The German publishing house BurdaForward (with brands e.g., FOCUS Online and Chip) established its first foreign location in the Italian port city of Bari with the help of its strategic partner Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy. Initially, around 20 employees will be working in the areas of product and software development. With this move, BurdaForward is pushing ahead at full speed in its transformation towards becoming a tech and media company.
Bari is an excellent choice for tech development
Bari was chosen as a development site for BurdaForward, particularly because of the two computer science faculties located in the city and the strongly growing tech community in the region. Fincons Group has passionate, creative and entrepreneurial IT business consultants who fit in marvelously with BurdaForward’s culture. As Fincons Group has already been established in Bari for over 10 years it has helped to make this an easy decision, coupled with Fincons Group’s core business knowledge and strong credentials in digital publishing. At the product and development site in Bari the software engineers will mainly work for the leading German high-traffic news portals.
Rapid growth with strong partners along new technologies
The significant contribution of the Italian Fincons Group to the decision in favor of Bari was partly due to the fact that Fincons Group also advises its clients on IT strategy evolution and process definition and works with them to scout, experiment and adopt innovative technological and organizational tools which they need to concentrate on their core business.
Thomas Koelzer, CTO BurdaForward: "BurdaForward is a tech and media company that is rapidly growing and investing along the lines of technology. We want to use the possibilities of new technologies to offer users real added value. With Fincons, we are happy to have found a strong partner who understands our business and supports us locally with expertise, for example, in hiring top developers".
Francesco Moretti, Deputy CEO Fincons Group and CEO Fincons.US, adds: “We are delighted to have been selected by BurdaForward as this vote of confidence confirms our skills and experience in the media and publishing sector, but also cements our presence in the German market where we have recently opened an office as part of our international expansion. Facilitating BurdaForward’s strategic development by helping them set up part of their operations in Bari represents a key part of our offering: that of enabling clients to realize their strategic objectives and drive digitalization.”