„Kennzeichnend für mich? Die Neugier, die Welt zu verstehen und – wie meine Kinder – täglich Wunder zu erleben“, sagt Oliver Wick. „Denn das zeigt, dass man immer auch ganz andere Lösungen finden kann. Ich liebe Problemstellungen, die man nicht sofort durchblicken kann.“ Seit Anfang des Jahres ist Oliver Schoberianer. Passend zu seiner Leidenschaft löst der promovierte Physiker und Senior Consultant im Vertrieb komplexe Herausforderungen und bietet maßgeschneiderte Lösungen. Den iPhone-Ansatz von udo findet er dabei einzigartig. Was ihn sonst beschäftigt? Familie, Physik, Science Fiction und immer wieder Daten, Datenqualität und die Frage, wie man Erkenntnisse aus Daten gewinnt. Wie das alles zusammenhängt? 

Ehrliche Haut aus Ostfriesland

Sein Lebensweg beginnt in Ostfriesland. Hier ist Oliver geboren und in einem „liebevollen Elternhaus und Kokon“ aufgewachsen. Die Eltern ermutigen zum eigenen Denken und Hinterfragen übernommener Vorstellungen. Gleichzeitig vermitteln sie einen grundsätzlichen Wertekanon – Solidarität, Offenheit und Aufrichtigkeit gehören dazu. „Ich denke, dass ich geprägt durch meine Kindheit ein sehr offener und ehrlicher Mensch bin. Ich sehe die Welt und die Menschen positiv und möchte das Richtige tun, nicht irgendwas, irgendwie“, betont Oliver. Auch im Business spürt der Kunde die „ehrliche Haut“. Deshalb vertraut man ihm und merkt, dass es um die beste Lösung geht. „Wenn ich Kunden berate, dann damit wir es zusammen richtig machen. Kaufen, das macht der Kunde von selber.“  

Vom Norden in den Südwesten

Schon in jungen Jahren hat er sich angewöhnt, um die Ecke zu denken und den Dingen auf den Grund zu gehen. Dazu passt die Studienwahl: Physik wählt er nach der Schule als Fach, weil es „ein vielfältiges und buntes Herangehen an Neues erfordert“. Gedacht, getan – in Braunschweig nimmt er das Studium auf, wechselt dann nach Göttingen. Die Suche nach einem Doktorvater führt ihn am Ende nach Freiburg ganz in den Südwesten. Hier arbeitet Oliver fünf Jahre als Wissenschaftler, scheut weder komplexe Fragestellung noch Mühen. Am Ende steht die Promotion in Experimentalphysik. Ob er heute das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten vermisst? „Nein, als Senior Consultant ist mein aktueller Arbeitsalltag eigentlich gar nicht so anders. Auch hier geht es um Verstehen, Neues erkunden und kreative Lösungen. Allerdings habe ich heute intensiven Kontakt mit Kunden, das ist für mich ein enormer Gewinn.“ 

Mediator für Mehrwert zwischen Kunde und Möglichkeiten

In den Beruf steigt Oliver zunächst als Programmierer bei einem großen deutschen Systemhaus ein, beschäftigt sich unter anderem mit Verkehrsplanung in Japan. Schnell zeigt sich, was ihm wirklich Freude macht: der Umgang mit Menschen. Er wechselt zu Uniserv und konzentriert sich hier auf Themen rund um Daten, Datenqualität, Master Data Management und Customer Data Management. „Ich verstehe mich als Mediator zwischen dem Kunden und seinen Anforderungen einerseits und dem technisch Machbaren andererseits“, beschreibt er sein Selbstverständnis. Als Teamleiter, Senior Consultant und Senior Sales Manager übernimmt Oliver viele Projekte und sammelt wertvolle Erfahrungen bei Mittelständlern und Großkonzernen. „Findigkeit und Kreativität sind ebenso gefragt wie tiefes technisches Verständnis, um daraus eine Lösung für die Anforderungen der Kunden zu schnüren. Erfolg ist immer Solution Selling, das heißt Mehrwert für den Kunden schaffen.“ 

„Zuhören und innovativ bleiben“

Das Verhältnis zum Kunden sieht er wie eine Beziehung. „Bevor man die geschäftliche Zusammenarbeit startet, baut sich die Beziehung erst auf. Und wie beim Kennenlernen muss es funken. Zuhören und innovativ bleiben ist dann für die weitere Beratung zentral“, erzählt Oliver. Denn auch wenn es bequem ist, alle Herausforderungen mit der gleichen Methode zu lösen – Stichwort Schubladendenken – liegt der Erfolg in der Beratung und der daraus entwickelten Lösung. Dazu braucht Oliver neben breitem Fachwissen auch die Fähigkeit, über den Tellerrand zu schauen und Lösungen neu zu denken. 

Der iPhone-Ansatz von udo, die perfekte Kombination…

Neue Wege suchen und gehen – das ist eine Konstante, die Oliver schließlich zur Schober Information Group führt. Der Management Buyout macht ihn neugierig. „Als ich gesehen habe, wie konsequent die drei Geschäftsführer im Schober-Management neue Wege gehen, habe ich das Gespräch gesucht, ob wir zusammen passen“, erzählt er und ergänzt: „Und wir passen zusammen!“ Seit Januar 2022 ist Oliver Teil des Vertriebsteams und bringt langjährige Erfahrung im Umgang mit Daten, Datenmanagement und Analytics ein. Interessenten dürfen sich auf maßgeschneiderte Lösungen für ihr Datenmanagement freuen.

Besonders fasziniert den promovierten Physiker das Flagship-Angebot der Schober Information Group udo. „Genial ist der iPhone-Ansatz von udo, die perfekte Kombination vieler Anwendungen und diese einfach verpackt“, erzählt er begeistert und betont: „Es gibt am Markt kaum ein zweites Tool, das  diese Kombination in einer einzigen Anwendung zur Verfügung stellt: ein MDM inklusive Data Enrichment aus dem Schober Datenuniversum, den kompletten Analytics-Bereich inklusive Maschine Learning sowie ein zielgruppengesteuertes Kampagnentool. Vom Auflösen der Datensilos bis zur zielgenauen Kampagne wird alles automatisiert umgesetzt. Einzigartig!“

In seiner Zeit bei Schober hat er bisher vor allem Kompetenz und Herzlichkeit gefunden: „Da paart sich jahrzentelange Erfahrung mit einem Spirit aus Begeisterung und herzlichem Miteinander. Es herrscht zudem eine tolle Aufbruchstimmung, da komme ich gerne ins Büro nach Stuttgart :-).“

Kinder, Familie, Nordsee-Küste

Und außerhalb des Schober-Universums? Der Weg ins Büro nach Stuttgart ist zugegeben weit. Denn mit seiner Frau und den drei Kindern lebt Oliver an der Nordsee. Für den Ostfriesen schließt sich hier der Kreis, für die Familie insgesamt öffnen sich neue Horizonte. Im Vergleich zum vorherigen Leben in Karlsruhe („Manager parkt neben Manager“ – so Oliver) ist das Leben viel entspannter und ländlicher. Für Kinder und Hund bietet das Haus Raum. Und natürlich ist der Strand nicht weit. 

Glück und Freude kommen auf, „wenn meine Frau glücklich mit mir und meinen Kindern am Strand ist, wenn ich nach vielen Versuchen endlich die Lösung für eine Problemstellung gefunden habe und damit im Beruf auch noch erfolgreich bin, wenn ich meinen Kindern beim Spielen zuschaue oder wenn mich ein spannendes Buch aufsaugt.“

Zugleich versucht Oliver, möglichst viele Bälle in der Luft zu halten und seine Hobbies zu leben. „Neben den diversen Herausforderungen einer fünfköpfigen Familie arbeite ich gerne mit Holz, spiele Schach (momentan nur Internet), bin gerne mit Mountainbike und Rennrad unterwegs und lese viel Science Fiction und Gegenwartsphilosophie“, erzählt er. Buchtipps gefällig? Oliver empfiehlt Singularity von Joshua Tree und Kinder der Ewigkeit von Andreas Brandhorst. Vielleicht sind da ja Anregungen für den nächsten Urlaub an der Nordsee dabei?

“Characteristic for me? The curiosity to understand the world and – like my children – to experience miracles every day,” says Oliver Wick. “Because that shows that you can always find completely different solutions. I love problem sets that you can’t immediately see through.” Oliver has been a Schoberian since the beginning of the year. In keeping with his passion, the doctor of physics and senior consultant in sales solves complex challenges and offers customized solutions. He finds udo’s iPhone approach unique. What else keeps him busy? Family, physics, science fiction and always data, data quality and the question of how to gain insights from data. How it’s all connected?

Honest skin from East Frisia

His life’s journey begins in East Frisia. This is where Oliver was born and raised in a “loving home and cocoon.” Parents encourage their own thinking and questioning of adopted ideas. At the same time, they convey a fundamental set of values – solidarity, openness and honesty are among them. “I think that shaped by my childhood I am a very open and honest person. I see the world and people positively and want to do the right thing, not something, somehow,” Oliver emphasizes. The customer also feels the “honest skin” in business. That’s why you trust him and realize that it’s about the best solution. “When I advise customers, it’s so that we can do it right together. Buying, that’s what the customer does by himself.”

From the north to the southwest

Even at a young age, he got into the habit of thinking around corners and getting to the bottom of things. His choice of study fits in with this: He chooses physics as a subject after school because it “requires a diverse and colorful approach to new things.” No sooner said than done – he began his studies in Braunschweig and then transferred to Göttingen. The search for a doctoral advisor ultimately leads him to Freiburg, right in the southwest. Oliver worked here for five years as a scientist, sparing neither complex questions nor effort. At the end is the doctorate in experimental physics. Does he miss scientific work today? “No, as a senior consultant, my current day-to-day work is actually not that different. Here, too, it’s all about understanding, exploring new things and finding creative solutions. However, today I have intensive contact with customers, which is a huge benefit for me.”

Mediator for added value between customer and opportunities

Oliver initially started his career as a programmer at a large German systems house, working on traffic planning in Japan, among other things. It quickly becomes apparent what he really enjoys: dealing with people. He is moving to Uniserv, where he will focus on topics related to data, data quality, master data management and customer data management. “I see myself as a mediator between the customer and his requirements on the one hand and what is technically feasible on the other,” is how he describes his self-image. As a team leader, senior consultant and senior sales manager, Oliver takes on many projects and gains valuable experience with medium-sized companies and large corporations. “Resourcefulness and creativity are just as much in demand as deep technical understanding to turn them into a solution for the customer’s requirements. Success is always solution selling, which means creating added value for the customer.”

“Listen and stay innovative”

He sees the relationship with the customer like a relationship. “Before you start the business collaboration, the relationship builds first. And just like getting to know each other, it has to spark. Listening and remaining innovative is then central to further consulting,” Oliver tells us. Because even if it is convenient to solve all challenges with the same method – keyword pigeonhole thinking – success lies in the consultation and the solution developed from it. To do this, Oliver needs not only broad expertise but also the ability to think outside the box and rethink solutions.

udo’s iPhone approach, the perfect combination…

Seeking and taking new paths – this is a constant that eventually leads Oliver to the Schober Information Group. The Management buyout makes him curious. “When I saw how consistently the three managing directors in Schober’s management were breaking new ground, I sought out the conversation to see if we were a good fit,” he says, adding, “And we are a good fit!” Oliver joined the sales team in January 2022, bringing years of experience working with data, data management and analytics. Interested parties can look forward to customized solutions for their data management.

The physicist with a doctorate is particularly fascinated
the flagship offer of the Schober Information Group udo.
“The iPhone approach of udo is ingenious, the perfect combination of many applications and these simply packaged,” he says enthusiastically and emphasizes: “There is hardly a second tool on the market that provides this combination in a single application: an MDM including data enrichment from the Schober data universe, the complete analytics area including machine learning as well as a target group-driven campaign tool. From breaking down the data silos to the targeted campaign, everything is implemented automatically. Unique!”

During his time at Schober, he has found competence and cordiality above all: “Decades of experience are paired with a spirit of enthusiasm and cordial cooperation. There is also a great atmosphere of optimism, which makes me happy to come to the office in Stuttgart :-)”.

Children, Family, North Sea Coast

And outside the Schober universe? Admittedly, it’s a long way to the office in Stuttgart. That’s because Oliver lives on the North Sea with his wife and three children. For the East Frisian, the circle closes here, and for the family as a whole, new horizons open up. Compared to the previous life in Karlsruhe (“manager parked next to manager” – according to Oliver), life is much more relaxed and rural. For children and dog the house offers space. And of course the beach is not far.

Happiness and joy come “when my wife is happy with me and my children at the beach, when after many attempts I finally find the solution to a problem and am successful with it at work, when I watch my children play, or when an exciting book absorbs me.”

At the same time, Oliver tries to keep as many balls in the air as possible and live his hobbies. “In addition to the various challenges of a family of five, I enjoy working with wood, playing chess (Internet only at the moment), mountain biking and road biking, and reading a lot of science fiction and contemporary philosophy,” he says. Want some book tips? Oliver recommends Singularity by Joshua Tree and Children of Eternity by Andreas Brandhorst. Maybe there are some suggestions for your next vacation at the North Sea?

Anyone who meets Katrin Meier-Mwangai is immediately in the middle of a conversation with her and always wants to know more – whether it’s about private or professional aspects. “Every phase of life and every job has shaped me, some more, some less. Whether it’s the ‘jet-set’ job for AMD, where I was more or less at home in the world’s airports, or life in developing countries, where many of the things we take for granted in everyday Western life are not,” Katrin replies when asked about formative experiences.

Solving complex challenges and curiosity are two central motives in her life. And challenge is not the usual business phrase: Katrin gets to the bottom of things. She joined Schober in April 2020 as Head of Digital Strategy to drive the roadmap of the DataTech offering and provide strategic advice to customers on digital transformation.

From Bavarian Swabia …

It all started in Nördlingen in Bavarian Swabia. Katrin grew up here, and from here she went on to study IT at Siemens, with stops in Paderborn and Augsburg. A course of study exactly as she imagined it: lots of practice, lots of new things, lots of getting around. This was followed by years in development at Siemens, and later Fujitsu. Hardware, laptops, servers, but also software are Katrin’s fields there. She can still do the coding, although the need hardly arises anymore: udo and bearch development is more about development coordination and implementing customer requirements in the platform.

…to build bridges

“New is healthy,” she says after seven years at Fujitsu, she is leaving for AMD in the semiconductor industry. Katrin also oversees high-performance computing for EMEA for the Intel competitor. It involves computationally intensive operations, and Katrin often has to build bridges: between U.S. development and major EMEA customers such as Cern, the Jülich Research Center or ENI, between technologies, between people. It is the time when Katrin lives more in airports and flies from one meeting to the next. The job is exciting, very international and challenging – just “jet-set”.

Cosmopolitan and emphatic

She is also fascinated by travel and contact with a wide variety of people in her private life. At a young age, she begins to explore the world on her own. As opportunities increase, so does the travel radius; to date, she has visited over 70 countries. And here, too, she likes to get to the bottom of things: on the occasion of her trip to Indonesia, for example, she organizes a two-week stay at an orphanage in advance to participate in local life. Among many other destinations, she repeatedly goes to sub-Saharan Africa, where she also meets her current husband Munene. But until the wedding in 2018, it should then take a moment.

Rational gut – is that possible?

Because before that, there are career changes to be made: At some point, she no longer recognizes any prospects at AMD. She is offered an attractive option in the U.S., but the path mapped out for her within the company is not enough. Her boss at the time says, “You build houses, but you don’t want to mow lawns in the front yard.” In fact, she is looking for challenges, not so much life in a row house. She herself says, “I’m a gut person, even though I’m otherwise extremely rational.” How does that come together? “I listen carefully to my emotions and then I’m consistent.”

To Schober, via Schober to Kenya …

In 2013 she starts at Schober, the change into the marketing world is again very deliberate. Industries on the verge of a technological push offer just the right challenges. But there is one thought that keeps her going: she has always wanted to make a contribution to economically driven development aid – personally and not just financially. “If not now, nothing else will”, Katrin decides at the beginning of 2016 and starts with a project for Managers without Borders in Uganda. Afterwards, her life together with Munene begins and she works for different social enterprises that support local startups with financing and consulting. “You have to think your way in and gain deep insights into the country and people’s lives,” Katrin explains.

In 2017, she is diagnosed with a chronic disease in Nairobi that remained undetected in Germany until then. Recovery takes a long time and brings with it many a change of plans. This also includes their joint move to Germany, which the two will embark on in 2018.

… back to Germany as Head of Digital Strategy

After their return, the couple settles in Augsburg and Katrin reconnects with her contacts at Schober. Digital transformation has remained as a hot topic, marketing and technology complement each other perfectly. In April 2020, she will take on a central function as Head of Digital Strategy at Schober, becoming Chief Digital Officer in 2023. In addition to strategic customer consulting, she is responsible for the technical development of the DataTech offering: If you want to know what will be needed in the coming years and what is state of the art, Katrin is the right person for you.

Marketing automation in self-service

She dives into one topic after another, Katrin tells us. She is currently focusing in particular on udo: “The platform is already powerful because it automates many aspects for marketers. Where individual work and technical know-how were required in the past, marketers can now use udo. On the one hand, the platform links data silos with each other and only then creates the prerequisite for a comprehensive customer view,” explains the Head of Digital Strategy. Most importantly, udo democratizes access to analytics and AI. “We are continuously adding use cases to udo so that customers can use more and more functions at the push of a button. In the medium term, the roadmap envisions the expansion of udo into a self-service platform as a milestone in Schober’s DataTech offering.” It is not yet possible to give a time frame, but medium-sized customers in particular are likely to be eagerly awaiting the offer.

And after work?

When evening comes, Katrin likes to read thrillers and especially appreciates black humor. It can be a little macabre for them. Sudoku of the class extra difficult are also part of the relaxation. So if you have a special headache, Katrin is looking forward to receiving your letters. When time permits, she goes hiking in the mountains with her husband. The trips that had to be cancelled to Covid19 will hopefully be made up soon. Some destinations are still missing from her list: Mozambique, Costa Rica and India are next on the agenda.