What is acend?
The original idea behind acend was to rethink IT training. The founders wanted to create training that not only conveys knowledge, but is also engaging, entertaining, and sustainable – training that people actually remember.
Scientific research shows that people retain content particularly well when learning is combined with experiences and practical application. This is exactly where acend comes in. acend’s trainers share their knowledge in a clear, hands-on way and from real-world experience. Participants are met where they are, and the content is tailored individually to the needs of the clients – whether individuals or companies.
Why the acquisition?
acend has long been a well-known name in the cloud community. Over the years, countless hours have been invested in developing high-quality training content: materials, slides, lab setups, exercises, and didactic concepts.
Through the acquisition, we can now make this valuable knowledge directly accessible to our customers and perfectly complement our existing offering.
Together, we now provide everything from a single source:
Consulting → Engineering → Enablement & Training
This makes acend a central building block of our long-term vision.
What is changing at acend?
In terms of content, much remains the same and is even being expanded:
- Existing technologies and trainings remain.
- Since the beginning of the year, the portfolio has been expanded with the new training “Software Development with AI”.
- Trainings can still be booked by individuals and companies.
- Many of the previous trainers remain part of acend.
The biggest change is happening behind the scenes: decisions are now made jointly by tim&koko and Puzzle.
What has already happened since the acquisition?
As a first step, ongoing costs were reduced as much as possible to bring the company back to a healthy foundation. This included, among other things, closing the Breitsch location including the training room.
Today, trainings take place either directly at customer sites or in flexibly rented rooms if our own premises are not sufficient. Unfortunately, we also had to make cuts to personnel costs and part ways with permanent employees. Operational work is currently handled by members of tim&koko and Puzzle.
Not only downsizing: what has been built?
Not everything was about reduction. In the past, a lot of time and budget had already been invested in a new website. We were able to take over this foundation, further develop it, and finalize it in the months leading up to the turn of the year. The new website went live in January.
In addition, we secured our collaboration with Cloud Native Zürich. This year, we are offering a total of seven workshops there, including the new Software Development with AI training. More info: https://cloudnativezurich.ch/workshops/
What’s next?
On April 23, 2026, we are also planning a Tech Lab Day, where participants can choose between the following labs:
- OpenShift Virtualization
- Backstage
- Software Development with AI Lab (new)
We are also looking forward to running the workshops at Cloud Native Zurich.
acend is and remains a place for exchange, learning, and inspiration.