84% of German IT decision-makers believe that government agencies and critical infrastructures should prioritize European software. At the same time, only around 20 percent of companies actually use European cybersecurity solutions. (Source: Myra State of Digital Sovereignty 2025)
This is not a contradiction that I observe in others. It is a structural problem that I know well – because I measure myself against it again and again.
I have been advising companies, corporations and public authorities on IT security issues for over 25 years. Our positioning at agilimo is clear: IT security made in Germany. For us, this is not a marketing claim, but an attitude – with concrete consequences for which solutions we recommend and which we use ourselves.
This article is about one of these consequences: our decision to use ZEP as our project time recording system. And why this decision has more to do with integrity than with software selection.
This article is about one of these consequences: our decision to use ZEP as our project time recording system. And why this decision has more to do with integrity than with software selection.
Made in Germany - claim and practice
What we recommend to our customers also applies to us.
The geopolitical debate about digital sovereignty has become louder in recent years – and rightly so. US laws such as the CLOUD Act oblige US providers to hand over data to US authorities, regardless of whether this data is stored on European servers. This is not an abstract threat. It is a structural risk that affects companies and authorities that process sensitive data.
For us at agilimo, this debate is not a new insight. We focused our consulting philosophy on data sovereignty early on: no compromises when it comes to the origin of security solutions, no dependencies on providers that operate outside European law.
However, this also means that we have to apply the same standards internally as we do externally. Anyone who advises customers on digital independence but relies on US cloud tools for project billing, communication or time recording has a credibility problem.
I don’t want to have this credibility problem.
The project business needs a sound basis
Transparency is the key to trust.
agilimo works with two billing models: Time and material basis and fixed-price projects. In both models, there is one question that every customer asks sooner or later – sometimes openly, sometimes between the lines: “How can I track what has actually been done?”
That is a legitimate question. And the only reliable answer is not a statement of confidence, but transparency through data. Customers who commission IT security projects often make considerable investments. They no longer expect a leap of faith – they expect proof. Structured proof of performance, clear project statuses, comprehensible invoicing. This is not mistrust of us as a service provider. It is professional project management on the part of the customer. And I respect that.
This is precisely the core benefit of clean project time recording: not only knowing internally what has been achieved – but also being able to provide the customer with complete and comprehensible proof. This strengthens the customer relationship more sustainably than any reference list.
Why we use ZEP
A decision that we have not regretted.
When we systematically looked into the topic of project time recording a few years ago, there was a wide range of solutions on the market. International complete solutions embedded in US cloud ecosystems would have been technically efficient. Nevertheless, we opted for ZEP – for the same reasons that we advise our customers to use German and European security solutions:
Firstly: data sovereignty without compromise. ZEP is a German product, the data is stored in Germany, GDPR compliance is not an interpretation, but a standard. This is non-negotiable for us.
Secondly: project time recording as a core competence. ZEP Professional is not an add-on module of a generalist, but a specialized tool that can do exactly what we need: record project times precisely, evaluate them and prepare them for billing. Without detours.
Thirdly: a reliable partner, not a hyperscaler. I appreciate working with companies that take responsibility for their product and are accessible – not ones where you disappear into the support ticket system.
How we at agilimo use ZEP specifically
Three situations in which project time tracking makes a difference every day
I will describe three scenarios from our everyday life – not as textbook examples, but how we really work.
SCENARIO 1: Billing on a time and material basis
For projects that we bill on a time and material basis, our consultants book their hours directly to work packages in ZEP Professional. The result is a performance overview that we can hand over to the customer without any editorial effort: which person spent how much time on which work package and when.
That sounds obvious. But it is not – at least not if you work with Excel spreadsheets or poorly configured general tools. The quality of the proof of performance determines whether a customer approves an invoice without comment or asks questions.
SCENARIO 2: Fixed-price projects and profitability control
In fixed-price projects, project time recording is not a billing tool, but a control instrument. We constantly compare actual hours with the calculated target hours. If a project threatens to tip over – if the actual expenditure exceeds the calculation – this becomes apparent at an early stage, not just at the final meeting.
This gives us the opportunity to react proactively: Adjust the scope, seek discussions with the customer or reallocate resources internally. And the post-calculation from completed projects flows directly into the calculation of future quotations. This makes our quotations more realistic – and protects our margin.
SCENARIO 3: Utilization, capacity and planning
We are a growing consulting company. The questions that concern us as a management team on a daily basis are: Who is available? Where do bottlenecks arise? Which projects can we take on without jeopardizing ongoing projects?
The KPIs from ZEP – utilization rates, availability, hours worked per team and project – are the basis for this. Not gut feeling, but reliable figures.
Transparency as a quality feature
What our customers get out of it: Clarity instead of a leap of faith
Let me come back to the point I made at the beginning. Transparency is not a service extra that we kindly offer our customers. It is the basis of a professional service relationship – especially in an area such as IT security consulting, where performance is often not immediately visible.
Our customers receive structured evaluations of hours worked, project progress and budget used via ZEP. This creates reliability on both sides: no surprises when invoicing, no unclear service items, no loss of trust due to unclear evidence.
The result is a customer relationship based on proven performance – not on the goodwill of both parties. That is the difference between a service provider and a reliable partner.
Conclusion
Integrity starts internally
I started this article by saying that most companies demand digital sovereignty for others, but apply different standards internally. This is not an accusation – IT migrations are complex and existing systems are not changed without good reason.
But I believe that integrity in consulting means sticking to your principles even when it would be more uncomfortable to make an exception. For us, the decision to join ZEP was not a major strategic decision. It was a consistent answer to the question: Do you act the way you advise?
For us, ZEP is a reliable tool that clearly maps our projects, provides our customers with reliable evidence and gives our internal planning processes a solid database. And it is a German product – that makes it the right choice for agilimo.
– Marcus Heinrich
CEO & Founder, agilimo Consulting GmbH
