Our cooperation with the Junior Consulting Team e.V.

For two years now, we have been actively fostering the cooperation between digatus and the Junior Consulting Team. The JCT consists of around 70 students from various disciplines from all universities in the Nuremberg/Erlangen area. Their primary goal is to bring together science and entrepreneurial spirit by advising companies on all economic issues, from start-ups to DAX-listed corporations. The JCT can now draw on experience from over 400 completed projects in the last 30 years of the association’s existence.

Our collaboration covers a wide range of areas, from employing interns at digatus to joint workshops and an M&A Breakfast, in which we introduce interested JCT members to the world of private equity and IT M&A.

Task and project outline “Organic Growth

As digatus, we have set ourselves the ambitious goal of growing to an annual group turnover of EUR 100 million by 2025 and establishing ourselves as one of the leading IT service and consulting groups in the German-speaking market. This goal is to be achieved on the one hand through inorganic growth in the context of succession-driven acquisitions of existing IT companies, and on the other hand through organic growth in either existing or new business areas. To develop and identify opportunities, particularly in the area of organic growth, we have launched a joint project with JCT. The first step was to look at the current segment of the Business Unit IT M&A, combined with the question of which additive service areas might offer further expansion opportunities here. From a long-term perspective and after successful completion of the project, the chosen investigation model and approach should also be applied to other business areas.

At the start of the project in the Business Unit IT M&A, the project was divided into three parts and planned and structured on a timeline of 6 months into the different sub-aspects.

In the first part of the project, competitors who also offer various offerings in the area of IT M&A were to be identified. These were analyzed according to qualitative and quantitative characteristics in order to be able to make a direct comparison to digatus in the second part of the project. Furthermore, the project team carried out a potential analysis based on the results in order to identify business areas that digatus could tap into in the future. These were then evaluated and prioritized according to certain criteria.

The third part of the project involved taking a closer look at the jointly evaluated business areas and developing concepts for how these can be developed in the future. Both the internal view (further training, etc.) and the external view (potential targets) should be taken into account.

Project outline for the identification of new business areas for digatus

Market analysis through a trend and competitor analysis

The aim of the first part was to identify direct and indirect competitors and cluster the services offered, based on a trend analysis in the IT M&A market. The focus here was on an objective view by the JCT consultants.

For this purpose, research was first carried out on the IT M&A market with regard to growth, the companies already operating in this environment and current and future trends in order to get an overall picture of the market.
As part of the research, various competitors of different sizes were also identified, which were then evaluated and clustered according to pre-defined criteria for the recognition of potential service modules.
Based on the company size and other relevant key figures, the long list of companies was then divided into direct and indirect market companions.

The result of this first part was a comprehensive trend analysis, as well as an overview with direct and indirect competitors and their service offerings.

Company analysis using external research and workshops

The aim of the second part was to cluster the service modules of the previously identified companies and to evaluate them according to their potential.

For the classification and prioritization, an objective company analysis of digatus was carried out by means of research from a consultant’s point of view as well as a workshop with relevant stakeholders within the organization.
The findings from the jointly generated SWOT analysis were then merged with the competitor and trend analysis in order to shorten the long list of service modules and identify potential fields for digatus.

The output of the second part was a SWOT analysis of the previously defined service modules. In addition, the potential service modules were summarized in profiles and evaluated according to jointly defined criteria. Subsequently, a decision was made for three service modules for which corresponding measures should be developed that would be necessary for a successful implementation.

Development and evaluation of catalogs of measures

The aim of the third part was finally the development of catalogs of measures for the three identified service modules.

For this purpose, the consulting team evaluated appropriate measures in advance. One service module, for example, focused on the basic network expansion and the deepening of memberships in associations. Various associations were identified by means of a comprehensive research and possibilities of a positioning in these were worked out.
In a joint workshop, the measures were then presented and a plan was developed on how these can be implemented and what internal effort is required.

The result of the third part were catalogs of measures for the identified service modules, which deal with the temporal and financial perspective of these. Furthermore, it was evaluated to what extent the respective service module can be mapped by digatus, whether external resources are required for the implementation and which existing or new potential customers could be addressed thematically.

“In conclusion, it can be said that the cooperation with the team of JCT (Jakob da Silva, Tobias Knauer and Joost Muller) was always professional and goal-oriented and has opened up valuable insights and new information for us. Both in the area of developing new additive clients and in the further development of existing services, the internal teams will build on the project results of the JCT and I am already looking forward to seeing the first implementation results in the second half of 2021. Many thanks to the whole team of JCT!”

Carl-Friedrich Heintz – Managing Director digatus it consulting