B2B Software and Blockchain Technology at Company in Madeira's IBC
Jornal ECO
With four offices spread over two continents, 40 professionals, and 20 of whom are in the technology center installed in Madeira, Portugal, Connecting Software is a company that operates in the software integration industry. That is, the connection between different software.
Thomas Berndorfer, the Austrian-German CEO, launched Connecting Software in 2004 and its Madeiran development center in 2017. He recalls that he first came to Madeira "because it was a fantastic place to live", but he had “no big plans for Connecting Software Madeira". However, in the first few months he found "highly motivated programmers, good professionals, and favorable economic and political factors", which changed the company's prospects in Madeira.
Since the launch in the region, the team has constantly been growing. Currently with 20 members, Connecting Software intends to grow even more in Madeira to increase its relevance to the structure of the group. It already has offices in Vienna, the headquarters, Slovakia and in the United States of America. "At the moment, the Madeiran office is the company's largest, and we intend to double the number of team members from 20 to 40", assures Thomas Berndorfer.
Besides being distributed around the world, the team at Connecting Software is truly global by comprising professionals from 10 different countries. Given the recent expansion in the range of products, the company is in the process of recruiting both in the national and international markets to attract international specialists in the sector to Madeira.
In Madeira, as the CEO emphasizes, there is a situation that is positive both for the company and for the Autonomous Region. Connecting Software has strong connections with the University of Madeira, the Government of Madeira, and with the Government of the Republic. In addition, it is integrated into the International Business Center of Madeira, which presents tax advantages for the development of business on an international scale, as is the case of Connecting Software.
Thomas Berndorfer, CEO of Connecting Software
In cooperation with the Slovakia team, the Madeira team is creating integration and synchronization solutions for a variety of industries and businesses. "We connect software more easily, more quickly and at a lower cost than currently existing tools, and thereby help companies succeed in the challenges of digital transition and an interconnected online world," says Berndorfer.
Connecting Software, a B2B oriented company, has an annual turnover of about two million euros. Most customers are government entities, as well as large and small companies with integrated systems. Some examples of customers are the Department of Justice of Canada and public services of countries like New Zealand, England, Austria, the Netherlands, and the USA. In addition, there are large companies and brands like 21st Century Fox - Disney, Compass Group, Selecta, Liebherr, and Spirit Aerosystems.
The Connect Bridge platform, developed entirely by Connecting Software, is the basis of the company's success. This platform acts as a translator, allowing the different commercial software running in a company to communicate with each other. This eases business processes and boosts productivity across corporations.
This platform supports most current software, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Exchange or Salesforce, but also older legacy software that is 10, 20 or even 30 years old. By reducing the integration effort by at least 50% and saving up to 90% of the time needed to get the integration up and running, the Connect Bridge platform remains very popular more than 10 years after its launch.
As for future bets, the CEO mentions one of the latest products, CB Blockchain Seal. According to Thomas Berndorfer "it is the ideal solution to ensure that your digital documents, no matter the type of file, are original and authentic by using Blockchain technology for something that has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies".
The head of the company also adds that they have clients in South America that use this blockchain solution "in the fight against fraud and corruption, but the applications are much broader, and include everything from audits to intellectual property."