Anniversary: Ten Years of e-Spirit

CMS provider celebrates company anniversary

e-Spirit AG is celebrating its tenth birthday. The manufacturer of the content management system FirstSpirit™ can look back on a successful decade with continuous growth. The start-up, which was originally founded in Dortmund by former employees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and System Technology together with the IT service provider adesso, has grown into an internationally active technology leader. Numerous well-known companies from all sectors utilize FirstSpirit™ as a content integration platform, some of them throughout their entire corporation. Reference clients include Agravis, Airbus Deutschland, BASF, Bosch, Burda Media, Commerzbank, DEVK, Görtz, Heraeus, Knauf, Linde, MAN, Pentland Brands, Schaeffler, Sport 1, Trelleborg, TÜV Rheinland and ZF Friedrichshafen.

“We have recognized the particular demands that larger companies place on the management of their web projects, and have geared the development of FirstSpirit™ towards these needs from the very beginning”, explained co-founder and CEO Jörn Bodemann, looking back on the company’s beginnings. “Our motivation was, and still is, to offer user-friendly, powerful, future-proof solutions, which allow companies to improve their data management and publication activities while achieving a faster ROI. This concept has born fruit. We have managed to establish ourselves in a hotly contended market and turned FirstSpirit™ into the corporate standard for numerous top companies.“

e-Spirit started its software development activities ten years ago with 16 employees; it now has more than 70 employees at nine locations. In addition to license business and the integration of FirstSpirit™, e-Spirit also takes over full responsibility for complex Internet and intranet projects. The ongoing development of the company’s Java-based software is completed in a consistent manner by the in-house development department in Dortmund, Germany: A new feature release will appear at the end of November (FirstSpirit 4.2), which includes new functions that will further optimize the usability for, above all, online editors and template developers. One of the factors that allows e-Spirit to differentiate itself is the ability to simply integrate FirstSpirit™ into the portals of SAP NetWeaver, IBM WebSphere and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server as well as the strict separation of structure, layout and content, which enables content to be reused in different publication channels (Internet, intra/extranet, mobile channels, technical documentation) and multiple projects.

There is a good reason why the word “Spirit“ is contained in the company name – team spirit and commitment are very important at e-Spirit. “We are particularly proud of our corporate culture, which is characterized by collegiality, continuity and competence. Our employees, who use their know-how and personal commitment to drive the company forward, are a key factor behind the success of e-Spirit“, according to Bodemann.

e-Spirit is an internationally established player in the CMS market. With the subsidiary e-Spirit UK Ltd the company has a recognized branch in the United Kingdom which is the bridgehead for e-Spirit’s US activities. The provider is also present in several other European countries via international cooperation agreements with e-Business partners. “This successful course of internationalization will be continued in a consistent manner in order to generate further growth“, explained Bodemann with a look to the future.

Please click here for an overview of e-Spirit's history.