30 Years of CMS

In 2026, CMS IT-Consulting GmbH celebrates its 30th anniversary. Three decades in which not only our company but, above all, the world of IT has changed fundamentally.

What seems self-evident today was, in the mid-1990s, often still a matter of speculation. Corporate networks were in their infancy, IT infrastructures were far less interconnected, and many of the technologies that shape our working lives today simply did not exist.

The history of CMS shows how important it is to recognise technological change early and to have the courage to adapt your own company to new conditions again and again. At the same time, it shows that development and constancy need not be opposites.

Our roots reach back further

The history of CMS IT-Consulting did not begin in 1996. Its roots go back to 1984, when Josef Haider founded CMS Haider GmbH. The business model of the time centred on leasing IBM mainframes, complemented by consulting and service offerings.

For that era, this was an established and successful model. Yet by the mid-1990s it was already becoming apparent that the technological landscape was about to shift. Computers were increasingly being connected to one another, decentralised systems were gaining ground, and companies needed new concepts for their IT infrastructures.

Josef Haider recognised this development early and decided to build up a new line of business. In 1996, CMS IT-Consulting GmbH was founded as an independent company. Its initial task was to build and support computer networks alongside the existing mainframe business.

What was first intended as a complement grew within a few years into the central business area. In 2003, the mainframe and leasing business was discontinued altogether. Since then, CMS has focused on IT infrastructure and IT security.

In hindsight, this development marks a decisive moment in our company's history. It stands for an attitude that shapes CMS to this day: following change attentively, recognising its significance early, and being prepared to draw the right conclusions for your own future.

30 years of technological change

Since CMS IT-Consulting was founded in 1996, the IT industry has passed through several fundamental stages of development.

Back then, building and connecting classic IT infrastructures were the defining topics. Later came virtualisation, the consolidation of data centres, ever higher demands on availability and performance, and the steadily growing importance of IT security.

Today we talk about hybrid and cloud-based infrastructures, zero trust, SASE, automation and artificial intelligence. IT environments have become more distributed, more dynamic and more complex. At the same time, the requirements for security, flexibility and availability have risen sharply.

For CMS, it was therefore never enough to preserve established structures for as long as possible. Our ambition has always been to take up relevant developments early and to develop our expertise continuously.

That did not mean following every technological trend. What mattered then, and still matters, is the question of which developments offer our customers genuine long-term value, and how new technologies can be integrated sensibly into existing infrastructures.

In this way the portfolio has been expanded and adapted to new requirements over the years. At the same time, the structures of the company itself continued to evolve.

Innovation needs continuity

For all the technological momentum, creating long-term stability has always been equally important to CMS.

A key milestone was therefore the generational handover in 2011, when responsibility in the management was passed from the founding generation to the next.

This step was taken deliberately early. Because sustainable company development means more than being prepared for technological change. It also means ensuring in good time that knowledge, experience, values and customer relationships are carried across generations, while leaving room for new ideas and perspectives.

It is precisely this combination of willingness to change and continuity that holds a special place in our company's history.

CMS has developed again and again over three decades. What has remained unchanged is the commitment to supporting our customers reliably and for the long term.

From a regional provider to a group of companies

Alongside the technological development, CMS itself grew.

A regional company developed over the years into an IT service provider with several locations. With that growth came new areas of expertise, additional teams and an ever broader customer base.

In 2025, another important chapter opened: CMS and Bell Computer-Netzwerke joined forces under the roof of Digital Foundations GmbH. Together, the two companies today employ more than 160 people and serve customers throughout Germany.

The merger makes it possible to pool expertise even more effectively, to create additional synergies and to offer our customers an even broader range of services around modern IT infrastructure and IT security.

At the same time, the qualities that have shaped CMS over many years remain in place: personal customer relationships, reliability, technological expertise, and the ambition not merely to observe developments but to help shape them.

Keeping what works, shaping what comes next

A 30th anniversary is an occasion to look back. For us, it is just as much an occasion to look ahead.

Because if the past three decades have shown us one thing, it is this: IT will continue to change at high speed.

Which technologies will shape our everyday lives in ten or twenty years can only be partly foreseen today. What is certain is that cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, automation and artificial intelligence will keep changing what is asked of companies.

At its core, the task of CMS remains the same as it was in 1996: to understand technological developments early, to judge their relevance, and to turn them into viable solutions for our customers.

Being in step with the times does not mean leaving proven ground behind too quickly. It means combining experience with openness to what is new, and recognising the right moment for change.

That is the ambition that has accompanied CMS through the past 30 years – from the mainframe business through the first corporate networks to the highly connected, hybrid and security-critical IT landscapes of our time.

Thank you for 30 years together

A development like this would not have been possible without the people who have shaped and supported it over many years.

Our particular thanks therefore go to our customers for their trust, in some cases over decades, to our partners for their close and dependable cooperation, and to all former and current colleagues whose commitment and expertise have made CMS the company it is today.

30 years of CMS IT-Consulting stand for change and continuity, for technological progress and long-term partnerships – and above all for the ambition to remain curious after three decades and to shape the future actively.

Here's to the next chapters of our shared history.