Franz Korbjuhn, IT consultant from Hamburg.
Self-employed since 2012, with clients ranging from a small law firm to a company with over 150 staff. Consulting, delivery and ongoing support from the same person, in Hamburg and remote.
I do not just advise. I build it.
I have been self-employed, with one interruption, since 2012. From 2015 to 2018 I was employed and was the entire IT department of an agency with 40 staff at the time. In 2018 I took that agency on as a client and still support it today. That continuity is typical of my client relationships.
What I studied, incidentally, was not computer science but building and energy engineering. In IT the learning never stops anyway: technologies, methods and tools keep changing. What matters to me, therefore, is genuinely understanding new solutions before recommending them to clients. I have done that every day for over a decade.
One area I have developed particular depth in is professionally managed macOS environments. That includes companies with over 150 staff working entirely on Macs, using Microsoft 365, Intune and Apple Business Manager for identities, device management and automated provisioning.
I plan environments, build them myself and support them afterwards. That is why you get a realistic recommendation from me and not a product list, because I am the one who has to work with it afterwards.
Why self-employed
Because I love the variety. My client portfolio ranges from a small law firm to a company with over 150 staff, and hardly any two problems are alike. For very few of them is there an off-the-shelf answer. That is exactly where I can combine experience from infrastructure, cloud, security and automation instead of looking at a single product area.
And because being self-employed means freedom over my own time. I have been a father since early 2026, which is a rather good reason to plan free time a little more deliberately these days.
What you can expect
Direct contact with the person who knows your environment. Someone who listens first and makes suggestions second. Decisions that get explained. Documentation you keep. An honest no when something does not make sense. And the occasional lunch together, because the best ideas rarely come out of a ticket.
Six principles.
Not marketing promises, but the rules I have worked by for years.
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01 / 06
Listen first, understand second, change third.
Many IT problems are not technical problems but misunderstandings between people and systems. So I listen before I make suggestions, and I want to know why an environment grew the way it did before I rebuild it. Not everything that is old needs replacing.
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02 / 06
Transparency, including about money.
You know what I am doing, why I am doing it and what it costs. My records of work are there to be checked. On licences and contracts I review terms and options against what you actually need. If a cheaper solution is enough, I recommend it even when my own margin ends up smaller. A working relationship over years matters more to me than any single deal.
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03 / 06
I know my limits.
There are requests a specialist will handle better and faster than I would. Then I say so openly and step back, even when the work does not end up with me. I do not leave you alone with it: through my network I find the person who is right for it.
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04 / 06
Established solutions instead of stopgaps.
In my experience a stopgap stays forever and eventually becomes the problem. The wheel does not need reinventing when a proven solution already exists. Something custom gets built where standard products do not cover the requirement sensibly. A problem that is not properly solved is not one I leave lying around.
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05 / 06
Technology is a means, not an end.
A new tool is interesting when it solves a real problem, whether commercial or open source. Good IT can be administered: a solution only I understand is not a good solution. That goes for AI too, which for me starts with a target picture and not with a tool.
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06 / 06
Knowledge stays with you.
Documentation and credentials belong to you. If you want, I deliver projects together with your in-house IT and explain the decisions rather than handing over a finished black box. I build trust, not dependency.
What else occupies me.
A few things that have nothing to do with servers and still say something about how I work.
Wood and the workshop
Half the basement is full of Bosch Professional machines. I like building things out of wood, preferably things that last. The same attitude as with IT environments: properly planned, cleanly executed, tidied up afterwards.
Piano
I play the piano. Practice, patience, and the experience that it pays to understand a piece completely before playing it faster.
Photography
Semi-professional, grown out of the hobby. Good pictures come from looking closely, not from the most expensive camera. That applies to cameras as much as to tools in IT.
Family
Happily married and a father since early 2026. That I really ought to make more time for sport is something I am well aware of.
Want to find out whether we are a good fit?
The first conversation is free and without obligation. After it we both know more.