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K-Businesscom launches new podcast "Coffee, Tea, Technology" First guest: Rafael Laguna de la Vera, founding director of the federal agency for leap innovations "SPRIND " Vienna, February 3, 2021 - Rafael Laguna is the first guest in K-Businesscom's new pod cast. The director of "SPRIND", the agency for leap innovations of the Federal Republic of Germany, talks to host Sandra Baierl about craziness at the expense of the state, the role of Europe in the (tech) world and a possible European Elon Musk. The first episode of "Coffee, Tea, Technology" is all about innovation. Rafael Laguna has been working as an entrepreneur and investor in the software sector for over 30 years. He founded his first company at the age of just 16. For the past year, he has headed the Federal Agency for Leap Innovations in Leipzig. Its aim is to implement an innovation policy approach to promote disruptive innovations that is unique in Germany. In search of the next Elon Musk. He says: "Somewhere in the Republic lives a bright mind who has what it takes to be the next Elon Musk. You just have to find him." In an interview with Kurier journalist Sandra Baierl and K-Businesscom CEO Jochen Borenich, Laguna de la Vera reveals how the search works and how the new federal agency can help. He also gives an interesting insight into the daily work of an agency that focuses exclusively on innovative, disruptive technologies. Innovations for Austria too. Rafael Laguna's team has around one billion euros at its disposal to promote disruptive business models and creative innovations. A huge responsibility that sometimes poses difficult questions for Laguna. How much craziness can you allow at state expense? And when is an idea too outlandish? We also discuss whether such an institution would also be conceivable for Austria and whether it might pay off to follow our big neighbor in this matter. And what about the role of Europe in terms of innovation and disruption. Is the old continent still searching for a technological identity? So where can the journey lead? The conversation can be found on all popular podcast platforms from February 3, 2021. "Coffee, Tea, Technology" will be published on a monthly basis in future. About Coffee, Tea, Technology: Coffee, Tea, Technology - K-Businesscom's podcast deals with the latest and most interesting topics from all areas of technology. Presenter Sandra Baierl talks to K-Businesscom experts such as CEO Jochen Borenich and national and international guests about exciting topics such as artificial intelligence, leapfrog innovation and IT security. The podcast will be available on all common platforms and will be published monthly. The presenter is Kurier journalist Sandra Baierl, the host is K-Businesscom CEO Jochen Borenich. The podcast is produced by the podcast company Missing Link Media. Links: The trailer for Coffee, Tea, Technology: coffee-tea-technology.simplecast.com All episodes: coffee-tea-technology.simplecast.com/episodes Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2Mf2HW6cpUKXRbSkJNiggP Apple: podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/coffee-tea-technology/id1549515097 K-Businesscom is Austria's leading ICT solution and service provider and digitization partner. BusinessCom combines innovative strength, certified technological expertise and industry know-how as a consultant and business engineer. In the DACH region, Romania and the Czech Republic, the company develops end-to-end new business models with its customers: Connectivity, IoT platforms, individual AI applications and software applications. The KBC Cyber Defense Center ensures that all data is protected. The digitalization partner accompanies its customers internationally on their cloud transformation journey as well as in the development of smart spaces and smart offices. The basis for this is its many years of experience as a market leader for network solutions, collaboration, data center infrastructure, security and managed services combined with the technologies of international manufacturers such as Cisco, Microsoft and HPE. Turnover FY 19/20: approx. 422 million euros; number of employees: 1,300

Existing digital display and access control systems from KBC have now been expanded to include the option of querying the current vaccination status via the QR code from the green passport. Vienna, 11.01.2021 - With KBC's corona-compliant access control solution, it is now possible to query the current vaccination status via the QR code from the green passport - all in compliance with GDPR regulations. The access control systems are the ideal solution for the retail, hospitality, tourism and event sectors. The solution can also be linked to a door control system and thus act as an automatic door opener. The indoor and outdoor solutions - as a stele or mounted on the wall - are designed so that they can continue to be used as a digital signage system and can be integrated into existing systems. They can be managed and played centrally and the user interface can be adapted specifically to each company CD. The hardware for these Corona-Impf-Check columns or screens is based on industry-standard components. KBC provides fast and comprehensive advice on implementation and also offers flexible financing models via its own K-Businesscom financing company.

Survey of 1,000 employees in Austria What people want from the "working world of the future" after corona Vienna, September 17, 2020 - The majority of employees in Austria would like their employer to allow them to work from home permanently until there is a COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, more freedom to make decisions and the desire to manage employees remotely online are also very popular. These are the findings of the Kapsch Group's "Workplace of the future in the digital world" study. A market research institute surveyed 1,000 employees for the study. The survey results show that employees in Austria already have very specific ideas about a new corporate culture: 77% consider it important to very important in the digital age to manage home office employees remotely in online teams. 83% would like to make organizational structures more flexible, for example by eliminating departmental thinking. In addition, 89 percent advocate more freedom to make decisions. Technology & leadership in the home office. "During the coronavirus lockdown phase, we temporarily allowed almost all of our 6,500 employees in 40 countries to work from home," says Daniel Rutter, Vice President Human Resources at Kapsch Group. "Technically, we were generally prepared for such a scenario. As a digital company, we had already learned how teams work best online across national borders." "During the crisis, we managed to provide all employees with the necessary hardware - although we had to upgrade some of it," reports Daniel Rutter. "The in-house support team also resolved technical problems, for example with video conferencing. Also very important for a successful transition to working from home: managing purely virtual teams requires new management methods, which we were able to adopt from our international experience." Leadership with Objectives & Key Results (OKR) Managing employees remotely means turning away from traditional management methods. The ongoing monitoring of physical presence, working hours and progress is no longer necessary. Supervision by the manager is replaced by a bottom-up approach in which the entire team agrees quarterly targets online for all to see. The agreed "objectives" are prepared in a way that is understandable for all participants and made measurable with defined "key results". This management method, known as Objectives & Key Results (OKR), originates from IT companies in Silicon Valley and has been tried and tested in digital companies for years. Combining the best of the working worlds. "Managers no longer have to look over the shoulder of every single employee to keep up to date," says Daniel Rutter. "There is also a new transparency across departmental boundaries. However, it is important to create a healthy mix of old and new working environments. When you work exclusively at home, you miss the chance conversations with colleagues in the coffee kitchen. These are needed to develop new ideas and a bond with the company. Therefore, analog rituals should also be made possible in hybrid workplaces. Ultimately, the aim is to combine the best of both worlds."

Survey of 1,000 employees in Austria What people want from a "workplace of the future" after corona Vienna, September 4, 2020 - Four out of five employees in Austria give their own company a good report card for its response to the coronavirus crisis. 56 percent report newly created home office options. These are the findings of the study "Workplace of the future in the digital world" by the digital company Kapsch Group. A representative survey of 1,000 employees in Austria was conducted by a market research institute. "In our company, the switch to working from home after the lockdown worked very well," says Daniel Rutter, Executive Vice President Human Resources Kapsch Group. "As a digital group, we have been relying on collaboration solutions in our portfolio for some time. That's why our employees were already well equipped technologically before COVID-19. Flexible working hours have also been common practice at our company for some time - an important reason why our productivity has not suffered during the crisis." Workplace of the future: younger people think differently. As the survey shows, there are some differences in the wishes for the workplace of the future in the various age groups. While younger employees (20-40-year-olds) prefer to work with a small number of colleagues in the same room (shared office), older employees (41-60-year-olds) prefer an individual office. Open-plan offices are not popular in either age group. For around a quarter of younger employees, the use of modern collaboration tools such as MS Teams is very important, while this is only the case for 15% of older employees. Finally, both groups show a similarly positive attitude when it comes to the use of mobile devices or being able to work from any location. Innovation needs personal exchange. Location-independent working had already become increasingly important at K-Businesscom before the pandemic, partly due to international collaboration on projects. "A digitally networked workplace is the right way to go, especially with regard to the wishes of the younger generation," says Rutter. "However, successful teamwork requires a well-balanced concept. As our daily experience shows, innovations often arise from chance conversations with colleagues from other areas of the company. These informal conversations, for example in the coffee kitchen, and other analog rituals must also be preserved in a digital working world."

The digitalization partner was able to impress above all with its rapid solutions in connection with COVID-19. Vienna, 14 July 2020 - Microsoft Corporation has announced the winners of the "Partner of the Year 2020" award. The annual award recognizes Microsoft partners who demonstrate outstanding achievements in the innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. In Austria, K-Businesscom is delighted to receive the coveted award this year. Among other things, two projects that K-Businesscom implemented in the course of COVID-19 were decisive. The digitalization provider has developed two COVID-19 response solutions based on Azure, SharePoint and M365. One solution supports the logistics process in the production of protective masks, while the other enables a major research project to collect information on patients at risk of developing diabetes mellitus due to COVID-19. "We have been used to the precise and rapid implementation of innovative projects from K-Businesscom for years, but we were particularly impressed by their agility and flexibility in the current situation and at the start of the coronavirus pandemic," says Michael Rehberger, One Commercial Partner & Small, Medium Corporate Lead at Microsoft Austria , describing the partnership and explaining the jury's decision. Rapid collection of important patient data Within a very short time, the software developers from K-Businesscom, together with Microsoft and icomedias, were able to develop a digital data collection system for the Austrian Diabetes Association to examine the connection and impact of COVID-19 on patients suffering from diabetes. Diabetes mellius is a risk factor for severe courses of COVID-19 infections. The digital Austria-wide recording of relevant parameters such as laboratory values, concomitant diseases and medication enables a well-founded diagnosis. An Austrian (cloud) solution in the fight against COVID-19 During the coronavirus crisis, the Smart Textile Consortium in Vorarlberg began producing individual parts and FFP-2 class protective masks, which are manufactured entirely in Austria. To do this, they needed an IT solution that could not only be implemented quickly, but was also scalable. By using the latest technologies and programming methods, K-Businesscom and Microsoft were able to quickly deliver a cloud-based system that enabled the Smart Textile consortium to track packages accurately. But beyond the coronavirus crisis, K-Businesscom and Microsoft are also working on solutions for Azure, SharePoint, Modern Workplace with M365 applications, collaboration including Service Hub and security. These are important components of the digitalization strategies of well-known customers in all industries. The award is a significant milestone for K-Businesscom, because K-Businesscom BusinessCom is not only a major international Azure customer itself, but also has a cloud solution provider partnership with Microsoft, in which Microsoft creates ideal framework conditions for the development and implementation of digitalization solutions. "Microsoft Azure is not just a part of our portfolio, but an important part of our overall strategy," explains Jochen Borenich, CEO of K-Businesscom , "A large part of our sales team and the Cloud Architects specialize in it. This allows us to support our customers end-to-end in their cloud transformation. We have an excellent working relationship with Microsoft in all areas, from SMEs to the enterprise segment, across all industries. To now be Microsoft Partner of the Year in Austria is a new highlight of our partnership." The awards were presented in a total of 49 categories and selected from more than 2,900 entries from over 100 countries. The winners and finalists were honored at the global partner conference and this year's digital Microsoft Inspire on July 21 and 22. As a leading digitalization partner, K-Businesscom supports companies in improving their business performance and developing new business models. K-Businesscom is a consultant, system supplier and service provider. The portfolio includes intelligent IT technology, network and security solutions as well as media technology, artificial intelligence, IoT and software development. K-Businesscom operates independently of manufacturers and with leading global partners such as HPE, Cisco and Microsoft. K-Businesscom serves over 17,000 customers, including Allianz, Erste Bank, ÖBB, OMV, ORF and Vodafone, both locally and globally. The 1,460 employees generated revenue of EUR 410 million in the 2019/20 financial year. About Microsoft Austria Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the "mobile first, cloud first" world. Its mission is to enable every person and every business in the world to achieve more. Microsoft Österreich GmbH is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation/Redmond, U.S.A., the world's leading manufacturer of standard software, services and solutions. Microsoft has had its own branch office in Vienna since 1991 and employs around 300 people. Together with more than 5,000 domestic partner companies, the aim is to enable people and companies to realize their full potential through software. Further information: www.microsoft.com/austria

Vienna, June 29, 2020 - The new subsidiary K-Businesscom Converged Services GmbH was founded following a 100% takeover of Liberty Global Services GmbH Austria. This makes K-Businesscom the service partner of the most important telecommunications providers in Austria, DACH and CEE. Further information can be found in the press release of the Liberty Global Group: Liberty Global announces strategic partnership with K-Businesscom Denver, Colorado - June, 2020 Liberty Global announces its strategic partnership with K-Businesscom involving a transfer of the Austrian IT services unit to K-Businesscom and the future provision of IT services to Liberty Global by K-Businesscom. As part of the new agreement, around 70 employees from Global Liberty Services Austria will transfer to K-Businesscom, the leading regional provider of technology services. This partnership creates new opportunities for employees, provides K-Businesscom with access to highly skilled professionals and ensures Liberty Global's business continuity through key IT services, network management and service delivery. Over the past two years, Liberty Global has realigned its presence in five European markets - including the sale of its subsidiary UPC Austria GmbH - and optimized its operations. Enrique Rodriguez, Chief Technology Officer of Liberty Global, said: "We are delighted to be working with such an established engineering and technology leader as K-Businesscom. With this new partnership, Liberty Global has found a strong strategic partner in the region. Our Austrian team will become part of a local leading player that promotes talent and opportunities, while we improve the flexibility of our operating companies and partner markets." Jochen Borenich, CEO at K-Businesscom, explains: "K-Businesscom is an innovative technology company with more than 125 years of experience. We are particularly strong in the area of digital transformation and have a long tradition of working with the most successful companies in Austria. We look forward to this exciting partnership and to supporting Liberty Global with our world-class technology capabilities and services." For more information: Press page Liberty Global www.libertyglobal.com Investor Relations: Matt Coates +44 20 8483 6333 John Rea +1 303 220 4238 Stefan Halters +44 20 8483 6211 Corporate Communications: Molly Bruce +1 303 220 4202 Matt Beake +44 20 8483 6428 As a leading digitalization partner, K-Businesscom supports companies in improving their business performance and developing new business models. K-Businesscom is a consultant, system supplier and service provider. The portfolio includes intelligent IT technology, network and security solutions as well as media technology, artificial intelligence, IoT and software development. K-Businesscom operates independently of manufacturers and with leading global partners such as HPE, Cisco and Microsoft. K-Businesscom serves over 17,000 customers, including Allianz, Erste Bank, ÖBB, OMV, ORF and Vodafone, both locally and globally. The 1,460 employees generated revenue of EUR 410 million in the 2019/20 financial year.

Vienna, December 5, 2019 - K-Businesscom acquires EVOLARIS NEXT LEVEL GmbH, a manufacturer of digital assistance systems, and takes a stake in the start-up Tablet Solutions, which offers WorkHeld, a solution for digital assembly and service processes. The digitalization expert already had strategic partnerships with both companies. The investments will enable K-Businesscom to expand its service portfolio and increase the relevance of its own services for its customers. Digital assistant K-Businesscom (K-Businesscom) acquired a 45% stake in the Graz-based innovation center EVOLARIS four years ago and has now acquired 100% of the company. EVOLARIS primarily develops digital and high-performance assistance systems that merge the physical and digital worlds. The systems are used in production, logistics and the service sector and support the repair and maintenance of machines, for example. K-Businesscom has already used EVOLARIS technologies in customer projects in the field of smart manufacturing and in the modernization of cable cars, helping customers to optimize their processes and save resources. K-Businesscom is already successfully addressing the entire DACH region with EVOLARIS. Promising start-up solution WorkHeld K-Businesscom also recently acquired a 10 percent stake in the Viennese start-up Tablet Solutions. The WorkHeld solution has been complementing K-Businesscom's portfolio for some time now. WorkHeld is a platform developed by Tablet Solutions for productive order processing of assembly, maintenance and service processes. It digitally maps all steps - from order allocation to documentation and signature. The system also records working times, defects and measured values by voice input. WorkHeld was used, for example, at Messer Austria GmbH (the leading supplier of industrial gases), where the software replaces many lists in technical maintenance. "K-Businesscom is the perfect end-to-end provider for our solution," says Benjamin Schwärzler, founder and CEO of Tablet Solutions. "For us as a start-up, it is of course the dream scenario when you develop a solution and have a partner with many years of expertise in ICT and security and the corresponding market know-how on board." Broad ecosystem With the acquisition of EVOLARIS and the investment in Tablet Solutions, K-Businesscom is pursuing its strategy of increasing the business value of its customers. To this end, the digitalization expert is constantly developing new solutions - together with customers, start-ups and research institutes. "We are constantly expanding our expertise in the areas of digitalization and security. The aim is to be able to offer our customers holistic end-to-end digital solutions," says Jochen Borenich, Member of the Executive Board at K-Businesscom. "The cooperation with EVOLARIS and Tablet Solutions has worked so well in many projects that we realized it was time to intensify these partnerships." What's more, K-Businesscom has a direct influence on the further development of the companies through its involvement. As a leading digitalization partner, K-Businesscom supports companies in improving their business performance and developing new business models. K-Businesscom acts as a consultant, system supplier and service provider. With its comprehensive expertise in dealing with large amounts of data and security as well as a large number of successful use cases in numerous industries, K-Businesscom is the ideal companion for digital transformation. The extensive portfolio in Austria, Romania and the DACH region includes technology solutions for intelligent and, above all, secure ICT infrastructure, smart building, media and security technology as well as outsourcing services. K-Businesscom relies on vendor independence and partnerships with leading global providers such as HPE, Cisco and Microsoft as well as a broad network of partners from research and industry-specific solution providers - from start-ups to large corporations. K-Businesscom has over 17,000 customers - e.g. Allianz, Erste Bank, ÖBB, OMV, ORF or Vodafone - and supports them locally and globally. 1.330 K-Businesscom employees generated revenue of around EUR 380 million in the 2018/19 financial year.

Vienna, August 22, 2019 - The municipality of Serfaus in Tyrol with a population of 1,125 has a subway line. With a route length of just 1.28 kilometers, the Dorfbahn may be considerably shorter than the Vienna subway network, but the "Alpen-U-Bahn" has nothing to hide. After three and a half years of intensive modernization work, the Dorfbahn has been transporting 3,000 passengers per hour since the beginning of July. This is made possible thanks to innovative assistance systems and digital technology from K-Businesscom. In four stations at 1,400 meters above sea level. Europe's most modern aerial tramway runs neither on rails nor on wheels. It glides along on an air cushion one millimeter above the ground, driven by a traction cable. The cable car was built in the mid-1980s to relieve the village's roads. However, thirty years after it opened, the Dorfbahn had reached its capacity limits. It was therefore extensively modernized from 2016 to 2019. The new railroad has been in operation since July 2019. The train is now almost 45 instead of 30 meters long and can transport 3,000 people per hour instead of the previous 1,600. That's almost twice as many as before. In addition, the intervals between trains have been reduced from ten to nine minutes. Comprehensive solutions from a single source. K-Businesscom is Austria's only digitalization provider to offer complete solutions from a single source. The company not only supplied the entire network technology for the new train, but also the IT for the vehicle, the assistance systems, the video surveillance, the monitor and the emergency call systems. The complete radio system for the company radio, blue light and fire department - an analog radio network for firefighting operations - also comes from K-Businesscom. "We provide the hardware and develop the entire safety concept," says Kamran Kiafar, Account Manager Mountain Railways and Industry at K-Businesscom. "The core of the system is a security control center where everything comes together. If an emergency call is made, for example, the cameras in the area automatically switch on and show a picture of the situation." For the first time in the ropeway industry, data goggles with the associated technical knowledge database are being used for maintenance and servicing. Thanks to this digital assistance system from Evolaris (a subsidiary of K-Businesscom), service operations can be carried out remotely for the most part. This helps the cable car operator in Serfaus to avoid cost-intensive on-site operations. "Our core competence at K-Businesscom is end-to-end solutions and their operation. We combine network and IT with security technology, smart solutions and multimedia. We are not only a digitalization partner for our customers, but also a consultant," says Kiafar. As a leading digitalization partner, K-Businesscom supports companies in increasing their business performance and developing new business models. K-Businesscom acts as a consultant, system supplier and service provider. With its comprehensive expertise in dealing with large amounts of data and security as well as a large number of successful use cases in numerous industries, K-Businesscom is the ideal companion for digital transformation. The extensive portfolio in Austria, Romania and the DACH region includes technology solutions for intelligent and, above all, secure ICT infrastructure, smart building, media and security technology as well as outsourcing services. K-Businesscom relies on vendor independence and partnerships with leading global providers such as HPE, Cisco and Microsoft as well as a broad network of partners from research and industry-specific solution providers - from start-ups to large corporations. K-Businesscom has over 17,000 customers - e.g. Allianz, Erste Bank, ÖBB, OMV, ORF or Vodafone - and supports them locally and globally. 1.330 K-Businesscom employees generated revenue of around EUR 380 million in the 2018/19 financial year.

K-Businesscom is equipping the renovated AMS building in Vienna's 22nd district with intelligent sensors for the lighting. This smart lighting solution allows the lighting to be automated and individually controlled, significantly reducing energy consumption. Vienna, 15 April 2019 - K-Businesscom is equipping the new AMS Serviceline call center with a comprehensive smart lighting solution, for which the digitalization expert installed 860 adjustable LED lamps with 860 sensors in the new office in Prandaugasse. Around 150 AMS employees spread over five floors with a total of 3,300 m² now benefit from a pleasant working atmosphere. For those responsible for the building, the new solution provides simple and automated control of the lighting as well as enormous potential for reducing energy consumption. "The renovation of our building provided a good opportunity to focus on smart solutions in new areas. In the long term, we expect to save 80% on electricity consumption. K-Businesscom has been a reliable telephony partner of AMS for many years, with over 7,000 connections throughout Austria," explains Harald Halfmann, Head of Purchasing at AMS. Lighting only when it is really needed. At the heart of the new solution are the 860 sensors that can measure a wide range of parameters. At AMS, these are the presence in the room and the amount of sunlight. The LED lamps automatically adjust their brightness to the sensor data and provide different amounts of light depending on their position in the room. For example, workstations at the window are illuminated differently to those further inside the building. The lighting conditions can even be adjusted depending on the weather. Lamps also switch off when rooms are empty and the light in corridors brightens automatically as soon as someone walks through. The lighting adjustments are measured so sensitively (30 times per second) and played out in a targeted manner that they are barely noticeable to the human eye. The only thing that employees notice is that there is always an optimum and pleasant light intensity of 500 LUX in the rooms and at the workplace. For facility management, the system makes it easy to handle and operate the lighting system. Facility managers simply control the system centrally or via remote access. The LED luminaires can be replaced quickly, easily and, above all, safely in the event of a failure, as only plug connections and low voltage are used (Power over Ethernet). "The smart lighting solution at AMS is a good example of the potential of smart building technologies for employees, facility management and building owners in general," explains Jochen Borenich, Member of the Management Board at K-Businesscom. With the existing sensor technology and the intelligence behind it, many additional functions could be covered and expanded: for example, temperature measurement for controlling the heating, automatic workstation bookings for shared desk approaches, the release of unused meeting rooms (if no presence is measured after a few minutes) and much more. Smart building offers a broad field for the optimal control and efficient use of any building. "The technological solution that we use at AMS comes from our German partner w-tec, a company in our digital ecosystem for smart buildings. As the exclusive partner for Austria, we plan and install these smart lighting solutions end-to-end. Just like all our digitalization solutions: from the sensor to the networking to the platform, where the data is processed accordingly and analysed with artificial intelligence, to the application for the user himself, who can book and control his workplace in the smart office on his smartphone," adds Jochen Borenich. As a leading digitalization partner, K-Businesscom supports companies in increasing their business performance and developing new business models. K-Businesscom acts as a consultant, system supplier and service provider. With its comprehensive expertise in dealing with large amounts of data and security as well as a large number of successful use cases in numerous industries, K-Businesscom is the ideal companion for digital transformation. The extensive portfolio in Austria, Romania and the DACH region includes technology solutions for intelligent and, above all, secure ICT infrastructure, smart building, media and security technology as well as outsourcing services. K-Businesscom relies on vendor independence and partnerships with leading global providers such as HPE, Cisco and Microsoft as well as a broad network of partners from research and industry-specific solution providers - from start-ups to large corporations. K-Businesscom has over 17,000 customers - e.g. Allianz, Erste Bank, ÖBB, OMV, ORF or Vodafone - and supports them locally and globally. Around 1,200 K-Businesscom employees generated revenue of around EUR 318 million in the 2017/18 financial year.