adesso Named Ibexa Partner of the Month for November
This year’s winner of the Ibexa DACH Partner of the Year Award was adesso, a giant of German IT, with annual sales of €1.14 billion. Since joining the Ibexa Partner ecosystem in 2021, adesso has successfully completed more than 10 implementations of Ibexa DXP. Thirty people in its DX team are Ibexa-certified, the highest number of any Partner in Europe. “The standout feature of Ibexa is its unparalleled flexibility,” says Stefanie Grzenia, the Senior Business Developer responsible for driving sales of adesso’s Digital Experience arm. “The DXP’s modular architecture allows businesses to customize their digital experiences seamlessly, adapting to ever-changing market demands while ensuring scalability for future growth.”
adesso is our Partner of the Month for November.
“We are a very large company,” says Grzenia, “and overall, adesso is a technology-agnostic industry expert. We start by identifying our clients’ needs, defining detailed requirements for the systems, and then matching them with the best fit. Within our PHP unit, Ibexa is our strongest and longest-standing partner. Given the diverse capabilities of the DXP and the QNTM group, Ibexa often aligns perfectly with the needs of our clients.”
There is no such thing as a typical client project. “We encounter a wide range of scenarios,” Grzenia explains. “Often, at adesso, we’re brought in to conduct a CMS/ system evaluation, which means we’re involved right from the start. In other cases, clients come to us specifically requesting Ibexa because they’ve already been given a recommendation.
Many prospective clients deploy an open-source technology for their CMS but this is not always the optimal solution. “One of the myths of open source is that these technologies are always more cost-effective, but in many cases that is simply not true,” says Grzenia. “If you have specific requirements the costs of development escalate quickly, updates are a problem, and you weaken the system itself with all that additional code. Often we are able to show the client that they would be much better off, and save money in the long run, by choosing a flexible yet robust platform such as Ibexa DXP.”
Project timelines also vary greatly, depending on factors such as scope, deadlines, and approval processes. “However, when we’re able to leverage our Ibexa Blueprint, we can move quickly with the basic implementation,” Grzenia adds. “We often switch from open-source solutions to Ibexa, especially as companies grow, consolidate websites across different locations, languages, product lines, or brands, engage with multiple touchpoints, or aim to save costs and become more efficient.”
adesso has implemented Ibexa DXP for a wide range of high-profile clients.
For eprimo, Germany’s largest provider of green gas and electricity, it built an omnichannel customer service system that spans multiple touchpoints, including the customer portal, email, hotline, SMS, website, and social media. adesso also implemented AI-based case classification and introduced a chatbot as an additional service channel, with seamless transitions to live chat support for personalized assistance. With this ambitious engagement, adesso won the 2022 Ibexa Partner Award for Best Customer Project.
For Hamburger Energienetze, adesso provided long-term support for the existing web system landscape of the power distribution company, including technology updates. This involved extending and developing new websites and integrating existing websites into the Ibexa multi-platform CMS. Additionally, adesso designed a new website and user experience for the new brand “Hamburger Energienetze” with an implementation time of only 3.5 months.
The most recent adesso/ Ibexa collaboration, and one with which Grzenia was closely involved, was for OBO Bettermann, a leading manufacturer of electric infrastructures. “Bettermann is a huge company, active in over 60 markets with more than 40 sites that were supported on an open-source platform,” she says. “They had a number of far-reaching plans and requirements. They wanted to implement other systems that had to work smoothly with the new platform we were choosing – an evaluation process that spanned a year during which we organized several workshops.
“Bettermann did not want to rule out using another open-source system and adesso does not take sides, we are technology-agnostic. So during the workshops, we reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of open source and enterprise solutions but in the end, they opted for Ibexa DXP.”
The project is ongoing but adesso created concepts and UX/UI design, covering information architecture, design, structure, content creation, scheduling, and project management. On the technical side, it handled system setup, development, content creation, and translation workflows on Ibexa DXP.
“At this point, the system decision was a relatively long process, as many factors were taken into account,” says Grzenia. “But we had exceptional support and involvement from Ibexa. In fact, in any discussion of our partnership the team behind Ibexa deserves special mention. We consistently receive excellent support, and the collaboration is enjoyable and engaging. This combination of adaptability and strong partnership makes Ibexa an invaluable ally for organizations looking to create exceptional and personalized customer journeys.”
adesso and Ibexa recently co-hosted a masterclass at K5 on AI along the customer journey, and in September they attended the DMEXCO trade fair. “This was very successful,” says Grzenia, “much more than we had expected. We got a lot of leads from DMEXCO which we are chasing actively, with the support of Ibexa of course.”
Grzenia is upbeat about the future.
“Over the next few years, I see our partnership evolving into an even deeper collaboration focused on driving innovation and growth. As digital transformation accelerates, we’ll continue to support our clients with the latest technologies, helping them stay agile and competitive. We aim to build long-term relationships that go beyond project delivery, offering strategic guidance and adapting to the changing needs of our clients.
“The adaptability of Ibexa DXP complements this goal perfectly,” concludes Grzenia. “As our clients grow and change they can scale with the platform, integrating all aspects of their digital journey.
“Our journey with Ibexa has been positive and successful because we satisfy an important need in the market and are both deeply committed to achieving the best outcome for our clients.”