The era of unchecked IT growth is over for the time being: while the German IT services market according to the latest analysis by Lünendonk & Hossenfelder is stagnating with an average growth of just 1.9 percent, codecentric AG has successfully held its ground. On the renowned Lünendonk List 2026, the Solingen-based IT expert once again ranks 16th among the leading mid-sized IT consultancies and system integrators in Germany.
In the face of economic uncertainty and tight budget controls, CIOs and IT decision-makers are confronted with a central challenge: how can innovation and future viability be achieved when resources are limited? The industry's answer is increasingly: it's no longer about doing as much as possible — but consistently doing the right things.
The end of "nice-to-have": three priorities for effective IT investments
The latest Lünendonk analysis and codecentric's project experience clearly show that pure hype topics and unfocused digitalization initiatives no longer have a place. To build genuine resilience and deploy budgets in a targeted manner, three strategic levers are moving to the forefront:
1. Resilience over hype projects:
When customer industries are in crisis, growth at any cost counts for nothing. The focus is on highly available, stable IT infrastructures that provide measurable robustness to core operations and keep ongoing operating costs under control.
2. Systematically cleaning up legacy IT:
Organizations that drag along outdated monoliths for years are tying up valuable budget in pure maintenance effort. Targeted modernization, the reduction of technical debt, and the consolidation of historically grown system landscapes create the necessary financial and architectural breathing room for genuine innovation.
3. Cloud and AI with a clear ROI:
No more expensive large-scale migrations without tangible returns, or AI as an end in itself. Future technologies deliver their value where they meaningfully reduce the burden on development teams in their day-to-day work, shorten time-to-market, and demonstrably accelerate business processes.
"The current consolidation phase in the market is separating the wheat from the chaff. Companies today are right to demand a clear, measurable benefit for every euro invested. Maintaining our 16th place in the Lünendonk ranking confirms our pragmatic approach: we focus on technological depth, solid foundations, and sustainable value creation rather than short-lived hypes." (Rainer Vehns, CEO and co-founder of codecentric AG)
Strategic partner for demanding transformation phases
The placement among the top players underscores codecentric's role as a reliable partner for upper mid-market companies and corporate clients in the DACH region. Whether cloud-native architectures, secure data platforms, or targeted AI integration: codecentric supports organizations in making their IT organization resilient, efficient, and future-ready.
About the Lünendonk List and Study
The annual Lünendonk List "Leading Mid-Sized IT Consulting and System Integration Companies in Germany" by Lünendonk & Hossenfelder is regarded as the authoritative industry benchmark for the IT services market. The ranking comprises independent companies with total revenues of up to 500 million euros, of which at least 60 percent must be generated from IT and software services.