the company

Softways GmbH is an IT enterprise that concentrates on individual solutions for the IBM iSeries (AS/400) and Himalaya (Tandem) users with its “Solution on Demand Strategy”. In parallel with this platform focus, since 1988 the company’s manager and founder Dirk Ortmann, along with the majority of staff, have specialised in the development of transaction processing and clearing systems and solutions. Since the triumph of the internet, Softways GmbH has become an expert in integration solutions and developing portals under IBM WebSphere.

Resolute customer orientation along with the guiding principle of developing open systems using new technologies and methods have made the company a dependable partner for tailored customer solutions. This continuity can also be seen in the IBM business partnership which we maintain as one of only 50 other firms in the German-speaking world as an “advanced member”.

Focused and transparent project management forms the basis for our work with clients, characterised by mutual trust. This trust has been earned through Softways’ successful conclusion, almost always on time and within budget, of clients’ IT projects – something that by no means goes without saying, particularly with larger projects.

Alongside our thorough project management, our wide-ranging industry expertise forms the foundation for successfully concluding projects. Our specialised knowledge in the field of accounting and clearing systems covers all aspects of payment transactions from transaction initiation all the way to professional-calibre mapping within bookkeeping and information systems. We additionally have industry experience in trade/wholesaling and in the manufacturing industry

Using our industry expertise, we develop systems based on cutting-edge technology that even after a decade remain modern and serviceable. Numerous applications originating in the earliest days of the company are still being used productively today to the satisfaction of our clients. High parameterisation and long-term serviceability of applications are one of our guiding principles when developing solutions, in order to quickly put our clients in a position to service and configure applications themselves. This allows savings in long-term maintenance costs, and project planning and budgeting to be done confidently within a short period of time.

The seeming incompatibility of the ideals “fast, cheap and good” epitomises the challenge that Softways GmbH accepts in its project work, which we are able to meet by virtue of optimisation of all project processes:

The deployment of cutting-edge and efficient development tools such as proprietary frameworks by our highly qualified employees speeds up development.
·In-depth industry expertise combined with thorough preparation of software specifications assure the pursuit and discovery of the optimal solution to fit the case. Every solution approach is optimised for parameterisation and serviceability.

An in-house team of certified quality assurance employees guarantees the highest level of quality throughout all phases of project development from the status-quo analysis to programming on down to user documentation.
·Ongoing and transparent project management permit recognition of deviations from plan rapidly enough to allow the right steps to be taken to assure the project’s success in all respects.

Especially in difficult economic times, when IT investments are needed more than ever to capture the potential advantages of streamlining, and budget adherence is critical from an ROI standpoint, selecting the right partner becomes a challenge of existential importance for all parties concerned. Softways GmbH has created a strong reputation for itself in this respect over the course of the last 15 years and more, one that now speaks for itself.