The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) edition of May 12th 2006 writes: »The optimistic mood among SME currently seems to be boundless«. This is the result for April of a monthly survey commissioned by the KfW in co-operation with the ifo-Institute in Munich. The reference value of the previous year is said to have been surpassed by 26.8 points. Not only is this the biggest annual increase ever, but also the value as such is unprecedented in recent German history. The value even exceeds the peaks of the new economy boom (⇒ Wikipedia). more…

Mario Ohoven, chairman of the Federal association of small and medium-sized companies (BVMW), has expressed himself on a new law designed to relieve small and medium-sized entities (SME) of various burdens which is currently dealt with by the German Parliament: The law was a first important step on the way to a reduction of beaurocratic burdens weighing on companies. The abolition of certain obligations to fill in documents for statistical reasons was giving the right signals. However, SME still cannot be completely satisfied with the solutions reached: more…

In a new proposal for a European guideline the EU Commission calls for a strengthening of the rights of companies which had not been taken into consideration during the placing of public contracts. After a contract has been awarded its signing shall only be occur after a ten days waiting period during which the other companies, which have taken part in the tender, may object to the placing of the contract. This period is supposed to prevent legally binding contracts from hastily coming into existence and being given priority over possible objections which are factually justified. The new regulation is to be applicable all over Europe and also to contracts which are not awarded by the tender procedure. Furthermore the waiting period may also be reduced in particularly urgent cases. more…

The spring forecast of the EU Commission has turned out to be promising. Strong economic growth is said to create 3.6 million new jobs in 2006 and 2007 in Europe. According to the Commission, European entrepreneurs would increase investment in production lines thereby receiving lucrative orders from abroad. Even from Germany positive impulses are to be expected. more…

In an interesting interview given to the UniMagazin, which also has an on-line edition, Mario Ohoven, chairman of the Federal association of small and medium-sized companies (BVMW) estimates how many graduates may in future decide to work with small and medium-sized entities (SME). more…

According to the press agency pressetext the benchmark study for the determination of the efficiency of the German economy is now available. This study is carried out each year by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Qualität (DGQ), in Frankfurt in co-operation with the Mainzer Forum Marktforschung. more…

The Zentrum für Softwarekonzepte (ZfS) offers support in the creation and development of software to small and medium-sized entities (SME). The work of the several centres is focussed on the transfer of conceptional knowledge concerning development, implementation and operation of flexible software systems. This also applies to minor research projects. The ZfS was founded in co-operation of several academic institutions such as, among others, the Forschungszentrum Informatik Karlsruhe, Technische Universität München, Fraunhofer Institut Aachen and Microsoft. To particularly benefit from the broad range of services of the centre are SME which quite often do not dispose of the resources and possibilities to start co-operation with academic institutions. Further information can be found here.

Already 72 percent of all small and medium-sized entities (SME) have outsourced part of their business units to external service providers. Another 33 percent are planning to engange in outsourcing with 57 percent of them considering cost cuts as the biggest advantage, 52 percent the focussing on the core business and 45 percent see the downsizing of their overall organizational structures as the main advantage. The biggest potential for economizing is to be found in the field of IT services. This is the conclusion drawn by the management consultancy Kienbaum from a survey called “Outsourcing im Mittelstand”. more…

Two reports show that Linux is becoming increasingly important to small and medium-sized entities (SME). As was revealed by ZDNet.de, the operating system Linux has been growing for three consecutive years at a two-digit rate. According to a survey by the IDC carried out in February 2006, Linux with a global turnover of 5.7 billion US $ has in the meanwhile conquered the third place on the market. more…

According to Jupiter Research the outdated Windows versions 98 and ME are still used to a considerable extent on second and third computers, in particular by small and medium-sized companies. Microsoft, however, announced that for these versions security updates will only be available until July 2006. Thus, any use beyond that date will result in an incalculable security risk, which according to the provisions of Basel II will be interpreted as a risk raising the costs of loans (see our news item “Inadequate IT security leads to more expensive loans”). more…