hunter: about fecher

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About fecher

For 30 years, fecher has been helping its clients to modernize their software, in order to create new functions or to master an upcoming change in technology. The fecher team’s wealth of experience enables it to find an optimal way to provide existing applications, methods and procedures with intelligent procedure models, specialized tools and largely automated processes to establish a new modern basis.

It is namely these core competencies that were crucial to fecher's purchase of the industry solution HunterNT from the Frankfurt-based company CBC in 2001. fecher’s application specialists transformed the personal consultancy software, which was written in Gupta and had about 18 clients, into a state-of-the-art application and launched a new business unit, Recruitment Solutions, with development, support, marketing and distribution and processing. With great success: By the end of 2004, HunterNT was already being used by 100 clients.

With the takeover of PRS.net from the Vienna-based RTS, a second software solution with an additional 40 clients was added in 2005. In the merging of these two products – hunterNT had the requisite speedy operation needed by the research business and PRS.net had the distinctive process support needed by executive search – fecher’s software competence once again came in handy. Given a new name "hunter" and migrated to the more modern .NET platform in 2010, the application’s success continued.

Its rapidly further-developed range of functions turned hunter into an attractive option for personnel consultants, researchers and corporate managers responsible for recruiting. And thanks to fecher’s technological edge, the software is also hosted in a leasing model, is available on mobile devices, and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM as well as other cloud solutions. With more than 300 clients ranging in size from home-based offices to large corporations and from Andorra to Cyprus, it is no wonder that hunter is now one of Europe’s leading recruitment solutions!

Company Timeline

30 years of experience and progress: Explore our milestones and key events since our founding in 1987.

fecher was founded
in 1987

Eberhard Fecher founded the company as an IT consulting firm in Germany while still working on his degree in business administration.

1st software development project

In 1991, the young firm began developing sales support software for France's Thomson Group.

Now offering
tool-based services

In 1992, fecher began offering the development tool buildingBLOCKS, a software toolkit for Gupta developers.

Gupta
partnership

fecher enters into a partnership with Gupta Technologies. A joint trade show booth at the CeBIT 1992 led to a number of additional joint public appearances.

1st large client:
a "Landesbank"

In 1992, the Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz (regional bank in Germany) became fecher's first large client. Their order for SQLWindows training sessions was followed by additional projects.

More banks become clients

In 1993, the Deutsche Verkehrs-Bank (DVB) became a fecher client. To this day, fecher still provides software development support for the Reisebank AG, a later spin off.

fecher gets
an "office"

In 1995, the company expands and its employees move into the loft apartment on the top floor of the Fecher family home.

1st public contracts (public procurement)

In 1996, fecher adds the Forestry Operation of the Hessisches Landesamt für Naturschutz, Umwelt und Geologie (Hessian Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology) as a client.

More space,
finally!

The loft apartment is no longer suitable for the growing number of employees. In 1996, the firm moved to an addition built onto the Fecher family home to provide 'real' office space.

A flourishing partnership

In 1997, Gupta Technologies changed its name to Centura. Nonetheless, the partnership with fecher continued to flourish and over the years both companies would often share a booth at trade shows.

buildingBLOCKS becomes fecher product

In 1997, fecher also obtained the rights to buildingBLOCKS and developed the product further.

The new millennium arrives!

As the world prepares for the new millennium, fecher continues its strong performance.

Learn more

Entering the new millennium: 1999/2000

At the turn of the millennium, fecher had 21 employees and a nationwide presence in Germany. The company has added branches in Dresden, Duesseldorf, Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart to its Rodgau headquarters. fecher greatly expanded its service offerings to include training and support, database application development and class libraries for developers using Team Developer thanks to an important partnership with Centura.

Acquisition
of HunterNT

fecher became a solution provider for industry-sector software when it purchased the personnel consultancy software HunterNT from CBC (based in Frankfurt, Germany) early in the year 2000.

fecher moves to its new headquarters

As the company with its 10 employees no longer fit in the annex, fecher moved to its new headquarters in 2000. The office building in Rodgau (near Frankfurt a.M.) provided the much needed additional space.

Gupta projects
boom

Platinum Equity, the investor that acquired Centura's products in February 2001 and revitalized the Gupta brand, maintains the close working relationship with fecher.

Branch office opened
in Switzerland

In 2002, just after Austria, fecher also opened its own branch office in Kloten, in the vicinity of the Zurich airport.

Ice Tea Group
cooperation

In 2003, the Class Compiler product was developed jointly with the American software developer Ice Tea Group. The software compiles non-visual Gupta code to .NET.

Founding of fecher Romania

In 2003, fecher opened its nearshoring center in the Romanian city of Oradea (a university city). It's core competencies: web development and Microsoft technologies.

buildingBLOCKS
JAVA

In 2003 and 2004, a new product called buildingBLOCKS JAVA was developed in a development collaboration with Wilken.

HunterNT adds
PRS.net

Early in 2005, fecher purchased PRS.net, an insolvency asset that belonged to the software house RTS. PRS.net is an application for personnel consultants that fecher integrated with its HunterNT solution.

1st major .NET
project

In 2005, fecher created for the Vienna Insurance Group an .NET online application system for life insurance.

Developers start turning away from Gupta

An increasing number of companies are looking to switch from Gupta and in the future develop in .NET only. As fecher wants to support them, it ends the partnership with Gupta.

1st porting
project

In 2005, in collaboration with the Ice Tea Group, fecher ported the former Microsoft ERP suite Apertum for eEvolution, its new owners, from Gupta (SQLWindows) to .NET.

fecher assesses
the sale of Gupta

In September 2006, Gupta is sold again; this time to the California-based Unify Corporation. In ComputerWoche, a German-language IT magazine, fecher provides guidance and initial recommendations for action.

Introduction of "The Porting Project"

At the end of 2006 at a roadshow with Microsoft, fecher introduces the tool-based, highly automated porting of entire Gupta applications to .NET.

Gupta porting becomes a successful model

Very early in 2007, the Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz is the first fecher client to order an extensive porting project.

fecher presents
new hunter software

At the BDU Personalberatertag (Meeting hosted by the German Personnel Consultants Association) in May 2007, fecher presents the new hunter; a merger of the capabilities of HunterNT and PRS.net.

New business
areas

Mid-year 2008, fecher was given a new organizational structure by founding the Business Units Software Services, hunter and Business Solutions.

fecher opens new branch in the U.S.

In 2008, a branch office was opened in Washington, DC to serve the North and South American markets, whereby the main focus is on porting projects.

Market introduction
of CV EXTRACTOR

Functioning both as an add-on to hunter as well as a stand-alone application, the new product CV EXTRACTOR was introduced in 2009 as an extractor of information from documents and business networks.

„Germany’s Best Database Project 2010“

In 2010, fecher's Gupta database porting project for the Landesbetrieb Hessen Forst won the Database Award from the highly regarded German-language IT magazines Computerwoche and CIO.

New .NET version of hunter is introduced

A new version of hunter was introduced in 2010. It now utilizes modern .NET technology and offers an intuitive user interface with a timeless, fresh design.

Visual WebGui for web porting

In 2011, a partnership began with the software developer Gizmox that made "Web Enabling" possible; namely the porting of .NET applications to web, cloud and mobile environments.

fecher becomes a Microsoft Cloud Partner

In 2011, fecher's cloud enabling services were enhanced by new Microsoft offerings, like Microsoft Office 365 and Windows Azure.

fecher offers
Microsoft CRM service

Also in 2011, fecher began offering cloud-based customized client solutions for growth-oriented SMEs. This service is currently still limited to the German-speaking region.

hunterMOBILE is now available

At the end of 2011, fecher introduced to the market its mobile information platform for recruiters.

1st CRM project
is a success

In 2012, at the BDU (German Personnel Consultants Association), fecher's in-house developed software for associations goes live as a Microsoft Dynamics CRM-based application.

Windows Azure
Info Day

In 2013, fecher presented the success factors for cloud projects to software developers at a joint roadshow with Microsoft.

fecher Verbandsmanager

In the Spring of 2014, the new industry-specific solution for Microsoft Dynamics CRM officially became available to clients within the German-speaking region.

fecher now also migrates Visual Basic 6

fecher has become a comprehensive specialist for application modernization. In 2014, due to the high demand level, fecher also started migrating VB6 software to .NET.

hunterONLINE becomes available

Early in 2015, hunter became available as a SaaS distribution model that can be easily and safely used from the cloud; no server installation required.

fecher moves to Roedermark, Germany

In April 2015, fecher moved its German head office to its newly built headquarters in Roedermark (near Frankfurt am Main).

hunter wins an innovation prize

At the German INNOVATIONSPREIS-IT contest, two hunter software modules won the award "BEST OF 2015".

Porting and Web Enabling to the max

In 2015, fecher successfully concluded for Amtech Software in the United States its largest porting and web-enabling project to date.

The company's staff mourn the loss of Eberhard Fecher

On February 26, 2016, fecher's founder Eberhard Fecher passed away unexpectedly.

Obituary

Continuing on the successfully forged path...

Eberhard Fecher, who founded the company in 1987, always knew the path he wanted his company to take. His focus wasn't so much on the next disruptive development or the next huge project; he was more interested in collaborating with people, in particular with the end users of software. He began by offering training sessions. Even thirty years later, many participants still remember and speak highly of him. As a trainer, he was able to make highly complex material easily understandable. In these sessions, he made many good contacts and established a basis of trust. When former students then became clients in later projects, he never disappointed them. Though fairly uncommon in the business world, his word was his bond and he kept the promises he made - to his clients and his employees. The training sessions led to projects and the hiring of additional staff. Regional branch offices were strategically established, followed by the opening of national and international offices. Unlike others, he did not chase rapid growth in the 2000s. Instead, he sought organic relationships with people and companies that were built on trust. He had an unusually high level of trust in those around him and did not micromanage, yet was detail-oriented and gave advice in a low-key manner. He encouraged others and would identify and suggest solutions in a peer-to-peer collaborative manner. He not only was a mentor to all of his employees, he was also frequently consulted for his expertise by the firm's partners and clients. His enthusiasm for so many things, whether willingly or unwillingly, was transferred to all he came in contact with. Eberhard Fecher died from cancer at the age of 54. His sudden and unexpected death was a shock to all who knew him. The company he leaves behind is well-structured and healthy with a loyal and dedicated workforce that continues to run fecher along the path forged by Eberhard Fecher.

DMV implements fecher Verbandsmanager

In 2016, the largest implementation to date of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM-based cloud solution took place as a Club Management System for the German Marketing Association's (DMV) 65 clubs.

Premium service partnership for Wisej

With Wisej, in November 2016 a new technology for web enabling projects became available that is also suitable for developing real-time web apps. Hereafter, at fecher this framework will replace Visual WebGui.

fecher expands its presence in the U.S.

fecher sponsors Leigh Steinberg's Super Bowl Party 2017, which combines sports, business and glamor, though above all it supports humanitarian works.

fecher's 30th anniversary

In 2017, the company is proudly celebrating its 30th anniversary. fecher's development has truly been impressive.

Learn more

Results at the 30-year mark

fecher's development after 30 years is truly impressive. Not only is the company financially healthy and flourishing, fecher is continuously improving its portfolio offerings and adapting them to market requirements. Core competency: Absolutely top-notch in application modernization, like no other. The proof? More than 150 successfully completed modernization projects on four continents. Our comprehensive offerings range from Gupta and database porting via VB6 migration to web and cloud enabling as well as customized Microsoft-based business solutions. With hunter, you benefit from one of Europe's leading recruiting solutions. In addition, a number of large, well-known associations in Germany rely on fecher's 'Verbandsmanager' software for associations. In short: A real success story!

Locations

In addition to our company's headquarters in Rödermark (near Frankfurt / Germany), fecher also has branches and developer teams in Germany, Switzerland, Romania and the USA.

Germany

fecher GmbH (Headquarters)

Otto-Lilienthal-Str. 12
63322 Rödermark
Phone: +49 (6074) 80577-00
Fax: +49 (6074) 80577-99
E-Mail: info@fecher.eu

Location northwest

Technologiepark 12
33100 Paderborn
Phone: +49 (6074) 80577-00
Fax: +49 (6074) 80577-99
E-Mail: info@fecher.eu

Switzerland

fecher GmbH
Lindenstrasse 20
8302 Kloten (Airport)
E-Mail: info@fecher.eu

USA

fecher LLC
1010 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 315
Washington, DC 20007, USA
Phone: (202) 629-0294 Ext:703
Fax: (202) 629-0294
Toll Free: (800) 287-8320
E-Mail: info@fecher.net
Website: www.fecher.net

Romania

fecher Romania SRL
Strada Dimitrie Cantemir 36
410513 Oradea, Bihor
Phone: +40 (259) 415-889
Fax: +40 (259) 413-313
E-Mail: info@fecher.ro