eworx Network & Internet GmbH
Reinhard Eisner, Produkt Manager bei eworx
Description
Reinhard Eisner von eworx erzählt im Interview über die Development Teams aus technologischer und organisatorischer Perspektive und den grundlegenden Ansatz beim Recruiting.
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Video Summary
In “Reinhard Eisner, Produkt Manager bei eworx,” Reinhard Eisner outlines work on the eworx Marketing Suite across two complementary teams: product development running two-week Scrum sprints and service & account management in Kanban for tenant setup, custom templates, and integrations; full-stack including operations across Rohrbach and Linz, with trust-based remote work and acknowledged benefits of in-office days. The culture emphasizes transparency, self-determination, diversity, and evolutionary growth to build domain expertise, supported by pipelines, ticketing, test automation, and a modern stack (.NET, Vue, Microsoft SQL/NoSQL, microservices, Docker). Candidates are expected to be product-motivated, eager to learn, and persistent with a 15-year codebase; a two-step hiring process (soft-skills interview plus a “Vorstellungstag” with a small task and team veto) ensures mutual fit and is complemented by conference participation.
Building a Product with Ownership: Inside the eworx Marketing Suite with Reinhard Eisner (eworx Network & Internet GmbH)
A clear view into a self-hosted SaaS
In the techleadstory session “Reinhard Eisner, Produkt Manager bei eworx” by eworx Network & Internet GmbH, we got a candid tour through a product that’s both SaaS and fully self-hosted: the eworx Marketing Suite. That setup shapes the engineering culture in a distinct way: full-stack responsibility including operations, genuine proximity to customers, and a deliberate balance between bespoke configurations and product-wide improvements.
“Wir arbeiten alle an der eworx Marketing Suite. … Das ist eine Cloud, selbst gehostet.”
From our DevJobs.at editorial perspective, this is a compelling message for engineers who want to own more than a code path: architecture decisions, deployment concerns, production operations—and the UI/UX expectations of marketing users who value both utility and elegance.
Mission and model: keep the product whole, stay close to customers
Reinhard Eisner is explicit about the dual mandate. The eworx Marketing Suite thrives when the organisation can uphold a strong product perspective and still deliver tailor-made value to customers. This is engineered through a simple but effective team setup: one track for product development in two-week sprints, one track for service and account management working in Kanban mode.
“Der Kunde wünscht sich immer 100 Dinge, aber wir müssen natürlich das Produkt gesamtheitlich weiterbringen.”
In practice:
- Product development optimizes for improvements that lift value for all users—rhythmically and incrementally.
- Service & Account Management delivers configurations and customizations: tenant setup, adjustments, email templates, form design, CI customizations, and interface consulting.
- Both act as “one team” around the marketing suite—same mission, different cadence.
For engineers, this means you get visibility in two directions: immediate feedback from customer-facing work and the satisfaction of shipping iterative value in a product roadmap.
Structure: two teams, one product
The organisation keeps responsibilities clear and pragmatic:
- Product development (the core dev track) runs two-week sprints and drives product evolution. There are currently six developers, with steady growth planned.
- Service & Account Management operates in a Kanban flow and handles customer configurations and tailorings.
“Wir wollen da immer Richtung Kunden arbeiten und wollen aber zugleich ein Team haben, was an dem Produkt arbeitet …”
This structure embraces reality: customer demand is variable, while product iteration is planned. Combining them requires context switching skills and reliable collaboration patterns—which are part of the culture here.
Collaboration: remote-first processes with on-site advantages
Developers are split between Rohrbach and Linz. Home office has become “almost the standard.” Workflows are remote-friendly, and Microsoft Teams anchors communication. Daily stand-ups run online—sometimes even when everyone happens to be in the office simply because the process is optimized for remote.
“Wir verwenden da Microsoft Teams … die Prozesse [sind] darauf abgestimmt.”
Retrospectives still reveal a pragmatic truth: when everyone is physically present, some things run even better. eworx embraces both realities—trust-driven remote work, plus on-site collaboration whenever it helps.
For candidates, this means no ceremony: the team works the way it works best, and process evolution follows practical outcomes.
Growth: evolutionary, not explosive
Reinhard repeatedly emphasizes evolutionary growth. The reason is simple and strategic: the team aims to build deep domain knowledge about customers and the business model. That competence is hard to buy and easy to lose if you scale too fast without embedding people into the product and context.
“Wir wollen … in Rohrbach und in Linz die Personen hinzuholen … wir wollen in Team auch das Domänenwissen aufbauen und das Kunden verstehen.”
This approach benefits new joiners: onboarding with context, direct proximity to stakeholders, and a learning curve grounded in real product exposure.
Hiring: two steps, with a real team veto
The hiring process is deliberately two-stage and balances culture and skills:
1) Personal interview: focused on social skills and principles. Transparency and self-determination are highlighted, as are agile principles—viewed as a way of working and living. There’s also honesty that not everything is perfect; both sides must feel the fit.
2) “Vorstellungstag” with the team: one team member (currently almost always the same person) hosts a day with a small task. What matters is how candidates approach and solve it. The team has a veto right—cultural fit isn’t aspirational; it’s practiced.
“Das ist auch ein bisschen herausfinden von den Skills … wie reagiert die Person drauf … Und auch das Team kann dann noch entscheiden, passt die Person zu uns.”
Heterogeneity is intentional: women and men, senior and junior, different interests. That mix keeps collaboration fresh and team events interesting.
Values: motivation, technical curiosity—and persistence
Reinhard articulates what matters in this product environment:
- Motivation for the application—understanding the purpose behind the marketing suite.
- A drive for technical experience—learning new architectures, patterns, and tools.
- Persistence—because the software has matured over about 15 years. Legacy and greenfield coexist; both require care.
“Wir haben eine gewachsene Software über 15 Jahre. … wir wollen uns auch immer wieder ausrichten an der absolut neuesten Technik.”
The team keeps that curiosity alive with conference visits—“VIO Developers” last year—and plans for more events in the near future. Continuous improvement isn’t hype; it’s a normal habit.
Delivery: state of the art, and still evolving
Pipelines, a ticketing system, and test automation are in place—today’s standard—yet eworx keeps pushing for better.
“Natürlich … haben wir Pipelines, haben ein Ticketsystem … aber selbst da wollen wir uns immer weiterentwickeln, auch Testautomatisierung …”
That means the engineering environment is stable enough to deliver and flexible enough to improve. For developers, it’s a chance to shape the system rather than just operate it.
Architecture and stack: .NET core, Vue frontends, SQL—and microservices underway
Historically, the eworx Marketing Suite is a .NET product. In recent years, Vue has been added for the frontend. The data layer relies on Microsoft SQL, while NoSQL is being considered for new plans. Technology choices follow a principle Reinhard stated plainly: pick what best solves the problem, whenever possible.
“Wir wählen auch oft die Technologie, was für das Problem am besten gelöst ist …”
Architecturally, the team has been transitioning to microservices with “absolute encapsulation” for two to three years. Not everything is service-based yet, but orchestration is being increased step by step. Operations are self-run, with Docker services in play. Full-stack here includes the reality of running what you build.
Key components of the stack, as highlighted in the session:
- .NET for backend services
- Vue for frontends
- Microsoft SQL; NoSQL is planned for specific new scenarios
- Microservice architecture with progressive encapsulation and orchestration
- Self-operated Docker services
- HTML/CSS with strong attention to detail, because marketing users value beautiful, cohesive interfaces
“… der Anwender ist halt auch ein Marketer, der liebt schöne Anwendungen … nicht nur die Funktionalität … sondern auch das Sein.”
For engineers, that means UI details matter, backend scaling matters, and the product experience is judged holistically by customers.
Engineering challenges: performance, encapsulation, continuity
As the number of users and customer applications grows, systems that used to perform well may need re-architecting.
“… durch die höhere Anzahl von Nutzer … was bis jetzt noch performant war, muss man dann wieder architektonisch anders ausrichten.”
Microservices are the strategic response—encapsulation, targeted scaling, orchestration—rolled out deliberately over time. It’s a journey that requires persistence: building services, hardening boundaries, planning migrations, and supporting both new and legacy components without losing delivery cadence.
Working modes: sprints, Kanban, retrospectives
- Two-week sprints in the product team provide rhythm and predictability for engineering and stakeholders alike.
- Kanban in service and account management is tuned for responsiveness—ideal for configuration and customization work.
- Retrospectives feed practical insight back into how the team collaborates—e.g., acknowledging the benefits of being in the same room when possible.
The result is a product that’s both stable and adaptable. For many engineers, this is the sweet spot: enough structure to focus, enough freedom to improve.
Why engineers should consider joining eworx
From what we heard in “Reinhard Eisner, Produkt Manager bei eworx,” here’s why the setup is attractive:
- Full-stack ownership including operations: Docker, services, orchestration—Dev and Ops are part of the same product mission.
- Real customer proximity: tenant setup, templates, interface consulting—see impact, understand use cases.
- Product-first iterations: two-week sprints geared toward value, not just ticket throughput.
- Architecture that evolves: .NET/Vue, SQL/NoSQL, microservices—technology is chosen to fit problems, not the other way around.
- Trust-based collaboration: home office as a standard with processes built for remote; office time leveraged where it helps.
- Continuous improvement: test automation, conference visits (“VIO Developers”), and a mindset of steady refinement.
- Heterogeneous team: gender, age, interests—diversity as a lived reality.
- Hiring with a team veto: cultural fit and ways of working are taken seriously; candidates and the team get to evaluate each other.
What eworx expects from candidates
Reinhard’s points translate into a clear candidate profile:
- Care about the “why”: motivation for the application and its users.
- Enjoy technical learning: new architectures, patterns, and tools.
- Have patience for legacy: honor the old, build the new—and support both.
- Bring delivery pragmatism: sprints, Kanban, tickets, pipelines—work the process to make progress.
- Communicate well: across teams and close to customer-facing colleagues.
- Embrace an environment that’s not “perfect”: use that as a chance to shape and improve the system.
In the practical hiring day, how you approach the task matters more than a polished, textbook-perfect solution. The team’s veto right underscores that team dynamics matter as much as CVs.
Closing thoughts: a place for product-minded engineers with depth
The session paints eworx Network & Internet GmbH as a product organisation that doesn’t outsource responsibility. Development, operations, customer proximity, and product strategy are interwoven in the eworx Marketing Suite. If you join, you influence how marketers work day-to-day—within an architecture that’s deliberately modernizing and a culture that favors trust over ceremony.
“Wir betreuen eben auch den eigenen Betrieb …”
For tech talent who want tangible product impact, technical depth, and collegial collaboration, this is a compelling proposition: evolutionary growth, clear team structures, problem-first technology choices, and a hiring process that genuinely respects the team.
Session reference
- Title: Reinhard Eisner, Produkt Manager bei eworx
- Speaker: Reinhard Eisner
- Company: eworx Network & Internet GmbH
