In the interview with Uwe Bergmann, Managing Director of NETHINKS GmbH

The East Hessian NETHINKS GmbH supports as an expert in information and communication technology with established solutions and services medium-sized enterprises in the operation and monitoring of in-house IT infrastructures. Data security in particular plays a major role here. In the current DIGITAL FUTUREmag interview, NETHINKS Managing Director Uwe Bergmann discusses what his business has to do with a Danish toy manufacturer, what SMEs should urgently pay attention to regarding cybercrime right now, why further training brings clear advantages not only personally but also collectively, and why above all in times of crisis, a healthy mix in interpersonal exchange is important as well as correct.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: NETHINKS will be 25 years old this year. Congratulations on a quarter of a century of successful IT services and solutions made in Fulda. Can you give us a brief overview of your company history and what your future technological and internal goals and plans are? Most importantly: How do your customers benefit from this?

Uwe Bergmann: The company was founded in 1996 under the name regio[.NET] GmbH as an IT service provider (ISP). I myself joined as an external managing director in 2003 and became a partner a year later because I saw the incredible potential the company and its employees had. Since 2017, our homegrown talent Bastian Marmetschke has been sharing the management with me. In 2004, we renamed the company to NETHINKS GmbH to reflect our supraregional orientation and at the same time evolve from a pure ISP to an IT infrastructure provider. Our product portfolio has been significantly expanded since its foundation. We aim to offer intelligent network solutions, holistically.

By now, NETHINKS is based on three pillars and is of course more diversified than at the start. We ensure that medium-sized companies enjoy smart networking and fast communication from company headquarters to branches, production sites, warehouses or home offices. We offer our customers an optimal telephony system tailored to their needs, with – if desired – more than 1,000 extensions. And absolutely reliably. We, for example, support a hospital chain that communicates via us. Another area that is in high demand is web & mail. We can offer our customers comprehensive, customized complete solutions. I like to compare this to Lego bricks. We assemble the individual parts exactly as the customer wants – and as best suits them.
We have a clear strategy that is initially geared towards the year 2026. We want to increase the number of our employees from 30 to 60 by then. We also want to double our turnover. We are always up to date with the latest technology, have incredibly good products in the pipeline and motivated men and women with great ideas who work for us. We look to the coming years with optimism and a desire to act. Our customers will be pleased with us.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Reports of hacker attacks on well-known corporations, but now increasingly on SMEs, are making headlines. A challenge that you, as experts, can confidently address. How can NETHINKS protect medium-sized companies preventively with suitable measures or provide effective assistance to those affected? What should decision-makers consider to prevent the loss or misuse of their own sensitive data by cybercriminals?

Uwe Bergmann: The attacks by hackers on companies and SMEs have indeed reached a new level in recent days and weeks. Back in 2019, sabotage, data theft and espionage caused damage of around 100 billion euros to the German economy. This year, the figure will be significantly higher.
Every company must protect its network and data and prepare itself against such hacker attacks. Especially during the pandemic, employees were sent to work from home without those responsible giving sufficient thought to data security. It should be clarified in advance that all data is secure and that no one who is not authorized can access it. Many companies acted far too naively in this regard. If private computers are connected to the company network, the risk of intruders gaining access is simply greater. Notebooks should always be company notebooks.

With NETHINKS, companies have a reliable and experienced partner at their side that designs an individual consultation and solution for securing their corporate network. Whether firewalls or DDoS protection: We form the defense line against hacker attacks. Together with highly qualified partners certified by the Federal Office for Information Security, we provide optimized solutions, for example in the DDoS area. Our customers can choose whether to protect a single website or entire IT address ranges from attacks. In recent weeks and months, we have helped numerous companies protect themselves from such attacks or prevent the worst after an attack.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Further training, particularly in digital formats, is a factor that should not be underestimated when it comes to securing know-how and remaining competitive in the long term. An aspect that NETHINKS places great emphasis on. What options do you offer your employees to ensure they are always up to date professionally? Is there also a piece of advice that HR managers should definitely take into account?

Uwe Bergmann: We have always placed great importance on training and further education. If someone from our team approaches us and wants to further their education, we make it possible. After all, the entire company benefits when the employee shares their newly acquired knowledge after completing the seminar. Of course, we intensified our use of online offerings during the pandemic and even provided them ourselves. It's great that this area has been significantly expanded. But: Whoever sits at the computer for eight hours a day for four days in a row to learn won't be able to retain all the content. Especially if they might be distracted at work. I am a big advocate of in-person training and on-site presence. This might sound strange coming from the managing director of an ITK company. After all, a seminar in another city can also be a reward for employees or at least a change of scenery. After all, there's also the opportunity to explore the location after the day's program. And very importantly, there's the exchange among seminar participants. If you don't understand something right away, you can ask your neighbor. That's why we have found that our employees learn more at in-person events than in webinars. That's my advice to HR managers. However, it always depends on the content and scope of the training.

Uwe Bergmann: At the very beginning of the pandemic, we made sure that our people regularly get tested. In general, we took Corona very seriously, quickly developed a sophisticated hygiene concept, and sent many employees to work from home. Visits to us or external appointments were reduced to a minimum. And of course, we also discovered the advantages of digital meetings. Often, you save time and money by discussing things online. What we can say: It worked really well online with all customers we had met in person before. With new customers, it's often better in person to see how the other person thinks and what their wishes are. We are all human: and humans just like to surround themselves with other humans. It's in our nature. In October, we want to be represented at it-sa, Europe's largest trade fair for IT security. Such an event would do us good in person. But of course, we will wait and see how things develop and respect the decisions of the German government. If we are asked whether communication should be in person or digital, we respond: We will do both.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Thank you very much for your varied assessments, tips, and outlooks. I would also like to thank you for the many years of good cooperation and wish you continued success and the energy that has brought you this far!