advanter media — ERP, CRM and DMS for Publishers, Agencies and Media Services

advanter media is the industry edition of the advanter 5 elements system from Guenther Business Solutions GmbH, headquartered in Leverkusen in North Rhine-Westphalia. The platform combines ERP, CRM (customer relationship management), project management and DMS (document management) in an integrated solution targeted specifically at design and media-services businesses, agencies, publishers, repro and print shops. For buyers looking for a vertical-industry ERP for project-led businesses with demanding requirements on calculation, resource planning and media-asset management, advanter media is one of the established DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) options, with the vendor active since 1994. The product is one of the longer-running specialist plays for the agency-and-publisher segment and competes through depth of industry-specific functionality rather than through generic ERP scale.

Overview

Guenther Business Solutions GmbH was founded in 1994 and is headquartered at Campusallee 7 in Leverkusen. The company operates in the DACH region under the Guenther Business Solutions and Guenther Business Solutions Austria brands and specialises in integrated ERP, CRM, DMS and project-management solutions. The advanter product line has been developed continuously; the current generation, advanter 5 elements (also referenced as advanter 7), runs on the Claris FileMaker platform and therefore supports Mac, Windows and iOS clients on an equal footing. The platform choice is a meaningful differentiator: many publishers and agencies operate in Mac-dominated environments and find in advanter a native, simultaneously cross-platform business application that respects their existing OS-strategy.

Functional sweet spot

advanter media covers a broad functional scope tailored to the requirements of project-led media and publishing businesses. Core modules include project and sub-project management with transparent cost and resource views; quotation, order processing and invoicing; contact and communication management (CRM); web-based time and shop-floor data capture; project-tied email communication and document filing; media-database integration and document management (DMS); and analytics on utilisation, margin and project status. Projects can be managed from the initial briefing through calculation, production, billing and post-project analysis. The integration of project management with calculation and resource planning is the central differentiator versus generic Mid-Market (mid-market) ERPs that handle agency work poorly. The FileMaker platform makes the user experience particularly natural for Mac-oriented creative teams.

DACH positioning

advanter media is engineered for the DACH agency, publisher and media-services Mid-Market: German vendor, German development, German-language interface and support, with a customer base concentrated in Germany and Austria. The product handles DATEV (the German accounting exchange standard) integration, GoBD (digital-bookkeeping principles), ZUGFeRD and XRechnung e-invoicing through the standard advanter core. The competitive set is mainly other agency-and-publisher industry ERPs such as projektron BCS or Helmes' agency-vertical extensions on Business Central, rather than generic Mid-Market ERPs that lack the project-and-creative-workflow depth this customer segment requires. The Mac-native FileMaker platform is a meaningful selection factor for creative-industry buyers that explicitly do not want a Windows-only product.

Pricing and implementation

advanter media is sold as a project: pricing depends on user count, module scope, operating model (on-premise, hosted or cloud) and the depth of customisation. The vendor does not publish list prices. Implementation is delivered by Guenther Business Solutions directly with a small partner network, which keeps the project chain short and the industry-knowledge transfer consistent. The FileMaker platform allows fast adjustments to individual customer workflows, which is one reason agency customers tend to find the system more adaptable than rigid Mid-Market ERPs. Total cost of ownership is positioned competitively against other agency-vertical industry ERPs and well below the cost of customising a generic Mid-Market ERP to the same agency-workflow depth.

Selection considerations

advanter media is a defensible shortlist entry for DACH design and media-services businesses, agencies, publishers and repro and print shops that need an industry ERP rather than a generic one with bolt-on project tooling. It is particularly strong for Mac-dominated creative environments where the FileMaker platform aligns with the existing OS-strategy. It is less compelling for non-media businesses (generic Mid-Market ERPs fit better), for very small agencies where lightweight tools such as Mocoapp or HQ-Tools are sufficient, or for buyers that have a strict Microsoft-platform preference (Business Central with agency-vertical extensions fits better there). The defining buyer profile is a DACH agency, publisher or media-services business with serious project-cost and resource-planning requirements.

Vendor homepage of advanter media

Current view of the website https://www.guenther-bs.at/

Screenshot of the homepage of advanter media

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Häufig gestellte Fragen

How much does advanter media cost?

The licence costs of advanter media depend on the number of users, module selection and deployment model (cloud/on-premise). A serious cost estimate requires a concrete requirements analysis — see our ERP cost overview for realistic ranges. Licence costs typically account for 25-35% of total project costs; the rest is spread across implementation, training and data migration.

What alternatives to advanter media are there?

Specific alternatives depend on industry fit, budget and company size. The software overview lists 300+ DACH ERP systems; the comparison pages offer pairwise head-to-head comparisons. The exact configuration depends on the industry, size class and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.

Does advanter media offer mobile apps?

Modern ERP systems offer at least a responsive web UI; many have native iOS/Android apps for sales, warehousing and approval workflows. Specific mobile features are documented in the vendor profile. The exact configuration depends on the industry, size class and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.

Is there a community or support forum for advanter media?

Cloud vendors usually run their own community platforms plus documented API forums. Open-source solutions (Odoo, ERPNext) have particularly active communities. Vendor support is typically available via tickets, phone and premium SLAs.

Can advanter media be connected to other systems such as CRM or DMS?

Yes — via REST APIs, iPaaS platforms (Lobster, MuleSoft) or pre-built connectors. More on CRM integration: ERP vs CRM; on DMS: DMS software. The exact configuration depends on the industry, size class and customising depth of the specific ERP setup.