DIGITIZATION: MORE TRANSPARENCY AND PERFORMANCE THROUGH ATLASSIAN TOOLS

SUCCESS STORY: PROCESS OPTIMIZATION AT MACH AG

More and more companies rely on digitized processes to ensure efficient and error-free workflows. Automation helps digital processes run faster, safer, and easier. In Germany, MACH AG is one of the leading software and consulting companies for the public sector and is making analog workflows a thing of the past. How the German "hidden champion" for digitization projects optimally organizes its own processes is demonstrated by the use of individually customized software solutions – for an agile and future-proof way of working.

The digitization of business processes continues to gain momentum. MACH AG is setting the pace for public administration in this field. Solutions for digital core processes in the management of Finance and HR in a holistic ERP system, electronic file management, and intelligent reporting, as well as the right consulting services – the best references from the federal, state, and local governments, churches, charities, and non-governmental organizations speak for the expertise of MACH AG in the field of digitalization. More than 35 years of experience and know-how as well as around 400 committed and experienced employees form the foundation of the company.

The digitizers with a focus on public administration now serve 1,000 customers – and thus more than 100,000 software users. The main goal: efficient public administration for everyone – managers, employees, and citizens. Through innovative software development, implementation, and consulting – MACH's three core business areas – processes are digitized down to the last detail and optimized. The company's success story speaks for itself – which raises the question: How does Germany's leading digitization company in the public sector organize its own processes? And what software solution does MACH AG use?

The History

Digitization of paper files, greater transparency in financial budgeting or modern HR processes – MACH AG has been supporting public administrations with digitization projects since 1985. The company has around 400 employees at six locations. We live up to the claim of thinking digitally and acting humanely. With expertise and our own software, we sustainably strengthen our customers – and thus Germany. Today, more than 100,000 users in federal and state authorities, municipalities, church administrations, teaching and research institutions, and non-governmental organizations rely on our solutions. These institutions benefit from our holistic approach. At MACH, software, consulting and operation come from a single source. This is how administration makes the future.

Information

Industry: Software, Management
Employees: 430+
Location: Munich, Germany
Website: Mach.de

CONFLUENCE, JIRA AND CO: OPTIMIZED PROCESSES AT MACH

At MACH, everything revolves around agile software development and its use. Prerequisite for successful projects: Subject matter experts and developers work closely together, team members are in daily communication, and tasks are processed in a timely and consistent manner. Added to this is transparent communication within the teams as well as with customers. With six MACH AG locations, it's not easy to combine all the important company processes. What’s more, a lot of employees – especially in times of the Corona crisis – work from home or remotely while on the road.

Another key factor that requires good digital organization of all processes. The company has found a future-proof solution for this: The Atlassian tools. Daniel Huy, Project Manager at MACH AG, puts it in a nutshell: "To make tasks, knowledge, and collaboration visible, we use the Atlassian tools. Due to Atlassian Confluence, which is used in all areas by now, we have managed to bundle all information on one platform. Regardless of location, everyone can view, edit and comment on content in Confluence at the same time."

Furthermore, MACH has another Atlassian tool in use: Jira – a web application for error management, problem handling, and operational project management. "Jira has significantly increased transparency in projects. Tasks are tracked and have become more binding, there are fewer internal queries thanks to clear processing statuses, and you can get information anywhere at any time," summarizes Stefan Mensching, a member of the Management Board at MACH AG, enthusiastically.

GOOD COOPERATION WITH SELECTED ATLASSIAN SOLUTION PARTNER

In order to be able to optimally map company processes with Atlassian tools such as Jira and Confluence, a corresponding migration must be carried out. This is usually necessary when implementing the Atlassian tools. In addition, migration may be required in the event of restructuring, upgrades, server shutdowns, or other "technical necessities". For support and the optimal use of Atlassian software, Atlassian has introduced a partner program. Atlassian's so-called Solution Partners are proven Atlassian product experts and support companies such as MACH in product configuration, customization of solutions, and implementation of Atlassian tools – just to name a few.

The selected Atlassian Solution Partner at MACH AG is Jodocus GmbH. Among other things, Jodocus carries out migrations, individual configurations, training, etc. at MACH – since the very first hour: "When Jodocus became an Atlassian Solution Partner, MACH AG asked us on the very first day to take over follow-up work on a migration that had already been carried out," recalls Christopher Mohr, Co-Founder, and Head of Consulting at Jodocus. "As a start-up back then, this gave us the greatest motivation and backing, in addition to direct financial resources." They already knew each other through good cooperation from previous projects. And they wanted to build on that.

So it was immediately obvious that MACH AG wanted to work with Jodocus GmbH on a long-term basis since its founding. "We have a great working relationship with Jodocus. From the very beginning, we trusted each other to take off together. Personal values have always been on the same level and we knew from previous projects that our working methods also harmonize well," Daniel Huy describes the collaboration. "We achieved an organizational as well as economic quantum leap in terms of Atlassian tools with the new role-rights concept thanks to the help of Jodocus. Now we have exactly what we really need. For example, exactly as many licenses as we need for our employees," adds Stefan Mensching.

ROLE-RIGHTS CONCEPT FOR PRECISE WORK STRUCTURE

A role rights concept for Jira and Confluence can be used to very specifically control who can see and/or edit which content. In order to distribute the roles – e.g. System and Area Administrator or simple user – the Atlassian instances must first be analyzed. For example, active user numbers and project-related areas are highlighted. In the next steps, appropriate roles and groups can be defined and permissions assigned. Since MACH has several Atlassian products in use that are interlinked, the Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner used an Active Directory for the digital mapping of the role-rights concept. This way, Jira, Confluence, and Co. can pull the defined data from the Active Directory and apply it to all areas. "In addition to the authorization concept, we were able to optimize licenses and go deeper into the Atlassian structures at MACH AG overall. This helps us to manage future projects even faster and to provide customer-oriented consulting," adds Christopher Mohr.

JODOCUS AS CLOUD EXPERTS: WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

After less than three years since its founding, Joducs became an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner and is already one of the top 10 Atlassian partners. CEO and Co-Founder of Jodocus, Werner Krandick, sums up the reason for this: "On the one hand, the rapid achievement of our Platinum status emphasizes our growing expertise in all Atlassian products. On the other hand, it shows that we were right on target with our focus on cloud when we founded Jodocus in 2019." In addition, the cloud experts at Jodocus themselves work closely with the international software provider Atlassian in software development around the topic of cloud. An important fact here is that from 2024, only the cloud version of Atlassian will be supported. A hard cut that Atlassian is making. With the migration to the cloud, Atlassian enables its users to have an even better workflow, provided that the migration is well-planned and executed without errors.

Initial talks on cloud migration have already taken place with MACH AG. With Jodocus as a cloud expert and trustworthy partner at their side, it is definitely more than worth considering. After all, the basis for good cooperation and the know-how of the company processes is already in place. And as an agile company, MACH AG will remain true to its maxim as a digital pioneer – possibly in the future with optimized corporate processes in the Atlassian Cloud.