March 28th, 2009
THOMAS HERRMANN, CEO OF ENTIRETEC, BECOMES ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2009
Article of Michael Rothe, Sächsische Zeitung
Thomas Herrmann assembled his first computer when he was merely twelve years of age. Today, the man from Dresden networks people and organizations worldwide with his company, ENTIRETEC. Had there been an award for those making understatements then Thomas Herrmann would have been a hot favorite and an aspirant.
When the 35 year old Chief and Proprietor of the Dresden-based IT company, ENTIRETEC, speaks about top-class contracts concluded in Malaysia or Dubai, it sounds as if he has just won a round of sqash against a supplier in the basement of his own company*s premises. The listener is left with a gaping mouth when he hears that the man from Dresden had assembled his very own first computer at the tender age of twelve, three years before Erich Honecker could pride himself on the “Made in GDR” 1 Megabit memory chip. And that too, while as a trainee with Robotron. For Mr. Herrmann, it is nothing out of the ordinary in this world. This including the fact that he had learnt six programming languages by the time he was 14 years old – apart from English, Russian and Saxon. “I have grown up in the 80’s with the entire computer stuff”, he mentions. His parents, both of whom were teachers, sent him thrice a week to the computer centre at Robotron. The consequence: “During the course of training after shifting to Dresden and Paderborn, I was hopelessly under-challenged.” There is no trace of arrogance, whatsoever. Not a doubt. A smile flits across Hermann’s face, and one sees that man as a boy that he once was. “Sometimes I look forward to attacking a wall, gullible and naive as I am”, he states. Perhaps, it is precisely this lack of solicitousness that has enabled him to chart out his carrier path as the CEO of a global company.
Under his leadership, ENTIRETEC offers highly available and secure applications and individual solutions for IP-based global communication as managed service. How is that? “You need not know this, as long as it works”, is the publicity campaign of the company on the Internet. Mr. Herrmann says: “We build the logic, while others make the cables.” And: “Companies look for us, when Siemens and Telekom start scratching their heads.” With the help of this “Superior Knowledge”, a workforce of 60 achieved annual sales of eight million Euros in the previous year. This is expected to rise to twelve to 15 million Euros in the current fiscal. The next milestone is a workforce of 100 employees, “perhaps even 200 at some point of time”. The mini concern includes four companies in Dresden, Switzerland, Dubai and Malaysia respectively. The next computer centre is coming up there in Kuala Lumpur and yet another in New York. The slogan: Local contacts and networks, otherwise nothing works. Look at Dubai. “That sounded like a Gold Rush at the beginning”, says Herrmann. It was a fallacy. It took almost two years before one could gain a foothold with the Sheikhs.
ENTIRETEC’s clientele stretches from hotel chains to ministries right up to hospitals and from medium-sized enterprises to global concerns – regardless of the industry. That is why the company is also not susceptible to the crisis. “We are not players in a market characterized by cut-throat competition, but, instead, create our own markets. As long as we think globally like a company and work like a start-up organization, nothing can shake us”, explains the CEO. There are not many who can sum up such interactions concisely. Mr. Herrmann sends out an SMS on the side. Can he himself be impressed? Financial accomplishments are comprehensible for which he has no respect, according to Mr. Herrmann. “But I do have respect for someone who can play an instrument.”
Despite the breath-taking degree of success achieved, the Saxon has not forgotten his roots. He commenced his career as the company CEO with a paltry sum of 25,000 Euros, which he put together by borrowing from friends. He still recollects his first order: “I delivered two cables for a price of 21.20 Euros to a customer in the year 2003.” During the course of the first three years we had neither loans nor overdraft facilities. Customers such as BASF and Zeiss reposed their trust in us and paid a year in advance. Others that trusted us were those at Robotron, who ventured into the new start-up with the ex-colleague in the year 2003.
The CEO is proud of his “unbelievably hardworking and dedicated team”. Half of them work in Dresden. The core operations of ENTIRETEC are conducted there in premises newly built at a cost of four million Euros. The four-storey building constructed in a Do-It-Yourself fashion, overlooking the city and Saxon Switzerland, emerges as a high-tech wonder behind the scenery and as an aerial publicity gag: Its layout reflects the company logo. “The building acts as a reference object highlighting what we are capable of”, says Mr. Herrmann. He can control Venetian blinds, computers and diesel plants with a simple click of the mouse. He does not disclose everything. “Power and networks are all that we have here.” And subtle slogans: “You would be pleased to remember your future with us”, is the corporate slogan.
Mr. Herrmann is just what you would call one of those “types”: Cool, sympathetic and down-to-earth. As a “humble and low-profile achiever”, he plays squash instead of golf, customary to those enjoying his level of status and repute and desires to have his own sailing boat some time – “no yacht, a catamaran is adequate”. He prides himself on what he has accomplished and hides his light under the bushel. The self-proclaimed “passionate wacko”, who also wears jeans and a pinstriped jacket once in a while, does not need a benchmark: “Ido not need to be in the top ranks and am satisfied to be part of a successful project.” The subsidiary companies overseas are controlled from Dresden with the help of a monitor screen. The restless mind, thus, does not need to migrate. “The new office premises constitute a statement for the headquarters.” And it benefits from overseas business. Mr. Herrmann loves independence. And he would rather forego large projects for this purpose. Association with an important and established brand name is not an issue. However, business and professional dedication is, since “something or the other is always sponsored”: These include children’s day-care facilities, sports associations and the ‘Stoffwechsel’ association, which cares for handicapped children, recounts the father of three.
At home, in the limelight, there is one matter that bothers Mr. Herrmann: Having heard Mr. John Chambers, CEO of the US network equipment company, Cisco, at various presentations, he perceives ENTIRETEC as being underestimated and not adequately recognised at home. That is a problem of luxury. “To be just once on page 3 in the SZ newspaper, that would be it”, he utters. His wish has been fulfilled now, since Thomas Herrmann has been named Saxon’s “Entrepreneur of the Year”. And this is more than just an award for a humble and low-profile achiever.
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