THE WOMAN BEHIND DIE ERSTE GEIGE

Barbara Wittmann discovered her love for MTB sports even before finishing school. After graduation, she turned this passion into a profession, and underwent training as a retail saleswoman in a bicycle shop.

She was able to pursue her fascination with technology further during a one-and-a-half-year stint with a medium-sized bicycle manufacturer in the U.S. There she learned about frame construction and metal processing from the bottom up.
With this in-depth knowledge and profound understanding of the biking world, she returned to Europe and worked in the purchasing and sales departments of internationally active bicycle manufacturers based in Germany and Switzerland. She organized events and trade fair presentations. At night school she acquired a Bachelor in Marketing (CC) and obtained her Cambridge Certificate in English.

By the time she was twenty-six, Barbara Wittmann had turned her dream into a reality: she was director of sales for a market leader in the industry, responsible for millions, in contact with business partners and customers all over Europe. This steep ascent had its price, though – her passion faded and the desire to change to a different line of business grew.

In early 2002, she set out on a new leg of her career journey: now in IT.

At SAP Retail Solutions Ms. Wittmann got to know the SAP-ERP System down to the smallest detail. After a year with the company she transferred to SAP Switzerland, where she co-headed implementation and development projects. The year 2004 had hardly begun when she qualified for the worldwide group’s major executive league. As a product specialist in the CEO’s office, Ms. Wittmann worked on applying new technology to business processes, development methods and innovation management.

Among her accomplishments during this phase are two IT patents in the areas of Netweaver and SOA.

In May 2006, with the founding of her own consulting firm, Ms. Wittmann fulfilled her long-cherished dream of uniting all of her multifaceted experience in a consultancy portfolio. Today she works as a consultant, trainer and coach.

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