable growth. Businesses are assisted by the expertise of the professional management for the customer experience so that they are able to fulfil the expectations of the customers regarding a perfect purchasing adventure. Intensive CX workshop across several departments. Top 10: 89, industry: 89 Top 10: +67, industry: +72 Top 10: 83, industry: 83 TOTAL SATISFACTION: 94 out of 100 points NET PROMOTER SCORE: +88 out of 100 points CX SCORE: 91 out of 100 points Great results above average provided by the TOP SERVICE AUSTRIA survey about quantifiable aspects such as “satisfaction”, “customer experience” or “loyalty” conducted at 77 NTS customers. YOU CAN MEASURE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES
UP IN THE CLOUDS WITH NTS Some companies are already on their way back, some are only starting with it, and some others have already found their spot. We are talking about the Cloud. Finding a decision for the appropriate Cloud strategies when advising customers, NTS includes technical, commercial as well as strategical aspects, which are contemplated by workload. Words by: Helmut Hödl Photos by: Lupi Spuma Technological progress and new market requirements are causing changes in the way how technology is offered and consumed. Subscription based solutions have arrived in all technological sectors. Words by: Helmut Hödl Photo by: Lupi Spuma Current workloads and future requirements are considered the basis for an appropriate Cloud strategy. Subsequently, NTS Cloud experts take over the responsibility and they support during the implementation, the transition, and the commercial execution. As the center of all our action is the slogan: Relax,We Care. But where is NTS moving around in the Cloud business? On the one hand, in the DevOps area respectively in the so-calledAppmodernization. Here, NTS assists in setting up Kubernetes infrastructures and consults with ITinfrastructure and software development teams during the integration and the automation of CI/CD processes (Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery). Furthermore, NTS creates profound insights in application environments with so-called Full-Stack observability. Thus, NTS enables a smooth operation of the App and the true user experience at the end customer. On the other hand, in each technology field with SaaS services of NTS manufacturing partners. Here, the combination and orchestration of services amongst themselves respectively with On-Premises software and hardware in customer environments is essential. One still needs a sound knowledge of network, security, collaboration, and data center technology as well as of overlay technologies such as SDA and PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES CLOUD SERVICES SUBSCRIPTION ECONOMY DO YOU STILL BUY OR ARE YOU A SUBSCRIBER? Along this path, NTS accompanies its customers step by step: all the way from the selection of appropriate services, via the technical integration into the existing environments, up to the utilization of continuously expanded functionalities of SaaS services. For many, a procurement processes at the customer are a challenge with the possibilities of a flexible acquisition and a utilization-based billing of subscription. NTS is familiar with these executional and commercial challenges that come with subscriptions. Therefore, NTS offer a maximum of flexibility and a comprehensive know-how regarding contract versions such as Enterprise Agreements. Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) or Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) are moving increasingly to the front to be able to have solutions from one source. Here, NTS is captivating the market with their tailormade comprehensive carefree packages and, depending on the requirements and the size of the business, it offers its customers different service models. On request, the NTS Home Office Solution delivers the collaboration endpoint including a Webex subscription as a DaaS solution into the office. By means of NTS Remote Security Solution and Cisco Plus Secure Connect, security is provided per workplace, and it is billed per usage. The innovative solutions NTS Data Center on the Edge, NTS Data Center in a Box and NTS Managed Private Cloud are solid HaaS offers, where computing, storage, networking, and backup can be delivered and integrated inclusion of rack, climatization, USV and automatization platforms upon request. The NTS Super Services portfolio provides the ideal NTS support in the productive deployment fromBreak & Fix to theManaged Service. The billing is flexible to a maximum according to the actual usage. NTS manufacturing partners are offering newHaaSmodels aswell.With Cisco Plus Hybrid Cloud, Cisco presents a scalable data center solution based on Cisco UCS, Intersight and Nexus. With Keystone, NetApp offers an as-a-Service storage solution that is of course Cloud ready and that can be combined with all NetApp Cloud solutions in Azure, AWS and GCP. Both models – by being pay-as-you-grow subscriptions - are able to cover varying capacity requirements or demand peaks SD-WAN and of new architectures such as SASE or Zero-Trust. Moreover, workload migrations are the center of attention. NTS creates high-performing connections between hyperscaler and On-Premises infrastructures irrespec- » ESPECIALLY FOR DYNAMIC BUSINESSES, HARDWARE AS A SERVICE IS AN AFFORDABLE OPTION TO PROVIDE THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO ALL THEIR EMPLOYEES. « Helmut Hödl, Product and Technology Director » AT NTS, INNOVATION IS EMBEDDED IN THE MINDSET AND MUST NOT ONLY BE CALLED ‘TO EXPERIMENT’, AS AFTER ALL WE ARE ALSO STANDING FOR SECURITY AND CONTINUITY. « Helmut Hödl, Product and Technology Director tive of whether it is a lift& shift use case or a simple back-up. NTS also takes care of the multi-Cloud architecture and the automated deployment of the customer specific environment in the infinite expanse of hyperscalers such as AWS or Azure or other Cloud providers. for computing or storage. With all the manufacturer solutions, NTS has taken over the planning, supply, integration, and the utilization-based billing along with the familiar NTS “Relax, We Care” support. Relax. The NTS Cloud experts support during implementation, transition, and the commercial execution. A maximum of flexibility with the “Pay-as-you-go” billing by NTS 17 16
COMPREHENSIVELY CAREFREE WITH NTS DEFENSE SERVICES For most security incidences, there are apparent indications beforehand. The NTS Defense Team help to detect them at an early stage and to ultimately get rid of them. Words by: Daniela Haag Photo by: Lupi Spuma From security assessment all the way to holistic defense services: the Bundesbeschaffungsgesellschaft Österreichs (Austrian Federal Procurement Agency, BBG) relies on NTS for IT security. Words by: Alexander Müllner Photo by: Lupi Spuma Cyber-attacks are not only increasing at an alarming rate, but they are also becoming more manifold and complex. Businesses of every size are confronted today with cyber-attacks as there is an industry behind it that is earning a lot of money by doing so.Thus, thequestion isnot somuch if, but whenwill you be affected. Now, cyber security is therefore indispensable for any business to help the prevention and the defense of attacks. NTS VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT: SECURITY PREVENTION Weaknesses respectively risks first have to be detected by a continuous screening of the IT infrastructure in order to prevent security incidences. NTS Vulnerability Management continuously identifies weaknesses and points out their potential risks in line of a risk assessment. Independent NTS experts are responsible for the design, the development, and the implementation of the solution as well as CYBER SECURITY “Relax, We Care” fact: NTS Defense Services include dedicated defense analysts as key contacts. Now, NTS is rendering services in the area of cyber security for public-sector customers in Austria. SECURITY SERVICES » WE ONLY INFORM OUR CUSTOMERS DURING A REALLY CRITICAL EVENT AND WE SUPPORT 24/7 TO PREVENT THREATS. « Alexander Müllner, Territory Manager Vienna & Lower Austria, NTS » WE ARE ON THE LOOKOUT TO FIND OPEN WINDOWS AND DOORS, WE CHECK IF BURGLARS ARE ABLE TO ENTER, AND WE FIND WAYS OF HOW TO PROTECT OUR CUSTOMERS FROM THESE DANGERS. « Mathias Spörr, Engineering Manager Defense, NTS NTS IS THE CYBER SECURITY PARTNER FOR THE BBG During a comprehensive tender, BBG concluded with NTS a framework agreement for security solutions and services. Through this agreement, NTS is permitted to provide services in the area of cyber security for public-sector customers in Austria. Thus, public clients, ministries, communities, energy providers and health institutions are able to access selected NTS IT experts via the BBG e-shop quickly and easily. The NTS Defense Teamwith top IT securityanalysts that deal tirelesslywith security incidences in the cyber environment, is at the center. The SIEM platform or the NTS Defense Platform is the technical groundwork that collects, aggregates, and analyzes all security relevant events and log data. The NTS Defense Team analyzes and evaluates all suspicious events regarding danger and urgency. RELAX,WE CARE for themanagement of the service. Regular reporting adjusted to the customer requirements, are a given. NTS THREAT DETECTION SERVICE|SIEM: MINIMIZATION OF DANGERS Reports and logfiles of different systems are collected and evaluated as theyensure a holistic view of the IT security. In order NTS KNOW-HOW: Security assessments/penetration tests Infrastructure Check NTSVulnerabilityManagement Managed SIEM (NTS Defense Platform) Endpoint Detection &Response Network SecurityMonitoring NTSThreat Detection Service | SIEM to identify threat scenarios, rules – so called use cases – are realized. They detect suspicious behavior, and they are analyzed by a specially trained NTS Defense Team. Questionable events or dangerous tendencies can therefore be shown in real time. A storage that is safe frommanipulation and revision assists with the compliance with legal specifications and compliance guidelines. 19 18
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME WHEN KNOW-HOW IS SCARCE OR TOO SPECIALIZED NTS Managed Services provide inventory creation and monitoring, they help to make performance and faults of IT infrastructures visible and transparent. Reliability and stability are guaranteed, failures will be prevented before they occur. Regular service meetings ensure a technological enhancement of the infrastructure. Words by: Helmut Hödl Photo by: Lupi Spuma Very often, the necessary knowledge is missing, or the resources are scarce, or the procurement strategy is changing – this is where NTS takes over the operational responsibility with its Managed Services in the areas of network, collaboration, security, Cloud, and data center. In the course of this, the NTS OC takes care of the infrastructures of NTS customers 24/7, and it is available as a Single Point of Contact. But you do not have to “outsource” everything right away as you can also specificallyhandover certain areas to NTS – everywhere, where it is currently too problematic, or too specialized. WhichManaged Service products do NTS currently have on offer? Here a brief overview: NTS Managed Service ACI is mainly addressing customers that outsource the typical data center network operation on Cisco Nexus and ACI basis and that focus on the switch into the direction of application-centric architecture. As an attractive service addition, NTS Managed Service SD-WAN offers a complete UnderlayManagement. This creates, besides the easement of operation, also a real independence from a single service provider and it increases the actual benefits through flexibility and possible savings at the supply network. NTS Managed ServiceMeraki combines the CloudManagement of Meraki with the NTS Service Management, and it assistswith regard to the comprehensive Meraki portfolio. NTS Delightfully relaxed with Managed Services in the areas of network, collaboration, security, cloud and data center. MANAGED SERVICES Managed Service IT-Security focuses on the operation of the typical Enterprise security components with Cloud security services. NTS provides a superb 360° cyber security service in combination with the NTS Defense Services in the area of Vulnerability Management and Threat Detection | SIEM. NTS Managed Service Collaboration manages workplace and room systems at the on-premises and Cloud based backend.With the Cloud and Data Center Managed Services, NTS takes over the operation of Enterprise Compute, Storage, DC networking, virtualization, Kubernetes platform and backup in combination with Cloud services and infrastructures. What about the conventional Campus network? New overlay technologies like SDA and management platform such as Cisco DNA are state-ofthe-art and thus supported byNTS as part of the Managed Service network. Security, performance, and availability of the network infrastructure are essential for any business, and we gladly take on the responsibility. NETWORKING, INFORMATION AND INNOVATION “ADV stands for an innovative total package and a wide range of services for all members”, states Paul Prihoda, the General Secretary of ADV.With awide range of regularly organized congresses and conferences, Austria’s largest IT application association lays the foundation to avivid and highly qualified exchange of ideas about cutting-edge developments. Additionally, innovative event formats enable an intense and professional networking, and they offer an agile cooperation and communication platform that is balanced to the topic and the target group. The offered services of the association for its members are complemented by professional media services on itsmedia channels. In their wealth, digitalization topics are also portraying the diversityof our society. The composition of ADV is equally versatile – the expert knowledge of the members encompasses all fields of the ICT industry: from e-government, via green IT, artificial intelligence, or data governance, all the way to questions of junior staff development, to the increasing of the digital competence of the population, but also to the data sovereignty in an interconnected world. ADV SHOWS PRESENCE IN THE SOUTH AS WELL ADV has now – next to the headquarter in Vienna and the provincial branch for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland – strengthened its presence in Styria and Carinthia by establishing the provincial branchSouth.The chairmanof the provincial branch South, Alexander Albler, Founder and CEO of NTS, sees his tasks especially therein, to strengthen the business location Styria/Carinthia with intensive networking and knowledge exchange. “For us, especially interaction and cooperation are our focus, next to professionally sound information sharing and a specialized communication”, states Albler. “We would like to give the region fresh impetus for a successful digital transformation with our events that take care of knowhow transfer and networking, with cooperation with colleges and universities as well aswith the collaborationwith funding agencies.” PROFESSIONALS FOR DIGITALIZATION As a neutral and impartial information platform of the Austrian IT landscape, ADV – Austrian Digital Value conveys information about the ideal usage of ICT to its members as well as to the public. ADV is an independent, nonprofit association and has been active in the industry for approximately 60 years. Words by: Irmgard Dober/ADV Photo by: NTS/Paul Prihoda Wolfgang Schinagl, ADV South Chairman and Department Head of WKO Styria Alexander Albler as well as Roland Ledinger, ADV President and BRZ Managing Director (from left to right). GUEST ARTICLE » NEXT TO A SKILLED AND SOUND INFORMATION SHARING AND A SPECIALIZED COMMUNICATION, THE FOCUS PARTICULARLY IS ON EXCHANGE AND COOPERATION. « Alexander Albler, Founder and CEO of NTS as well as Chairman of ADV provincial branch Styria/Carinthia FACTS ADV is an independent, nonprofit association. ADV is headquartered in Vienna; there are provincial branches active in the provinces of Lower Austria and Burgenland as well as in the region South (Styria and Carinthia). Amongst the members of ADV are around 300 Austrian companies and public organizations as well as 400 experts from the economy, administration and science. www.adv.at 21 20
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5Mjg4