Gemeinsam st&auml;rker f&uuml;r sichere Kommunikation: 
Im &ouml;ffentlichen Bereich, in kritischer Infrastruktur und regulierten Branchen sind ganzheitliche L&ouml;sungen gefragt &ndash; von Beratung und Implementierung &uuml;ber Integration bis Betrieb. Die souver&auml;ne, DSGVO-konforme Messenger- und Collaboration-L&ouml;sung von Wire l&auml;sst sich ideal in bestehende Infrastrukturen integrieren.

&bdquo;Unsere Kunden ben&ouml;tigen mehr als Technologie &ndash; sie brauchen Partner, die Sicherheit, Souver&auml;nit&auml;t und Benutzerfreundlichkeit zusammen denken. Wire ist genau die Art L&ouml;sung, die wir in unserem Portfolio suchen.&ldquo; 
&ndash; Mag. Christopher Anderlik, Executive Vice President, EBCONT

L&ouml;sung mit Substanz: Darum erg&auml;nzt Wire unser Portfolio:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Souver&auml;nit&auml;t als Prinzip: Datenhoheit und Compliance by Design</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Erprobt und zertifiziert: Wire wird bereits von &uuml;ber 1.800 Organisationen genutzt und ist BSI-zertifiziert</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Nahtlose Integration: Volle Einbettung in bestehende IT-Landschaften &ndash; von Beh&ouml;rden bis zu Energieversorgern</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Volle Betreuung durch EBCONT: Strategieberatung, Integration, Betrieb, Schulung &ndash; alles aus einer Hand</li>
</ul>

Die Partnerschaft unterstreicht EBCONTs Anspruch, Digitalisierung ganzheitlich und verantwortungsvoll zu gestalten. Gemeinsam mit Wire bieten wir eine europ&auml;ische L&ouml;sung f&uuml;r moderne, sichere Kommunikation &ndash; gebaut f&uuml;r die Anforderungen von heute und morgen.

<a href="https://wire.com/de/">Mehr &uuml;ber Wire erfahren</a>

Mit Wire begrüßt EBCONT einen weiteren starken Technologiepartner im Partner-Ökosystem. Die zertifizierte Kommunikationslösung ergänzt unser bestehendes Angebot an Digital-Enablement- und Security-Services punktgenau – insbesondere für Organisationen mit hohen Anforderungen an Datenschutz, Compliance und Souveränität.

Mehr Souveränität in der Kommunikation – mit Wire und EBCONT

In 2025, the Institute for Management and Economic Research (IMWF Austria) conducted its third survey on the public reputation of Austrian consultants, in cooperation with the media partner KURIER. A new method included a self-survey of the consultants to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the industry. A total of around 3,000 companies from various consulting sectors were analyzed, with 32 million data points from online reviews, social media followers, and more being evaluated. The best companies in each category were awarded the &quot;Top Consultant 2025&quot; title.

Thus, the IT company has been one of Austria&#39;s top consultants in the IT sector for three consecutive years since the inception of the award, an impressive achievement.

Johannes Litschauer, CEO of EBCONT: &quot;We are very pleased with the recognition, and it motivates us even more to give our best every day.&quot;

For more information, visit<a href="https://imwf.at/studien/siegelstudien/top-berater-2025/" style="text-decoration:none"> Top Berater 2025</a>.

IMWF Austria&#39;s 2025 Survey Names Top Consultants

EBCONT has once again been recognized as one of Austria's leading consultants this year, securing its place among the Top Companies of 2025.

EBCONT Reconfirmed as Top Consultant in Austria


With the rise of AI and massive data collection, many companies are now facing a surprisingly simple question: 
&ldquo;What do we actually do with all this?&rdquo;

One obvious answer: 
Let users talk to the data. 
And how do you do that? With an AI chatbot (&mdash;of course).

Simple in theory. But here&rsquo;s the trap: many teams treat the chatbot as a feature. Just another icon in the bottom right. A support add-on. Something a sprint can fix.

But that thinking limits the true potential &mdash; for your users, and for your business.

When you treat a chatbot like a feature, you build it like one:

<ul>
	<li>It lives at the edge of your product</li>
	<li>It reacts, but doesn&rsquo;t lead</li>
	<li>It supports, but doesn&rsquo;t sell</li>
</ul>

From Feature to Product: A Shift in Thinking

When you treat it like a product, everything changes:

<ul>
	<li>You define value it should create</li>
	<li>You design journeys around it</li>
	<li>You connect it to your core offering</li>
	<li>And yes &mdash; it becomes part of your revenue engine</li>
</ul>

Now flip that.

Here&rsquo;s the twist most overlook: Your chatbot can sell.

If done right, it becomes a natural point for:

<ul>
	<li>Cross-selling other services</li>
	<li>Upselling premium offers</li>
	<li>Onboarding new users</li>
	<li>Collecting insights sales teams dream of</li>
</ul>

 
And all that while users feel heard, guided &mdash; and in control. 
This isn&rsquo;t just a technical integration. It&rsquo;s product strategy. It&rsquo;s business design. And yes &mdash; it&rsquo;s UX at its core.

Why This Matters for Business

UX teams spot this pattern early. We see when things don&rsquo;t connect. When value is hidden behind complexity. When tools act like features &mdash; instead of delivering as products. 
So when UX suggests the chatbot isn&rsquo;t just a tool &mdash; listen. We&rsquo;re not asking for more buttons. We&rsquo;re asking: what kind of conversation do you want your business to have with your users?

UX Sees It First

If you&rsquo;re building or already running an AI chatbot, ask yourself: 
Is this just another feature? Or are we building a product inside the product? 
If it&rsquo;s the latter &mdash; great. If not, it&rsquo;s time to rethink. 
Let UX lead the way. Let your chatbot speak for your business &mdash; not just answer questions.

🧠 I&rsquo;d love to hear your thoughts. Are you already working with chatbots in your product? What&rsquo;s your biggest learning? 
 
Thanks for reading!

What&rsquo;s Next?

Most companies treat AI chatbots like just another feature. But what if they’re actually your next product? This article explores how UX design can turn chatbots into business drivers — and why it matters more than ever.

Stop Treating AI Chatbots Like Features — Start Building Them as Products

The questions revolved around very different aspects: What does the daily work of an IT project manager look like &ndash; and how can it be balanced with family life? What tasks and responsibilities come with the role? How does an IT project actually proceed from the first idea to completion, and what typical challenges arise along the way? The question of whether a project manager must be able to program was also discussed &ndash; the short answer: Not necessarily. In-depth programming skills are not required, but a solid technical understanding is certainly helpful.

Many participants showed particular interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and UX/UI, as some had recently completed relevant training or were about to enter the workforce.

There was also an open discussion about difficulties and strengths. Language barriers for women whose native language is not German came up as a topic. However, this is usually less problematic in the IT industry, as most colleagues speak English, and international collaboration is not uncommon. Additionally, the conversation touched on the special talents that women often bring to the table, such as communication skills, careful conflict resolution, and organizational know-how.

Career Questions from Everyday Life to AI

The breakfast ended up lasting longer than planned. What started as a Q&amp;A session developed into a dynamic conversation, where the participants actively contributed, exchanging ideas and experiences. What was especially nice: For two women, the direct insight into the work at EBCONT sparked concrete interest in joining our team. The group was as diverse as the festival itself &ndash; women of all ages, from various cultural backgrounds and life paths, came together. It was a successful format that once again demonstrated how important such encounters are for networking, inspiration, and empowerment.

&bdquo;The diversity of personalities, experiences, and perspectives of the women impressed me. This is exactly the diversity we need in IT &ndash; it brings new ideas, strengthens our teams, and makes our projects better,&ldquo;&nbsp;says Nawal El-Amine, excited about the format of the Future Fit Festival 2025.

Positive Impressions and New Contacts

As part of the Future Fit Festival, the workshop &bdquo;UX &amp; UI&ldquo; was also held, led by EBCONT expert and UX/UI designer Elisabeth Weidner. The workshop aimed to provide participants with a solid understanding of good User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI), as well as offering them initial practical design experiences.

Attendees gained a deep insight into the basic principles of user-centered design and the creation of user interfaces. Elisabeth Weidner introduced methods such as Design Thinking and User Journeys, which structure and facilitate the creative process in product design.

Following a theoretical introduction, the session included an interactive component where participants had the opportunity to create simple UI layouts and dive straight into practical applications. The workshop covered both digital and analog examples of UX design, providing a broad and diverse overview of various design approaches. The wireframing and prototyping exercises were particularly engaging.

The workshop was a great success, not only imparting valuable theoretical knowledge but also fostering the creativity and problem-solving abilities of the participants. It equipped them with practical tools that they can apply in their own projects.

Elisabeth Weidner is delighted with the positive feedback: &bdquo;So much curiosity, so many questions - and so much enthusiasm! Our UX and UI workshops have demonstrated how inspiring IT can be when made tangible. It&#39;s exactly these formats that are needed to open up new perspectives.&ldquo;

Workshop &bdquo;UX &amp; UI&ldquo;: Fundamentals of User-Centered Design with EBCONT Expert Elisabeth Weidner

Most women enjoy a good breakfast and good jobs – so it makes sense to combine both! Our colleague Nawal El-Amine, an IT project manager at EBCONT, was part of this year's Future Fit Festival. Interested women had the opportunity to have relaxed conversations directly with Nawal. At a large breakfast table, questions about entering and development opportunities in the IT industry were discussed – and it quickly became clear: The demand for conversation was high.

EBCONT is Female First: 
We shared our story during the career breakfast at the Future Fit Festival

In five key areas, the principles of good UX/UI are explained in an easy-to-understand and slightly playful manner &ndash; regardless of whether you&#39;re a designer or not. The message: anyone involved in developing digital products should also understand their usability.

Under the title &quot;Design for people, create with purpose,&quot; the first poster on Human Centered Design explains how human-centered design works &ndash; from analyzing the usage context to defining requirements and conducting evaluations.

&quot;If only there were (7) principles to ensure good interaction.&quot; This is featured on the Interaction Principles poster, outlining the conditions that ensure good interaction in software development by avoiding user errors, meeting expectations, and ensuring controllability.

&quot;Accessibility is not an option, it&rsquo;s our duty.&quot; The third poster makes it clear that accessibility is not an optional extra but an obligation, summarizing the WCAG principles and illustrating how design and technology work together.

&quot;Guessing is for games, not design.&quot; From selecting methods to presenting results &ndash; understanding users leads to better products. The poster on User Research shows the research process in a nutshell.

&quot;It doesn&rsquo;t always need to be served as a sandwich, but it should be digestible.&quot; Clear, specific, constructive &ndash; this poster explains how to give feedback that truly helps.

&nbsp;

Poster with Attitude: Expert Knowledge, Served with a Point

The idea and execution of the exhibition are by Gjeneta Osmanaj, UX/UI Designer at EBCONT. Her posters combine expertise with humor and clarity. The UX expert and exhibitor takes a strong stance: &quot;These posters are thought-provoking, guiding signs, and reminders.&quot; With a BSc in Media Technology and an ongoing MSc in Graphic Design, she is committed to making UX/UI accessible to everyone &ndash; not just design teams.

Behind the Exhibition: UX Expert Gjeneta Osmanaj

The poster series is displayed on the 34th floor of the Millennium Tower in Vienna &ndash; offering a panoramic view of the city alongside a deep dive into the topic of UX/UI. For those who want more, the best posters are also available as postcards to take home.

&quot;We at EBCONT are proud of the initiative by our experts. It&rsquo;s about making knowledge visible across the company &ndash; and doing so in a creative way,&quot; says CEO Leopold Machacek.

An Exhibition with a View &ndash; and Insight

UX/UI – at first glance, it seems like something that only designers should care about. But the current exhibition at EBCONT on the 34th floor of the Millennium Tower proves the exact opposite: With a creative poster series, UX/UI designer Gjeneta Osmanaj specifically targets colleagues from development, data science, project management, and business analysis – in other words, everyone involved in designing, developing, and improving digital solutions on a daily basis.


EBCONT Design-Poster: UX/UI einfach erklärt – auch für Nicht-Designer

Die neue Region bringt Microsofts bew&auml;hrte Cloud-Dienste &ndash; darunter Azure, Microsoft 365 und Dynamics 365 &ndash; erstmals aus &ouml;sterreichischen Rechenzentren zu den Kund:innen. Damit k&ouml;nnen Unternehmen sensible Daten noch gezielter unter Einhaltung lokaler und europ&auml;ischer Datenschutzanforderungen verarbeiten und speichern. Gleichzeitig profitieren sie von k&uuml;rzeren Latenzzeiten, hoher Verf&uuml;gbarkeit und nachhaltiger Infrastruktur &ndash; betrieben mit 100 % erneuerbarer Energie.

Regional. Sicher. Zukunftsfit.

Wir begleiten unsere Kund:innen seit Jahren bei der sicheren und effizienten Umsetzung von Cloud-L&ouml;sungen &ndash; von der Migration &uuml;ber Betrieb und Optimierung bis hin zu innovativen Anwendungen mit KI und Datenanalyse. Als Launch-Partner der Microsoft Cloud Region &Ouml;sterreich bringen wir dieses Know-how gezielt in lokale Projekte ein und helfen Unternehmen, ihre IT-Landschaft resilient, skalierbar und zukunftssicher zu gestalten.

&bdquo;Wir freuen uns sehr, zu den ausgew&auml;hlten Launch-Partnern der Microsoft Cloud Region &Ouml;sterreich zu z&auml;hlen. Erste gemeinsame Projekte sind bereits gestartet &ndash; das ist das Ergebnis einer langj&auml;hrigen, vertrauensvollen Zusammenarbeit im EBCONT Partner-&Ouml;kosystem.&ldquo; 
&ndash; Markus Ferstl, Head of Cloud Solutions, EBCONT

&nbsp;

EBCONT als Wegbegleiter f&uuml;r moderne Cloud-Architekturen

Die neue Cloud Region ist nicht nur ein starkes Signal f&uuml;r &Ouml;sterreichs digitalen Fortschritt, sondern auch eine Chance f&uuml;r Unternehmen, Cloud-Innovationen mit regionaler Verankerung umzusetzen. EBCONT steht als verl&auml;sslicher Partner bereit, diesen Weg gemeinsam zu gehen &ndash; pragmatisch, hands-on und mit einem tiefen Verst&auml;ndnis f&uuml;r Business- und Technologiethemen.

Lokale Cloud, global gedacht &ndash; mit EBCONT an Ihrer Seite

Wir freuen uns auf den Austausch und zeigen gerne, wie moderne Cloudl&ouml;sungen mit regionaler Infrastruktur neue M&ouml;glichkeiten er&ouml;ffnen.

Lust auf mehr Cloud Power aus &Ouml;sterreich?

Mit dem offiziellen Start der Microsoft Cloud Region in Österreich beginnt ein neues Kapitel für die digitale Infrastruktur des Landes – und EBCONT ist von Beginn an als Launch-Partner mit dabei. Als Technologiepartner mit starker Cloud-Kompetenz freuen wir uns, Unternehmen dabei zu unterstützen, das volle Potenzial dieser neuen, lokal verfügbaren Microsoft-Cloud-Infrastruktur auszuschöpfen.

EBCONT ist Launch-Partner der Microsoft Cloud Region Österreich – bereit für den nächsten Digitalisierungsschub

Industrie 5.0 steht f&uuml;r einen tiefgreifenden Wandel: Weg von rein technikgetriebener Automatisierung &ndash; hin zu einem strategischen Zusammenspiel von Digitalisierung, Verantwortung und Resilienz. Die Zukunft der Industrie ist vernetzt, aber auch anspruchsvoller. Unternehmen stehen vor einer dreifachen Transformation &ndash; der sogenannten Triple Transition &ndash; die neue Antworten verlangt.

Digital: Moderne Systeme sind intelligent, vernetzt und automatisiert &ndash; aber auch sicherheitskritisch. Technologien wie Cloud, KI und Plattformarchitekturen bieten enorme Chancen, wenn sie verantwortungsvoll und zukunftsorientiert eingesetzt werden.

Nachhaltig: &Ouml;kologische Effizienz bleibt ein relevantes Ziel &ndash; besonders im Kontext von Ressourcennutzung, Energieverbrauch und Lieferketten. Doch Industrie 5.0 denkt Nachhaltigkeit nicht isoliert, sondern integriert in die Architektur von Prozessen und Systemen.

Sozial: Der Mensch steht wieder st&auml;rker im Fokus &ndash; nicht als Kostenfaktor, sondern als aktiver Gestalter. Gute Arbeit, gezieltes Upskilling und inklusive Strukturen werden zum strategischen Vorteil.

Drei Dimensionen der Transformation

Im Rahmen des Events EBCONT Connect &ndash; Industrie 5.0, das im Mai 2025 in Hamburg stattfindet, geben f&uuml;hrende Technologiepartner Einblicke in genau diese Herausforderungen &ndash; und ihre L&ouml;sungen.

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">STACKIT und XM Cyber zeigen, wie digitale Souver&auml;nit&auml;t und Cyberresilienz konkret realisiert werden k&ouml;nnen &ndash; mit deutschen Cloudinfrastrukturen, Angriffssimulationen und intelligentem Risikomanagement. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Elastic pr&auml;sentieren, wie Sensordaten und technische Expertise miteinander verbunden werden, um den Weg zur lernenden, datengetriebenen Produktion zu ebnen. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Red Hat macht deutlich, warum der Einsatz von KI klare Governance, sichere Umgebungen und langfristige Kontrollstrategien erfordert &ndash; und wie Air-Gapped-Architekturen diesen Rahmen schaffen. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Diese Beitr&auml;ge machen klar: Die Herausforderungen der Industrie 5.0 lassen sich nicht mit Einzeltechnologien l&ouml;sen. Es braucht strategische Partnerschaften &ndash; und einen klaren Umsetzungsfokus.

Technologie als Hebel &ndash; und Partner als Schl&uuml;ssel

EBCONT begleitet Unternehmen auf ihrem Weg zur Industrie 5.0 &ndash; als technologischer Integrator, strategischer Partner und Umsetzungsexperte. Unser Anspruch: nicht nur Systeme bauen, sondern Zukunft erm&ouml;glichen.

Mit starker Erfahrung in:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Cloud &amp; Infrastruktur 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">KI &amp; Data Science 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">DevOps, Security &amp; Operations 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Beratung &amp; Projektmanagement</li>
</ul>

und mit &uuml;ber 700 Spezialist*innen an Standorten in &Ouml;sterreich, Deutschland und S&uuml;dafrika bieten wir Full Lifecycle Management f&uuml;r digitale Transformation &ndash; von der Architektur &uuml;ber die Entwicklung bis zum stabilen Betrieb.

Ob Plattforml&ouml;sungen mit Azure Kubernetes, smarte Datennutzung mit Elastic oder Cybersicherheit mit STACKIT und XM Cyber &ndash; wir bringen Technologie und Partner passgenau zusammen. Und schaffen so integrierte L&ouml;sungen, die den Herausforderungen der Triple Transition gewachsen sind.

EBCONT: Ihr Integrator im Paradigmenwechsel

Die Triple Transition ver&auml;ndert, wie Industrie funktioniert &ndash; technologisch, organisatorisch und gesellschaftlich. Der Wandel ist bereits in vollem Gange. Unternehmen, die heute strategisch handeln und auf integrierte Partnerschaften setzen, sichern sich nicht nur Effizienz, sondern Resilienz.

EBCONT ist bereit, diesen Weg mit Ihnen zu gehen. Schritt f&uuml;r Schritt. Strategisch. Skalierbar. Sicher.

Fazit: Industrie 5.0 ist kein Ziel &ndash; sondern ein Prozess

EBCONT Connect Hamburg &ndash; Industrie 5.0 erleben

Wie gelingt der Wandel zu einer resilienten, verantwortungsvollen Industrie? 
Am 21. Mai 2025 ab 09:00 Uhr bringt EBCONT Connect in Hamburg f&uuml;hrende Technologiepartner, praxisnahe Vortr&auml;ge und strategischen Austausch auf eine B&uuml;hne.

Impulse und Perspektiven liefern Expert:innen von: 
STACKIT &amp; XM Cyber, Elastic, Red Hat sowie von fritz-kola, der Hamburg Port Authority und cemune im Rahmen der Podiumsdiskussion. 
&nbsp;

Diskutiert werden zentrale Themen der Industrie 5.0:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Cybersecurity &amp; Cloud-Souver&auml;nit&auml;t</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">KI im Produktionsumfeld</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Datenstrategie &amp; Verantwortung</li>
</ul>

Nutzen Sie die Gelegenheit zum Austausch &ndash; wir freuen uns, Sie in Hamburg zu begr&uuml;&szlig;en. 
<a href="https://www.ebcont.com/events/1237167564489" style="text-decoration:none">Zum Event anmelden!</a>

Industrie 5.0 Event-Tipp

Three Transformations, One Goal – A Resilient Future
How companies are strategically shaping the digital, sustainable, and social transition – with technology partners and clear direction.

Mission Zukunft: Industrie 5.0

K&uuml;nstliche Intelligenz ver&auml;ndert Gesch&auml;ftsprozesse und Entscheidungsfindung rasant. Doch mit der zunehmenden Nutzung von KI wachsen auch die Herausforderungen: Wie bleibt ein Modell nachvollziehbar, fair und regelkonform? Wie lassen sich Risiken wie Bias, Drift oder unerw&uuml;nschte Modellver&auml;nderungen vermeiden? Und wie behalten Unternehmen den &Uuml;berblick &uuml;ber komplexe KI-Landschaften?

Genau hier setzt AI Governance an: Sie schafft die Grundlage daf&uuml;r, dass KI-Modelle nicht nur leistungsf&auml;hig, sondern auch transparent, auditierbar und compliant betrieben werden.

&nbsp;

Der verantwortungsvolle Einsatz von KI wird nicht nur durch technologische Entwicklungen, sondern auch durch Regulierungen wie den geplanten EU AI Act gepr&auml;gt. Unternehmen m&uuml;ssen Risiken systematisch bewerten, dokumentieren und steuern. Dabei geht es nicht nur um Machine Learning (ML), sondern auch um Large Language Models (LLMs) und generative KI. Zentrale Fragen dabei:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Woher stammen die Trainingsdaten?</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Ist das Modell verzerrt oder liefert es faire Ergebnisse?</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Wie bleibt der Output nachvollziehbar und regelkonform?</li>
</ul>

Warum KI-Governance jetzt im Fokus steht

Governance bedeutet, den gesamten Lebenszyklus eines KI-Modells im Blick zu behalten &ndash; von der Entwicklung &uuml;ber das Training bis zum produktiven Einsatz. Besonders in regulierten Branchen ist es entscheidend, technische Leistung, ethische Standards und gesetzliche Vorgaben zusammenzudenken. Ein strukturierter Ansatz hilft,

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Risiken wie Bias und Drift fr&uuml;hzeitig zu erkennen,</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Compliance effizient zu erf&uuml;llen, 
	Transparenz gegen&uuml;ber Stakeholdern sicherzustellen.</li>
</ul>

Governance &uuml;ber den gesamten KI-Lebenszyklus denken

AI Governance ist keine reine Tool-Frage &ndash; sie erfordert die Verzahnung von Prozessen, Verantwortlichkeiten und Technologien. Viele Unternehmen suchen hier Unterst&uuml;tzung, um sowohl fachliche als auch technische Anforderungen erfolgreich umzusetzen.

EBCONT begleitet als Integrator die Einf&uuml;hrung solcher Strategien. Grundlage f&uuml;r die technische Umsetzung ist unter anderem watsonx.governance von IBM, das Compliance-Prozesse automatisiert, Risiken &uuml;berwacht und Transparenz schafft.

So entsteht ein Governance-Ansatz, der hilft, KI sicher, nachvollziehbar und verantwortungsvoll einzusetzen.

Weitere Informationen und Einblicke zum Thema finden Sie <a href="http://www.ebcont.com/ai-governance-watsonx">hier.</a>

&nbsp;

KI-Governance gelingt nur mit den richtigen Partnern

Regulation, Responsibility, and Trust Become Key Success Factors for AI Deployment
By Bruno Simic (EBCONT) and Thomas Jirku (IBM)

AI Under Control: Why Governance Makes the Difference Now

Seit vielen Jahren ist EBCONT ein verl&auml;sslicher Red Hat Partner &ndash; jetzt wurde diese erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit auf ein neues Level gehoben: EBCONT ist ab sofort offizieller Red Hat Premier Partner. Damit geh&ouml;ren wir zu einem exklusiven Kreis von Unternehmen, die von Red Hat f&uuml;r ihre besondere Expertise, Projekterfahrung und das Engagement im Partner-&Ouml;kosystem ausgezeichnet wurden.

Die Auszeichnung als Premier Partner ist mehr als ein Statussymbol &ndash; sie ist Best&auml;tigung und Ansporn zugleich. Sie unterstreicht unsere umfassenden Kompetenzen in der Umsetzung von Red Hat Projekten &ndash; von der strategischen Beratung &uuml;ber die individuelle Softwareentwicklung bis hin zum stabilen Betrieb von Infrastruktur und hybriden Cloud-Umgebungen.

&bdquo;Die Auszeichnung als Premier Partner ist f&uuml;r uns Best&auml;tigung und Ansporn zugleich. Wir freuen uns auf viele weitere spannende Projekte gemeinsam mit Red Hat,&ldquo; 
 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;sagt Dominik F&uuml;rst, Division Manager bei EBCONT.

Auch Red Hat w&uuml;rdigt die langj&auml;hrige Zusammenarbeit:

&bdquo;Wir freuen uns, EBCONT als langj&auml;hrigen Red Hat Partner seit Anfang des Jahres im exklusiven Kreis der Premier Partner &ndash; der h&ouml;chsten Partnerstufe bei Red Hat &ndash; begr&uuml;&szlig;en zu d&uuml;rfen. 
EBCONT genie&szlig;t einen hervorragenden Ruf als Komplettdienstleister im Red Hat Bereich und bietet &uuml;ber das gesamte Portfolio Mehrwert in den Bereichen Beratung, Softwareentwicklung und Infrastruktur &amp; Betrieb.&ldquo; 
 
so Ren&eacute; Reiter, Manager Ecosystem Austria &amp; Global System Integrators DACH bei Red Hat.

Die Partnerschaft mit Red Hat steht f&uuml;r eine gemeinsame Vision: Unternehmen zukunftsfit machen &ndash; durch offene Technologien, flexible Architekturkonzepte und ganzheitliche Betreuung. Als Premier Partner wird EBCONT diese Vision noch aktiver mitgestalten &ndash; in bestehenden Kundenprojekten wie auch in neuen, innovativen Vorhaben.

&Uuml;ber EBCONT und Red Hat 
Red Hat ist f&uuml;hrender Anbieter von Enterprise Open Source-L&ouml;sungen &ndash; von Linux &uuml;ber Container-Technologien bis hin zur Automatisierung. Als Premier Partner vereint EBCONT dieses Portfolio mit tiefem technologischem Know-how und langj&auml;hriger Projekterfahrung. Gemeinsam gestalten wir die Zukunft moderner IT-Infrastrukturen.

&nbsp;

For many years, EBCONT has been a reliable Red Hat partner – and now this successful collaboration has reached a new level: EBCONT is now an official Red Hat Premier Partner. This places us among an exclusive group of companies recognized by Red Hat for their outstanding expertise, project experience, and commitment to the partner ecosystem.

EBCONT Becomes Red Hat Premier Partner – Taking Our Partnership to the Next Level

25% of all people in Austria have a disability, which can be congenital or acquired, singular or in combination, stable or dynamic: disabilities are diverse. And most disabilities are not (immediately) visible.

<a href="https://www.myability.org/">myAbility</a> aims to promote the social and professional inclusion of people with disabilities by helping companies and organizations create a more inclusive work environment. They offer various programs, consulting services, and training sessions to assist companies in breaking down barriers faced by people with disabilities in both professional and social settings. This includes sensitivity training for disabilities, improving workplace accessibility, and fostering an inclusive corporate culture. Nearly 40 leaders and recruiting managers from the IT company EBCONT were fortunate to participate in such a training.

Diversity in all of its six dimensions is an integral part of EBCONT&rsquo;s daily operations and corporate philosophy. As part of the &quot;Physical and Mental Abilities&quot; dimension, this time, our executives, who regularly interact with people in projects, recruiting, or annual employee evaluations, were tasked with gaining more awareness of this topic.

In a recent training held at the Millennium Tower in Vienna, the topic of inclusion and the social model of disability was thoroughly explored. The two experts from myAbility differentiated between the medical model, which often views disability as a deficit, and the social model, which focuses on environmental barriers. The focus here is on removing these barriers to enable full participation in society for people with disabilities &ndash; a topic that benefits not only people with disabilities but everyone. After all, accessibility is the key to an equitable society.

Another important component of the session with EBCONT&#39;s leaders was linguistic sensitivity. Respectful and appreciative use of language was emphasized as a central point to avoid discrimination and promote inclusion. Practical examples and exercises highlighted how inclusive language can be applied in everyday life and in professional settings.

EBCONT strengthens awareness for diversity

The highlight of the event was the so-called Sensing Journeys with guests invited by myAbility. The open exchange provided our colleagues with insight into the topic and the daily challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. Three experts&mdash;one with a severe visual impairment and two individuals with mental health conditions&mdash;described in detail how their disabilities affect their lives and what would help them navigate life more easily, both personally and professionally.

At the end of the session, participants were encouraged to apply the insights gained in their work environment and to think about how they can actively contribute to creating an inclusive corporate culture. At EBCONT, the goal is to create a workplace where every person, regardless of impairments, is treated equally and with respect. From barrier-free meetings to flexibility in working hours and locations, to proper communication, there are many opportunities to help people with disabilities succeed professionally and feel comfortable in their environment.

Bettina Richter, Experience &amp; DEI Lead at EBCONT, said: &ldquo;The Sensing Journeys made it clear to me how easily one can be disrupted from daily life and become reliant on support. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s even more important to be supported in an inclusive environment, one that helps you overcome challenges&mdash;both personal and professional, as we&rsquo;ve been doing at EBCONT for years.&rdquo;

In summary, it was a highly recommended training with valuable insights and practical approaches for EBCONT&rsquo;s leaders to create an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, with a clear recommendation for other companies.

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Sensing Journeys: Insights into Disability

At the beginning of the year, we had the pleasure as EBCONT leadership team to welcome myAbility, a specialist in inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities, for a tailormade training session.
In a Disability Awareness Training designed by the organization specializing in inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities, the aim is to raise awareness about inclusion and accessibility.


EBCONT successful in Disability Awareness Training

On February 13, a special anniversary was celebrated in Linz: The location proudly reflects on ten years of successful collaboration. Founded by and with the two EBCONT pioneers, Dominik F&uuml;rst and Peter Anderle, the newly designed location on Harrachstra&szlig;e, in the center of the Upper Austrian capital, currently employs 19 staff members and has a multitude of happy customers.

A Glorious Anniversary in Linz: 10 Years of Success and Partnership

To mark this occasion, not only many employees and colleagues gathered, but also long-standing partners and customers from the very beginning&mdash;such as Raiffeisenlandesbank Ober&ouml;sterreich (RSG) and the &Ouml;sterreichische Gesundheitskasse (&Ouml;GK), with whom a trusting partnership has existed for years. And our customers are singing our praises.

Michael Rappl, Deputy of TF &Ouml;GK: &ldquo;We are very glad that the team around EBCONT&rsquo;s site manager in Linz, Dominik F&uuml;rst, discovered us at &Ouml;GK. We are now actively collaborating not only in Upper Austria but also in Lower Austria and Tyrol. EBCONT has come to stay. At &Ouml;GK, we are interested in long-term partnerships, and the Linz team always manages to find solutions for our challenges, working with us on an equal footing. For that, we say thank you today, and we wish a happy anniversary and look forward to continued long-term cooperation!&rdquo;

Thomas Kriechbaum, Raiffeisen Software, PO Architecture, recalls the early days when RSG implemented the new online banking system based on a newly established cloud architecture, and IT expert Peter Anderle was part of the central architecture team. &ldquo;A few years ago, we were already a very successful team, in the famous &lsquo;A-Team&rsquo; manner, during the implementation of Mein ELBA and two-factor authentication. This year, at the beginning of the year, we presented the latest project at the RSG DevCon, together with our architect Benjamin Mayer:.&rdquo;

&quot;Starting from EBCONT as a reliable partner with handshake quality, I can only emphasize once again how extremely valuable the Linz experts are for us at Raiffeisen Software!&quot; Kriechbaum praises EBCONT.

EBCONT Linz offers top-notch service locally, close to the customer, and is deeply rooted in the region: The team around the two founders and IT experts serves clients in and around the steel city, offering the advantage of close, local collaboration.

We also look forward to applications from the region! More details on<a href="http://www.ebcont.com/karriere" style="text-decoration:none"> www.ebcont.com/karriere</a>.

Johannes Litschauer, CEO of EBCONT, is proud: &ldquo;Dominik F&uuml;rst and Peter Anderle have been EBCONT companions from the very beginning and have been part of our company for many years. The fact that their personal decision to move back from Vienna to Upper Austria, ten years later, is being celebrated with such a successful location, enthusiastic customers, and a large team on site makes me very proud. On behalf of everyone at EBCONT, I would like to extend heartfelt congratulations to the entire Linz team on their tenth anniversary and wish them all the best for the future!&rdquo;

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EBCONT’s Longstanding Partnership with Expertise

Linz, February 2025 – EBCONT, one of the big players in the Austrian IT services industry, celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Linz location. With over 700 employees and more than 120 satisfied customers from various sectors – including the public sector – EBCONT offers tailored IT solutions and covers the entire lifecycle of IT projects. Our AI and data science professionals bring the latest technologies directly into our clients' projects.

10 Years of EBCONT Linz – A Success Story

SO 27001:2022 is a globally recognized standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) that helps organizations systematically manage and protect their information security. The updated version responds to the rapidly changing threat landscape and increasing digitalization. It focuses on identifying and assessing risks and opportunities, strengthens management accountability, and integrates new requirements for cloud security and data protection. The standard also includes adjustments for modern threats, such as the security of IoT and Artificial Intelligence. Implementing ISO 27001:2022 enables companies to improve their security practices and meet regulatory requirements.

In 2018, EBCONT underwent its first ISO 27001 certification, and since then, a three-year certification cycle has been in place, including a certification audit and two surveillance audits.

The brand-new ISO 27001:2022 standard, with which the IT service provider has just been successfully certified, is divided into seven main chapters that define the structure and requirements of the ISMS.

By the end of January 2025, it was official: the Austrian IT company EBCONT now holds the certificate for its Information Security Management System according to ISO 27001:2022.

The ISO 27001:2022 certification provides companies like EBCONT with decisive competitive advantages. It strengthens the trust of customers and partners and enhances the company&rsquo;s image by demonstrating the highest information security standards. Additionally, the standard opens up new business opportunities, as many clients and industries require a certified ISMS. By reducing security risks, companies save costs and resources, while also being able to safely introduce innovations such as cloud services. As a globally recognized standard, ISO 27001:2022 is especially important for internationally active companies, serving as a key to global success and clearly differentiating them from the competition.

Johannes Litschauer, CEO of EBCONT, is proud: &quot;A big thank you to Keven Brunnbauer, J&oacute;zsef Szalai, and our partner company condignum GmbH for the excellent cooperation! And my heartfelt congratulations to the entire team!&quot; 
And Litschauer highlights: &quot;The ISO 27001:2022 certification is a significant milestone for us at EBCONT because it underscores our uncompromising commitment to the highest security standards and quality. In an increasingly digitalized world, protecting sensitive data and ensuring the reliability of our processes is of utmost importance. This certification not only confirms our capabilities but also strengthens the trust our customers and partners place in us.&quot;&nbsp;

ISO 27001:2022 – Our Key to Trust, Security, and Global Success

With the successful ISO 27001:2022 certification of EBCONT by TÜV Nord, we confirm the highest security standards and reinforce the already strong trust of our customers and partners.

EBCONT achieves ISO 27001:2022 certification – Another sign of our quality and security!

EBCONT recently made its mark on a groundbreaking project that is making waves in the industry: the <a href="https://kinderportal.stmk.gv.at/ords/r/app/kinderportal/home">children&#39;s portal</a> for the state of Styria. From now on, children in the green federal state will be registered for daycare and kindergarten places exclusively through an online system, with the EBCONT team responsible for the design.

The project focused on designing the front-end using modern UI/UX principles for both the children&#39;s and maintainer portals. This portal allows kindergartens to register, maintain their profiles, and efficiently manage their availability. The project was further enhanced by the creation of a new logo and matching icons.

What&rsquo;s particularly remarkable is that the EBCONT team was able to realize this user-friendly design in an impressively short time. With a small but highly specialized team of just three UI/UX design experts, the project was executed with exceptional efficiency and success.

The newly developed portal is considered a beacon in the design landscape, as it is the first to showcase the comprehensive integration of <a href="https://apex.oracle.com/en/" style="text-decoration:none">Oracle APEX</a> low-code solutions in this form. Oracle APEX enables the development of powerful and flexible applications with minimal coding effort.

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EBCONT Sets New Standards: Innovative Design Solution for the Styria Children's Portal

Currently, the timing for kindergarten and nursery registrations varies from one municipality to another, and there is no general overview of available places or waiting lists. This has often been a source of criticism, but that is set to change. Starting from the 2025/26 childcare year, registrations for childcare places will be handled for the first time through a single platform: the <a href="https://kinderportal.stmk.gv.at/ords/r/app/kinderportal/home" style="text-decoration:none">Kinderportal</a> of the state. This innovation was anchored in the new <a href="https://www.kleinezeitung.at/steiermark/landespolitik/6286796/Steirischer-Landtag_Kindergaerten-Krippen_Reform-ist-beschlossen" style="text-decoration:none">Children&#39;s Education Act </a>passed last year and is now ready to be implemented.

Through the new Children&#39;s Portal of Styria, parents and guardians can access all information about the 1,130 child education and care facilities in Styria&mdash;including kindergartens, nurseries, after-school care centers, and children&#39;s houses. The portal includes all facilities for children from zero to 14 years old, as well as the contact details of all providers and sponsors of day care services.

With the help of a comprehensive filter function&mdash;such as by location, sponsoring organization, care hours, accessibility, and available places&mdash;parents can search for a suitable facility for their child. The facilities that meet their criteria can be added to a shopping cart. The facilities, in turn, manage these reservations online. In the future, parents will also be able to see at a glance which facilities still have available places.

Starting in January 2025, pre-registration for places for the 2025/26 kindergarten year will be possible through the system, making the use of the portal mandatory in Styria.

Booking.com &ndash; that&rsquo;s the first association that might come to mind when accessing the new Styrian children&rsquo;s portal. And indeed, the platform works similarly to an online shopping format for parents. &ldquo;That was the intention behind it,&rdquo; says Vesna Krnjic, Chief IT Project Manager for the State of Styria, with a smile during the portal&#39;s presentation. &ldquo;We are proud to have achieved the goal of modernizing childcare in Styria together with EBCONT, accomplishing groundbreaking results with our IT partner in the shortest time possible. The portal will eventually provide an overview of where there are shortages of spaces and where action is needed.&rdquo;

Martina Edelhofer, UX/UI Designer at EBCONT, adds: &ldquo;We are proud to have significantly improved the registration process for kindergartens and the management of available spaces in collaboration with the State of Styria. The trusting partnership, marked by communication at eye level, enabled us to create an efficient and sustainable solution that ensures seamless management and oversight for all parties involved.&rdquo;

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New Children's Portal Styria: Find and Reserve Childcare Places Online

Pr&auml;sentierten das neue Kinderportal des Landes: SP-Klubobmann Hannes Schwarz, die technische Projektverantwortliche Vesna Krnjic, Bildungslandesrat Werner Amon (&Ouml;VP), Gesch&auml;ftsf&uuml;hrerin Brigitte Schafarik (Volkshilfe Steiermark) und WIKI-Obmann G&uuml;nther Ruprecht (v.l.) 
Foto: Land Steiermark/Fischer

Starting in 2025, registration for nursery and kindergarten places in the state of Styria will only be possible online through a newly developed portal—essentially the "Booking.com" for childcare—a milestone in childcare services. The platform aims to streamline the allocation of places, providing parents—regardless of their place of residence or social background—with equal access to childcare slots while significantly simplifying the search and coordination process. EBCONT has delivered a groundbreaking design project in record time, complementing the new modern online registration system with an innovative operator portal featuring fresh UI/UX design, a new logo, and matching icons.

New standards and innovative design for the Children's Portal Styria

The employer review platform <a href="https://www.kununu.com/de/continum1" style="text-decoration:none">kununu.com</a> has once again recognized EBCONT as a Top Company for 2025. This employer seal rewards companies with high employee satisfaction and is awarded exclusively based on independent reviews on kununu.com. We are very proud that EBCONT ranks among the companies with the best working environments in Austria!

Since 2015, <a href="https://www.kununu.com/de/continum1" style="text-decoration:none">kununu.com</a> has awarded the &ldquo;Top Company&rdquo; seal to highly rated companies. However, only about the top five percent of employers on the platform have been eligible for this award since last year&mdash;based solely on reviews from employees and applicants. This high rating also sends a strong signal to talents searching for their ideal workplace.

Sky's the limit_EBCONT top company 2025_kununu

kununu Top Company 2025

Sky's the limit

&quot;We congratulate EBCONT on once again receiving the Top Company seal,&quot; says Nina Zimmermann, CEO of kununu. &quot;This award is given only to the top five percent of companies that have received particularly positive reviews on kununu. It stands for recognition and appreciation and sends a strong signal to potential applicants. Moreover, the seal has an impact not only externally but also strengthens the company culture.&quot;

Johannes Litschauer, Managing Director of EBCONT, is also pleased with the repeated recognition: &quot;It fills us with great pride to once again receive the &#39;Top Company 2025&#39; award from kununu. This honor confirms our path as a company that promotes diversity and inclusion and creates an environment where respect and collaboration on equal footing are lived. Especially in times when the working world is changing rapidly, and hybrid work models are becoming the new normal, we are committed to a corporate culture that focuses on the needs and satisfaction of our employees. Because only together, in a trusting atmosphere, can we tackle the challenges of the future, operate sustainably as a company, and continue to grow.&quot;

For 2025, we were once again honored with the kununu Top Company Award for an outstanding company culture—placing us among the top 5% of the most employee-friendly companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland!


We did it again! EBCONT is again kununu Top Employer in 2025.

The total revenue of the largest domestic IT companies, featured in the annual Top 1000 ranking by ITWelt.at, has now increased for the twelfth consecutive year. This reinforces the IT sector&rsquo;s reputation as a driving force of the Austrian economy, especially in the face of multiple crises, and is a result of the ongoing rapid digitalization in the country.

Across the various categories of the Top 1000 ranking, all sectors, including IT trade, saw clear growth. Leading the pack is the &quot;IT Services&quot; sector, with an 8.7% increase, reaching a revenue volume of approximately 10 billion euros. This marks the first time the sector has taken the top spot in the industry comparison and has tripled its growth over the past two years.

This is a strong indicator of the current transformations within the IT industry: whether it&rsquo;s cloud or as-a-service models, these services are in higher demand than ever.

IT Industry Booming: Record Growth in IT Services

IT service expert EBCONT has not only joined the ranks of growth drivers but has exceeded all expectations, securing a top position at 56th place in the latest ITWelt.at Top 1000 ranking. As one of the last Austrian family-owned IT companies, EBCONT demonstrates that it can not only compete with, but surpass large global providers in the Austrian market&mdash;all while preserving its family roots. In the IT services category, EBCONT ranks even higher at 21st place, placing it among the few privately-owned companies to be counted among the best.

EBCONT Surpasses Expectations and Secures Top Position in IT Ranking

However, where there&rsquo;s growth, there are also challenges: the rapidly expanding IT sector faces a shortage of nearly 30,000 skilled professionals. Alfred Harl, Chairman of UBIT (Management Consulting, Accounting, and Information Services) at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WK&Ouml;), outlines the issue across three key areas: &quot;We need to retain employees within companies and offer attractive working conditions and fair compensation to IT professionals nearing retirement to keep them in the workforce. Schools should provide meaningful foundational IT education for young people, and the dropout rate in IT programs at universities, currently at 50%, must be reduced.&quot;

For years, EBCONT has been addressing these challenges both internally and externally by focusing on key areas. The company&rsquo;s initiatives include personalized talent development, flat hierarchies, a hybrid working model even before the pandemic, numerous team events and benefits, as well as a strong emphasis on diversity. These efforts have resulted in a low turnover rate, top-tier candidates, and a highly satisfied team. EBCONT is also proud of its progress in increasing the proportion of women in the workforce&mdash;while the industry average is just 18%, EBCONT boasts a 20% female representation.

Carina Skladal, Division Manager for UX/UI and one of EBCONT&#39;s diversity leads, shares: &quot;From day one, new female colleagues are empowered. Through initiatives like Women@EBCONT, founded almost three years ago, joint internal and external events, and collaboration within one of the six diversity dimensions, we&rsquo;ve made significant strides. In 2023, we unified six teams under the EBCONT Diversity Charter across all dimensions, earning us Austria&rsquo;s top diversity award, the MERITUS from Pride Biz Austria.&quot;

The IT Sector Faces a Shortage of 28,000 Skilled Workers

The total revenue of the largest domestic IT companies increased to 30.86 billion euros in 2023, marking a rise of almost 6% compared to the previous year. EBCONT has achieved an outstanding position in the current Top 1000 ranking by ITWelt.at, securing the 56th spot overall. In the IT services sector, the owner-managed company ranks even higher at 21st place. This demonstrates that the Austrian family business is capable of competing successfully with large global providers in the domestic market while maintaining its family roots.

EBCONT surpasses all expectations in Top 1000 ranking

Elisabeth Weidner, UX/UI Designerin bei EBCONT und Expertin in DesignOps, er&ouml;ffnete den Abend mit einer Best Practice. Wie kann DesignOps die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Design, Entwicklung und Projektmanagement optimieren, um konsistente, hochwertige Designs zu schaffen, die den Gesch&auml;ftserfolg f&ouml;rdern? Ihr Res&uuml;mee: &bdquo;DesignOps ist nicht nur Effizienzsteigerung &ndash; es ist die Br&uuml;cke zwischen Design, Entwicklung und Projektmanagement.&ldquo;

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The DesignOps Universe: Accelerating Your (Design) Team's Performance

In the second talk, <a href="https://www.bitpanda.com/de">Bitpanda&#39;s</a> Elif Alp-Marent (UX Manager), Rudolf Stefanich (UX Research Lead), and Julian Moser (Head of UX) discussed the importance of UX Metrics. They emphasized that effective design relies not just on tools but on strategic planning, empathy, and a deep understanding of users. Their memorable quote, &quot;We&rsquo;re not just designing for the spaceship. The goal is to reach the moon,&quot; encapsulated the essence of their philosophy.

Despite the summer heat, the meetup attracted numerous interested attendees who found the exchanges and presentations to be very inspiring. The general feedback was, &quot;Despite the heat in Vienna, the UX Vienna Meetup was an impressive event with two insightful talks. I&#39;m already looking forward to the next event.&quot;

Elisabeth Weidner was particularly enthusiastic about her experience: &quot;My first external talk in English was a great experience. Thanks to UX Vienna and EBCONT for this opportunity.&quot;

Data, Design and Beyond: The Why and How of UX Metrics

The 236th UX Vienna Meetup was marked not only by top-notch presentations but also by special highlights such as exclusive giveaways, including the coveted Figma Shortcuts Mousepad. After the talks, attendees had the opportunity to network in the inviting atmosphere of the Millennium Tower. The stylish &quot;Star Wars&quot; decorations in the office further contributed to the positive vibe. EBCONT was particularly pleased to have secured long-time partner Bitpanda as a speaker. The event was a great success and set new standards for future meetups. Our thanks go out to all the visitors and our speakers!

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Successful Highlights and Inspiring Networking

On August 13, 2024, over 50 UX enthusiasts gathered for the 236th UX Vienna Meetup at the EBCONT headquarters in the Millennium Tower, Vienna. The event provided attendees with exciting insights into two central topics in the UX world: DesignOps and UX Metrics.

236th UX Vienna Meetup: Insights into DesignOps and UX Metrics at EBCONT


June is Pride Month, and this year EBCONT accompanied it with various activities. Once again, it was celebrated appropriately with an EBCONT Pride boat trip, featuring around 150 internal guests, to promote greater visibility.

For the first time, the internal EBCONT Rainbow Run took place, with 26 participants raising almost &euro;1,000 for an LGBTIQ+ organization, marking a resounding success.

The rainbow month was also complemented by participation in prominent panel discussions on EBCONT&#39;s Diversity Best Practices and lessons learned, such as at the <a href="https://businesscircle.at/human-resources/konferenz/inclusive-business-diversity-excellence-summit/" style="text-decoration:none">DEI Summit</a>, the <a href="https://rainbow-day.de/" style="text-decoration:none">Rainbow Day</a>,&mdash;a career and networking fair for those who live and appreciate diversity&mdash;and at Pride partner events organized by Microsoft and Drei, where EBCONT experts are now welcome guests and contributors.

Carina Skladal, co-initiator of the EBCONT Diversity Initiative, is proud of what has been achieved so far: &quot;I am delighted that we can once again conclude June with this very special EBCONT Pride Boat Lounge and hopefully carry this vibe beyond June. Today on the Danube, we will make a statement for acceptance, respect, and equal rights. Furthermore, the many vibrant colors should ensure visibility.&quot;

Johannes Litschauer, Managing Director of EBCONT, supports this clear statement: &quot;We are a family business and bring together many cultures and diversities with our over 600 employees. We want to offer our colleagues a diverse home free from hate and discrimination.&quot;

Visibility was also the keyword for one of the evening&#39;s highlights. This year&#39;s Pride Boat Opening was highlighted by two community representatives: EBCONT colleague Daniel Schabauer, aka <a href="https://www.erikaempire.eu/" style="text-decoration:none">Erika Empire</a>, and Felix Schiller, also known as drag artist and DJ, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dieschillerin/" style="text-decoration:none">Die Schillerin</a>.

Unvarnished and to the point, the two addressed in an interview the issues of private and professional coming out, legislation, and threats surrounding the community, and where we can collectively work for more respect and acceptance.

Daniel Schabauer: &quot;There are homosexual and queer individuals everywhere. Being able to be a Drag Queen at your employer is not something taken for granted by God. We are a minority and we need support from straight allies!&quot;

This support exists at EBCONT as well, where they show understanding and solidarity for the rights and equality of LGBTIQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, and others) individuals. They actively fight against discrimination and advocate for the recognition and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people in society.

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EBCONT Pride Boot 2024

,,Pride ship ahoy!" was the call at the end of June on the Vienna Danube towards Greifenstein. This year, Danube cruise ship MS Kaiserin Elisabeth became the exclusive venue for the monthly lounge event of the Austrian IT company EBCONT.

June 2024 – a clear sign from the EBCONT Pride Team!


Generative AI, particularly through the use of Large Language Models (LLMs), represents a significant leap forward in AI development. These models are capable of generating human-like text, making them valuable for a wide range of applications from chatbots to content creation. LLMs learn from vast amounts of data, allowing them to perform complex language tasks and provide sophisticated responses.

While Generative AI offers immense potential, it also brings challenges, with privacy being a paramount concern. Instead of exposing sensitive data to public websites or external sources, entities must ensure their data remains within their own secure environments. When LLMs are trained on public environments, there is a risk that data could be used to inadvertently learn and memorize confidential information, potentially leading to privacy breaches. Ensuring data privacy and compliance with regulations becomes a complex issue, necessitating advanced solutions to safeguard sensitive information.

The Revolutionary Impact of Generative AI

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems have emerged as a robust and widely embraced solution for tackling the privacy concerns inherent in LLMs. These systems combine the power of LLMs with vector search capabilities, enhancing their ability to retrieve and generate relevant information quickly and securely. RAG systems can transform ingested images, documents, and audio into embeddings, which are then represented with dense vectors. These vectors can be efficiently compared with user queries through similarity measures, ensuring that private data is not memorized by the model. RAG systems excel in indexing and searching large datasets, making them powerful tools for information retrieval.

However, vector-only RAG systems face significant limitations. They often struggle with bias, lack of context understanding, and the potential for inaccuracies in their responses, commonly referred to as &quot;hallucinations&quot;, issues that were already inherent in LLMs. Bias arises because these models can perpetuate the biases present in their training data, leading to skewed outputs that reflect existing patterns rather than objective and deterministic calculations. Furthermore, vector-only RAG systems have difficulty grasping nuanced meanings beyond textual information alone, lacking the deeper contextual understanding required for more complex reasoning.

These challenges stem from the complexities of natural language processing and the limitations of current algorithms, which may not always represent the full context and underlying relationships accurately. While vector-only RAG systems mitigate privacy concerns, we still require advancements in contextual understanding and bias reduction to fully realize the Generative AI potential.

The Strengths and Limitations of Vector RAG Systems

Graphs offer a compelling solution to the challenges faced by LLM-based and vector-only RAG systems. Unlike traditional data models, Graphs excel at representing and consolidating heterogeneous and interconnected knowledge from diverse business domains.&nbsp;

A key strength of Graphs is their ability to represent relationships between nodes - documents, concepts, entities - offering a holistic view of interconnected data points. This relationship structure allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the context and dependencies within the data, which is crucial for contextual reasoning and generating deterministic relevant responses.

Furthermore, leveraging Graphs can significantly reduce bias, as they incorporate a broader context and a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between data points. This helps in providing more balanced and unbiased outputs compared to traditional vector-only approaches. Additionally, Graphs enhance content relevance by ensuring that the information retrieved and used is contextually accurate and pertinent to the user query. They also maintain privacy more effectively by structuring data in a way that minimizes the exposure of sensitive information.

By addressing the limitations of vector-only RAG systems, Graphs offer a powerful framework for developing more transparent, interpretable, and responsible AI systems, ultimately leading to better decision-making.

The Unique Strengths of Graph Technology

Illustration of a complex international money laundering process. Funds are transferred from source accounts through multiple hops and participating accounts, facilitated by an offshore bank, before reaching the target accounts. The true value lies in the connections within the ecosystem, and Graph Analytics enhances fraud detection through comprehensive network tracing and analysis.

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A Graph serves as a perpetual hub of a business&#39;s expertise digitized, seamlessly integrating domain-human knowledge with enterprise processes data. By representing these two pillars of organizational intelligence in a structured and interconnected manner, Graphs become invaluable assets that can be leveraged across various business processes. This comprehensive digital blueprint of an organization allows businesses to:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Preserve Expertise: Safeguard the specialized knowledge of experts, ensuring that critical information is not lost due to employee turnover or organizational changes.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Enhance Decision-Making: Provide decision-makers with a holistic view of interconnected data points, enabling more informed and strategic choices.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Optimize Processes: Streamline and improve business processes by integrating contextual knowledge into everyday operations, from customer service to product development.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Support Innovation: Foster innovation by making it easier to identify patterns, correlations, and opportunities within the vast amounts of data that businesses generate.</li>
</ul>

By leveraging Graphs, organizations can ensure that their accumulated expertise and integrated data assets continue to drive value and innovation. This digital transformation not only enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations but also ensures that the organization&#39;s knowledge remains an enduring and dynamic asset.

A Graph as the Digital Business Intelligence Hub

Graphs are already making a tangible impact across various industries. By leveraging the unique strengths of Graphs, organizations can address specific challenges with precision and reliability. Here are some key verticals where this technology is transforming operations:

Making Faster Decisions

Graphs enable more agile and informed decision-making by providing a comprehensive view of interdependencies and relationships. Key applications include:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Digital Twins: Creating digital replicas of physical assets with detailed interdependencies, enabling better monitoring, simulation, and optimization of operations.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Supply Chain Management: Enhancing visibility across the supply chain by mapping out complex relationships between suppliers, manufacturers, and the natural interdependencies of products and their components. This leads to more efficient and responsive supply chain operations.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Inventory Management: Optimizing inventory levels and reducing waste by understanding the relationships and dependencies between different inventory items and their usage patterns.</li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

Deepening Personalization

For customer-centric businesses, Graphs enhance personalization and customer engagement by providing deeper insights into customer behavior and preferences. Applications in this vertical include:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Product and Service Recommendations: Analyzing purchase patterns and user behavior to deliver highly personalized product and service recommendations, improving customer satisfaction and sales.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Customer 360: Building comprehensive, 360-degree profiles of customers by integrating data from various touchpoints, enabling more personalized and effective customer interactions.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Customer Insights: Gaining deeper insights into customer preferences and behaviors, allowing businesses to tailor their strategies and offerings to meet the unique needs of their customers.</li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

Uncovering Hidden Networks

Graphs can uncover hidden networks and relationships that are crucial for detecting and preventing fraudulent activities. The applications include:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Fraud Detection: By analyzing complex transaction networks, Graphs can identify unusual patterns and suspicious activities, enhancing the accuracy of fraud detection systems.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Entity Resolution: Graphs can consolidate data from various sources to resolve ambiguities and correctly identify entities, improving data quality and reliability.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Know Your Customer: Enhancing KYC processes by integrating diverse data points to build comprehensive profiles of customers, ensuring compliance and reducing risk.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Anti-Money Laundering: Identifying and analyzing intricate financial networks to detect and prevent money laundering activities, ensuring regulatory compliance and safeguarding financial institutions.</li>
</ul>

Solving Real-World Problems with Graphs

The integration of Graphs with Generative AI creates a powerful synergy, hereby defined as Augmented Intelligence. This approach enhances GenAI systems by providing contextualized business reasoning, leading to interpretable, explainable, and ethically responsible AI outcomes. Moreover, it democratizes access to data-driven insights, ensuring that the users can comprehend and leverage them effectively.

Graphs improve contextual understanding by capturing relationships between entities, which enables AI systems to retrieve contextually relevant information from diverse knowledge sources. This enriched context enhances the relevance and accuracy of AI responses, making the systems more effective in handling complex queries and providing valuable insights and enabling users to ask direct queries and receive complete answers based on the enterprise data landscape. Drawing on verified and specialized knowledge sources, AI delivers more accurate and relevant information crucial for decision-making processes.

By combining the strengths of Graphs with the generative power of LLMs, organizations can develop AI systems that not only perform exceptionally well but also adhere to high standards of transparency and ethical responsibility. This synergy supports better decision-making, strategic planning, and operational efficiency, ultimately leading to more informed and reliable outcomes.

Augmented Intelligence: Combining Graphs with Generative AI

Implementing the advanced approach of combining Graphs with Generative AI involves a well-defined data governance pipeline. This process ensures that data is accurately integrated, contextually enriched, and ethically managed. The key components of this pipeline include:

<ol>
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Data Integration from Domain Experts:
	<ol>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Collection: Gather data from various sources, including databases, documents, and expert knowledge.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Normalization: Standardize data formats to ensure consistency and compatibility.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Validation: Verify the accuracy and reliability of the data through domain-experts review and automated checks.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Annotation: Enrich the data with metadata and annotations that capture domain-specific knowledge and nuances.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Graph Creation:
	<ol>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Modeling: Design the schema of the Graph to represent entities, relationships, and attributes relevant to the domain.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Population: Ingest data into the Graph, linking entities and establishing relationships based on the schema.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Optimization: Optimize the Graph for performance, ensuring efficient querying and retrieval of information.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Maintenance: Regularly update and refine the Graph to incorporate new data and improve accuracy.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Vector Search Integration:
	<ol>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Embedding Generation: Convert text, images, documents, and audio into high-dimensional vector embeddings using machine learning models.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Indexing: Organize these embeddings in a vector database to enable fast and efficient similarity searches.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Query Processing: Implement algorithms to compare user queries with the indexed embeddings, retrieving the most relevant information.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Relevance Tuning: Continuously refine the search algorithms to improve the relevance and accuracy of search results.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Application of Language Models:
	<ol>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Model Selection: Choose appropriate LLMs that can interact with the Graph and vector search systems.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Fine-Tuning: Customize the LLMs to align with the specific requirements and contexts of the enterprise.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Integration: Seamlessly integrate the LLMs with the Graph and vector search to enable enriched and context-aware responses.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Monitoring: Continuously monitor the performance of the models, ensuring they deliver accurate and reliable outputs.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">User Experience:
	<ol>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Interface Design: Develop user-friendly interfaces that allow users to interact with the system easily and intuitively.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Personalization: Implement features that personalize the user experience based on individual preferences and behavior.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Feedback Mechanisms: Incorporate feedback loops that allow users to provide input on the system&rsquo;s performance, which can be used to make ongoing improvements.</li>
		<li style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">Training and Support: Provide training and support to users to ensure they can effectively utilize the system and understand its capabilities.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

Enterprise-Ready Implementation

The integration of Graph Technology with Generative AI represents a transformative step in AI development. By addressing critical challenges in privacy, bias, and contextual understanding, this approach enhances the transparency and responsibility of AI systems. As we advance, the continued focus on these principles will ensure that AI remains a force for positive and ethical progress in our data-driven world. The Graph will be at the heart of this transformation, providing a stable foundation for leveraging human expertise in every aspect of business operations. This synergy of advanced AI and structured knowledge will pave the way for more reliable, responsible, and innovative solutions in the future.

&nbsp;

Conclusion

n today's data-driven world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming industries by providing unprecedented capabilities in automation, prediction, and decision-making. However, as we integrate AI systems more deeply into our lives and businesses, the need for explainability, interpretability, and ethical responsibility becomes critical. This article written by Diogo Braga, Machine Learning Expert at EBCONT explores why leveraging Graphs can enhance these aspects, creating a more reliable and ethical AI landscape.

Why Graph Technology for AI Reasoning

In the realm of data management and analysis, spreadsheets have long been a go-to tool for businesses of all sizes. However, what starts as a simple solution can quickly evolve into a tangled web of complexity, leading to what is commonly referred to as technical debt. This accumulation of shortcuts, quick fixes, and inefficient practices can hinder productivity, scalability, and overall performance. So, how do we address this issue and reduce the burden of technical debtt.

<h4>One effective strategy is to deconstruct complex spreadsheets into well-structured data models. By transitioning from the ad-hoc nature of spreadsheets to a more standardized and scalable architecture, businesses can mitigate technical debt and pave the way for smoother operations. Let&#39;s explore this approach through two real-world scenarios:</h4>

Client 1: The Web Agency 
Imagine a scenario where a web agency compensates its sales team based on commissions. To manage this process, they rely on a bidirectional spreadsheet where account managers input various metrics to calculate their compensation. However, as the agency grows, so does the complexity of the spreadsheet. Each account manager has unique objectives and cost points, resulting in a convoluted and difficult-to-maintain system. 
By converting this spreadsheet into a well-understood data model, the agency can streamline the commission calculation process. Implementing a standardized architecture allows for clearer data management, easier scalability, and reduced maintenance overhead. Account managers can still input their metrics, but the system ensures consistency and reliability, mitigating the risks associated with technical debt.

<h4>Client 2: The Security Matrix</h4>

Another common scenario involves using spreadsheets as security matrices for applications. Initially effective for managing a limited number of users and roles, these spreadsheets become unwieldy as the application scales. Clients may find themselves hiding numerous columns to navigate the complexities of user permissions, leading to confusion and inefficiency. 
By transitioning to a structured data model for managing security permissions, businesses can regain control over their access control mechanisms. Hierarchical relationships and complex configurations can be more effectively modeled and managed, improving both security and usability. By addressing the underlying technical debt, businesses can ensure that their systems remain robust and adaptable in the face of change.

Cutting Technical Debt: Transform Spreadsheets into Data Models

Technical debt inside of common applications and documents&nbsp; is a hidden cost that can accumulate over time, weighing down businesses and stifling innovation. By converting spreadsheets into well-structured data models, organizations can untangle the complexities of their systems and pave the way for smoother operations. Whether it&#39;s commission calculations or security management, embracing change and investing in efficient data architectures are essential steps towards reducing technical debt and ensuring long-term success.

Concluding on Technical Debt: Embrace Structured Data Models

In the realm of data management and analysis, spreadsheets have long been a go-to tool for businesses of all sizes. However, what starts as a simple solution can quickly evolve into a tangled web of complexity, leading to what is commonly referred to as technical debt. This accumulation of shortcuts, quick fixes, and inefficient practices can hinder productivity, scalability, and overall performance. So, how do we address this issue and reduce the burden of technical debt?

<h4>Converting Spreadsheets to Data Models</h4>

One effective strategy is to deconstruct complex spreadsheets into well-structured data models. By transitioning from the ad-hoc nature of spreadsheets to a more standardized and scalable architecture, businesses can mitigate technical debt and pave the way for smoother operations. Let&#39;s explore this approach through two real-world scenarios:

Client 1: The Web Agency 
Imagine a scenario where a web agency compensates its sales team based on commissions. To manage this process, they rely on a bidirectional spreadsheet where account managers input various metrics to calculate their compensation. However, as the agency grows, so does the complexity of the spreadsheet. Each account manager has unique objectives and cost points, resulting in a convoluted and difficult-to-maintain system. 
By converting this spreadsheet into a well-understood data model, the agency can streamline the commission calculation process. Implementing a standardized architecture allows for clearer data management, easier scalability, and reduced maintenance overhead. Account managers can still input their metrics, but the system ensures consistency and reliability, mitigating the risks associated with technical debt.

<h4>Client 2: The Security Matrix</h4>

Another common scenario involves using spreadsheets as security matrices for applications. Initially effective for managing a limited number of users and roles, these spreadsheets become unwieldy as the application scales. Clients may find themselves hiding numerous columns to navigate the complexities of user permissions, leading to confusion and inefficiency. 
By transitioning to a structured data model for managing security permissions, businesses can regain control over their access control mechanisms. Hierarchical relationships and complex configurations can be more effectively modeled and managed, improving both security and usability. By addressing the underlying technical debt, businesses can ensure that their systems remain robust and adaptable in the face of change.

<h4>Technical debt inside of common applications and documents&nbsp; is a hidden cost that can accumulate over time, weighing down businesses and stifling innovation. By converting spreadsheets into well-structured data models, organizations can untangle the complexities of their systems and pave the way for smoother operations. Whether it&#39;s commission calculations or security management, embracing change and investing in efficient data architectures are essential steps towards reducing technical debt and ensuring long-term success.</h4>

Straddling the line between the ambitious visions we see in the media and the reality of delivering actionable data insights can feel like navigating a maze. But fear not! EBCONT is here to roll up his sleeves and tackle some of the hurdles you might face in today's IT world.
In this series, we're diving deep into the trenches, shedding light on the real-world  challenges and presenting practical solutions. Here comes no 3 of our blog post series!


The Burden of the Magic Spreadsheet

Dashboards are the cornerstone of Business Intelligence (BI) projects, serving as the visual interface through which businesses interpret and act upon their data. Yet, despite their importance, many dashboards fall short of meeting the initial expectations of stakeholders. In this discussion, we delve into the common pitfalls of dashboard design and explore strategies to ensure a successful end-to-end analytic journey.&nbsp;

Let&#39;s provide a more detailed breakdown of the challenges outlined as well as the possible approaches::

<ol>
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Disconnection from Customer Requirements occurs when dashboard design fails to meet the specific needs, expectations, and goals of end-users, resulting in a misalignment that undermines the delivery of relevant insights and functionalities. 
	To overcome this obstacle, it&#39;s essential to prioritize Actionable Insight. This approach entails deeply understanding and prioritizing end-users&#39; needs and goals, actively involving stakeholders throughout the design process, conducting thorough user research, and continuously seeking feedback to iteratively refine the dashboard design. By doing so, designers can ensure that the final product closely aligns with customer requirements, enhancing its effectiveness and usability.</li>
</ol>

&nbsp;

<ol start="2">
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Overemphasis on Visual Appeal occurs when aesthetics overshadow functionality, potentially resulting in cluttered interfaces that detract from delivering actionable insights. While visually appealing dashboards can initially attract users, an excessive focus on visual elements may lead to cluttered interfaces and distract from the primary goal of delivering actionable insights. 
	To address this challenge, designers should embrace Data Visualization Best Practices. This approach involves selecting appropriate chart types, utilizing effective color schemes, and striking a balance between visual appeal and usability. By adhering to these guidelines, dashboards can present information in a visually engaging yet informative manner, ensuring that aesthetics complement functionality rather than overshadow it.</li>
</ol>

&nbsp;

<ol start="3">
	<li style="list-style-type:decimal">Lack of Contextualization presents a significant obstacle in dashboard design, emphasizing the critical need to offer users more than just raw data. Without adequate contextualization, users may struggle to fully grasp the implications of the insights presented, hampering their ability to make informed decisions based on the data at hand. 
	To address this challenge effectively, designers should adopt the Approach of Crafting Compelling Data Stories. This approach involves going beyond merely presenting data points and instead focuses on contextualizing the information within the broader business narrative. By crafting narratives around the data, designers can provide users with the necessary context to understand the significance of the insights and how they relate to real-world scenarios. 
	 
	By weaving engaging stories that highlight key trends, patterns, and insights, dashboards become more than just visual representations of data; they become powerful tools for driving action and facilitating informed decision-making. Additionally, incorporating elements such as case studies, scenarios, and real-life examples further enhances the relevance and applicability of the data presented. 
	 
	Ultimately, by prioritizing the creation of compelling data stories, designers can transform dashboards into dynamic platforms that not only inform but also inspire action, empowering users to leverage data-driven insights to drive business success.</li>
</ol>

By addressing these specific challenges, dashboard designers can create more effective and user-friendly solutions that meet the needs of stakeholders and facilitate data-driven decision-making.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

<h3>Summary</h3>

In the realm of Business Intelligence, dashboards play a crucial role in transforming data into actionable insights. However, their effectiveness hinges on more than just visual appeal; it requires a deep understanding of user requirements, adherence to best practices, and the ability to craft compelling data narratives. By addressing the common pitfalls of dashboard design and adopting a user-centric approach, organizations can enhance the success of their BI initiatives and drive informed decision-making.

&nbsp;

Unveiling Dashboard Design Pitfalls and Pathways to Success

Gregor Sieber (Executive Vice President / Head of Consulting and Innovation at EBCONT) delves deeper into best practice :&rdquo;Dashboard design is really where expertise in data and a deep understanding of the abilities of the underlying architecture must be met with equal skills in user experience design. This is why we like to support our customers with an interdisciplinary team that is inspired by our agile approach.

&nbsp;

For more information please contact <a href="mailto:gregor.sieber@ebcont.com" style="text-decoration:none">gregor.sieber@ebcont.com</a>.

&nbsp;

In the realm of Business Intelligence, dashboards play a crucial role in transforming data into actionable insights. However, their effectiveness hinges on more than just visual appeal; it requires a deep understanding of user requirements, adherence to best practices, and the ability to craft compelling data narratives. By addressing the common pitfalls of dashboard design and adopting a user-centric approach, organizations can enhance the success of their BI initiatives and drive informed decision-making.

Summarizing BI Success: Overcoming Dashboard Design Challenges

Straddling the line between the ambitious visions we see in the media and the reality of delivering actionable data insights can feel like navigating a maze. But fear not! EBCONT is here to roll up his sleeves and tackle some of the hurdles you might face in today's IT world.
In this series, we're diving deep into the trenches, shedding light on the real-world  challenges and presenting practical solutions. Here comes no 2 of our blog post series!

Navigating the Pitfalls of Dashboard Design: Enhancing Business Intelligence Success

Innovation and Expertise Under One Roof

Our strengths lie in areas such as strategy and consulting, enterprise software development, UX/UI design, data integration, quality assurance, DevOps, and IT operations. EBCONT stands for creative and customized solutions precisely tailored to our clients&#39; needs, from planning to successful implementation.

New Home in Salzburg

With our locations in Vienna, Graz, Linz, St. P&ouml;lten, Vorarlberg, Germany, Pinkafeld, and New York, EBCONT is now also represented in Salzburg. This expansion brings us closer to our clients and talents on-site. Salzburg, Austria&#39;s cultural capital, becomes another hotspot in our network.

Top Service On-Site

Close to the customer and regionally rooted: The team led by Salzburg site manager and IT expert Benjamin Beer serves clients in and around Mozart&#39;s birthplace, offering the advantage of close, local collaboration.

We are, of course, also looking forward to applications from the region! Learn more at <a href="http://www.ebcont.com/karriere" rel="noreferrer" target="_new">www.ebcont.com/karriere</a>.

Salzburg, June 19, 2024 - EBCONT, a major player in the Austrian IT services industry, continues its success story by opening a brand-new location in Salzburg. With over 700 employees and more than 120 satisfied customers from various sectors – including the public sector – EBCONT offers tailored IT solutions and covers the entire lifecycle of IT projects. Our AI and data science professionals bring the latest technologies directly into our customers' projects.

EBCONT conquers Salzburg: IT power now also in Austria´s cultural capital.

With the upcoming Accessibility Act 2025, which is based on Directive 2019/882 &quot;European Accessibility Act&quot; (EAA), the discussion around alternative texts for images is gaining importance. This law, which comes into effect on June 28, 2025, obliges website operators and companies in the media, education, and book sectors to make their digital content accessible to everyone.

Background

Alternative texts are short descriptions that explain the content of an image. They are used in HTML and other document formats and appear when the image cannot be loaded or when, for example, a screen reader reads the image for users with visual impairments. These texts should be brief, concise, yet informative to best support the users. Tags, on the other hand, are keywords or phrases assigned to an image to categorize it and make it searchable in search engines or media archives.

&nbsp;

What are Alternative Texts and Tags?

Generating such image descriptions, especially for large amounts of existing data, represents a considerable effort, prompting many organizations to consider using AI to automate this process at least partially. However, there is a high demand for quality.

Where is the Challenge for Organizations and Companies?

The investigation results make it clear that AI solutions for alternative texts and tags are a highly sensible method. The right models can automatically generate correct and meaningful results. However, it must be emphasized that no model delivers error-free results, which is why manual control of the results remains necessary. Despite these limitations, machine learning models offer an efficient and useful solution for complying with the Accessibility Act.

This conclusion aligns with the view of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, which is also convinced that AI is a suitable solution for complying with the Accessibility Act (Source: https://www.boersenverein.de/beratung-service/barrierefreiheit/faq/#accordion--42).

&nbsp;

Given the rapid development of multimodal generative AI models and, as seen in the test cases, the suitability of different models for various scenarios, it is advisable to make the invocation of a specific AI model interchangeable. This generally means setting up a processing infrastructure for your own data where different models can be controlled via configuration or modularity. Typically, a generic pre- and post-processing of the data is necessary (e.g., reading, format conversion, writing metadata back, etc.). Additionally, model-specific processing steps may be required. Due to the development of the models, it is advisable to build the infrastructure in such a way that tests can be conducted easily and a high degree of automation is present. It is important to ensure that manual control by humans can be carried out with minimal effort.

&nbsp;

 Architectures for Using AI for Alternative Texts and Tags in an Enterprise Context

Against this backdrop, we at EBCONT conducted a comprehensive comparison of various artificial intelligence solutions. We examined leading commercial large-language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 Vision by OpenAI and Claude-3 Sonnet by Anthropic. We also considered open-source models like LLama and out-of-the-box cloud services like Azure Computer Vision and AWS Rekognition. All these systems were tested with the same media assets to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each model and identify the suitable AI solution for specific use cases.

&nbsp;

The data used had different levels of complexity. We analyzed images with and without text and people in various qualities, sizes, and formats, including photographs, drawn images, and generated content. The evaluation was partly carried out on behalf of customers using copyrighted data from EBCONT customers. Below, we provide examples using freely available content.

Analysis

This image was described with varying precision by different models. Alternative texts from Azure Computer Vision, such as &quot;A tower in the water&quot; and &quot;Church tower in calm waters,&quot; are correct in content but should be more informative to describe the image sufficiently in detail.

Open-source large-language models like LLava generally describe images correctly but occasionally produce faulty descriptions. For example, in an image showing bright green trees, the incorrect description &quot;yellow bushes&quot; was generated: &quot;The image shows a small white tower with a red tip standing in a quiet lake. Behind the tower are mountains with green and yellow bushes.&quot;

Alternative texts from commercial large-language models provided appropriate and concise results: &quot;An old church tower with a pointed roof rises from a lake, surrounded by wooded hills and mountains under a partly cloudy sky.&quot;

The tags generated by the AI solutions, such as &quot;bell tower,&quot; &quot;lake,&quot; &quot;nature,&quot; and &quot;mountain,&quot; were all accurate.

&nbsp;

Example 1: Photo

The peculiarity of this image is that it contains text, which should be included in a good image description. Our analysis showed that out-of-the-box services and open-source models often struggle with Optical Character Recognition (OCR), leading to alternative texts like &quot;A light box with text on it&quot; or &quot;A bright light panel with the text TAKE HIS AY, 0 E T!&quot;. Commercial LLMs like GPT-4 and Claude-3, on the other hand, showed significantly fewer problems in this area, providing more accurate descriptions: &quot;A light panel bears the inscription &#39;MAKE THIS DAY GREAT!&#39; in colorful letters. The background is blurred and in bright tones.&quot;

For this image, precise tags like &quot;text,&quot; &quot;electronics,&quot; &quot;display panel,&quot; and &quot;sign&quot; were created by the various AI solutions. However, some models also returned incorrect tags like &quot;number&quot; or &quot;cell phone,&quot; most of which were generated by open-source models. Commercial services like Azure Computer Vision and AWS Rekognition provided not only the most accurate but also the fewest erroneous tags.

&nbsp;

Example 2: Photo with Text

Images like this one, which have increased complexity, led to less precise and sometimes incorrect results from the tested AI solutions. It was noted that out-of-the-box cloud services often provided inadequate descriptions like &quot;A cartoon of a boy and a girl&quot; through generalization. The best results for complex images were achieved by LLMs. Although open-source models delivered quite good results here, this study again showed that commercial LLMs provide the best results: &quot;A cartoon of two children with speech bubbles showing various ways to factorize the number 990. One child seems to be explaining or teaching, while the speech bubbles show various factorization equations.&quot;

Despite the increased complexity of the images, the AI solutions still returned appropriate tags such as &quot;cartoon&quot; and &quot;illustration.&quot;

&nbsp;

Example 3: Image with Text

The analysis of this comprehensive comparison showed that artificial intelligence is a suitable solution for creating alternative texts and tags. Significant differences in the accuracy of various AI models emerged, especially in the alternative texts. Some systems were particularly good at handling photographic content, while others were more efficient at processing drawn or generated images. However, the key factors were the complexity and text content of the images.

Simple images were mostly correctly described by all tested AI solutions, albeit with varying levels of detail. For images with text or more complex content, the study showed that only generative language models (LLMs) could provide adequate alternative texts. The study concluded that commercial LLMs such as GPT-4 Vision and Claude-3 Sonnet achieved the best results.

It is important to mention that all generative LLMs occasionally produced inaccurate or faulty alternative texts. However, the study showed that this occurred significantly less frequently with commercial LLMs than with open-source models.

Another aspect of LLMs is that they sometimes fail to generate alternative texts. This happens when one of the content filters is activated, preventing the creation of an alternative text. For example, GPT-4 has filters for &quot;hate,&quot; &quot;self-harm,&quot; &quot;sexuality,&quot; and &quot;violence.&quot; This study concluded that these filters are sometimes configured too sensitively. For example, in an image of a woman sleeping in bed, the &quot;sexuality&quot; filter was mistakenly activated, and no alternative text was generated.

The generation of tags produced satisfactory results for most images through various AI models. For higher complexity, Azure Computer Vision proved to be the best solution for our media assets, as the error rate was the lowest.

Results

A comparison of currently available tools and methods by Niklas Großmann.

Accessibility & AI: Generating Alt Texts for Images with LLMs? 

Every organization faces challenges that could be addressed if they were able to harness the full potential of the data within their grasp.&nbsp;In most organizations, there are sources of data that would create actionable insight if they were joined together in a common analytic context. Frank Blau, Data Architect and IT consultant at EBCONT points out that this situation is not abnormal, but that it should be addressed in an effective Data Architecture strategy. 
 
In today&#39;s data-driven world, organizations are inundated with large amounts of data flowing in from multiple&nbsp; sources. This creates a series of distinct problems that are commonly faced:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Data is stored in different systems (for perhaps good reasons) that do not communicate with each other and cannot be used to uncover insights that their alignment would reveal.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Data is arriving in such high velocity that it cannot be consumed effectively by business stakeholders</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Data arrives in different formats and structures, and more than one approach is needed to understand and consume them.</li>
</ul>

This is where modern data architecture steps in, offering a framework to bring together disparate data into a cohesive structure that can fuel analytics, business intelligence, and the power of (Gen)AI.

Data is not always in the most convenient location to deliver the insight that it may reveal. This may be due to regulatory or even good design principles. Being able to address the needs for holistic insight requires understanding the fundamental requirements driving those location choices and how best to enable the data to contribute to the desired analytic outcomes. Modern data architecture supports several approaches to dealing with these concerns:

Data Federation: the creation of virtual views across multiple sources of data to offer the user a unified perspective.

Data Modeling using Modelstorming:&nbsp;Rather than monolithic waterfall models, application of Agile techniques to data modeling, focused on process outcomes, can produce more adaptable and functional data models. Model storming is a collaborative process where cross-functional teams brainstorm and iterate on data models and analytical approaches. By bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise, organizations can uncover novel insights and innovation.

ETL and ELT processes: Both of these are processes for extracting, transforming and loading data from one system (typically transactional) for use in another system (typically analytic). The difference between them is where and when the transformation is occurring; In ETL it happens before you load the target system and in ELT it happens after.

Data Hubs: A data hub is a centralized repository designed to facilitate the storage, management, integration, and distribution of data from various sources. It serves as a central point in an organization&#39;s data architecture and allows for significant improvements over a data federation approach.&nbsp;

While delivery of a system-level data architecture model is still a core activity in the overall data management process, it has limitations that are exposed as teams begin to work with it&nbsp; in agile processes. When one team is working holistically to realize a product (the data model) over the entire architecture, and the developers are working on discrete stories, features and sprints, there is a mismatch in goals and activities that is not effective or productive. In order to accommodate this (necessary) evolution of the modeling process, we have embraced the iterative techniques of agile development in order to better align with these principles. Iterative processing involves a cyclical approach to data analysis, where insights inform subsequent iterations of data modeling and analysis. This iterative approach enables organizations to adapt to changing business requirements, refine their analytical models, and uncover deeper insights over time.

The process to deliver this goal is called modelstorming. This is a collaborative effort between the data architects, developers and importantly, the users of the data architecture. It is a workshop-based approach that strives to deliver a joint understanding between all relevant parties. These participants should be able to deliver the following inputs:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Participate&nbsp; in discussions about&nbsp; business processes.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Identify key elements of processes to be recorded and measured.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Describe data related to the processes being discussed.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Collaborate on a consensus for the goals and outcomes of the project</li>
</ul>

While there should still be well-considered system architecture and data management artifacts, the deliverables for the data modeling team will also be more discrete data models, sometimes just at the level of a single inter-application process, such as an API interface or message queue. These component artifacts should also be consistent in form and content with the broader data modelling deliverables. Examples of iterative modeling outputs include:

<ul>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Business Event and Modeling diagrams (also known as BEAM) that uncover and document discrete business processes and events.</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Hierarchy Charts to describe relationships between dimensional attributes</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">An event matrix that describes the relationships between events and dimensions</li>
	<li style="list-style-type:disc">Data mart schemas that describe business-facing perspectives for consumption</li>
</ul>

 
From Silos to Synthesis: Conquering Data Fragmentation the Data Hub Pattern

Fragmented and Siloed Data One of the primary hurdles organizations face is the existence of data that may provide more insight when joined with other data in the broader landscape. Departments often store data in isolated systems, leading to fragmented information and inhibiting cross-functional insights. Silos can hinder collaboration, innovation, and ultimately, the ability to derive meaningful value from data. For example, one system such as a web platform may contain the analytics used to derive customer intent, while another ERP system may contain the transactional activity for your customers. Without synthesizing these disparate data sources, it is difficult to understand the quantitative relationship between intent and purchasing. In another example, there may be incoming data related to patient status that is generated by machines and sensors. Naturally this data is used operationally for the monitoring of patients, but if it is brought into a data architecture where it can be analysed across a broader population (with appropriate regulatory compliance), there may be opportunities to uncover treatment modalities that offer better outcomes for more patients.

Crafting the Data Lifecycle: Modeling, Extracting, and Transforming 
At the heart of modern data architecture lies data modeling. This involves designing a blueprint that defines how data is structured, stored, and accessed within the organization. A well-designed data model provides a common language for stakeholders and ensures consistency and accuracy in data interpretation. ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) and ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) processes play a crucial role in data integration. These fundamental practices involve extracting data from various sources, transforming it into a consistent format, and loading it into a centralized repository or data lake. By automating these workflows, organizations can streamline data ingestion and preparation, enabling faster insights. 
 
Data federation has emerged as one solution to break down these silos. By creating virtual views of data across disparate sources, organizations can access and analyze information seamlessly. This approach fosters agility and flexibility, allowing for real-time insights without the need to physically consolidate data into a single repository, which can be a considerable time and cost savings. It should be noted that many popular tools such as PowerBI and Tableau, allow you to materialize this approach directly within the visualization tool, including transformations, aggregations and joining to multiple sources simultaneously. While this virtual approach can work well when your data is relatively co-located, the weakest link in your data chain will ultimately determine the quality and performance of the system, making this an approach that is often unsuitable for tasks such as building novel applications that should make use of such harmonized data.

Data Hub: The Centralized Nexus for Actionable&nbsp; Insights 
One emergent approach is the development of a data hub, where multiple services and repositories are combined into a single point of innovative interactions. &nbsp;This data hub serves as a centralized nexus for storing, managing, and accessing integrated data. It acts as a single source of actionable truth,&nbsp; providing a unified view of the organization&#39;s data assets, regardless of format or schema. While the data hub is not a replacement for a data warehouse, it may be delivered as a means to collect and conform complex source data that may be arriving in different formats, granularity and velocity.&nbsp; By leveraging a data hub&rsquo;s ability to deliver harmonized data at scale, organizations can simplify data management, improve data quality, and empower users with smart data mastering and self-service analytics capabilities.&nbsp; High-performance data hubs can also be deployed as a component in a hybrid architecture, offering a best-of-breed solution between the federated data, data mesh and data warehouse platforms.&nbsp;

EBCONT has demonstrated considerable success delivering data hub solutions across a broad range of markets, platforms and architectures. We offer the ability to collaborate on a deep dive analysis of how your business requirements can inform an intelligent decision about how this approach can fit into your data management strategy.

Driving Innovation: Iterative Modelstorming

Disconnected data and common data models

While there are often good reasons for an organization to separate data into different tiers of storage and access, many times these tiers and their artifacts become an impediment to a holistic analytic perspective. Understanding these processes and roles and creating a data management strategy is at the heart of an effective data architecture to mitigate this. Being able to understand the ways that data can become disconnected and how to bring it back into a performant conformed perspective would be a key deliverable of your architecture. Starting with collaborative data modeling or modelstorming, and adopting appropriate features like iterative processing, ETL/ELT and data hubs are fundamental building blocks for addressing these challenges.

Frank Blau explains: &ldquo;Bringing together a customer&#39;s disconnected data into a common data model and data access layer is crucial for analytics, business intelligence, and to harness the power of (Gen)AI. Data architecture is the practice of deciding how to build this data model, and with what tools. And that is what we at EBCONT can help.&rdquo;

And Gregor Sieber (Executive Vice President / Head of Consulting and Innovation at EBCONT) delves deeper into best practice :&rdquo;One of our customers in the finance and regulatory space faced the challenge of needing to access data stored in a large number of IT systems whenever they wanted to roll out a new web-based customer product, which created a lot of overhead and duplicated dependencies. As parts of the data were inconsistent, it was also a danger that the validation logic for this data would become inconsistent between the different customer products. By moving to a data hub approach, we were able to centralize the data mastering approach and provide a single, consistent, and scalable API for all new customer products. This has greatly accelerated the creation and roll-out of new products and improved the governance on a data and processing level, which is an essential advantage for organizations in the finance space.&rdquo;

For more information please contact <a href="mailto:gregor.sieber@ebcont.com" style="text-decoration:none">gregor.sieber@ebcont.com</a>.

Summary

Straddling the line between the ambitious visions we see in the media and the reality of delivering actionable data insights can feel like navigating a maze. EBCONT is here to tackle some of the hurdles you might face in today's IT world.
In this series, we're diving deep into the trenches, shedding light on the real-world challenges and presenting practical solutions. Whether it's taming unruly data sets or optimizing your IT infrastructure, EBCONT has a roadmap to guide you.

Unlocking Data Unity: Strategies to Tackle the Disconnect Dilemma

With extensive BSI C5 Type II certification as well as comprehensive certifications according to ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISAE 3402 Type II, IDW PH 9.860.1, and PCI DSS, plusserver meets the highest requirements for data and operational security. The recently sealed partnership with EBCONT enables companies to access a reliable European and secure cloud infrastructure and securely migrate and operate existing applications.

A standout feature of the provider is its dedicated 24/7 support available in both German and English. This additional support ensures that customers receive the best possible service at all times. 
The cooperation between plusserver and EBCONT is a significant step in offering top-notch and data-sovereign cloud solutions to German and European businesses that meet the highest security standards.

Korbinian Kreitner, Manager at plusserver, is enthusiastic about the new partnership with EBCONT: &quot;We are excited to expand our partner ecosystem with an established IT service company like EBCONT. The combination of our cloud platforms and EBCONT&#39;s application expertise is an exciting package for the digitalization of all businesses. &#39;Elastic on pluscloud&#39; is also a great kickstart to our collaboration and creates anticipation for the next joint projects.&quot;

Christopher Anderlik, Executive Vice President at EBCONT, adds: &quot;plusserver and EBCONT are united by the individual customer&#39;s desire for reliable, certified, and scalable enterprise cloud solutions on an independent, European, and data-sovereign cloud. This makes us perfect partners and, combined, the ideal solution for customers with special requirements.&quot;

We are pleased to announce that plusserver, one of the leading German cloud providers, is now a partner of EBCONT. plusserver operates four of its own data centers in Germany and stands for European sovereignty and data independence.


German cloud provider plusserver new partner of EBCONT


The &quot;Top Salary Satisfaction Austria 2024&quot; ranking presents an impressive selection of companies distinguished by outstanding salary satisfaction among their employees. The top ten reflect the diversity of the Austrian work landscape, with the intriguing observation that service, human resources, internet, and IT industries perform particularly well, placing multiple companies in top positions.

The results extend beyond a simple ranking, providing a detailed insight into various industries that reflect the diversity of the work environment in Germany and Austria. This breakdown allows both employees and companies to analyze and compare salary satisfaction in specific sectors systematically.

For job seekers, the ranking serves as a valuable resource to identify potential employers in their preferred sector who not only offer financial recognition but also provide a supportive work environment.

Psychology in the Workplace: Salary as a Key Factor for Increased Satisfaction and Productivity

For the &quot;Top Salary Satisfaction Ranking 2024,&quot; clear quantitative and qualitative selection criteria were used. Only companies in Germany and Austria with an existing kununu employer profile, at least 20 reviews (of which five were in the last twelve months) in relevant categories, and at least five listed job titles were considered. A total of 6,550 companies in Germany and 1,049 companies in Austria were selected.

Qualitative criteria required a score of at least 3.5 stars in relevant kununu categories, a salary position above average for at least 50 percent of the stated job titles, and a recommendation rate of at least 70 percent.

Johannes Litschauer, Managing Director of EBCONT, is delighted with the confirmation:

&quot;We are extremely proud to be among the top ten companies in Austria in the &#39;Top Salary Satisfaction Ranking 2024&#39; by kununu and the S&uuml;ddeutsche Zeitung. We see this as confirmation of our focus as an employee-oriented company that places particular emphasis on a positive work atmosphere and fairness in the workplace.&quot;

How was salary satisfaction determined?

Looking for attractive employers? The ,,Salary Satisfaction” ranking by the German SZ Institute in collaboration with kununu provides guidance on which companies truly impress their employees. kununu, in partnership with the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), has identified the top companies in Germany and Austria with the "Top Salary Satisfaction 2024" ranking. We are proud to be among Austria's top 10!

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