IBM Deutschland GmbH, in alliance with German consultancy Ploenzke Informatik GmbH & Co KG, has founded a software and subsidiary – Servicekonzepte fur Informationssysteme GmbH aimed at broadening the range of software offerings in the market. This is the next step in a diversification for IBM Germany, which early last month established a consultancy, IBM Unternehmensberatung GmbH, in Hamburg, Computerwoche reports. According to IBM, the new company – Sercon for short – has been capitalised at just under $2m. With that, IBM has apparently taken a large minority stake in the venture – of just under 50%. Other partners in the venture are the Ploenzke group, US company Computer Task Group Inc, Buffalo, New York, and former IBM employee Bernd Robatzek, whose stake sizes remain undisclosed. Robatzek from 1979 held various positions of leadership at the IBM laboratory near Stuttgart, most recently as development director of software systems. At Sercon, he will share the reigns with Michael Pohl, formerly a divisional director at Ploenzke. First focuses of Sercon are to include services, particularly total management of large projects, but also single solutions and systems integration. Training and custom software development are also high on the agenda. At this stage, a facilities management offering is not on the cards. Sercon will deliver first and foremost on mid-range and large proprietary IBM systems. But above all, the shareholders say, the company has the customers’ needs at heart. In its first year in business, Sercon aims to grow to 200 employees, with a large percentage expected to come from the participating companies according to unconfirmed reports, 20% of employees could come from Ploenzke.
