Menzel IT

What Menzel IT does

Menzel IT GmbH is a Berlin-based, owner-managed IT infrastructure company founded in 2016 that designs, builds, and operates high-performance computing environments for research institutions, universities, government authorities, and mid-sized industrial customers in Germany. Its portfolio centers on four cluster product lines — HPC clusters (10 to 1,000 nodes, Ethernet or InfiniBand, Lustre/BeeGFS storage), ML & AI clusters (NVIDIA GPUs, Mellanox networking), Proxmox-based virtualization clusters, and OpenStack-based private clouds — supplemented by a "Data Center Tech" services layer covering Netbox DCIM/IPAM, Ansible and openTOFU automation, Arista-based high-speed networking (up to 400 GbE spine-leaf), Ceph/GlusterFS/Lustre/BeeGFS storage, Zabbix and Prometheus/Grafana monitoring, water-cooled Green IT consulting, and 24/7 SLA support. All solutions are built exclusively on open-source components, avoiding vendor lock-in for the customer.

The business model is sales-led direct enterprise engagement. Revenue is generated through consulting services, hardware/software setup, managed monitoring and support subscriptions, a "Computing Power as a Service" recurring cloud offering (98% monthly uptime SLA), and appliance sales of virtualization clusters with optional leasing. The company employs approximately 20 people (per company self-description), holds key partnerships with NVIDIA (Solution Advisor), Arista, Proxmox, OpenInfra Foundation (Silver member), and Memorysolution, and has delivered benchmark deployments including a 700+ node HPC cluster with 400 GbE and 7 PB storage, a 200+ GPU ML cluster in OpenStack, and a state-authority network with nearly 100 switches. Menzel IT is bootstrapped and profitable, and has publicly committed to refusing external investment from PE, strategic, and family-office buyers in order to preserve independence and a digital-sovereignty positioning that resonates with its regulated customer base.

Name

Menzel IT

Legal name

Menzel IT GmbH

Website

https://menzel-it.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Menzel IT GmbH is a Berlin-based, bootstrapped IT integrator (~20 employees) that designs, builds, and operates open-source HPC, ML/AI, virtualization, and private cloud clusters for research institutions, government authorities, and German mid-sized industrial customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HPC and IT Infrastructure Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

HCI & Integrated Systems (Compute + Storage) (HDABADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtualization & Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Management (HDABABAB), Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Appliances (HDACABAD)

Keywords

• HPC cluster design
• Private cloud infrastructure
• ML AI clusters
• Open source virtualization
• Data center consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Advisory services on how customers can use hardware, software, infrastructure and services for their business processes. Includes support during implementation of technical projects, bid management, and acceptance testing.
2. Hardware and Software Setup: Installation and configuration of hardware and software systems, including HPC clusters, ML/AI infrastructure, virtualization clusters, and storage solutions.
3. Monitoring Services: Continuous monitoring of selected IT infrastructure components from the company's headquarters via remote access, with incident notification and remediation recommendations.
4. Support Services: Technical support via phone and email during agreed support hours, including ticket management, problem analysis, and action recommendations. 24/7 SLA options available.
5. Computing Power as a Service: Cloud service providing computing capacity either in external data centers or on-premises with dedicated hardware. Includes 98% uptime guarantee per calendar month.
6. Maintenance Services: Ongoing maintenance of hardware and software systems to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Menzel IT plans, builds, and operates hyperscaler-class IT infrastructure in customer data centers using exclusively open-source technologies. The core offering consists of HPC clusters, ML/AI clusters, Proxmox-based virtualization clusters, and OpenStack-based private cloud clusters, complemented by managed services for DCIM, automation, high-speed networking, storage, monitoring, and 24/7 SLA support. Customers are research institutions, government authorities, and mid-sized industrial companies in Germany requiring on-premises performance and data sovereignty.

Product overview

Menzel IT offers a portfolio of open-source-based high-performance IT infrastructure products and managed services for research, government, and industrial customers in Germany. The core product line comprises four cluster types — HPC Cluster, ML & AI Cluster, Virtualization Cluster (Proxmox), and Private Cloud Cluster (OpenStack) — sold as configured infrastructure solutions, with virtualization clusters also available as appliances with optional leasing. These clusters are complemented by a suite of Data Center Tech services including DCIM via Netbox, infrastructure automation with Ansible and openTOFU, Green IT consulting, high-speed networking (Arista), tailored storage (Ceph/GlusterFS/Lustre/BeeGFS), monitoring with Zabbix and Prometheus/Grafana, and 24/7 SLA support. The entire portfolio is built exclusively on open-source technologies, with the company acting as a solution advisor partner of NVIDIA and a member of the OpenInfra Foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HPC Cluster High-Performance Computing cluster built on open-source technologies for simulation in research, science, and industry. Includes planning, high-bandwidth/low-latency networks (Ethernet or InfiniBand), HPC storage (Lustre or BeeGFS), Slurm queueing systems, automation, and monitoring.
• ML & AI Cluster Machine learning and AI infrastructure cluster integrating NVIDIA GPUs and networking components, with planning, GPU and software stack selection, network and storage build-out, and ongoing maintenance including 24/7 support.
• Virtualization Cluster (Proxmox) Proxmox-based virtualization cluster available as an appliance combining hardware and software, with optional leasing. Offered in hyperconverged configurations integrating storage and virtualization on a single host, with a fully managed option including 24/7 support.
• Private Cloud Cluster (OpenStack) OpenStack-based private cloud computing cluster for organizations requiring multi-tenancy, infrastructure-as-code automation, and high data privacy. Covers design, hardware procurement, build-out, and migration concept development.
• Consulting Services Advisory services on how customers can use hardware, software, infrastructure, and services for their business processes, including support during technical project implementation, bid management, and acceptance testing.
• Hardware and Software Setup Installation and configuration of hardware and software systems, including HPC clusters, ML/AI infrastructure, virtualization clusters, and storage solutions.
• Monitoring Services Continuous monitoring of selected IT infrastructure components from Menzel IT's headquarters via remote access, with incident notification and remediation recommendations.
• Support Services Technical support via phone and email during agreed support hours, including ticket management, problem analysis, and action recommendations; 24/7 SLA options available.
• Computing Power as a Service Cloud service providing computing capacity either in external data centers or on-premises with dedicated hardware, with a 98% uptime guarantee per calendar month.
• Maintenance Services Ongoing maintenance of hardware and software systems to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% uptime guaranteed for Computing Power as a Service
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or IntegrationSolution Advisor Partner of NVIDIA, integrating their technology into solutions. Specialized for 10 years in NVIDIA (formerly Mellanox) components and operating systems for high-performance networks - from Ethernet to InfiniBand and Cumulus Linux. Data center GPUs are central to ML and AI cluster implementations.
• Arista NetworkscoreTechnology or IntegrationPartner of Arista Networks providing high-performance network hardware with minimal latency. Arista provides the hardware selection needed for medium and large virtualization and private cloud computing clusters - from OOB to 400G switches.
• Proxmox Server Solutions GmbHcoreTechnology or IntegrationPreferred partner for Open Source virtualization infrastructure. Proxmox Virtual Environment and Proxmox Backup Server are used particularly for smaller and medium-sized virtualization clusters due to flexibility and scalability. Company uses PVE and PBS combination for parts of their own infrastructure.
• OpenInfra FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSilver member of the OpenInfra Foundation which coordinates the development of OpenStack, the company's go-to solution for cloud infrastructures. Open source community membership enabling participation in community development and ecosystem.
• MemorysolutioncoreTechnology or IntegrationOne of their best partners for server and network hardware, though no formal partnership contract exists. Completed dozens of joint projects ranging from small virtualization servers to multi-million euro projects. Both teams share love for highest performance and willingness to go the extra mile. Reason why company primarily uses Supermicro hardware.
• VIRZ (Verband innovatives Rechenzentrum e.V.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation for innovative data centers that promotes constructive exchange between planners, builders, manufacturers, and operators of data centers. Company participates in this association as modern data centers form the basis for high-performance infrastructures.
• Open Source Business Alliance (OSBA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvisory member of the OSBA which represents over 200 member companies of the open source economy. Association works to sustainably establish the central importance of open source software and open standards for a digitally sovereign society.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SVA System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH: Large German system integrator specializing in enterprise IT infrastructure, data center, and cloud solutions. Similar mid-market enterprise focus with comparable HPC, virtualization, and cloud integration capabilities.
• Noris Network AG: German IT infrastructure provider offering HPC, private cloud, and managed services to enterprises and public sector. Closely comparable to Menzel in HPC/cloud integration with similar DACH enterprise and research customer focus.
• Thomas-Krenn.AG: German HPC server and storage vendor offering custom-configured high-performance systems. Directly comparable focus on HPC hardware with open-source support and customization for research and enterprise customers.
• Hetzner Online GmbH: German hosting and cloud provider offering dedicated servers, cloud, and managed services. Competes in the on-premises and dedicated server market with similar German engineering, cost-efficient positioning, and sovereignty-friendly reputation.

Regional players

• STACKIT: German sovereign cloud provider owned by the Schwarz Group. Targets German enterprises and the public sector with GDPR-compliant cloud infrastructure, increasingly competing for German on-prem private cloud workloads Menzel serves.
• OVHcloud: European cloud provider with strong data sovereignty and GDPR-compliant infrastructure positioning. Competes in the European private cloud and dedicated server market and increasingly in sovereign cloud offerings for regulated workloads.

Broad incumbents

• Atos (Eviden): European IT services company with strong HPC heritage (BullSequana) and AI infrastructure offerings. Competes for large HPC/AI cluster deployments in research and government sectors across Europe, overlapping with Menzel's marquee project profile.
• Bechtle AG: Germany's largest IT system integrator with broad portfolio spanning data center, cloud, and managed services. Overlaps with Menzel's enterprise IT infrastructure work but serves a much wider customer base and product mix.

Others

• Red Hat: Open-source enterprise platform provider offering OpenStack, Kubernetes, and Linux distributions. Provides enabling technology for Menzel's stack and competes for some enterprise infrastructure modernization engagements.
• SUSE: Open-source enterprise infrastructure provider offering Linux, Kubernetes, and storage solutions. Enabling technology partner for Menzel's stack and adjacent competitor for enterprise Linux and container infrastructure engagements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@hochleistungsnerd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/menzel-it-gmbh
• Facebookfacebook.com/menzelit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Menzel IT