Sven Becker
"Since we have our own contact person at Host Europe, this has given our cooperation another real boost."
Sven Becker – ipCONN
Managing Director Sven Becker could not have chosen a better location for his ipCONN GmbH – a company that has been committed to Internet Service Providing (ISP), security technologies and infrastructure virtualisation since 2013. The business is set on the site of the former Lingen railway repair factory. Today, the factory has become a centre for start-up tech businesses. More than 20 ITC businesses are dotted around the area. What’s poignant about the factory, though, is that it’s always been ahead of its time. It was connected to the power grid in 1908, ten years before the public households in Lingen. We caught up with Becker to talk about the development of the company and its partnership with Host Europe.
What does your company’s current location mean to you?
This location is as good as it gets. First of all, the historic site with its listed halls is a real feast for the eyes. And then the proximity to the other companies in the IT and communications industry enables a lively exchange, a networking of short distances, so to speak. In addition, my first IT company, which I founded in 1998 with two fellow students, is also located in the Technology and Start-Up Centre. As I said, it couldn't be better.
Both companies are on the same floor in Hall 31, but did you find the separation difficult?
No, not at all. The first company had developed really well. Almost 15 years after the start, we employed around 40 people. In addition to the classic ISP business, we also had two other mainstays, web design and Microsoft CRM. On the one hand, the breadth of the portfolio was fine, but on the other hand it also felt like a kind of vendor's tray. And we didn't like that. That's why we decided to separate the divisions in 2013. I then founded ipCONN for the ISP and system house business, of which I have been the managing director ever since. Both companies are independent of each other, but still work together quite intensively.
On which business areas does ipCONN now concentrate?
With my current eleven employees, we offer our approximately 500 customers, as the saying goes, innovative technical solutions - from Internet Service Providing to security technologies and infrastructure virtualization. Of course, we also often act as consultants.
This location is as good as it gets. First of all, the historic site with its listed halls is a real feast for the eyes. And then the proximity to the other companies in the IT and communications industry enables a lively exchange, a networking of short distances, so to speak. In addition, my first IT company, which I founded in 1998 with two fellow students, is also located in the Technology and Start-Up Centre. As I said, it couldn't be better.
Both companies are on the same floor in Hall 31, but did you find the separation difficult?
No, not at all. The first company had developed really well. Almost 15 years after the start, we employed around 40 people. In addition to the classic ISP business, we also had two other mainstays, web design and Microsoft CRM. On the one hand, the breadth of the portfolio was fine, but on the other hand it also felt like a kind of vendor's tray. And we didn't like that. That's why we decided to separate the divisions in 2013. I then founded ipCONN for the ISP and system house business, of which I have been the managing director ever since. Both companies are independent of each other, but still work together quite intensively.
On which business areas does ipCONN now concentrate?
With my current eleven employees, we offer our approximately 500 customers, as the saying goes, innovative technical solutions - from Internet Service Providing to security technologies and infrastructure virtualization. Of course, we also often act as consultants.
"After ten years of growing and intensifying cooperation, Host Europe's data centre is now considered a reality."
Were you born with computers?
I grew up with them. My first computers were a C16 and then a C64. On it I programmed in Basic or Pascal, as the languages were called at that time, and also wrote my own computer games. In this way I grew stronger and stronger on the topics. Some years later, I worked for a bank in Lingen. They were looking for someone to program them a few databases under Lotus Notes. At that point there was the need to register a business. And so one thing lead to another.
As a young entrepreneur you went straight into a field full of established players. What was that like?
We said to ourselves back then: we have to create an alternative to the established providers. Then we actually established a so-called Point of Presence (PoP) in Lingen and got us a leased line and provided internet access. And that at a time when most companies had nothing to do with it, the whole topic was still in its infancy. We had already connected the first companies to the internet. We ignited the next stage with the construction of our own computer centre. And little by little the whole development picked up speed.
When did your paths cross with Host Europe?
When we started the ISP business, there were no service providers like Host Europe in this country. Everything went well for us until our data centre reached a point where other service providers like Host Europe simply overtook us. They had grown the business bigger from the start. These are the moments when you unpack the slide rule to find out that it no longer pays off. Then you look for a suitable partner, start a first smaller project, then others follow. We've been working together with Host Europe for ten years now.
I grew up with them. My first computers were a C16 and then a C64. On it I programmed in Basic or Pascal, as the languages were called at that time, and also wrote my own computer games. In this way I grew stronger and stronger on the topics. Some years later, I worked for a bank in Lingen. They were looking for someone to program them a few databases under Lotus Notes. At that point there was the need to register a business. And so one thing lead to another.
As a young entrepreneur you went straight into a field full of established players. What was that like?
We said to ourselves back then: we have to create an alternative to the established providers. Then we actually established a so-called Point of Presence (PoP) in Lingen and got us a leased line and provided internet access. And that at a time when most companies had nothing to do with it, the whole topic was still in its infancy. We had already connected the first companies to the internet. We ignited the next stage with the construction of our own computer centre. And little by little the whole development picked up speed.
When did your paths cross with Host Europe?
When we started the ISP business, there were no service providers like Host Europe in this country. Everything went well for us until our data centre reached a point where other service providers like Host Europe simply overtook us. They had grown the business bigger from the start. These are the moments when you unpack the slide rule to find out that it no longer pays off. Then you look for a suitable partner, start a first smaller project, then others follow. We've been working together with Host Europe for ten years now.
