IT is one of the markets of the future. If not the market of the future. Digitalisation is now affecting all areas of life and is therefore indispensable for our actions – in both our private and our professional lives. Against this backdrop, the role of a competent IT partner providing customers with advice and support in the creation and operation of future-proof IT landscapes is becoming all the more important. And this is precisely where Bechtle’s business model comes in: As a vendor-independent solution provider with an extensive IT portfolio, we are the preferred partner for industry and the public sector when it comes to future-proof IT.
Business model
Everything to do with IT
Bechtle is one of the leading IT companies in Europe and offers technology concepts and comprehensive IT solutions for digital transformation from a single source. From complete IT workstations, data centres and multi-cloud solutions to IT security and artificial intelligence, we develop future-proof IT architectures. This includes strategy consulting, comprehensive aftersales services and individual projects, as well as full IT operation through managed services – including Bechtle Circular IT and Financial Services. With more than 120 locations in 14 European countries, we are firmly anchored regionally and always close to our customers. We also have a worldwide network of partners that fulfils the requirements of customers who operate globally. Even after more than 42 years of company history, as a company headquartered in Neckarsulm, we combine the strength and solidity of a financially strong international group with the proximity, personal support and flexibility of a regional IT service provider.
Business segments
Until the end of 2024, the business activity of the Bechtle Group was divided into two segments: IT System House & Managed Services and IT E-Commerce. At the beginning of 2025, the management organisation was realigned, and since then Bechtle has pooled responsibility for all distribution channels in the national markets at Executive Board level in one place. The aim of this restructuring is to expand the multichannel offering in all markets and to further internationalisation. With this holistic market strategy, Bechtle can optimally serve every customer across all channels in line with their needs. The changed management organisation stipulates that Michael Guschlbauer as COO is responsible for the total business in Germany and Austria. Konstantin Ebert, COO, is responsible for all other national markets in which Bechtle is active with its own companies. These are Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Starting with this Annual Report, external reporting will now also follow this logic. The segments are orientated towards our regional markets and are therefore:
Germany
France
Benelux
Other Europe
Bechtle’s medium-term goal is to be represented with its complete portfolio in all national markets. This is currently the case in nine countries: Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and, since January 2026, Portugal. In the other countries, we want to further sharpen and expand our service profile through acquisitions. We are already represented in all countries with our more transactional infrastructure business.
Multichannel strategy
Within our business model and portfolio, there are various ways to address customers and get in touch with them. Depending on the customer’s situation, preference and needs, they choose the right distribution channel for them. In the service business, it is often the case that the customer is looking for a solution to a complex situation. Personal contact with individual advice continues to play a major role here. This contact can take place either via video calls or in direct dialogue at the customer’s premises. It can be important to get an idea of the existing IT infrastructure on-site, particularly when it comes to integrated solutions. We ensure this key regional presence through an international network of around 100 locations, whose sales teams advise customers at their site. For simpler problems or questions, the customer can also contact a Bechtle employee at any time by telephone or video call. In most cases, the customer has a dedicated sales representative who knows the customer and their IT situation. Knowledge of the procurement process is also important – this is particularly crucial for our public-sector customers and their contract awards. We also have online shops in the respective national language in all 14 countries. This allows us to offer our customers the opportunity to utilise Bechtle’s services in a purely digital way and around the clock. This consistent focus on the customer within the context of the multichannel strategy strengthens customer loyalty, increases our market penetration and, last but not least, leads to greater efficiency thanks to optimised processes.
On-site at the customer’s location
Bechtle’s range of services covers the entire IT value chain. We can offer this broad and comprehensive portfolio particularly well when we have direct and personal contact with the customer. By individually compiling an offer comprising various interlinked services and freely configurable service levels, Bechtle is able to develop a bespoke solution for every customer. The service and solution portfolio is subject to ongoing review and adaptation to market and customer requirements.
The service spectrum extends from the sale of hardware and software solutions, IT strategy consulting, IT infrastructure consulting, modern workplace, application solutions, project planning and implementation, system integration, maintenance and training to the provision of multi-cloud and managed services, IT security services and artificial intelligence. Bechtle also specialises in business applications, above all PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). We likewise offer all “as-a-service” models or the complete operation of customer IT. Our network of regional system houses and their sales staff, who act as personal contacts, are an important factor for our mostly regionally based customers in overcoming increasingly complex IT challenges. The decentralised structure of Bechtle is a key criterion that makes proximity possible. Direct, often long-term contact with customers helps sales staff to develop a trusting customer relationship. In this context, the ongoing training of our sales teams plays a key role.
Our service employees and certified specialists, system engineers and consultants offer customers specialist knowledge, a high level of detailed expertise, many years of IT project experience and rapid implementation of individual requirements in the realisation of services. IT business architects also provide support with customised concepts and IT road maps, laying the foundations for future-proof IT architectures. Bechtle has pooled specialist know-how on complex IT solution topics in more than 90 internationally active competence centres and passes this knowledge on both internally and externally in training courses. Numerous certifications from all renowned vendors form the basis for premium qualification of our services.
Bechtle is the preferred partner for customers in all aspects of digitalisation.
Direct contact
Of course, the customer can also contact Bechtle at any time by telephone or video call. The sales team plays a key role in realising business volumes by acquiring new customers and expanding business with existing customers. Here too, customers with complex requirements can benefit from personal contacts who offer individual solutions tailored specifically to the customer’s needs.
Bechtle also actively approaches customers via this distribution channel in order to query IT requirements with the customer or to acquire new customers. The sales team works closely with IT specialists to help customers with more complex issues. If an on-site appointment becomes necessary, a sales employee from the regional location will continue to support the customer.
Digital contact
Via our online shops and our corporate website bechtle.com, we offer our customers a digital business platform that covers the entire range of our service and solution portfolio. This allows us to address every prospective and existing customer holistically and to systematically offer additional solutions. The Bechtle Clouds offering is also to be integrated into bechtle.com this year. Overall, bechtle.com will continue to develop into a holistic online platform and will therefore be further expanded in the coming years. The digital business platform stands for the efficient procurement of IT components, IT infrastructure and IT services from a single source. In addition, bechtle.com offers customers and all other stakeholders information on all aspects of IT and thus serves as a knowledge platform. Responsibility for establishing and further developing this lies with Digital Business Services, our central digital unit where expertise, strategies and new technologies such as AI are pooled for the ongoing digitalisation of the business. The unit’s task is to connect customers and Bechtle digitally.
In order to guarantee success in digital business, highly process-controlled, streamlined order processing procedures are essential. To a certain extent, the underlying processes are even part of the actual service. For example, many orders are processed according to the fulfilment principle: Bechtle forwards incoming orders directly to vendors or distributors, and they then dispatch the goods to the customer on behalf of Bechtle. Bechtle ensures the shipping quality, which is also determined by speed, through agreements with partners and daily audits. The customer benefits in numerous respects: the networking of the online shops with the stocks of vendors and distributors enables high availability and up-to-date information. The delivery time, too, is aligned with customer needs, with orders usually delivered within 24 to 48 hours. Lean processes also ensure low process costs, meaning the customer benefits from competitive prices, while Bechtle is still able to earn an attractive margin. Moreover, by applying the fulfilment principle, we keep our stock levels low, thereby reducing the risk of devaluation of IT products, which are characterised by very short innovation cycles.
Lean processes, including the fulfilment principle, are key success factors in digital business.
Independent of the distribution channel
X-as-a-service
Driven by the ever-advancing digital transformation, the market for IT solutions and services is in a state of constant change. Consumption-based and cloud-based procurement models are becoming increasingly important alongside the traditional business segments, and these options for procuring IT infrastructure, platforms, software and applications as a subscription-based service are being utilised by a growing number of customers and are gradually becoming the standard. We are therefore systematically expanding our portfolio of “as-a-service” offerings, managed cloud services and multi-cloud services. In contrast to the traditional project business, X-as-a-service models offer recurring revenue over the entire contract term, which is usually four to six years.
Public-Sector clients
The government in particular is committed to digitalisation, which has turned the public sector into a growth driver for Bechtle. In addition to the Bechtle product portfolio described above, which can of course also be utilised in full by public-sector customers, there are also offers specially tailored to the government. In the eGovernment Solutions category, Bechtle provides the expertise and technology for the digital networking of different systems and players within municipal administrations. Our solutions make it easier for citizens to use public services and ensure the reliability of digital end-to-end processes in administrations. Bechtle has expertise from the initial development of ideas through to implementation. The discussions surrounding digital sovereignty are also hugely important, not just for public administration, but particularly in this area. Bechtle will develop a software-based measurement method here with the Index for Digital Sovereignty. Customers can use it to determine the maturity of their digital sovereignty in a structured way and derive specific measures based on the results.
Megatrend Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is one of the topics of the future, both in the IT sector and generally, so it is likewise a major focus for Bechtle. Demand from Bechtle’s core customer group is currently still relatively restrained. In the medium and long term, however, AI will further increase the demand for complex IT solutions and individual advice. With our subsidiary Planet AI, a commitment to the AI ecosystem IPAI, the company’s own chatbot Bechtle GPT and other services with AI components, the Bechtle Group has already positioned itself well here.
International business
Many customers greatly value homogeneous IT landscapes across their own international locations, so internal Bechtle units are focusing on ensuring a global roll-out that is precisely tailored to the customer’s needs and preferences. Bechtle was already very well set up for this in the past with its uniform, central processes and service levels. Since 1 January 2026, Bechtle has reorganised its international business and combined the activities of three previous units under one roof: in the Bechtle International Division (BID), we will manage projects with international corporations and large medium-sized companies with a multinational presence. The new unit also coordinates cooperation with over 300 partners in 180 countries.
Own brand ARTICONA
Our custom brand ARTICONA supplements Bechtle’s product portfolio, especially with peripheral products. The range of IT accessories includes input devices such as keyboards and mice, various cables, adapters and chargers, as well as storage devices, notebook cases and smartphone covers. The products are often offered as cross-selling products or as an alternative to comparable branded products.
Bechtle Circular IT
Product life cycles for IT products are becoming ever shorter, due especially to innovations and further developments. In principle, every extension of the useful life conserves valuable resources on our planet, which is why our company established Bechtle Remarketing GmbH back in 2012 – a business unit dedicated to topics related to the end of a product life cycle. In mid-2024, this approach was strengthened with the integration of Bechtle Remarketing into Bechtle Logistics to create a central division called Bechtle Circular IT. Information security, data protection and responsible use of resources take centre stage here, so our specialists take care of the secure deletion of company data and the resale of old devices or environmentally friendly disposal. Bechtle thus offers complete lifecycle support for IT hardware.
Sales markets
Diversified positioning in terms of customer size and sectors
Our aim is to find the optimum IT solution for each customer’s needs. In this connection, we have gained a high level of expertise in servicing different customer groups. Even though SMEs remain our core target group alongside the public sector, we are also successful in business with large customers. Usually, we define our customers on the basis of the number of seats. Generally, our customer group ranges from 50 to upwards of 10,000 seats.
Bechtle can build on a broad customer base ranging from SMEs to the public sector and large customers.
Bechtle is not focused on individual sectors – our customers include companies from all branches of industry. Each customer group must be addressed differently.
The special features of tendering procedures in the public sector have led us to establish a customer approach that is precisely tailored to this. In this role, the central Public Sector division, as an internal service unit, supports the local entities when it comes to processing public invitations to tender. In recent years, the public sector has developed into one of our most important sales markets.
Geographically, Bechtle is represented in 14 European countries with the more transactional trading business and also offers a fully comprehensive portfolio of services and consulting in nine countries as a classic value-added reseller. Our extended acquisition strategy also envisages being present in all 14 countries in the medium term with the full breadth of our portfolio – i.e. trade and solution business in equal measure and therefore everything to do with IT from a single source. In this manner, we want to reach our customers across Europe in the best possible way with our multichannel strategy.
With the Bechtle International Division (BID) created on 1 January 2026, Bechtle is pooling its international business – beyond the existing national markets – into one organisation. The global activities of three units were consolidated here. Together with over 300 partners, Bechtle is thus in a position to serve customers in 180 countries and thus far beyond the borders of Europe.
Competitive position
Germany’s largest system house
The IT market in Germany is highly fragmented. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, over 96,400 IT companies in Germany offer products and services in the fields of IT hardware, software and IT services. These IT companies vary greatly with regard to their size, service spectrum and specialisation. Around 83,000 of these IT companies are local businesses with an annual turnover of no more than €1 million. Almost 13,200 companies have an annual turnover of up to €50 million. The group of medium-sized IT companies with an annual turnover of €50 million to €250 million according to the Federal Statistical Office, consists of 301 companies. Only 65 companies, including Bechtle, are on the list of the largest companies active in Germany.
In Germany, Bechtle enjoys an excellent market position. In the ranking of the largest system houses prepared by the industry medium “ChannelPartner”, our company was the number one in 2024, measured by domestic revenue.
According to the industry association bitkom, the total volume of the German IT market (IT hardware, software and IT services) was €160.6 billion in 2025. (previous year: €152.6 billion ). With a reported annual business volume in 2025 of around €4.9 billion in Germany, Bechtle’s market share is around 3 per cent. Bechtle’s market share also clearly shows how fragmented the German IT market remains. As a group, small and medium-sized companies still account for by far the largest market share. Despite the ongoing consolidation pressure, this situation is unlikely to change in the medium term.
Research and development
Customised development services and research into artificial intelligence
Bechtle conducts software and application development activities both for internal purposes and for individual customer projects. Expenditure on development totalled an organic €20 million in the reporting period. In the field of application solutions, we not only design, develop and implement software on behalf of customers, but also cover special industry requirements where required. Bechtle has also been active in the field of research since 2023. By acquiring a stake in PLANET AI, we expanded our portfolio to include AI solutions in the area of intelligent document analysis.
MODUS Consult
MODUS Consult GmbH engages in somewhat more significant development activities. Among other things, it develops ERP solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for the food and beverage industry, mechanical and plant engineering, the plastics and metal industry and the furniture industry, as well as for wholesale companies. In customer projects, solutions are also implemented in the fields of customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise content management (ECM) and business intelligence (BI).
In addition to individual development work in customer projects, we have also carried out development work to update various industry solutions. To safeguard our ability to supply in future, these solutions have been aligned with the latest generation of Microsoft’s cloud ERP suites. With our comprehensive SharePoint offering and the integration of processes with the Microsoft Power Platform, we make the entire Microsoft platform offering, including Office 365 and Microsoft Teams, available to SMEs.
Products of ELO as well as SharePoint and Shareflex are used in the ECM projects. In this area, MODUS Consult has also developed its own standard modules, which are deployed or customised in customer projects. This includes, above all, a universal document connector that ensures more interoperability.
Furthermore, MODUS Consult assists customers in pure CRM projects, which are already highly cloud-oriented. The CRM portfolio comprises marketing solutions as well as sales, service, user portal and support functions. MODUS Consult covers the field of business intelligence with Power BI.
PLANET AI
In addition to providing other development services, PLANET AI GmbH focuses on intensive research in the field of artificial intelligence. At the centre of the research is PLANETBRAIN – an AI platform with patented core technology that forms the basis for the development of Intelligent Document Analysis (IDA). An integral part of PLANETBRAIN is the perception matrix technology, which enables high-precision analysis of text, images and speech and thus fundamentally changes data acquisition and processing. Handwritten and typed documents, receipts and texts are processed automatically, document types are classified and information is extracted. Intelligent document analysis is already being used in various sectors – from logistics and traffic monitoring to banking, insurance, healthcare and archives.
Building on this technological basis, PLANET AI is developing JAIDE, a new generation of AI assistance systems for knowledge-based work. The focus is on research into intelligent agent systems and knowledge worker support: specialist AI agents work together in an orchestrated way to manage complex tasks – from structured information retrieval to the guided processing of specialist workflows. JAIDE benefits from the data quality guaranteed by IDA, enabling end-to-end automation from document capture to intelligent knowledge utilisation.
PLANET AI’s international research collaborations with universities and research institutions are a key element of these activities. Joint research, close collaboration and the continuous exchange of knowledge and technological advances make a significant contribution towards strengthening the research and development of artificial intelligence.