c-entron — ERP Software for IT System Houses

c-entron is an ERP and industry-specific solution from c-entron Software GmbH in Ulm, Germany, targeted specifically at IT system houses, managed-service providers and IT services organisations across the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region. According to the vendor, more than 600 system houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland run on the product. The software combines classical ERP functions — merchandise management, CRM and accounting connectivity — with capabilities typical for the day-to-day operations of a system house: ticketing, contract and licence management, service boards and automated procurement through distributor connectors. The product is the result of three decades of operational experience: the original idea emerged inside an in-house IT system house that recognised the need for sector-specific tooling. The name "c-entron" derives from the ancient-Greek word for "centre".

Overview

c-entron Software GmbH was founded in 2003 in Ulm. The software emerged from the founders' own system-house operation, which gave the product first-hand familiarity with the operational realities of the IT services sector. In May 2024, founder and managing director Thomas Hoffmann left the company after more than 30 years, as reported by trade publication CRN. The organisation employs around 35 to 40 staff today and continues to develop the product at its Ulm headquarters — meanwhile also as a hosted cloud service operated by the vendor, as IT-BUSINESS reported in 2017. c-entron is profiled in the specialised-solutions category on erp-software.org: a Tier 3 niche vendor with high domain expertise in the IT system-house segment but limited horizontal reach.

Functional sweet spot

At the centre of c-entron sits a unified data foundation for the entire system house: addresses, articles, orders, contracts, licences, tickets and service times are managed in a single solution. The merchandise-management module covers quote, order, delivery note and invoice, with serial-number and batch management. The CRM provides customer history, activities and sales pipeline. Particularly relevant is the integrated ticketing system with service board, escalation rules, automatic ticket assignment and customer communication. Additional modules cover contract handling with periodic invoicing, licence management and time-and-effort recording that flows directly into invoicing. c-entron is packaged in three tiered "ToolPacks" — CORE, PRO and ULTIMATE — spanning entry through to the all-in-one bundle. A central strength is the deep integration with ITscope, one of the largest B2B procurement platforms for IT resellers in DACH: distributor pricing, availability and ordering flow directly out of c-entron.

DACH positioning

c-entron is a DACH-anchored vertical-specific ERP with a tightly defined target audience: IT system houses, managed-service providers and IT services firms across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The DACH localisation is comprehensive — native DATEV (the German accounting and payroll standard) connectivity, Lexware connectivity, GoBD compliance (the German principles for proper digital bookkeeping) and the standard ZUGFeRD and XRechnung e-invoicing formats. Connections to common RMM and monitoring tools used by managed-service providers, to standard German telephone systems and to email clients are part of the standard product. The 600+ DACH customer base ranges from 5-person resellers through to Mid-Market system houses with 100+ staff. Deployment is offered both on-premises and as cloud service, enabling smaller system houses to start without their own server infrastructure.

Pricing and implementation

c-entron pricing follows the ToolPack tiering: CORE for entry-level setups, PRO for growing system houses and ULTIMATE for full-scope deployments with all modules. Indicative ranges: 50 to 100 euro per user per month for cloud subscription depending on tier, or one-off licence fees of 1,500 to 3,000 euro per user for on-premises with annual maintenance of 18 to 22 percent. Implementation duration is typically 2 to 6 months for a 5- to 30-user system house, which is short by ERP standards because the standard product fits the IT-services workflow out of the box. Total cost of ownership over five years for a typical 15-user system house deployment sits in the 80,000 to 250,000 euro range, with the ITscope-driven procurement automation typically delivering measurable margin improvement within the first 6 to 12 months.

Selection considerations

c-entron is a strong fit for DACH-based IT system houses and managed-service providers that want a vertical ERP rather than a horizontal product with custom-built service-management bolt-ons. It is particularly compelling when the buyer values native ITscope integration, when contract and licence management are core to the business model, and when a 600+ customer reference base in the same vertical is valued. It is less compelling for system houses with strong international operations outside DACH (where vendor-neutral products with broader localisation fit better), for very small one-person resellers (where lightweight tools like sevDesk or Lexware Office often suffice), or for IT services organisations whose business model has drifted towards software development or consulting rather than reseller-and-managed-service operations.

Related Topics

• ERP comparison overview
• ERP
• ERP consultants

Vendor homepage of c-entron

Current view of the website https://c-entron.de/