Company Profile

Your Partner for Technical Support

credativ® is a vendor-independent consulting and service company that has been offering comprehensive services and technical support for the implementation and operation of open source software in enterprise environments since 1999. In 2021, credativ® became part of the international Instaclustr Group. In 2022, credativ®, along with the Instaclustr Group, became part of NetApp, and its business was integrated into NetApp Deutschland GmbH.

As of March 1, 2025, the newly founded credativ GmbH is once again an independent, owner-managed company within German mid-sized businesses.

Support in all Areas – at all Times

Our Open Source Support Center offers you the necessary security to leverage the numerous benefits of free software for your company. You benefit from premium support for a wide range of open source projects that play a fundamental and even strategic role in the IT structures of many companies today. Furthermore, we are committed to the principle of free software and actively support the further development of open source software.

Our support is always there for you, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Specialists in Their Field – Credativ® Support

Many of our consultants and support staff actively work on numerous open source projects. These include, for example, the Debian Linux operating system and the object-relational database PostgreSQL®, as well as many other well-known projects. Our employees are among the leading Linux specialists in Germany and enjoy the highest recognition internationally.

This combined expertise is utilized by numerous German and international companies and forms the basis for comprehensive service and support at the highest technical level.

We are constantly working on improving our expertise and wish to demonstrate this: Since our relaunch, we have been working towards obtaining certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and DIN EN ISO / IEC 27001:2022. We anticipate that the certification will be achieved by early 2026.

History

The only constant in our industry is change. We continuously evolve in line with our customers’ requirements. Our company history clearly illustrates the journey we have taken from our founding to becoming one of the leading companies for Open Source Support.

  1. 1999

    Founding

    Founding of credativ GmbH and commencement of business operations at the Jülich Technology Center by Dr. Michael Meskes and Jörg Folz

  2. 2006

    Management Expansion

    Expansion of management by Sascha Heuer (Operations Management) and Michael Amstadt (Marketing and Sales)

  3. 2006

    Open Source Support Center

    Opening of the German Open Source Support Center

  4. 2007

    Company Relocation

    Relocation of the company headquarters from Jülich to its own property in Mönchengladbach

  5. 2007

    DACH Region

    Expansion of business activities throughout the DACH region

  6. 2013

    Expansion of Executive Board

    Expansion of the Executive Board by Sascha Heuer

  7. 2013

    Credativ International GmbH

    Additional founding of credativ international GmbH by Dr. Michael Meskes and Jörg Folz for the establishment and expansion of further international business activities

  8. 2014

    PostgreSQL® Competence Center

    Opening of the German PostgreSQL ® Competence Center

  9. 2016

    New Company Headquarters

    Establishment and commissioning of the new and significantly larger company headquarters in Mönchengladbach-Wickrath

  10. 2017

    Elephant Shed

    Development and release of the open source project Elephant Shed, a powerful PostgreSQL ® database appliance

  11. 2021

    Leading Open Source Specialist

    Over 55 permanent employees nationwide and one of the leading open source specialists

  12. 2021

    Expansion of the Open Source Environment

    Since 2021, credativ® has been part of the international Instaclustr Group. This makes credativ® one of the largest players in the international open source environment.

  13. 2022

    Acquisition of the Instaclustr Group by NetApp

    In May 2022, the Instaclustr Group was acquired by NetApp.

  14. 2023

    Business Transfer to NetApp Deutschland GmbH

    In February 2023, credativ® was acquired by NetApp Deutschland GmbH. Thus, credativ® is now part of a successful international corporation, which from 2012 to 2021 was among the Fortune 500.

  15. 2025

    Management Buyout and Independence

    On March 1, 2025, the business of the original credativ was acquired from NetApp by the current management. The four partners David Brauner, Noel Köthe, Alexander Wirt, and Peter Dreuw will continue to operate the business independently with the newly founded credativ IT Services GmbH for this purpose, now renamed credativ GmbH.

  16. 2025

    New Headquarters in Mönchengladbach’s TOP Business Zone

    The new credativ GmbH will move into new business premises in April 2025 in Nordpark near the Borussia Stadium at Hennes-Weisweiler-Allee 23.