Data Room Services is finalist in the "Top 100"
Service company clears the first hurdle to receiving the prestigious prize for small and medium-sized businesses
22. November 2007
Data Room Services GMBH & CO. KG - The first obstacle has been overcome: Data Room Services has qualified for the finals of the nationwide business award "TOP 100 - The 100 most innovative small and medium-sized companies". This is the sixteenth time the contest has judged innovation management within German SMEs and awarded the "Top 100" quality seal to the best of them. The company taking first place earns the title "Innovator of the Year". On 4 July 2008, mentor Lothar Späth will announce the top 100 innovators.
However, management cannot rest on its laurels for too long after this initial success - it must now demonstrate that Data Room Services deserves to be among the 100 most imaginative and ambitious German SMEs. This means Data Room Services must convince the project's academic board, led by Prof. Nikolaus Franke of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, of the company's own innovative excellence in a detailed questionnaire.
Data Room Services has already succeeded in convincing the innovation experts with the details it provided on the company's key performance figures and innovative ideas. As one of the leading suppliers of data rooms for the real estate, M&A, NPL and private equity industries, Data Room Services has supported a multitude of transactions with a volume of up to EUR 6 billion. Founded in 2001 by corporate finance specialists, Data Room Services is based in Frankfurt with offices in New York, London, Milan and Amsterdam. In addition to virtual data rooms and an integrated Q&A management platform, which is adapted to the requirements of companies participating in the process, Data Room Service also offers physical data rooms and data sourcing.
The purpose of the "Top 100" project is to provide independent academic recognition of the innovative power of companies. This encourages highly innovative enterprises to demonstrate their excellence. In a two phase process, a team from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration examines the performance of the participants in the five main categories of "Innovative Success", "Innovative Environment", "Innovative Processes and Organisation", "Promotion of Innovation by Top Management", and "Innovation Marketing".
Should Data Room Services make the "Top 100", it will be in excellent company. In previous years, 48 percent of the top innovators among SMEs were the market leaders in their industries, while 25 percent were number 1 in the world. A comparative study showed that the 2007 winners achieve much higher turnover with innovations, and save much more on costs with the innovative streamlining of business processes, than a comparable group of companies that did not participate in the project. The 2008 winners will receive more than just recognition. The "Top 100" company network is an excellent platform for valuable contacts and opportunities for high-level partnerships. And furthermore, individual benchmarking reports will allow Data Room Services to focus on the further expansion and streamlining of its innovation management. The finalists have already received a compact profile of their strengths and weaknesses to facilitate a meaningful initial evaluation of their company's commitment to innovation.
Project Mentor, Partners and Academic Board
The project mentor is Lothar Späth. The project partners are the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V (Fraunhofer Gesellschaft to Promote Applied Research), the RKW - Rationalisierungs- und Innovationszentrum der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V. (RKW Rationalisation and Innovation Centre of the German Economy), the Association of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Information Technology and the Association of German Engineers. The media partner is the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Prof. Nikolaus Franke of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration heads the Project Academic Board.
The Organiser: compamedia GmbH
compamedia specialises in the organisation of benchmarking projects and development of networks for SMEs. compamedia is in charge of the innovation project "TOP 100 - The 100 most innovative SMEs" and the employer comparison "TOP JOB - The 100 best employers amongst SMEs". Its latest project is "ETHICS IN BUSINESS - Trendsetters in Ethical Conduct". The media contact person is Silke Masurat, (07551 94986-34, masurat@compamedia.de, Print-quality graphic materials for the "Top 100" project are available in the press section at www.top100.de.