In November 1999, 20 years ago, credativ GmbH was founded in Germany, and thus laid the first foundation for the current credativ group.
At that time, Dr. Michael Meskes and Jörg Folz started the business operations in the Technology Centre of Jülich, Germany. Our mission has always been to not only work to live, but also to live to work, because we love the work we do. Our aim is to support widespread use of open source software and to ensure independence from software vendors.
Furthermore, it is very important for us to support and remain active in open source communities. Since 1999 we have continuously taken part in PostgreSQL and Debian events, and supported them financially with sponsorships. Additionally, the development of the Linux operating system has also been a dear and important project of ours. Therefore, we have been a member of the Linux Foundation for over 10 years.
In 2006 we opened our Open Source Support Center. Here, for the first time, our customers had the opportunity to get the support for their entire Open Source infrastructure with just one contract. Since then we have expanded and included different locations into a globally operating Open Source Support Center.
Thanks to our healthy and steady growth, credativ grew to over 35 employees at its worldwide locations by our 10th anniversary.
Since then, the founding of credativ international GmbH in 2013 marked another milestone in credativ’s history, as the focus shifted from a local to a global market. We were also able to expand into different countries such as the USA and India.
We have grown now to over 80 employees, with 20 years of company history. credativ is now one of the leading providers of services and support for open source software in enterprise use. We thank our customers, business partners, and employees for their time together.
This Artikel was originally written by Philip Haas.
Expansion of Open Source Support Center & PostgreSQL® Competence Center in USA
credativ Group, Maryland, 01/29/2019
credativ group, a leading provider of Open Source solutions and support in both Europe and Asia, announces a strategic expansion into the American market as part of a deal acquiring significant assets of OmniTI Computer Consulting (OmniTI), a highly aligned Maryland technical services firm. The new combined entity forms the basis for the establishment of an enlarged Open Source Support Center and PostgreSQL® Competence Center in a new US headquarters based in Columbia, Maryland.
OmniTI, founded in 1997, has built a client list that reads like a who’s who in tech, including Wikipedia, Google, Microsoft, Gilt, Etsy, and many others. In the process, they developed or contributed to the development of hundreds of Open Source projects, built the OmniOS illumos distribution, and ran the world-renowned Surge conference series. “credativ’s client-first approach and alignment on Open Source makes it a comfortable fit and seamless transition for OmniTI’s staff and customers. After 22 years of business, I’m delighted by this new direction.” says Theo Schlossnagle, Founder of OmniTI, who is leaving the company to concentrate on other activities.
The newly formed US branch of the credativ family has appointed Robert Treat as its CEO. Working in close cooperation with credativ international GmbH, led by Dr. Michael Meskes, Treat will take over further expansion of activities in the USA. A noted Open Source contributor, author, and international speaker, Treat served as both COO and CEO during his time with OmniTI.
Together with the European Open Source Support Center of credativ GmbH, the credativ group will expand its service network for numerous international customers who are currently mainly supported from Europe. Thus the credativ group can extend its unique position as the sole provider of Open Source Support Centers and offer comprehensive support with guaranteed service level agreements for a multitude of open source projects used in today’s business environments.
Robert Treat says “Open Source is at the heart of today’s biggest business disruptors; DevOps and the Cloud. At OmniTI we helped hundreds of companies navigate through these changes over the last 10 years. Now, as part of credativ, we have an even larger pool of experts to choose from to help people master all the necessary aspects of modern technology, including scalability, observability, deployment, automation, and more; all based on the power and flexibility of Open Source.”
Additionally, the US team will now offer a PostgreSQL® Competence Center that ensures the use of the free open source DBMS PostgreSQL® in mission critical applications and supports the entire life cycle of a PostgreSQL® database environment.
In addition, by expanding its existing service and support structure, credativ is one of a very few providers of PostgreSQL® support with a truly global footprint. Dr. Michael Meskes says: “We see to it that the community version of PostgreSQL® can be used as an extremely powerful alternative to the well-known commercial, proprietary databases in the enterprise environment. Apart from the very moderate costs for support, there is no need anymore for further costs for subscriptions or licenses.”
About credativ international GmbH
Founded in 1999, credativ is an independent consulting and services company offering comprehensive services and technical support for the implementation and operation of Open Source software in business applications.
Our Open Source Support Center™ provides the necessary reliability to make use of the numerous advantages of free software for your organization. Offering support around the clock, 365 days a year, our Open Source Support Center™ contains service locations in Germany, India, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States, providing global premium support for a wide range of Open Source projects that play a fundamental role and are of utmost importance in the IT infrastructures of many companies today.
Moreover, we are advocates for the principles of free software and actively support the development of Open Source software. Most of our consultants are actively involved in numerous Open Source projects, including Debian, PostgreSQL®, Icinga, and many others, and many have been recognized as leading experts in their respective domains.