Global Player

From German start-up to global player. A lot has happened in the past 26 years. cbs started with two former SAP consultants in a small office in the south of Heidelberg; by 2022, there will be almost 1,000 employees working for cbs around the globe. The consultancy operates as a global platform with strong, independent offices in Vienna, Barcelona, Helsinki, Philadelphia, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It is represented in all relevant regions - cbs serves clients globally and locally on site. In addition, the international consulting organization is complemented by a resilient global partner network. The strong regional growth is based on a lot of entrepreneurial ownership, supported by the global cbs Vision 2025. 

"Our customers are the well-known groups and world market leaders from the manufacturing industry with headquarters in the DACH region, they are active all over the world - accordingly, as a global player, we are also at home on all continents to provide these customers with comprehensive advice and to develop globally standardized end-2-end processes for their specific needs."explains cbs Managing Director Stefan Risse. It is a promise of performance that customers honor. 

In America, cbs is proving that it has taken the right path here. There, cbs had already been successfully handling projects for many years when a local company was founded and launched in the summer of 2017. By the middle of the year, there will already be 80 consultants forming a strong local SAP consulting organization. cbs has arrived in the North American market, has further expanded its cooperation with well-known partners, and has long been advising major industrial customers from the USA, Mexico, and Canada. "We are seeing a strong increase in projects and growing demand for transformations to 'ONE Corporation on SAP S/4 Hana'. Services within the scope of global harmonizations, rollouts and S/4 migrations are also in demand, as well as topics such as post-merger integration, carve-outs and ONE Finance"reports Lorenz Praefcke, CEO of the American subsidiary.

Premium consultant

In addition, there is great interest in the topics of Application Management Services (AMS) and E-Invoice World Cloud (complete package for communication with tax authorities). "We deliver our projects with local consultants, and we want to continuously grow here and position ourselves specifically as a premium consultant for landscape transformation, local SAP rollouts and SAP AMS"explains Praefcke. 

The situation is quite different, but no less successful, some 15,000 kilometers to the east. cbs has recognized the market potential in the APAC region and has established more than a classic offshore delivery center there - headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, regional hub in Singapore. German-speaking management on site, high quality standards, close, constant exchange with the cbs units in Europe. The consulting team has recently doubled in size and has long since exceeded 100 employees, is very committed and supports cbs projects worldwide. "We have managed to quickly attract and retain new, highly qualified employees, we are experiencing high and continuous growth rates, also due to our values and the special cbs culture as an employer"says branch manager Holger Bock.

S/4 is the driver

The market, the culture, the approach - everything is a little different here. But similar to the core market, S/4 Hana transformations are the core driver here. "We work for DACH clients as part of their regional project activities, for local companies and as a premium offshore service provider"says Bock. "In addition, projects in China and Japan are now increasing rapidly." The cbs office in Tokyo was opened in December, with the Shanghai office to follow in April.