Sustainability and social issues – we're gearing up for 2022
If codecentric can't come to the mountain, the mountain comes to codecentric! This was the motto of our Kickoff 2022. Due to the pandemic, we couldn't gather in the mountains, so we met remotely in a virtual mountain cabin. The board reviewed the year 2021, and we discussed with Marcel Pietsch-Khalili how companies can become more sustainable, diverse, and environmentally friendly. Throughout the afternoon, employees from the working groups "Customer Relationships", "Diversity", "Compliance", "Employees", "Climate", and "Corporate Social Responsibility" gave an overview of achievements to date and planned next steps. Of course, the "Blog Awards" couldn't be missing either – our annual way of appreciating codecentric's bloggers. With musical interludes by Kate Rena and the improvisational skills of "Alois", the kickoff was a complete success even remotely!
Supporting the next generation with codecentric
In 2022, we continued to ask ourselves how we could use our resources in a meaningful way – and got involved in several charity initiatives for future generations.
We kicked things off in January by participating in "It's for Kids", for which we had already raised around 2,000 EUR for a good cause together with our clients around Christmas time. In April, we once again took part in the nationwide "Girls' Day" initiative, giving female students the opportunity to get a glimpse of what it's like to work as an IT consultant.
In the summer, our colleague Daniel Marks received the Solingen Citizens' Award for his involvement in the project "Hey, Alter!", an organization that equips students with donated and refurbished devices for homework and homeschooling.
In October, our Berlin colleagues opened the office for "Code Kids", a holiday program in which children could take a programming course at codecentric. At the beginning of November, "Jugend hackt" in Cologne called on all interested young people: hack to your heart's content! This year, budding hackers were able to attend in person for the first time since 2020.
Charitable activities in 2022
In January, we were also able to donate a total of 3,000 EUR to four different charitable organizations – the sum comes from prize money that our colleagues could win through artistic contributions as part of the internal talent show "codecentric has talent".
Of course, the war of aggression against Ukraine in February did not pass us by without leaving a mark. Many of our colleagues and the company itself became active to make at least a small contribution.
Softwerker – three times concentrated knowledge on recycled paper (and online!)
For almost ten years, we have been publishing our in-house tech magazine "der Softwerker", and this year again as a triple threat. Volume 19 revolved around the topic of "automation" and showed why no modern IT department should go without it. In keeping with the cover, this issue marked the start of our journey towards a greener world – since then, we have been printing our magazine on recycled paper. Volume 20 addressed, among other things, the question: "Is our IT too slow?" and the problems that can arise when the rest of the organization can no longer keep up with IT that has become fast. Volume 21 was all about the motto "customercentric" – what does customer-centricity mean to us, who exactly is "the customer", what are their needs – and where does software reach its limits? Vol. 22, with a broad range of topics, will be published in the online edition later this year (Edit: it has already been published – the volume number says it all!), and in print at the beginning of 2023.
SoftwerkerCast reloaded
Our podcast accompanying the magazine, the SoftwerkerCast, returned to air in autumn after a well-deserved summer break – with a slightly changed lineup, as Marco Paga joined as a new host. Since autumn 2022, we have produced three new episodes on the topics "IT Security as everybody's job", "More clarity in the concept of the customer", and "The courage to share (IT knowledge)". The SoftwerkerCast can be subscribed to on all major audio platforms.
Four new locations for codecentric
This year, some codecentricer*innen moved – quite officially, with the entire location. The Frankfurt team, after seven years at their old location, has been at home in the "Link" on Lise-Meitner-Str. 4 since February, and now has much more space for meetings and events. Our Nuremberg colleagues began moving to Sophie-Germain-Str. 12 in the summer – and were finally able to celebrate the inauguration in November. On a smaller scale, a few colleagues from Solingen also found a new "temporary" office, as part of a satellite at the digitalCHURCH in Aachen. This coworking space close to home offers the opportunity for direct exchange with the local IT mid-market. Last but not least, our young Bielefeld location has also moved into a new – its own – office, just a stone's throw from its previous "home", the Pioneers Club.
"Link" in Frankfurt, "Kohlektiv" in Nuremberg and digitalCHURCH in Aachen (satellite of Solingen).
Lünendonk TOP 20
This summer, codecentric received a place for the first time on the list "Leading mid-sized IT consultancies in Germany " by the recognized B2B market research company Lünendonk & Hossenfelder. Board member Uli Kühn was very pleased about the listing in the directory, which is regarded as a market barometer: "We are proud of our growing revenue and the ever-increasing number of employees who stand behind it!".
conference by codecentric
Knowledge sharing and expert knowledge have been part of our DNA since our founding in 2004. What could be more natural than launching our own conferences? On 29 April, our in-house SoftwerkerKonf took place for the third time – as a full-day online event, given the circumstances. Ten topic presentations by our colleagues and Softwerker authors, covering everything from InfoSec to API management to agile software development, were on the agenda. Combined with the exciting keynote on "10 times faster from idea to customer – a field report" by John Fletcher and Till Voß, the conference was once again a great success.
We were able to build on this in October with the first-ever Cloud Love Conference. Over two days, 26 speakers informed the audience on topics such as "Infrastructure automation", "Cloud Security", but also "Green Cloud" and data protection. The event was rounded off by three workshops in which participants got a first insight into the basics of Kubernetes, Terraform, or AWS CDK.
Business Acceleration Club picks up speed
Our exclusive event format, the Business Acceleration Club, already launched with great success in 2021. It offers inspiration, impulses, and insights on the most important focus topics of the future – all at CxO level. The emphasis is on exchange among participants. In small groups and on equal footing, challenges, insights, and solutions are discussed and developed – always with full openness and in a protected space for all ideas. The event series gained full momentum in 2022, with further events planned for 2023. A review of past events at several codecentric locations, including photos and videos, can be found here.
codecentric united
The company that gets together, stays together! We at codecentric place great value on coming together regularly. Knowledge sharing also needs to happen within our own walls – and a guaranteed recipe for success is the codecentric conf, which has been taking place for years. Our internal unconference, which in 2022 was able to take place live in Soltau for the first time in three years, drew around 150 employees at the end of June to discuss company culture, organizational models – and of course many technical topics in an "Open Space" format. A special highlight was provided by Alistair Cockburn with his "Heart of Agile" workshop.
In the spirit of our unconference, a team of our colleagues organized a "popup unconf" for the first time in November at our Munich Plaza, following the motto: why wait until next summer? This was not just about technologies, but also about topics relating to sales and shared services. This will certainly be repeated!
berg-pitch celebrates its 10th anniversary
The anniversary edition of the berg-pitch also took place this year at our Solingen headquarters. In cooperation with codecentric AG, the Solingen coworking space "coworkit" presented the popular pitch event for the 10th time. The ticket quota was sold out after just three days, and all participants were raring to go after the long absence from in-person events: the winning title this time went to the startup "The Oater". You can read a detailed report about the event here.
The jury and guests of the berg-pitch. Photographed by Leon Sinowenka.
Launch of a tech community for the API Economy
On 17 August, our new Bielefeld location, under the leadership of location manager Meike Wocken, hosted an event on the topic "Data-driven business models – Yes please, but how?" With presentations from four knowledgeable speakers who shed light on the topic of the API Economy from different angles, as well as an open-space format for targeted exchange, the event was a real success.
Meike Wocken summarizes as follows:
"Overall, I was overwhelmed by the response to the first codecentric event in Bielefeld around data-driven business models: the event space at the Pioneers Club was packed to the last seat on 17 August 2022. A colorful mix came together: alongside companies and startups that on the one hand depend on data exchange and on the other hand want to build new business models with it, there were also heads of digitalization and innovation who want to make full use of the potential of digitalization.
What all the discussions and conversation rounds that evening also showed: the topic of using APIs for data exchange is alive and well. In the future, more and more services will be offered via APIs. That practically cries out for a community in East Westphalia-Lippe on this topic! And the feedback wall made this very clear too.
So, let's go! The next meeting is already in planning! More info in our Meetup group https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/api-economy/ Stay tuned!"
codecentric goes conference
We were also represented at a number of external events this year, including the IoT conference building IoT, the Digital Euregio Summit, Javaland, the Bergisch Innovation and Education Congress and – with our AI solution SHERLOQ – at data2day.
Our Tech Blog got a makeover
Our tech blog, which has been available at https://blog.codecentric.de/ since 2008 and with up to 2.2 million visits per year is one of the most popular blogs of its kind, received a fresh coat of paint in 2022. New features include easier searching for current and popular topics, the ability to "like" blog posts, featured and popular posts, and the ability to easily get in touch with blog authors. The modernized look and feel will be noticeable to anyone who has visited the blog regularly throughout its 14-year history.
The new codecentric Blog
codecentric grows – and lets things grow
Green is the color of hope. And since the chances of experiencing a white Christmas in 2022 are likely to be slim in large parts of the country, we are closing this year's annual review with a little promotion for a project that colleagues from Münster and Bielefeld presented to the public at the end of 2022: the "Öffentlichen", an urban, digital greenhouse in Münster that makes use of the warm air from a district heating pipe to help plants thrive. Computer vision and artificial intelligence help monitor the seedlings as they sprout. Urban gardening of the next generation! Anyone who would like to take a closer look should visit the project website https://www.projekt-oepnv-muenster.de/ – or head straight to Münster. With that, we wish everyone who has read this far a fruitful 2023 and thank you for your interest and loyalty. 💚