25 years of MD Systems, the interview

25 years is a long time, do you still remember the beginnings of MD Systems?

Miro: MD Systems was born out of pure curiosity about entrepreneurship. I started laying the foundations for MD Systems while I was still an apprentice (which was not allowed and not compatible with my apprenticeship contract). Many self-proclaimed "friends" wanted free tech support from me because of my computer knowledge. Thanks to my company, I was able to invoice the so-called "friendship services" properly and got some free time back 😜

Alongside my subsequent studies, I continued to run MD Systems as a side project, also with the help of various fellow students.

in 2008, I discovered the open source CMS solution "Drupal" and became completely absorbed in this highly competent and collaborative community. I was so enthusiastic about the way we worked together that I decided to expand MD Systems in 2009 after four years on my own.

Sascha: I only joined during the course of my studies, about 15 years ago.

Which project was the first challenge?

Sascha: For me, the most special challenge was the go-live of the Bieler Tagblatt in November 2011. We supported the Bieler Tagblatt in completing the project for their website and were directly on site in their offices in Biel during the final project phase. We wanted to launch the project very quietly on Monday morning, without any fuss or announcement. What we didn't think about was that on that very Monday morning when we went live, there was a huge headline in Biel: Armed robbery of McDonald's. It felt like the whole of Switzerland wanted to know what and how this robbery took place. The website was overrun and there was an above-average number of hits, as everyone wanted to find out the latest news.

Pure adrenaline! It took us a while to stabilize the website so that it could handle the onslaught of people thirsting for knowledge. If anyone wants to read up on the details of the raid, this old article is still published in an archive of the Berner Zeitung newspaper.

Miro: I'd almost forgotten about that, it was really nerve-wracking.

For me, the first masterpiece was in 2012, when we launched a project together with various media houses in Switzerland (initiative, merger of several media houses in Switzerland). We started this project three years before Drupal 8 was released for a specific product (NP8 Distribution), of course looking ahead to Drupal 8.

There were so many uncertainties and risks to consider (because, as I said, we were three years ahead technically) and to plan for and implement everything missing for an MVP ourselves. This ultimately led to us porting around ⅓ of Drupal's top 100 modules and working even more closely on Drupal Core. The result was the punctual release of Le Temps (letemps.ch), at the time the world's largest media website with the widest reach based on Drupal 8.

For me personally; a wonderful milestone. From a technical point of view, all the developments we were able to realize and of course from a community point of view. For me, there is almost nothing better than the combination of hard work and the conspiratorial exchange of clever minds.

How did you two get to know each other?

Miro: I was involved in the organization of the "Day of Computer Science 2008" and got to know the winners and participants of the WorldSkills Awards in the run-up to the event. Sascha caught my eye and his expertise stayed in the back of my mind (he won the "Medallion of Excellence" in 2007) "Medallion of Excellence"-Award at the WorldSkills in Shizuoka, Japan in 2007).

When I met him at a "Drupal" event in 2009 and we had the opportunity to talk, it was clear that we had to make a difference together.

Sascha: I was already fascinated by Drupal before my studies, but during my studies I got to grips with it even more intensively and decided to attend my first Drupal event (in Aargau) in 2009. There I got talking to Miro and from then on we started working together. During my studies, we started working together on various projects, for example for the MWST Institute. After completing my studies in summer 2011, it was clear to me that I wanted to continue focusing on Drupal. The collaboration between me and Miro is still the same as when we first met. That's why I started in MD Systems after graduating, stayed until now and am more committed than ever.

Do you have any relationship tips? It would actually be our silver wedding anniversary 🥰

Miro: We hardly ever talk to each other 🤣 No, Seich, I appreciate Sascha as a person in his entirety. His technical know-how gives me the freedom to focus on ideas and concepts for our clients and their projects. His values and ideas go hand in hand with mine and that makes it easy for me to work together.

Sascha: Well, we haven't been together quite as long as would be required for a silver wedding anniversary, but "only" 15 years. But I think that we appreciate, respect and complement each other as people and as professionals and also understand each other. In my opinion, that makes working together very pleasant.

Miro: Mutual trust is our secret tip for fulfilling collaboration.

What motivates you? And what is the aim of your work?

Miro: We want to develop technology for people that serves people. To achieve this, our developments must be understandable, accessible and trustworthy for everyone (we live inclusion).

We support and are part of open source collaborations because they give us access to the world's brightest minds. We can learn, develop and grow from them.

We want to move towards a long-term and sustainable future in such a way that our children will one day be proud of us and our work on this earth.

Sascha: We want to further expand our long-term commitments and strengthen our sustainable, technological goals so that our children will still have an earth worth living on as a place to settle. True to the motto; sharing is caring, we also want to communicate our values to the outside world, the longer the more. I am also looking forward to creating new tools for our customers and providing them with solutions for their day-to-day work.

What has changed in the industry in recent years positively changed?

Miro: Open source is accepted and widespread and is seen as an integral part of professional software development.

Unfortunately, the "positive" effects that appear in the media, such as the topic of accessibility, are hardly substantial, but rather media-effective triggers for other topics that marketing would like to find well-placed in the media. The more often the words are used in the wrong contexts, the more likely they are to lose meaning and substance; at a certain point, society no longer takes sovereignty or accessibility seriously or sees it in the wrong context. This creates a "fake sovereignty", a "fake open", etc.

Sascha: The global political situation naturally supports the path of "digitalization", as our most important buzzwords of sovereignty and accessibility are repeatedly given space in the media. It's just like Miro said.

But I think everything is dominated by AI at the moment. I often get the feeling that we users don't really understand digitalization, that we're all resting on our laurels with ChatGPT and not thinking about ourselves and our environment. In my view, people's current focus seems to be on acting and consuming without thinking. Every request to AI consumes a lot of resources, generates data volumes that have to be stored somewhere on some server. How much water are we wasting with requests and/or tasks to our AI helpers?

Fortunately, we work with platform.sh and therefore have the opportunity to store data in Switzerland on more sustainable servers to host our websites. We would like to expand the word sustainable a little here, because technology is a burden and always is. However, we always try to minimize the impact of our solutions on the environment.

But we found a positive final sentence to this question 😂

Are there things that affect the day-to-day work of IT companies in Switzerland? affect?

Miro: Now comes the negative part. 🤪

Sascha: Well, what has to be said, has to be said and you didn't rest on your laurels, you chose the critical voice.

Miro: Sure, because it's unpleasant and isn't taken seriously or understood enough.

We are all dependent on the big tech companies and make ourselves vulnerable to blackmail by using their software solutions. Technology is moving and changing at a rapid pace. Users always try to keep up with the latest trends (the fear of being "left behind" is great), but these are usually replaced by a new or optimized version after just one year. This fast pace of technology leads to a decline in the value of the actual technological achievement.

We like to think of ourselves as architects, because we plan and build from the foundations up and don't "just" design pretty knick-knacks to be placed in the finished house. As soon as a solid foundation is in place, it can be individually extended and modified. That way, we remain flexible and have room for trends and as yet unknown new needs and solutions.

Sascha: I actually already made my negative statement in the previous question. But I think it's important that we are always aware; we are human beings, so we allow human emotions and don't leave all the responsibility for our existence to a technical gadget.

You are both very active in various communities and associations. What drives you to be so involved in the industry?

Miro: Firstly, my thirst for knowledge is very great and secondly, I see the potential of open source and how it can be better utilized. I enjoy the exchange among like-minded people just as much as I enjoy encouraging people to think and giving society a nudge. I do this as a specialist speaker on the topics of digitalization, digital sovereignty, open source, leadership, accessibility and I also try to make a difference for the industry at a political level.

Sascha: I don't like being in the limelight and when I am, I "only" share my knowledge in the Drupal community (as this knowledge is open source, it is accessible to everyone😜). I like to exchange ideas with like-minded people. But I don't necessarily have to shake people up with the exchange, Miro is a bit different. I enjoy it when we can find solutions together as a community and develop suitable tools. Anyone who has ever been to an escape room and enjoys this type of leisure activity knows how cool it is to set out in search of the solution so that everyone can get out of the closed environment. With the Drupal Community, we have a team of specialists right by our side - it doesn't get any better than that.

Miro: We are members of swissICT (Open Source specialist group management, Smart Generations specialist group), members of ADIS, member of CH Open (board member), Drupal Community and are actively committed to inclusion and accessibility.

What do you think Switzerland will look like in 25 years? Will the wait for the hoverboards from "Back to the Future" finally be over?

Miro: To be honest, I hope it will be better than I can imagine at the moment. From a purely social point of view (looking at America, for example), the longer it goes on, the more difficult it becomes. Therefore; think global, act local. In our industry in particular, there are high technologies that make global networking essential. For everything else, it is clear to me that it is possible to function locally and sustainably. Switzerland still has a lot of work to do in this respect. Digital sovereignty for Switzerland now, otherwise I paint a bleak picture for the future. It is imperative that we Swiss emancipate ourselves from the big tech companies and move towards a self-determined future (less dependence, more freedom, less susceptibility to blackmail).

So where do we start? As many people outside the industry have not yet developed any awareness of the problems, we are actively involved in various committees. The awareness of: What do we want anyway? As a society and as individuals. Where is the happiness? It's worth stepping on the brakes a little and not letting ourselves be driven indiscriminately by technology. The most important change lies in the perception of sufficiency. Not to perceive this as a painful renunciation, but to see it as a retreat of contentment - this is the big change that everyone can make for themselves. Work-life balance and all that.

Sascha: Well summarized by Miro. I see it the same way. We are doing our best so that we, as a society, can better pave the way for the future. As Switzerland, we have to make sure that we remain independent and that we as a society can use the new technical achievements for the benefit of all and not to line the pockets of a few.

Why we don't yet have a "hoverboard" as in the idea of the movie "Back to the Future"; a matter of demand, generated needs, yield and resources invested in technical implementation. Apparently not everyone wants to get off the ground 🤣