Inside ABP PATENT NETWORK’s Software Team: Kanban, Microservices, and ISO 27001 with Alessandro Aichmann

Context: What we took from “Alessandro Aichmann, Teammanager Software bei ABP PATENT NETWORK”

At DevJobs.at, we watched the session “Alessandro Aichmann, Teammanager Software bei ABP PATENT NETWORK” and got a clear, grounded look at how a focused seven-person engineering team at ABP PATENT NETWORK GmbH works. Alessandro Aichmann describes a culture built on pragmatic agility, immediate collaboration, continuous knowledge transfer, and information security. The technical backbone: a modern stack around a web application called App2IP, a single-page application in the browser backed by server-side microservices.

What stood out to us is the blend of a compact team with widely varied experience levels and a deliberately lean process. Under the lean surface is real structure: Kanban, weekly backlog grooming, explicit priority-setting, active load balancing across developers – and security processes anchored by roughly five years of ISO 27001 certification.

Team structure: Seven people, many perspectives

“We are a seven-person team right now,” Alessandro says. Experience ranges from junior developers to a colleague who has been with the company for over 30 years and “knows all previous software systems inside out.” That signals a lived history of knowledge: someone on the team understands not only today’s architecture, but also the paths that led there. In practice, this accelerates decisions and brings reliability to maintenance, migrations, and integrations.

For incoming talent, this composition means you’ll find mentoring and context, along with real room to shape the product. In a small team like this there’s no backroom—every decision and feature leaves a visible mark.

Ways of working: Kanban with weekly calibration

The team runs Kanban and uses “Target-Process” to manage work items. Each week, the backlog is updated: What matters next? How is workload distributed? Who is working on what, and which packages should be implemented next? This cadence isn’t ceremony for its own sake; it’s the control point that keeps work realistic and dependencies visible.

• Transparency on workload and upcoming tasks
• Fine-tuning instead of large planning blocks
• Prioritization of what truly matters instead of dragging tasks along

Another theme is immediate alignment. No unnecessary formalities—just clear agreements and priorities. That creates momentum and reduces context switching, which small teams feel acutely.

Collaboration: Direct, solution-focused, supportive

“We approach each other,” Alessandro sums up their collaboration. If someone hits a wall, they don’t wait—they reach out to the colleague “who can help most easily.” People sit together and find a solution.

This pattern separates coexistence from teamwork. Rather than shuffling tickets, the team connects expertise where it’s needed. That saves time, builds trust, and lowers friction.

Knowledge transfer is formalized, too. Regular meetings showcase new technologies or features “that might not be known to everyone in the team yet.” The goal is to “inspire each other a bit and spread knowledge.” For talent that likes to learn and explain, this is a fertile environment: your insights become shared leverage.

Hiring: Uncomplicated, dialogue-first, with a trial day

Recruiting is “very uncomplicated.” As Alessandro outlines it:

1. Initial contact—by phone or virtually—to clarify open questions.
2. Invitation to an interview—to align expectations and experience.
3. A trial day (or half day)—to get to know the team, the way of working, and the software.

This trial day has “proven itself over the past years.” Both sides get a real feel for fit. Candidates see what they’ll actually work with; the team runs brief technical conversations and hears ideas. With experienced candidates, they explore perspectives on improvements; with juniors, “interest” and core technical understanding take the foreground.

What matters most? Curiosity. Alessandro stresses that “being eager to learn and open to new technologies” is essential for every software developer. In a field where frameworks, best practices, and attack patterns evolve constantly, that mindset isn’t optional—it’s the job.

Product and architecture: App2IP as a single-page app with microservices

App2IP is “fundamentally a web application.” Customers access it in the browser and see a single-page application built “mainly in Angular and Vue.js.” On the server side, the team uses “C-Sharp .NET” and runs microservices focused on different functions because App2IP “is a very powerful tool.”

Service responsibilities include, among other things:

• Integrating external data interfaces that run cyclic queries and import data into the system.
• Importing emails directly from a mailbox into App2IP.
• Operating additional background services depending on customer requirements.

ABP uses “MSSQL-Server” as the primary database, complemented by a full-text search with “Elasticsearch,” which enables “a very simple and powerful query” for customers. Additionally, there is “a message-pass set up on a MongoDB.” The components communicate via “a lot of REST API interfaces.”

These architectural notes signal a modern, service-oriented landscape with real integration demands: data flows, background processing, indexing and search—paired with pragmatic decisions that customers feel directly in the product.

Information security: ISO 27001 as a lived practice

Alessandro calls out information security explicitly. ABP PATENT NETWORK GmbH has been ISO 27001-certified for “about five years.” This certification “influenced our entire workflow,” because the team implemented processes “that have to be followed.”

With that come daily challenges: “there are new vulnerabilities or attack patterns somewhere every day.” Security is not a checkbox; it’s an ongoing practice encompassing technology, processes, and behavior. Engineers who care about secure software will find an environment where security thinking is embedded in daily work.

Engineering culture: Lean, learning-focused, consistent

Three principles surface in the way Alessandro describes the team:

• Lean processes: Kanban, weekly backlog updates, clear prioritization.
• Learning orientation: knowledge-sharing meetings, direct pairing, mixed experience levels.
• Consistency in security: ISO 27001 processes and active response to new threats and vulnerabilities.

For many engineers, this combination is compelling because it enables focus. Days aren’t buried in ceremony; there are structured moments for alignment. And where it matters most—security and quality—the team stays on it.

Why tech talent will enjoy working here

From our vantage point at DevJobs.at, the reasons are concrete:

• Visible impact in a small team: Every contribution matters—from architectural choices to bug fixes.
• Broad technical exposure: Frontend (Angular, Vue.js), backend (C-Sharp .NET), databases (MSSQL-Server), search (Elasticsearch), messaging (“message-pass” on MongoDB), REST APIs.
• Real integration scenarios: Data imports, email integration, customer-specific background services.
• Security with substance: ISO 27001 embedded in daily processes for roughly five years.
• Learning and exchange: Regular sessions for new technologies and features.
• Hiring with a reality check: A trial day to experience the team and software early.

If you like owning outcomes, this setup is ideal—not as a burden, but as the opportunity to shape a product within a team that is intentionally small and nimble.

What the team expects: Mindset over buzzwords

A clear candidate profile emerges from Alessandro’s account, and it’s more about mindset than a checklist:

• Curiosity and willingness to learn: Constantly evolving your skills.
• Solid technical fundamentals: Especially for juniors, the basics matter more than niche tools.
• Proactive communication: Ask for help, involve the right colleagues, solve things together.
• Process discipline: Live Kanban, respect priorities, follow ISO-driven processes.

Experience—whether in Angular/Vue on the frontend, C-Sharp .NET in the backend, MSSQL, or Elasticsearch—is certainly helpful. But the underlying message is: learning agility beats a laundry list of technologies.

How collaboration plays out day to day

The combination of Kanban, direct peer help, and knowledge-sharing meetings creates a robust rhythm. The day-to-day feels something like this:

• Tasks are transparent; the next steps are visible and discussed.
• Blockers are addressed early—out loud, not silently.
• Learning moments are both planned (knowledge sessions) and opportunistic (sitting down together when problems arise).
• Security requirements aren’t a “later thing”; they’re part of the Definition of Done because the underlying processes are standard practice.

For engineers who value both focus time and lively technical exchange, it’s a strong fit.

The stack in practice: What that means for you

If you join this team, you can expect to work with or learn:

• Single-page applications with Angular and Vue.js—including state management, API integration, and the performance concerns common to large SPAs.
• Microservices in C-Sharp .NET—API design, service boundaries, and stability.
• Data models in MSSQL-Server—transactions, queries, indexes, and maintenance.
• Full-text search with Elasticsearch—indexing, relevance, and search UX.
• Messaging via the described “message-pass” on MongoDB—asynchronous communication and robustness.
• REST API interfaces—connecting services and exposing functionality.

These pieces don’t exist in isolation. They interlock, especially because App2IP is a “powerful tool” that brings many requirements together.

Security as a constant: ISO 27001 in practice

ISO 27001 often sounds abstract—until it shapes everyday work. At ABP, that’s exactly what it does: processes are in place and followed. Practically speaking, this means:

• Security considerations enter planning by default.
• Changes follow defined paths.
• New vulnerabilities and attack patterns are monitored and addressed.

For engineers, this brings double value: you gain experience with security processes and see how security actually works in product and operations.

Career growth in a small team: Breadth over silos

In a seven-person group, roles are rarely rigid. You can broaden across the stack or go deep in one area and share that knowledge with the team. The presence of a colleague with 30+ years of company knowledge suggests a positive stance toward experience and continuity. At the same time, juniors are welcome—provided “interest” and core understanding are evident.

It’s a solid foundation for growth: learning through doing, feedback through direct collaboration, and momentum through product evolution.

Onboarding with clarity: The trial day

Many hiring processes reveal the reality only after signing. ABP flips that: the trial day brings clarity early, “because both sides get a very good feeling” for the fit. Those who do well there have shown more than presentation skills—they’ve shown how they ask questions, listen, and outline ideas while looking at the real software.

For candidates, this lowers risk—you know what you’re joining. For the team, it raises the hit rate—you see how someone collaborates in practice.

Conclusion: A setup for builders with a learning mindset

“This is what our team looks like,” Alessandro concludes. That short line carries weight: it’s a team that stays small to stay fast; uses process to focus; shares knowledge to get better as a system; and takes security seriously because reliability is part of the product.

For tech talent that values outcomes over theatrics, this is compelling: modern technologies, clear processes, and a culture where questions are welcome. If you’re curious, hands-on, and excited by web applications with real-world complexity, ABP PATENT NETWORK GmbH offers plenty of room to grow—alongside a team set up to help you do just that.

• 

  

  Fokus auf IP

  Daniel Holzner von ABP PATENT NETWORK gibt in seinem devjobs.at TechTalk einen Überblick über die im Unternehmen entwickelten Projekte und deren Challenges.

  Watch now

• 

  

  Stefan Wöhrer, Product Manager bei ABP PATENT NETWORK

  Product Manager bei ABP PATENT NETWORK Stefan Wöhrer spricht im Interview über das Support Team des Unternehmens, wie dort das Recruiting gehandhabt wird und welche Technologien im Fokus stehen.

  Watch now

• 

  

  Denis Husidic, Software Developer bei ABP PATENT NETWORK

  Denis Husidic von ABP PATENT NETWORK erzählt im Interview über seine Laufbahn als Software Developer und über seine aktuelle Rolle im Unternehmen – und warum Kreativität beim Entwickeln wichtig ist.

  Watch now