Change first.Tech follows.
friendsinc. brings Microsoft 365 and AI to mid-sized businesses, from strategy to implementation. We start with people and processes and shape the technology around them. That is how licences turn into real relief in everyday work.
What we do
- Moving to the cloud
- A fresh start in Microsoft 365, or the next step after Outlook and Word: Teams, SharePoint and a filing structure where everyone finds what they are looking for. If you wish, your team will soon make its calls where it already works together. Properly planned and securely set up.
- Managed Service for Microsoft 365
- We look after your Microsoft environment on an ongoing basis: users, licences, security and updates. With fixed contacts who know your business.
- Managed Intelligence
- AI in your business, looked after continuously. Together with you we find the one place where AI genuinely takes work off people today, one first, not ten at once, and we look across all departments to find it, because two teams often share the same problem without knowing it of each other. Then we introduce Copilot and AI assistants securely, with clear rules on who may do what, and we stay on it. AI colleagues need leadership, just as people do. We take that on together with you.
- Managed Change
- New tools do not make a new way of working. We accompany your business over the long term so that people work with them effectively and gladly, from leadership through to the team, with the shared understanding of moving the company forward together. That leaves time again to think about the future and to build it.
Who it is for
For mid-sized and family-owned businesses for whom Microsoft 365 and AI have become too important to handle on the side. You get people who do exactly this for a living and stand behind it. Above all in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
If you already work with Microsoft 365 and want more out of it, you are in the right place. If you are only on your way there, so are you.
Why friendsinc.
Since 2006, friendsinc. has been translating between technology and people. We bring Microsoft technology into businesses in a way that people understand, accept and enjoy working with. And we do not just look after Microsoft 365, we look after the AI within it: as a Managed Intelligence Provider that starts with people.
Entrepreneurship is no theory for us. Founder Markus Kerschis grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and took on responsibility in family businesses early on. Growth, crisis and starting over are things he knows from the inside.
- Translating between technology and people since 2006
- From a family of entrepreneurs, not from a textbook
- At home in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, active across Europe
- From managed services to Managed Intelligence, with people first
“Every AI project is a technology project, a security project and above all a change project. The technology is perhaps five percent. The rest is people.”
Two easy ways to start
Both begin with a conversation and end with a written result you can work with, with us or without us.
- Tenant Review
- We look at your Microsoft 365 environment as it is today: users and licences, security settings, filing and permissions, Teams and telephony. You get a plain-language assessment with the points that come first and a view on what you can take care of yourself.
- Copilot Readiness Check
- Before Copilot gets access to all your data, we check whether filing, permissions and processes are ready for it. The result is a clear statement on whether and where Copilot makes sense for you now, which groundwork is needed, and which pilot group you should start with.
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft Copilot worth it for a small business?
Often yes, provided filing, permissions and processes are sorted out first. Copilot finds everything a person has access to. That is why we start with order and security and then begin with a small pilot group.
We already have an IT provider. Does that still work?
Yes. We take on Microsoft 365 and the support of your team, and we coordinate with your provider for hardware and network.
Will AI take the work away from my people?
First it takes away the overload. In many businesses people run permanently beyond their limit. When AI takes over routine work, room opens up, and the question is what you do with it. Whoever fills the gap with new tasks straight away ends up where they started. Whoever gives their people room to think, from their own area, about what moves the business forward gains something no AI delivers: ideas from people who know the business inside out. That is exactly what we support you in.
How do we get started?
With a 30-minute conversation. Afterwards you know where you stand and which next step is worth taking. Often that is the Tenant Review or the Copilot Readiness Check.
The friends.
The people behind friendsinc.
- Markus Kerschischief executivefriend.Founder. From Microsoft 365 to Mindset 365, translator between technology and people
- Simon Stumpfsenior consultingfriend.Change and training expert for Copilot and Microsoft 365
- Sören Peterssenior consultingfriend.Change and training expert for Microsoft 365 and Teams telephony
- Jawad Ahmadsenior technicalfriend.Solution finder for migration projects, translator between requirements and technical implementation
- Daniel Stumpfconsultingfriend.Documentation and design expert
- Viola Eistetterjunior supportfriend.Support for projects and clients
- Charlotte Pfeiffersenior officefriend.Back office and organisation
- Marco Patzeltsenior technicalfriend.Swiss army knife for everything Microsoft and IT
- Mark Offersenior technicalfriend.All-rounder for Microsoft 365 and IT
And our AI colleagues
They hold a real position with us, with their own area of responsibility, and today they mainly work for Markus. What we recommend to clients, we do ourselves first. Every entry in this list is an AI, not a person.
- MimirAIPersonal assistant and sparring partner to Markus
- HannahAIHR officer
- PaulAIAccounting optimiser
- JanAIPreparation of contract and legal questions
- FabiAIAnalysis expert for the team
- MaxAIProgrammer
The team is growing, among the people and among the AI colleagues. If you would like to help mid-sized businesses with Microsoft 365 and AI, drop us a line.
Let’s talk.
Tell us briefly where you stand right now. Your first conversation is directly with Markus Kerschis, the founder of friendsinc. We get back to you within one working day.
Send an email
