INIT

Individuelle Softwareentwicklung und Beratung

About Us

Our philosophy

In an increasingly complex environment, any thought about how things can be made simpler, uncomplicated and thus understandable is worthwhile. Albert Einstein put this principle into words that are as relevant today as ever: as simple as possible, but not simpler.

We make cooperation with our customers, within our own team and with our business partners simple and uncomplicated. Flat internal hierarchies and personal responsibility are a matter of course at INIT, as are short communication channels and openness to new ideas in the relationships with our customers and business partners.n.

“Doing” is our profession, not just talking, but doing. We offer ourselves as a partner who tackles the tasks necessary to achieve the project goals and enjoys turning existing beginnings into something whole

Whenever possible, we act according to our motto: do it simply..

Our team

The INIT team consists mainly of permanent employees who, after a sound education, also have a lot of practical experience in project work.

  • Graduate Engineers for System Analysis
  • Diploma in Business Informatics
  • Graduate computer scientists
  • Graduate Engineers Information Technology
  • State-certified computer scientists
  • Diploma Bio-Computer Scientists
  • Master of Educational Science
  • Bachelor of Science
  • Master of Science
  • Doctor of mathematics
  • Diploma in Business Administration

We are

> 60

team members

have

> 820

projects completed

speak

13

languages

and trink

6.387 l

coffee per year

INIT is committed to diversity, because diversity means enrichment for us in many ways INIT is committed to diversity, because diversity means enrichment for us in many ways At INIT, we not only tolerate the individual diversity of our team members, but also emphasize it in the sense of positive appreciation.

The Diversity Charter is an employer initiative to promote diversity in companies and institutions. The aim of the initiative is to advance the recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the world of work in Germany. Organizations should create a working environment that is free from prejudice.
(Source: https://www.charta-der-vielfalt.de/ueber-uns/ueber-die-initiative/)

Our history

1992
First idea

Peter Cepok and Thomas Winkelsdorf had been involved with the former Mercedes-Benz Lease Finance since the early 1990s as external software developers with a knack for technical matters as well. From the joint project work - even then at the interface between business and IT - the idea arose to put this project-proven partnership on a long-term basis and to found a joint company.

1996
Formal foundation

The motivation of Peter & Thomas can be described with two keywords: "teamwork" and "just do it...". So on a November afternoon, they went to the notary to set up the company and then had a "fancy" meal - at McDonald's, because there was no time for anything else, as urgent project work had to be done that same evening.

1997
Business start

At New Year 1997 the official start of INIT Individuelle Softwareentwicklung & Beratung GmbH was scheduled. Thomas, Peter and colleagues Iris and Holger formed the initial team, joined by Peter (B) in July 1997 - all five are still active in INIT today in a significant role.

1998
Provisioning Know-How & Remote Work

Wilfried strengthens our team and our knowledge of the highly complex topic of provisioning processes The special relationship of trust with our main customer in Stuttgart made it possible - still very unusual at the time - to connect our Bremerhaven site remotely. Thus, steadily increasing task packages were performed from there. Perhaps this is precisely one reason why we are now able to participate so naturally in virtual project teams.

1998
First working student

Just one year after the company was founded, we supervised our first working student, who joined us as a full-time employee after completing his studies. A model for recruiting young talent that has proven itself to this day, as more than half of our team came to us through a similar start - and has remained with us to this day. By the end of 1998, INIT had a total of seven team members.

1999
Millennium & Disaster Relief Workers

1999 was marked by the approaching turn of the millennium. Due to the previous two-digit year numbers, there was practically only one topic for the IT industry, namely averting the impending catastrophe for interest calculations and the like. This led to numerous exciting round-the-clock projects. Mission accomplished: the apocalypse was averted. We now have nine team members.

2000
Preparations for the Euro

No time to catch our breath—the project boom in 2000 was seamlessly followed by a flood of projects in preparation for the introduction of the euro, which kept almost our entire team in the Automotive Finance division busy.The team had grown to eleven people.

2001
Euro-Projects & 1,95583

The Euro projects are entering the critical phase. Those who were there at the time will probably never forget the magic number: 1.95583 - the euro exchange rate. INIT's deliberate moderate but sustainable growth continues with the addition of a twelfth team member in 2001.

2002
International Projects

The euro has gotten off to a successful start, even if a pizza feels like it costs twice as much. The automotive finance industry is developing strongly in Europe, which means we are seeing an increase in international projects. INIT has grown to 15 employees.

2003
Network connection software

The first network operator uses SAP-based network connection software, which has evolved into today's i-connect solution. The team has now grown to 17 people. The annual INIT tour with partners and children is going to Center Park Bispinger Heide for a long weekend.

2004
International Projects

The projects for our main customer increased in number and size, and international project tasks had grown.

2005
23 Team members

In 2005, INIT had a total of 23 team members from different cultural backgrounds.

2007
Table soccer & Mallorca

When Sascha joins the company, he brings with him a passion for table soccer, which rubs off on his colleagues. Six team members at the Bremerhaven site chip in and buy a table soccer table for €180. 10 years of INIT – to mark this milestone, the annual INIT tour is heading to Mallorca for a long weekend, with partners and children welcome as always.

2009
Corporate Culture & Table Soccer

In 2009, table soccer fever swept through INIT, and a sturdy company table soccer table was purchased, which, with a few minor modifications, is still in use at the Bremerhaven site.

2010
Stuttgart site

Despite the general economic crisis, we were working at full capacity and were able to further expand our trusting cooperation with our main customers. At the same time, we established our Stuttgart location by moving into shared office space with our long-standing partner Auren (tax consultants and auditors) at Theodor-Heuss-Straße 9 in Stuttgart.

2011
Auren IT-Consulting GmbH

The spatial collaboration with Auren gave rise to the idea of combining the areas of IT and auditing—we are founding the joint subsidiary Auren IT-Consulting GmbH. The focus is on consulting for medium-sized companies, with an emphasis on legal consolidation using LucaNet.

2013
First XMas table soccer tournament

This year's annual Christmas party featured the first in-house table soccer tournament in Bremerhaven.

2015
Rare Beer Day – RBD

David served beer from the family-owned Schwert brewery at his welcome party in Stuttgart. This led to conversations with Kai and others about rare, delicious beers. After work, “secret” tastings took place in the break room. Over time, more and more people took part, and soon the “Rare Beer Day” became a regular event. The TDSB has since been made an official event. There have also been “specials” such as whiskey tasting.

2015
Hamburg site

In previous years, diverse contacts in the Hanseatic city had led to the geographical consolidation of solution expertise and SAP add-ons, which was put into practice at the end of 2015 with the move to the new Hamburg office. Since then, around ten team members have been working at Herrengraben 5.

2015
Table soccer trophies

Daniel donates the now legendary table soccer challenge cups, which are used for the first time at the 2015 Christmas party.

2018
The World Cup & WEMM

Over the years, we have developed a fully-fledged prediction game based on SAP as a kind of training project in the form of the World and European Championship Manager (WEMM), which is used internally for every World Cup and European Championship and is constantly being further developed. Most recently, mobile components were added to the solution and it was made compatible with HANA. Even though our national team didn't make it to the World Cup this year, WEMM still enjoyed its traditionally high level of participation.

2018
Relaunch Homepage

The INIT homepage has been given a new, modern design. The relaunch was carried out entirely in-house.

2019
Expertise in the field of predictive analytics

We were able to showcase our expertise in these areas through several interesting presentations on the topics of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, including at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bremerhaven and the INIT customer forum in Hamburg.

2019
Solutions for the future

At the customer forum in Hamburg, held under the motto “15 years of digitalization – a vision for the future?”, the fully functional “i-connect on S4HANA” was presented: INIT solutions are therefore ready for the future. For more information, visit: www.init-software.de/kundenforum

2020
Overcoming crises

In 2020, everything was different: The coronavirus turned the world upside down, but we mastered the challenges. We were already very familiar with virtual collaboration in the home office and across multiple locations before the crisis. This allowed us to focus fully on transforming our in-person events into online formats—whether it was a project kickoff, a customer workshop or a virtual Christmas party. We are not letting this get us down and are still here for you as usual.

2022
25 years of INIT

For us, 2022 marks our 25th anniversary: we will look back on our many successful projects and share anecdotes and stories. Building on this, we look forward to our future projects and tasks, which we will master with our growing team.

2023
Kafka Connectors

Our Kafka Connector Suite is taking off this year—internationally as well. With this product, the team led by Ronald has achieved a major success.

2024
Power of Attorney

Effective January 30, 2024, managing director Thomas Winkelsdorf granted power of attorney to two long-standing colleagues, Holger von Nethen and Stefan Heeß. For many years, Holger and Stefan have been committed to further developing proven concepts while also tackling new issues with a healthy dose of realism. Granting them power of attorney is therefore a logical step to “officially” document the strategic role of both men.

2025
New office address in Hamburg

In February 2025, we moved into our new office in Hamburg. We found our new home at Kreuslerstraße 10, 20095 Hamburg, right in the center between Rathausmarkt and the main train station, Alster, and Hafencity.

Our values

Customer satisfaction and team satisfaction are the basic goals

We live from the orders of our customers and we live from the commitment of our team. The long-term satisfaction of our customers and team members is therefore the fundamental objective of our company, because all other goals can only be achieved on this basis.
We consider competent and honest advice and consideration of individual customer needs to be the most important factors in achieving customer satisfaction.

Quality is both a requirement and an objective

A permanently high quality level of our service is for us a permanent requirement and objective at the same time. By constantly proving new quality, we ensure the long term in our existing customer environment and recommend ourselves to new customers. By constantly proving new quality, we secure the long-term in our existing customer environment and recommend ourselves for new customers.

Team spirit enables the achievement of common goals.


Working at INIT means integration into a team of interdisciplinary specialists who support each other and master the challenges in our demanding customer environment together with a willingness to learn, creative openness to new topics and – wherever possible – fun at work. The common goals can best be achieved with team spirit, freedom and personal responsibility.

Shared values create shared success.

Respect and friendliness are very important to INIT, we treat people in our company and in our environment with appreciation, fairness and a sense of responsibility. A reliable and cooperative partnership based on trust – with customers and business partners as well as in your own team – is the key to long-term and mutual success.

Economic strength makes many things possible in the first place

Competitiveness and earning power are indispensable goals of economic activity. They are not an end in themselves, but serve to finance and thus achieve our long-term goals For INIT, stability, independence and long-term success are in the foreground and not short-term profit maximization. Continuous and well-considered growth ensures the prospect of further development for each individual team member, for our company and equally for our customers and business partners.

Our partners

INIT has long-standing partnerships with companies of various orientations. In this way, we can access know-how and capacities in an uncomplicated way and, on the other hand, also help others with our expertise.

AUREN

Auren provides audit, tax, legal, consulting and corporate finance services. We specialize in medium-sized companies and, in addition to standard services, also offer solutions for complex tasks. Our specialists have many years of experience and look forward to a wide range of problems. Auren exists throughout Germany and in many countries around the globe.

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COMI

We are experts in machine vision and generative AI and deliver powerful, scalable solutions based on our own AI platform. Error-free production processes, maximum safety, or complete traceability—we transform complex processes into intelligent systems that reduce costs and make a real difference. We enable AI in a smart way—from development and hardware to seamless integration, we offer everything from a single source.

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EFS Consulting

EFS Consulting is one of Austria’s largest independent management consultancies. Headquartered in Vienna with an office in China, we carry out projects in Europe, Asia, and America. We advise clients along the entire value chain and work together to develop ideas, concepts, products, and services for the future. Our roots lie in the automotive sector. Building on this foundation, we have developed numerous areas of expertise in other industries and fields, such as digitalization, information security, and artificial intelligence.

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51nodes

Since 2017, 51nodes has been helping clients such as Bosch, TransnetBW, and Honda R&D Europe successfully implement digital innovations with the aim of making traditional business models fit for the economy of the future through the use of exponential digital technologies. Since its founding in 2017, 51nodes has successfully implemented projects for decentralized financial applications and identification solutions in the context of mobility and smart cities, as well as process optimization with generative AI.

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camos

camos Software und Beratung GmbH, based in Stuttgart, Germany, is one of the leading CPQ (Configure-Price-Quote) software providers for companies with technically complex and highly varied products. The camos CPQ solution impresses customers with AI-supported pricing strategies and configuration recommendations for tailor-made offers. Over 200 customers worldwide use the software and appreciate the ability to adapt it to their individual processes.

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unovis

Your expert ecosystem for banks and insurance companies – efficient, secure, future-proof. We support financial service providers with everything from strategic consulting (focusing on compliance, regulation, and digitalization) to process optimization and IT project management to operational support such as transaction monitoring and provider management. Our flexible network of consultants, specialists, and medium-sized partners enables us to put together tailor-made teams with in-depth industry knowledge. This results in complete solutions with clear responsibilities, efficient implementation, and sustainable added value. Whether change projects (CHANGE) or ongoing services (RUN) – unovis stands for regulatory expertise, modern implementation skills, and success based on partnership.

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Ingdilligenz

Ingdilligenz supports companies in their sustainable transformation – from the development of sustainability strategies and reporting to sustainable management approaches and project management to the establishment of powerful data platforms and process automation. The consulting team combines in-depth experience with a broad set of skills and methods from proven and innovative solutions to successfully implement projects within the framework of CSRD, EU taxonomy, or VSME, the sustainable design of supply chains and products, or CO₂ accounting and the definition of climate targets. This creates a holistic perspective for sustainable management and data-driven sustainability.

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BlackBoar AG

BlackBoar AG is a consulting firm specializing in banking and insurance. As a trusted advisor, we support financial service providers throughout the entire value chain—from analysis and design to successful implementation. Our core competencies lie in data management, finance, business intelligence, compliance, and project and interim management. We develop customized, future-proof solutions that meet regulatory requirements and support strategic realignments. With in-depth industry knowledge, technological expertise, and a strong partner network, we implement efficient overall bank management and sustainable corporate management. Long-term customer relationships and a partnership-based approach are at the heart of our work.

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Our software partners

SAP

As an SAP Silver Partner, we are delighted to be part of the global SAP PartnerEdge program. This partnership gives us the opportunity to exchange ideas directly with SAP experts and gain access to the latest technologies and resources from SAP. This enables us to develop customized consulting approaches and solutions that optimize our customers’ business processes and help them achieve the best possible results. In this way, we not only improve their processes, but also increase their productivity and competitiveness in the long term.

SAP is one of the world’s leading providers of software for managing business processes. Its solutions enable effective data processing and a smooth flow of information in companies of all sizes, from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations. SAP has over 130 locations worldwide.

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Confluent

We are delighted to be officially part of Confluent’s global partner network. As a Confluent Technology Partner, we use Confluent’s powerful data streaming platform to offer our customers innovative solutions that process data in real time, significantly increasing the efficiency of business processes. This collaboration allows us to expand our expertise in data streaming and set new standards for real-time data processing and automation. Our customers benefit from scalable, flexible, and highly available solutions that enable them to accelerate their digital transformation.

Confluent, founded by the creators of Apache Kafka®, provides the leading platform for end-to-end data streaming. Companies worldwide benefit from this solution by processing data in real time, optimizing workflows, and advancing their automation processes. Confluent is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has offices around the world.

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Our network

INIT is a member of several networks throughout Germany and can thus further advance innovative topics and technologies while incorporating the latest information and insights into customer projects.

Bremen digitization consultants

Digitization is complex Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need help with this. After all, the many topics of digitization, such as big data, IT security or the cloud, are difficult to keep track of. Hardly any company can achieve this on its own.
That is why the “Consulting Support Program for Digitalization and Work 4.0” has now been launched.
Certified management consultants examine your company’s processes and work with employees and management to identify areas for improvement. Because digitization can be achieved together.

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Digital Hub Applied AI

The Digital Hub Karlsruhe Applied AI builds on the region’s established competencies in software technology and today focuses on joint research activities of established players and ambitious female founders. For this, the Hub received an award from the German government in 2017. Since 2019, the state government of Baden-Württemberg has also been supporting it. Excellent research institutions such as the FZI Research Center for Information Technology or the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation are clustered within a radius of just 600 meters, as well as the CyberForum entrepreneurial network and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

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BREMEN.AI

BREMEN.AI is the official cluster for artificial intelligence in Bremen and the surrounding area and stands for the development of a strong Bremen AI ecosystem.. BREMEN.AI organizes the regular exchange of the AI scene and its stakeholders and, as a catalyst of Bremen’s AI economy, drives networking and transfer between business and science with effective measures. Furthermore, BREMEN.AI promotes the matching of local AI jobs with talent, encourages the further settlement of AI talent, research institutions, and companies, and increases the supraregional visibility of Bremen as a national and international AI hotspot.

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