How was 2018? – Interview with the spo-comm management

spo-comm: An eventful year is drawing to a close. How are you doing?

Michael Sporrer:(Laughs) Over again?

Bernd Moosmüller: We are certainly proud of our team. We were able to implement a lot of projects this year, both internal and external. A lot of sweat and blood goes into it. We also have a lot in the pipeline for the coming year.

Michael Sporrer: And there was growth too!

spo-comm: That's right, we were able to welcome our sales employee Hülya Ergin and our marketing employee Julia Reinhard back from parental leave. Has this already had a positive impact on processes this year?

Michael Sporrer: There have certainly been noticeable changes. Above all, we were able to further expand our customer support and our on-site customer appointments. Our two account managers Martin Wiesneth and Mustafa Ergin have done a great job this year. That's something to be proud of. By now, there is probably not a single spot in the DACH region that the two have not yet seen. We were able to master this thanks in particular to our internal reinforcement. That is what I will remember most from this year.

spo-comm: But then there were also some less pleasant events this year. Keyword "Intel's CPU problem". What was going through your mind when this made the rounds?

Bernd Moosmüller: Honestly? At first we thought it was a joke. Intel has never experienced supply bottlenecks before. Of course, you think directly of the customers. Especially the large projects that have been running for years and are dependent on certain CPUs. We first had to clarify the situation.

spo-comm: You both flew directly to Taiwan shortly afterwards to meet up with some of our partners. Did that help you?

Bernd Moosmüller:(Laughs) In a way, yes. About 10,000 kilometers to the east. No, but seriously. It has helped us in that we have once again realized that we have the right partners at our side. It's also exciting to see how things are moving now. Where previously everything was traditionally geared towards Intel, alternatives are now being created. Keyword: AMD Ryzen.

Michael Sporrer: First and foremost, we submitted generous system forecasts for the coming year to our partners a few months ago. Our customers should feel nothing, or as little as possible, of the current situation that we have to thank Intel for.

spo-comm: What can we look forward to in 2019?

Michael Sporrer: Firstly, there is the ISE in Amsterdam in February, where we will once again have our own stand. This time we are focusing on everything to do with high-end graphics. We will not only be presenting our classics such as the WINDBOX III EVO, but also Nvidia-based newcomers such as the TEGRA 2 or our QUADRO P1000. Our customers can also look forward to something on the software side soon. Even if I am perhaps already giving too much away with the keyword "monitoring".

More spo-comm Mini-PCs

Bernd Moosmüller: There is also a lot going on regionally. As big fans and diligent visitors of the Nuremberg Web Week, sorry, the Nuremberg Digital Festival I mean, of course, we are planning to become active ourselves next year. If everything goes well, we will know more in January 2019. What will definitely be coming regardless of this is our new website! There is already a lot of programming going on. This is something that not only our customers can look forward to. Our marketing team is already eager to get started.

spo-comm: Thank you very much for these insights!