Open Knowledge

What Open Knowledge does

Open Knowledge GmbH is a privately held German IT consulting and custom software development firm founded in 2000 in Oldenburg, operating from two offices (Oldenburg headquarters and Essen). The company serves mid-market Mittelstand and enterprise clients across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) with cross-functional teams of 90+ specialists focused on Domain-Driven Design (DDD), agile delivery, cloud-native architecture, AI/ML integration, and legacy modernization. Its service portfolio spans IT strategy consulting, bespoke software development, DevOps, UX/UI design, and a structured suite of methodology workshops (AI Ideation, Machine Learning Kickstarter, API Strategie, Event Storming, Software Migration Strategie, Cloud Strategie) that function as both standalone offerings and entry points to larger engagements.

The company's proprietary asset is the A12 Enterprise Low-Code Platform — a form-driven, model-driven development environment that separates business logic (Fachlichkeit) from technical implementation, enabling business departments to build and modify applications without developer dependency and supporting rapid prototyping that scales directly to production. Complementing A12, Open Knowledge has codified the "Legacy Value Process" — a modular, no-code-freeze migration methodology for legacy modernization — and a structured five-step API strategy framework. These intellectual assets are reinforced by an active thought-leadership program, including a technical blog, an Enterprise Tales column on entwickler.de, and regular conference speaking at Software Architecture Summit, W-JAX, AI Engineering Summit, and OOP.

Revenue is generated primarily through professional services (custom software development, strategy and innovation consulting, workshops) and supplemented by A12 platform licensing and consulting. Go-to-market is sales-led and expert-driven: prospective clients initiate contact through service-area-specific website forms that route inquiries to Managing Directors, Heads of Development, the Head of Low Code, or Lead Architects. Pricing is custom and project-based; contracts tend to be multi-year, and workshops are customized and priced per engagement. The company is founder-owned with no disclosed external investment, and is led by Managing Director/CIO Lars Röwekamp and Managing Director/CTO Jens Schumann.

Name

Open Knowledge

Legal name

OPEN KNOWLEDGE GmbH

Website

https://openknowledge.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open Knowledge GmbH is a German IT consulting and custom software firm (founded 2000, Oldenburg) serving DACH Mittelstand and enterprise clients with bespoke software development, AI/ML integration, cloud-native architecture, the proprietary A12 Low-Code platform, and structured methodology workshops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Software Development and IT Consulting

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Software Publishers (513210), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Data, Analytics & AI Consulting (BPAHAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

ERP, CRM & Enterprise Applications Consulting (BPAHAEAI), Integration, API & Middleware Consulting (BPAHAEAJ), Industry-Specific Low-Code Platforms (Vertical App Platforms) (HDAEAKAL)

Keywords

• Custom software development
• Legacy software modernization
• Low-code platform
• Domain-driven design consulting
• AI/ML consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Oldenburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Custom Software Development: Bespoke software solutions for Mittelstand and enterprise clients. Teams analyze existing IT structures, advise on technology selection, design sustainable software architectures, and develop digital solutions using agile methodology. Clients are engaged through direct sales with expert consultants and project teams.
2. Strategy & Innovation Consulting: IT strategy, business innovation, and digital transformation advisory services. Includes IT strategy consulting, cloud strategy, software migration strategy, and business innovation workshops. Revenue generated through consulting engagements and workshop delivery.
3. A12 Low-Code Platform Deployment: Deployment and consulting around the A12 Low-Code platform for form-driven applications, enabling departments to build and modify applications independently without developer dependency. Combined with professional services for platform setup, customization, and scaling.
4. Workshops and Training: Fee-based workshops including Machine Learning Kickstarter, AI Ideation, API Strategie, Event Storming, Software Migration Strategie, and Cloud Strategie. Customized to individual client needs (Customer Centric Concept) and delivered by ML specialists and architects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Open Knowledge GmbH delivers bespoke custom software development, legacy system modernization, and digital transformation consulting for mid-market (Mittelstand) and enterprise clients in the DACH region. Its primary commercial offerings are individual software development services built on agile, cloud-native, and Domain-Driven Design principles, complemented by the proprietary A12 Enterprise Low-Code Platform for form-driven application development. The company also sells structured methodology workshops (AI Ideation, ML Kickstarter, API Strategie, Event Storming, Software Migration Strategie, Cloud Strategie) as standalone paid engagements that serve as entry points to larger consulting projects.

Product overview

Open Knowledge is a custom software development company offering a portfolio of professional services for mid-market and enterprise clients. The core offering includes individual software development, AI & ML services, Cloud solutions, DevOps, UX/UI Design, and Agile consulting. Their proprietary product is the A12 Enterprise Low Code Platform, a form-driven low-code platform that accelerates time-to-market by enabling rapid prototyping and allowing business departments to create applications without developer intervention. Complementing their development services, they offer a suite of methodology workshops including Machine Learning Kickstarter, AI Ideation, API Strategie, Event Storming, Software Migration Strategie, and Cloud Strategie workshops, which help clients plan and execute digital transformation initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual Software Development End-to-end bespoke software development services for mid-market and enterprise clients, covering analysis of existing IT structures, technology selection advisory, sustainable software architecture design, and agile delivery of digital solutions across cloud, DevOps, AI/ML, UX/UI, and Low-Code.
• Strategy and Innovation Consulting IT strategy consulting, cloud strategy, software migration strategy, and business innovation advisory for corporations and mid-market companies seeking clear IT roadmaps tied to core business operations.
• A12 Enterprise Low-Code Platform Form-driven enterprise Low-Code platform that uses a model-driven development approach to separate business logic (Fachlichkeit) from technical implementation. Enables business departments to build and modify form-driven applications independently without developer dependency, with rapid prototyping that scales directly to production and automated REST API, database, and CRUD generation.
• Machine Learning Kickstarter Workshop Paid hands-on workshop that walks clients through the full AI/ML development process, from idea generation and model training to production deployment and ongoing monitoring (MLOps), delivered by ML specialists.
• AI Ideation Workshop Structured methodology workshop that helps companies identify, evaluate, and develop AI/ML use cases from concrete problem areas to sustainable, risk-assessed applications.
• API Strategie Workshop Consulting workshop covering a 5-step API strategy framework: goal definition, current-state (IST) analysis, target-state (SOLL) description, roadmap creation, and documentation with KPI definition and monitoring.
• Event Storming Workshop

Quantifiable outcome

• Prototypes created with A12 can be directly scaled to production without discard — eliminating the prototype-to-production gap
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• mgm technology partnersminorStrategic or Co-development Partnermgm technology partners is referenced as a partner company in Public Sector (KONSENS) projects. Janos Standt, Bereichsleiter Public Sector at mgm technology partners, provided a testimonial praising open knowledge's A12 experience and enterprise consulting competence: 'Open knowledge verbindet tiefgehende A12-Erfahrung mit echter Enterprise-Kompetenz. Besonders in KONSENS-Projekten hat open knowledge technische Expertise und Beratungskompetenz bewiesen.'

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Thoughtworks: Global software consultancy with deep DDD, agile, and software architecture heritage. Similar methodology positioning but operates at much larger scale across multiple geographies.
• Capgemini: Global IT services giant with substantial DACH delivery capability and enterprise application/cloud practices. Competes for the same large-enterprise modernization and digital transformation engagements, albeit at a vastly different scale.
• T-Systems: Deutsche Telekom subsidiary and one of the largest German IT services providers. Competes for enterprise digital transformation, cloud migration, and custom application development in the same DACH enterprise market.

Direct peers

• INNOQ: Germany-based IT consultancy with deep Domain-Driven Design, software architecture, and digital transformation expertise. Highly comparable in methodology focus (DDD, Event Storming), boutique scale, and Mittelstand/enterprise client base.
• mgm technology partners: Named Open Knowledge partner on public-sector KONSENS projects and references its A12 expertise. Same DACH focus, similar enterprise Java/application modernization offerings, and overlapping customer profile in regulated industries.
• codecentric AG: German software consultancy specializing in Java, cloud-native development, and DevOps for enterprise clients. Directly comparable in custom software development services and DACH mid-market/enterprise focus.
• iteratec GmbH: Munich-headquartered software architecture and digital transformation consultancy with strong emphasis on scalable, cloud-native systems. Comparable in technical depth, methodology focus, and enterprise client base.
• Senacor Technologies: German IT consultancy providing custom software development and digital transformation for banks, insurers, and enterprises. Similar services portfolio, DACH focus, and project-based professional services model.
• adesso SE: Larger publicly listed German IT services firm with a comparable core offering in custom software development, enterprise consulting, and industry-specific solutions, particularly for insurance and Mittelstand clients.
• Avenga: International IT consulting and software engineering firm with strong presence in Germany. Overlapping custom development, cloud, and AI/ML services for enterprise customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/_openknowledge
• Facebookfacebook.com/openknowledge
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-knowledge-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Open Knowledge