Press release
Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, September 10, 2026 – SYNAXON AG, Europe's largest IT network, and Scaling Champions, a management consultancy specializing in IT companies, are launching a strategic partnership. Together with selected system integrators, they are developing a blueprint under the name "Scaling SYNAXON Champions" to help system integrators further expand their market position and customer trust, ensuring their continued relevance as strategic partners. The joint effort aims to generate transferable standards, methods, and models for other SYNAXON partners.
Multiply the trust that has grown within the company.
Today, medium-sized businesses expect more from their IT partners than just stable operation and reliable implementation. They need guidance regarding technological possibilities, risks, and priorities. This presents system integrators with the opportunity to transform their existing customer relationships into a strategic and economically scalable role.
„Managed services and reliable IT infrastructures are the foundation today – the basic requirement, so to speak, of our business. But the reality is: those who stop there will lose direct customer access in the medium term and become interchangeable,“ explains Mark Schröder, CEO of SYNAXON AG. „SYNAXON partners support hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany and ensure their daily operational capability. To live up to this responsibility, we needed a cooperation partner who understands this scale and shares our vision: Both SYNAXON and Scaling Champions firmly believe in the future viability of IT SMEs and that system houses must grow beyond the role of mere technical implementers to proactively shape their customers' IT strategies. That's precisely why we're working together: Our partners understand their customers' IT systems in detail. With the „Scaling SYNAXON Champions“ program, we support them in translating this technical expertise into a strategic relationship of trust that sustainably protects their own business model and the success of their customers.“
Johannes Rasch, founder and CEO of Scaling Champions, adds: „System houses have built something extremely valuable over many years: trust and close relationships with their customers. However, this customer relationship often still depends on individual entrepreneurs or a few highly experienced employees. The next stage of development involves replicating this capability throughout the company. IT managers, CEOs, and CFOs of medium-sized businesses are looking for digitalization partners who not only provide technical solutions but also offer guidance and share responsibility. When system houses take a step beyond their purely expert role, this will not only lead to stronger customer relationships but also to entirely new, scalable services and business models.“
Not a finished program, but a collaborative development.
The participating system integrators are not simply participants in a pre-defined training program, but rather co-developers of the model. "Scaling SYNAXON Champions" is already being tested under real-world market conditions in ongoing pilot groups. SYNAXON, Scaling Champions, and the partner companies are working together to...,
- To develop blueprints, standards and concrete methods for strategic customer management and to test them in everyday practice,
- To train managers and employees to guide customers earlier in defining goals, risks, priorities, and business cases,
- to share working approaches between system houses and to further develop new services and business models from them,
- To prepare successful models in such a way that they can later be made available to other SYNAXON partners.
SYNAXON contributes the experience, services, and market reach of a cooperative group that, through its partner network, has access to approximately 250,000 German SMEs and understands the diverse realities of system houses. Scaling Champions complements this with methodological and implementation expertise gained from more than 450 transformation projects and the training of over 300 IT consultants and experts annually. The participating system houses contribute their experience in customer work, leadership, and organizational development. This creates a shared space for development and exchange for the system house of the future.
From the pilot model to the entire network
In the first phase, intensive development work is specifically aimed at larger system houses with approximately 20 or more employees, who already possess the necessary organizational structures for team testing. The findings from these pilot groups will then be consolidated so that smaller partner companies can also utilize the key methods in a way that suits their capacities and economic realities.
„Our goal is not a model for just a few large companies. Together with our pilot partners, we develop practical standards and test what actually works in the day-to-day operations of system houses. We then translate the effective elements into streamlined, impactful formats, webinars, and modular building blocks. This allows every SYNAXON partner – regardless of size or budget – to make their own customer management more strategic, step by step,“ emphasizes Miguel Rodriguez, CEO of SYNAXON AG.
In spring 2027, the intensive development phase will be opened to further qualified SYNAXON partners at the "Impulses for System Houses" trade fair. Simultaneously, the resulting formats will be gradually made available to the entire network. These can be booked by SYNAXON partners through the SYNAXON Academy.
Behind this cooperation lies a mission that goes beyond individual training sessions: "SMEs digitize SMEs." System houses are to organize their established relationships, technical knowledge, and implementation expertise in such a way that they remain long-term strategic partners to their customers and play a central role in the digitization of German SMEs.
Mark Schröder, A trained wholesale and export merchant and graduate in business administration, he began his career at SYNAXON in Investor Relations in 2000. After four years as Head of Commercial Operations, he was appointed to the Executive Board in 2007 at the age of 34. He has been Chairman of the Executive Board since January 1, 2025.
Miguel Rodriguez, A trained IT systems specialist and business administrator (ILS), he began his career at SYNAXON in sales in 2003. After holding various management and executive positions – including in purchasing, merchandise trading, and marketing – he was appointed to the Executive Board of SYNAXON AG on January 1, 2025. There, he is responsible for purchasing, central merchandise trading, sales, and marketing.
Johannes Rasch He is the managing director of Scaling Champions. His mission: to develop the top 100 IT companies in the SME sector and their teams into strategic partners who lead their niche. He supports IT entrepreneurs in transforming operational strength into business relevance – through scalable growth, clear positioning, and development into a trusted advisor.
Portrait available for download
Follow us on social media
