Where history ends, our future begins. The history of OTRS.
Our eyes are always on the future, embracing new ideas and plans. However, the past is the foundation on which we build this future. Therefore we wish to share a bit of insight into important events from the last 18 years: key milestones in the development of our company, beautiful moments and amusing situations.
2001
Open Source Project
This is how it all started. In 2001, Open Source disciples joined together to advance OTRS development, spread the word and provide support for the software to a wide range of user groups. At the time, none of the founders thought that their idea would become a globally-successful IT company just a few years later.
2003
Foundation of OTRS GmbH
Only two years after the start of the Open Source initiative, the project took on more professional characteristics. It became apparent that the project would be a success, and this led to the foundation of OTRS GmbH.
Market Entry – EMEA
In the same year that the GmbH was founded, the company began to operate internationally and entered the EMEA market.
BSI Becomes an OTRS Customer
Acquiring the Federal Office for Security (BSI) as a customer was of particular importance to OTRS. The BSI belongs to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and is an independent neutral body that addresses questions regarding IT security for the information community. The use of our software by this institution fills us with great pride and affirms OTRS’ quality.
2006
Market Entry – NORAM
The company’s international orientation manifest itself in 2006 with an entry into the North American economic region.
OTRS Inc.
OTRS activities in North America are given an official framework. With the foundation of the OTRS subsidiary OTRS Inc., we created even better conditions for opening up the US market and focusing on future expansion.
2007
OTRS AG
The company was renamed as the GmbH became a public limited company. The IPO was planned for 2009.
J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge with Christian, Henning and Lacy
OTRS’ participation in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge 2007 made headlines in the truest sense of the word. The J.P. Morgan Run is a corporate challenge, where companies participate on a run.
Our employees who are blind, Christian and Henning, were pioneers at this event and became part of the press coverage. Lacy, our guide dog, joined in too.
2008
Company Event at Lake Spitzingsee (or “The Conquest of the South Pole”)
One of the first large company events in which all employees took part was at Spitzingsee in 2008. The core theme of this event, “Leadership,” was highlighted from different angles using an exciting format – the shooting of a film entitled “The Conquest of the South Pole.” The wintry weather with plenty of snow and a frozen Spitzingsee lake helped give the event to a feeling of reality.
First OTRS Baby: Sebastian Beasley
New blood at OTRS. In 2008, it was time. The first baby born to one of our colleagues! Shawn welcomed his son Sebastian into the world, and we started the OTRS Young Talent Program.
2009
Market Entry – LATAM
Internationalization continued: this time we “conquered” Latin America. With our LATAM market entry, we began positioning OTRS in this economic region.
OTRS Goes Public
OTRS launches. The company was listed on the Entry Standard (Open Market) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The first trading day was December 23, 2009.
On March 1, 2017, the Entry Standard was replaced by new segments, and OTRS has since been listed on the Basic Board.
The IPO was intended to enable various stakeholders to participate in the company’s future success. André Mindermann, previously Managing Director of OTRS GmbH, took over as CEO of the new company.
Company Event in Hohenhausen
The OTRS family got together again. After our adventure in Spitzingsee, we carried the joy of regular in-person meetings with us.
By stepping out of our normal routines and environment, we were able to develop and work on new things – not software, rather new ideas and projects.
2010
OTRS S.A. de C.V.
The successful establishment of OTRS in the northern hemisphere was continued into South America. The OTRS subsidiary OTRS SA de CV in Mexico was founded. This reinforced positive business development efforts in this region and created the basis for future plans.
Company Event in Barcelona
Guess what: It’s company event time again. Because we were working with people from all different nationalities now, it was time to intensively deal with the topic of intercultural communication. This time the OTRS staff went to Barcelona. Olé.
And “Olé” was not an exaggeration, because we enjoyed flamenco dancers as part of our program. Interestingly, they came from Cuba, not from Spain. That sounds confusing? It is. An explanation, however, would be a bit lengthy here . . .
2011
Market Entry – APAC
“We are the king of the world.” No, of course we are not megalomaniacs. But we were very excited, because we were once again able to expand our global focus by entering the Asian market.
2016
OTRS ASIA Ltd. and OTRS Ltda.
“Hit the nail on the head,” as the saying goes. That’s exactly what we did in 2016, specifically in Hong Kong and São Paulo, with the founding of subsidiaries OTRS ASIA Ltd. and OTRS Do Brasil Soluções Ltda.
2017
OTRS ASIA Pte. Ltd.
In 2017, we continued to growth with precision. In Singapore, we founded the OTRS ASIA Pte. Ltd. subsidiary.
The market potential in Asia was promising in 2017 and made us optimistic about the future.
STORM powered by OTRS
A new product was launched. STORM powered by OTRS. STORM stands for Security Threat Operational Response Management. The product is based on our proven OTRS software which is supplemented by security-relevant knowledge derived from projects and best-practice experiences.
Lara Has OTRS Anniversary
Not only do we like having people as colleagues, but also animals. And because we do so, we have pets in our offices. Some come only to visit and some are present daily: Lara is our daily office dog in Oberursel. In 2017, we celebrated our anniversary with Lara. She has been our “colleague on four paws” for 10 years.
2018
We learned the Csárdás
Okay, that’s a little exaggerated, but we did learn about the Hungarian folk dance. In June, OTRS Magyarország Kft. was founded in Budapest. In addition to the promising business potential in Hungary, OTRS gained highly-committed and professional employees who were already quite familiar with OTRS.
15 Years of OTRS
2018 was also an anniversary year for us. OTRS celebrated its 15th birthday in September and enjoyed a real success story – more than 170,000 companies worldwide were using OTRS software at this point. We were listed on the stock exchange and employed almost 100 people in six international subsidiaries.
Product Launch CONTROL powered by OTRS
Our product developers had once again done a great job. In October, CONTROL powered by OTRS was launched. This is a ready-to-use ISMS according to the ISO/IEC 27001 standards. CONTROL relies on the proven advantages of OTRS and earned the Fox Certification seal.
2019
OTRS in Forbes
OTRS Group stands, not only for modern, intelligent and user-friendly software, but also for innovative thinking in terms of employee management and corporate culture. Our CEO, André Mindermann, was interviewed by Sheila Callaham, an author for Forbes.com. He spoke with her about merging generations and genders in the workplace.
The article discusses the appreciation of people and the principles that underpin the OTRS Group corporate philosophy.
OTRS Group Tackles Social Topics
Responsibility is one of the four cornerstones of our corporate culture. Thus, this is an integral part of what is important to us in our dealings with each other, and it corresponds with our values.
This also applies to our social responsibility. With our social commitment, we not only want to make a single contribution, but we also aim to act with conviction and passion. Our CSR activities are, therefore, characterized by active participation and a sense of community.
Freedom in action – our company event
On August 22nd, OTRS Group celebrated its 9th international company event.
This time, our concept of freedom – namely the kind of cooperation that allows us the greatest possible space for play and development – was the focus. To this end, more than 100 employees from all of our international offices gathered at the Depot 1899 in Frankfurt. The annual event offered a variety of opportunities to exchange views on the achievements of the past year, as well as to reflect on the direction for the next 12 months.
The “STORM–Troopers” met
Cyber security is one of the most important topics at OTRS Group. With OTRS Security mini.Con, we created a new exclusive event for IT security managers, CERTs, SOCs and PSIRTs. Those who have to act when an incident happens – the Troopers. Our event on September 12th was a great opportunity to meet and share knowledge.
2020
We chose the future
Every small step counts on the way to a more sustainable business approach. Awareness is important, because our decisions today determine the life of tomorrow. As a company, we want to make our contribution by acting fairly, respectfully and responsibly, as well as by acting in an environmentally-friendly and forward-looking manner. That is why we have launched our GreenOTRS initiative.
OTRS as a supporter of the “New Normal”
2020 was marked by change. Home office, remote work, telecommuting and cloud services were on everyone’s lips as the new reality set in. OTRS Group’s software solutions offered the technological support for coordinated communication and efficient processes during times of crisis, and our experts were also happy to share their experience and knowledge for successfully working with decentralized teams and conducting remote work.