Oliver Gloor has been working at bmpi AG for 23 years. He has been CEO for twelve years. In the interview, he reveals what he values, how he experienced the financial crisis and what the anniversary means to him.
bmpi AG celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. You’ve been working for the company for 23 years, the last 12 as CEO. How did this come about?
I started two years after bmpi was founded. I knew the two founders Stephan Missura and Marcus Brändle from my time at ETH Zurich. At that time, I had several job offers, but found that such an opportunity in a start-up only arose once. I had no idea about the financial industry or the technologies and gave myself half a year to contribute.
When you look back on the past years, would you do everything the same way again? Why?
From today’s perspective, I would do a lot of things differently. Whether you would do a lot of things differently from the perspective of that time is another question. Looking back, however, I would try to be a better listener in order to really understand our customers. Once, I almost lost a customer because I didn’t perceive their need properly. Today, we invest more time in really knowing and understanding our customers’ needs.
“When I think back to the last few years, the Corona and financial market crises come to mind, as does the bursting of the dotcom bubble – but I think much more about the people I have had to deal with.”
What do you remember most about those years?
The financial crisis in December 2008. Suddenly, almost all of our customers’ budgets were cut. We informed our employees openly and promptly about the events. At that time, we did not know what would happen to bmpi AG. On the one hand, we had existential worries, as we had almost no more orders in January 2009. On the other hand, a positive calm was noticeable among the employees in the office. During this time, the employees had always believed in a good exit from the crisis.
25 years is a number worth looking at in the IT industry. What does the anniversary mean to you?
I think the whole thing is a tension. On the one hand, the public perceives high flyers, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. These companies are younger than bmpi AG and are now billion-dollar corporations. On the other hand, I think we should have been more successful. However, if we remember that many companies go bankrupt shortly after being founded, it is a great achievement. bmpi AG has continuously developed and changed during these years. In addition, the team consists of long-time employees. What more could we ask for?
What do you wish for the future of bmpi AG?
I would like the current strategic development projects to be successful. These projects lay the foundation for the next ten years. In addition, I hope that our Cinnamon software solution leads to new customer relationships.
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