Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.
To get started right away: Please briefly introduce yourself.
My name is Werner Krandick, I am 56 years old, happily married, have two children and am now a proud grandpa. I'm a trained weirdo — you have to say industrial champion — and today I'm managing director and CEO of Jodocus GmbH. There were, of course, a few stations in between.
Which stages have you already mastered on your career path?
These are a few, I'll try to limit it to the most important stations: As I said just now, I'm a trained weirdo. For example, I was a shift manager for two leading spinning mills in Germany. But at some point I wanted to achieve more. That is why I completed my middle school leaving certificate and my Abitur at evening schools, then completed a computer science degree in Osnabrück and switched to telecommunications via a few “detours”. In between, I also visited the Management Academy in Essen, which later helped me a lot in many management positions. I was a technical director at Strato Medien AG and set up the web hosting project as CTO. I then founded Life Media and brought it to success. I then went to Kabeldeutschland and introduced a new customer and email system there and ported the customers (10 million users) from the old system to the new system — with an appropriate team, of course. And then 1&1 Internet AG and Web.de GmbH were on my way.
Does that mean you've already traveled around a lot through your work?
However! I have already worked in Poland, Russia, South Africa, India, Ukraine and, of course, throughout Germany. And it was always a great experience to be able to work with such different people across all areas.
Do you remember a project that was particularly demanding?
Yes, I completed a special and demanding project at 1&1. Back then, the Group only had 1,800 employees. After I had created the concept for internationalizing the hosting products, I switched to the mail area. There I led the complete restructuring of Web.de, GMX, Mail.com and india.com. For example, I also set up the india.com portal in India — in 23 languages within 6 months. How do you say right away: Just do it and get involved!
So working together quickly and efficiently is also an important factor for you. How important is a well-coordinated team to you?
That is the most important thing and I've always had a permanent team of my own around me. As a result, I was able to implement many — seemingly impossible — projects. Because I knew exactly how my team worked most efficiently. And I've always known that I'm only good when I have good people around me.
A second very important point in this context is: We spend the majority of our lives at work. So I also try to create a positive working environment. A more familiar working environment that is based on the greatest trust — based on mutual help and, above all, fun and enthusiasm for the job.
When was the time that you became enthusiastic about the technical side?
Always! But I had no chance to jump into this area right away back then. When I was little, I always wanted a radio — a CB radio with three channels and a transmission power of around 15 km. So I already had the technical affinity as a child. Even a spinning mill was highly automated back then — even more automated than other industries. There were compound machines to connect process steps together. Robotics in particular were used here. That impressed me and I already worked on the detailed development of the newly introduced machines during my time as a spinner. However, this has led to the spinning industry becoming extinct in the medium term. This is because ever newer technology and machines made it possible to efficiently process cotton directly on site. Nevertheless, my technical affinity was always there and that was also the reason why I made up for my Abitur. To then study computer science.
You have already worked in many successful companies, why is there Jodocus now?
Because I had the idea of digitizing business processes based on Jira from Atlassian. In a software company, where all the founders of Jodocus worked, they wanted to introduce an ERP system. However, as the company's unit manager at the time and managing director of its cloud subsidiary, I was against it. On the one hand, ERP systems are very complex, and very expensive — especially when it comes to adapting. On the other hand, they force a company to adapt its working methods to the ERP system. I found it absolutely unsuitable for an agile software company. It would have prevented the company from working — and even more so blocked team work. That's when I had the idea to map all business processes with Jira and told my colleague, friend and co-founder of Jodocus Jan Szczepanski about it. Without further ado, he built a prototype in Jira, with which we were able to prove that this approach works in principle. Unfortunately, that software company did not want to join in. That's why I left, because I believed in the idea. And with me came the other 4 founders of Jodocus.
And then what happened?
Five of us worked on the idea, clarified the cost side and possible support. And so we founded Jodocus as a UG in April 2019. With an approach that is exactly the opposite of an ERP system: Companies can map their processes in Jira as they need them. And that at significantly lower costs, significantly faster and much more flexibly — all in the cloud. We saw exactly this as an opportunity and implemented it quickly and so far very successfully.
What milestones has Jodocus already achieved in its short existence?
For a young company, there are quite a few milestones in such a short period of time. Of course, I see the founding of Jodocus in April 2019 as an Atlassian Solution Partner as a first milestone. The next big step was, of course, the first customers — followed by the development of our first own apps for Jira. In addition, we were able to hire our first employee in the founding year and even close the financial year with a plus. In the second year, the collection of milestones continued in the same way — particularly in terms of growth at all levels: We achieved balance sheet growth of a factor of 60. We have also grown significantly in terms of personnel: by as much as 400 percent and now have 26 employees at Jodocus. We have won other major customers, such as the Otto Group. And we founded Polymetis: our own app development as a sister company of Jodocus GmbH. And recently — that could be record time — we achieved Atlassian's Platinum partnership. In less than two and a half financial years, we have thus made it into the top 10 Atlassian Solution Partners in Germany. A great success that can be attributed to our great team, our partners and, last but not least, our customers. A big thank you at this point!
Why is Jodocus so successful?
We have relied on cloud technology from the start. We have a high level of expertise in cloud migration. In addition, our employees have a high level of expertise in adapting Atlassian's software. In doing so, we are honest and authentic. And we focus purely on Atlassian products — deliberately. Our customers also feel this expertise.
How did you know that you should use cloud from the start?
If you had looked closely at Atlassian's advance announcements, you could have guessed that it was heading to the cloud. And at Jodocus, we all believe that the future lies in the cloud — particularly in the area of digital business processes.
Do you think that's why customers want to work with Jodocus?
Yes, among other things. As cloud experts, we are of course in high demand — especially when companies are looking for a future-oriented partner to digitize and sustainably optimize their business processes.
But we also often hear from our customers: You are different, you think differently, you act differently. And that is really well received.
You have a principle that is also deeply rooted in corporate culture — what is that?
Because we are primarily about people, one of the most well-known maxim in Jodocus is paramount:”What you don't want someone to do to you, don't do it to anyone else. ” by Immanuel Kant. This principle is part of our corporate culture every day — both as a team and when working with our customers and partners. We fight together for everything we do, what is important to us and what we stand for. As a strong team, we set course for joint success with our customers and partners.
Coming back to your latest milestone: What does the status of Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner mean?
Expertise from Atlassian. It was a dream for me to be in the top 5. But now, after 2 years and 4 months, we have already achieved Platinum status and have jumped to sixth place in the list of Atlassian Solution Partners. From now on, we're striving for first place — because we trust in ourselves as a team and know that we can do it.
What opportunities do you see as a result of the new status?
Customer perception is now even better. We are at the top of the list and are now high on the Atlassian partner list. And we benefit from even better support from Atlassian itself.
The collaboration with Atlassian has been very good and close since the beginning, right?
Yes, we work closely with Atlassian's cloud development team. Because we don't just want to offer consulting and everything that goes with it for Atlassian products. Together with Atlassian, we want to develop innovative, future-proof solutions, for example for Jira in the cloud. That is why we are also one of seven Atlassian Cloud Preferred Partners worldwide. And as a young company, that of course makes us proud.
What is the next goal of Jodocus?
We want to continue to grow and achieve further entrepreneurial successes, which we — and this is very important to me — can experience together as a team and, of course, celebrate. As an overarching goal, we can state that we want to increase market shares for Jodocus. And let's not forget Polymetis: This is where we want to bring and establish the Polymetis Appsuite on the market.
Please explain briefly again: What is Polymetis?
We went there quite deliberately and separated the development business from the daily consulting work. This allows all employees to concentrate precisely on their area of expertise. Nevertheless, Polymetis thrives on the fact that we — Jodocus — pass on our customer experience to Polymetis. So what does the customer need? How does he work and think? Etc Our developers can then innovate precisely new, really useful apps that then make the difference. The nice thing about Jodocus and Polymetis is that since they are sister companies in a corporate structure, they can't just enrich each other with knowledge. But also help with possible dry spells accordingly.
Where will Jodocus be in 10 years?
In 10 years, one of my colleagues will be managing director. Jodocus will be present in several countries and will be known as an international specialist for the Atlassian Cloud. And I'm coming to the Christmas party — in a walker if necessary;)
What do you enjoy most about Jodocus?
The discussions with customers. The conversations within the teams — the conversations with everyone around Jodocus. Interpersonal contact with all people is simply important to me. And I think it's fantastic to create opportunities and then see that employees develop — professionally and personally.
What else absolutely needs to be said?
Jodocus must make profits just like any other company. However, we do not stand for pure capitalism — but rather for the social market economy. That is why every employee in successful years receives their share — from extra salaries to benefits, such as a company car, job bike, pension plan, etc. It is important to us: Whoever works must also live. It must be a balanced way of working.
I also often feel like I'm in the role of a coach. Of course, I am the managing director and also have the corresponding responsibility. And I want all employees to meet their own requirements and develop themselves.
That is why Jodocus is still very heavily “Werner-branded”. But I want to get away from that in the next few years. Nevertheless, I hope that Jodocus will do something or two for what I stand for: compassion, putting employees first, profit-sharing — things like that. But it is of course the case that Jodocus also goes her own way — with all her personalities who create the overall picture and contribute their own focal points. But I know one thing that will remain — and that is our principle: What you do not want people to do to you, do not do it to anyone else.
Boilerplate
As an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, Jodocus GmbH specializes in optimizing ITSM and digitizing business processes with Atlassian products. From locations in Hamburg, Hörstel, Düsseldorf, Kiel and Kulmbach, the experienced team of IT and cloud experts as well as process and project management specialists serves a wide range of industries: from German medium-sized companies and large companies such as banks and insurance companies to international big players.
Press contact
Saskia Thelen
Jodocus GmbH
Bergeshoeveder Strasse 64
48477 Hörstel
+49 (0) 151 52101185
presse@jodocus.io
https://jodocus.io
