Global Management

Thomas Herbst founded apsolut together with Tim Kollmeier in 2005, focusing on IT applications in the field of eProcurement based on SAP Supplier Relationship Management. For over 15 years, apsolut has been active in the field of procurement and has become a household name in the consulting world. The company's main objective is to advise customers and improve them according to their business processes and requirements and to increase operational efficiency and productivity and reduce costs. Following its success in the procurement space and as part of its expansion strategy, apsolut has spread its wings to SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass, SAP S/4HANA Central Procurement, SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management, integration solutions, SAP Fiori and additional solution add-ons. As the epitome of delivery quality and dedicated customer service, apsolut has developed a strong customer base.

Thomas holds a degree in industrial engineering from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. He started his career as a consultant at HewlettPackard, where he worked on optimising SAP-based procurement processes for several customers. His systematic way of learning and his leadership skills took him to the next career level and he took over responsibility for the entire SAP consulting area at Heiler Software AG.

Thomas is the personification of honesty and commitment. He is a visionary and inspiring leader. His tireless efforts have made him the majority owner of apsolut subsidiaries in Germany, India, Spain, the UK, China, Austria and Switzerland. His motto "grow and let grow" has paved the way for many aspiring leaders. His fairness towards colleagues has made him a role model for people. His company ideology has made apsolut one of the best companies in the market.

Jürgen West, entrepreneur, worked in the tourism industry as authorised signatory until 2000 and then switched to internet programming and the area of SAP application programming. As an in-house consultant and developer at Münster University Hospital, he was initially responsible for the further development and roll-out of the SAP SRM system for the peripheral areas of the hospital and the laboratories.

At the beginning of 2006, Mr. West joined apsolut and became the driving force behind the development of a framework for SAP SRM development required for efficient implementation in customer systems. In July 2010, Mr. West took over the management of SAP SRM development and, from January 2011, headed the entire development department as a partner. Since the beginning of 2017, as Senior Partner, he has been responsible for coordinating all internal and external company requirements in his area and for support worldwide. He also integrates the activities of the development department with the overarching corporate goals.

After +25 years in different sales and management functions Mr. Bernzen spend his first 10 years at SAP where he was able to witness the launch of B2B Procurement later called SRM. He had the opportunity to join the newly formed SAP Marketplace team based in the US (SAP Labs) 1999 where e-procurement was one fundamental part of the initial solution. His next career step was to build the US market for an SAP Partner (Heiler now Informatica) where he was able to position software and services to global companies such as Daimler and GM. After a total of 5 years in US Mr. Bernzen (privately) decided to move back to Europe, and started at HP back in Germany as the Global Alliance Director managing the HP Software and SAP Alliance business before he moved on into IT Management and Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning space for the last 6 years.

Since FY22 Mr. Bernzen responsible for global sales, sales business operations and corporate marketing to help achieve the apsolut Group growth plan and vision for 2026 on a global scale.

Axel von Kleist brings more than 25 years of experience with procurement and IT solutions. After holding various positions in mid-sized companies, he was an international pioneer at Commerce One in the area of integrating eProcurement and marketplace solutions into SAP ERP systems. At Siemens, he was involved for many years in setting up global shared service centers for procurement applications and their integration into SAP system environments. Axel von Kleist has been advising companies on digitization based on SAP S/4HANA with a focus on procurement for a long time and headed the "DMI and Automotive" industry cluster at apsolut as the responsible partner.

Since 2023, Mr. von Kleist is responsible as Regional Managing Director for the region Central & East - DE, CEE, GCC and APJ.

 

Roland Weber has more than 20 years of experience in consulting and account management related to digital transformations with SAP solutions and technology.

He began his professional career in 1999 starting with PricewaterhouseCoopers and other specialized consulting companies as a SAP Consultant and was involved in various SAP ERP transformations based in Europe and in the USA.

In 2008 Mr. Weber joined SAP Switzerland where he assumed various roles related to account management of large enterprises and strategic customers globally.

Finally in November 2020 Mr. Weber joined apsolut in the role as Business Development and Sales Manager with the focus on expanding apsolut’s business in Switzerland and France.

 

Since December 2023, Mr Weber is Regional Managing Director for the region Europe West - CH, Western & Northern Europe.