ImageWare Components

What ImageWare Components does

ImageWare Components GmbH is a Bonn-based software vendor founded in 1994 that develops specialized digitization, workflow management, and digital content delivery software for libraries, archives, museums, public administrations, scanning service providers, and businesses. The company's product portfolio is structured around BCS-2 (a scan-and-workflow software for capturing, post-processing, indexing, and structuring digital objects) and the mybib product family — mybib eDoc (workflow management for document delivery, interlibrary loan, catalogue enrichment, and complex digitization projects), mybib eL (platform for controlled presentation of digital content including electronic reading rooms), and mybib Tox (shared data pool of tables of contents and covers for catalogue enrichment). C-3 plus provides semi-automated indexing of tables of contents and publication structures. Products are designed to be deployed individually or combined into end-to-end workflows and integrate with standard library systems (ALEPH, OCLC, PICA) via XML-RPC/SOAP interfaces.

The company operates a hybrid go-to-market model: BCS-2 is distributed through a network of regional sales partners in 11+ countries (Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Cyprus, USA, Lithuania, Switzerland), while C-3 plus and the mybib products are sold direct. Revenue streams comprise software licenses, recurring maintenance and support contracts (hotline available on weekdays), and professional services for consulting, implementation, and training. Pricing is quote-based with no public disclosure. ImageWare sells to a relatively concentrated base of academic and public library customers in the DACH region, with notable long-tenured anchor accounts including Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (workflow database in continuous use since 2007, currently managing 1.5M+ book titles) and a consortium of Swiss university libraries. In 2024 the company expanded beyond its library core with a 150+ workstation BCS-2 deployment for the digitisation of Greek land registers. ImageWare divested its Bookeye scanner hardware business in 2009 to focus entirely on software, and in April 2025 was acquired in full by M2Soft GmbH.

Name

ImageWare Components

Legal name

ImageWare Components GmbH Informations- und Archivsysteme

Website

https://imageware.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Library and Archive Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Subject-Specific Courseware (Math, Science, ELA, Social Studies, etc.) (EDAFACAB)

Keywords

• Library management software
• Document digitization
• Archival workflow software
• Digital content delivery
• Scanning service tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Bonn

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Imageware generates revenue from software licenses for BCS-2, C-3 plus, mybib eDoc, mybib eL, and mybib Tox. BCS-2 is available in variants including BCS-2 pro, BCS-2 office, and BCS-2 Express. The company transitioned from hardware to pure software company in 2009.
2. Maintenance and Support: The company provides maintenance and support packages for customers, with hotline available on weekdays from 9:00 to 17:00 for customers with active support contracts.
3. Professional Services: Revenue is generated from consulting, implementation, and training services. Training is tailored to customer organizations and can be conducted remotely, at Imageware in Bonn, or on site at customer locations.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ImageWare Components develops and sells software for professional digitization, workflow management, and digital content delivery. Its solutions serve libraries, archives, museums, public administrations, and commercial scanning service providers, enabling capture, processing, cataloging, and online publication of physical and digital media. The product portfolio centers on modular software suites for managing large-scale digital collections and lending operations.

Product overview

ImageWare Components offers a modular software portfolio for professional digitization, workflow management, and digital content delivery. The core products are BCS-2 (scan and workflow software for capturing, processing, and indexing digital content) and the mybib product family (for library workflows including document delivery, interlibrary loan, catalog enrichment, and digital content presentation). C-3 plus provides semi-automated indexing of tables of contents and publication structures. These products can be used individually or combined into end-to-end workflows—the company emphasizes that solutions can be deployed separately or linked to create connected processes from digitization through to delivery and presentation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BCS-2: Scan and workflow software for professional digitisation processes – from capture and post-processing to indexing and structured output.
• mybib
• C-3 plus
• Bookeye

Products and services

• BCS-2 Modular digitization and workflow management software for libraries, archives, museums, and scanning service providers. Supports capture, OCR, metadata, and processing of physical and digital media.
• C-3 plus Cataloging and metadata management software for libraries and archives, providing modules for authority data, cataloging workflows, and standards-compliant record management.
• mybib eDoc Electronic document and content delivery platform for libraries, enabling online lending and document delivery of digital media to end users.
• mybib eL Electronic lending platform for libraries and patrons, supporting online borrowing and delivery of digital media such as e-books and e-papers.
• mybib Tox Toxic content screening tool used to identify and flag problematic content in digital media collections as part of library workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.5+ million book titles managed in a single workflow database
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, foundational and regional.

• Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010In 2010, Imageware developed mybib eL in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute - a platform for providing access to copyright-protected and other legally sensitive digital content.
• XEROXfoundationalTechnology or Integration · 1 January 1994In 1994, Imageware developed the first overhead scanner in Europe in cooperation with XEROX. This partnership marked the company's founding and pioneering work in document digitization technology.
• Acribit GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDomestic sales partner for BCS-2 in Germany. Contact: Falk Mättig, [email protected], +49 351 50070070.
• Arcscan GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDomestic sales partner for BCS-2 in Germany. Contact: Heiko Paasch, [email protected], +49 4102 2001930.
• Heindl ScansystemecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDomestic sales partner for BCS-2 in Germany. Contact: Wolfgang Heindl, [email protected], +49 9401 911290.
• Bucap S.p.A.regionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 in Italy. Contact: Adelina Ion, [email protected], +39 06 88438 438.
• Compucenter De MexicoregionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 in Mexico. Contact: Rosalinda Flores, [email protected], +52 55 9628 8882.
• Crossland S.L.regionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 in Spain. Contact: [email protected], +34 93 101 09 85.
• Docuvan Image and Data SolutionsregionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 covering Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Pacific Islands. Contact: Richard Tapps, [email protected], +61 3 9763 3333.
• IID S.A.regionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 covering Greece and Cyprus. Contact: Andreas Manikas, [email protected], +30 210 8939060.
• Indus International Inc.regionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 in the United States. Contact: Ameen Ayoob, [email protected], +1 608 786 0300.
• IT GamaregionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 in Lithuania. Contact: [email protected], +370 5 2034270.
• Metrin AGregionalChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational sales partner for BCS-2 in Switzerland. Contact: Philipp Meier, [email protected], +41 41 418 80 50.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ProjectDX (docWorks): German provider of docWorks, a workflow and digitization platform for libraries and archives. Direct competitor in the German cultural heritage digitization market with comparable scanning and workflow functionality.
• Kitodo: Open-source digitization software suite for libraries, archives, and museums. Closest functional peer to ImageWare's BCS-2 and mybib workflow family, with overlapping customer base in German-speaking cultural heritage institutions.
• Preservica: Provider of digital preservation and archiving software for cultural heritage, government, and corporate clients. Comparable in addressing long-term digital preservation and access control use cases overlapping with ImageWare's mybib eL.
• Archivematica (Artefactual): Open-source digital preservation system by Artefactual. Competes with ImageWare's digital content delivery and archival workflow offerings in cultural heritage and government archives.
• Goobi (intranda): Open-source digitization workflow software developed by intranda, targeting libraries, archives, and museums. Direct competitor in the German DACH cultural heritage digitization space.
• Visual Library ( semantics GmbH): Digital collections and presentation platform for libraries, archives, and museums. Comparable to ImageWare's mybib eL in digital content delivery and electronic reading room functionality.

Broad incumbents

• ABBYY: Global OCR and document capture vendor. Broader incumbent in document digitization; its OCR and capture capabilities are directly comparable to BCS-2's text extraction features, though ABBYY serves a much wider customer base beyond libraries.
• Ex Libris (Clarivate): Major library management systems provider (Alma, Rosetta, Primo) owned by Clarivate. Broad incumbent in ImageWare's target market with overlapping integrations (ALEPH) but covering the full library stack rather than specializing in digitization workflows.
• OCLC: Global library cooperative providing WorldCat, interlibrary loan, and library management services. Broad incumbent with overlapping interlibrary loan workflows (ImageWare integrates with OCLC WorldShare ILL) serving similar academic library customers.
• Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax): Enterprise document capture and workflow automation vendor. Broad incumbent with overlapping scanning and document workflow capabilities competing for the corporate document digitization segment of ImageWare's customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/imageware-components-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 ImageWare Components