water IT Security Awarded TOP 100 Seal
Selection process with more than 100 evaluation criteria / Award ceremony with Christian Wulff in June
Düsseldorf, Germany – A reward for outstanding innovative strength: water IT Security GmbH, based in Düsseldorf, has been awarded the TOP 100 seal 2026. This places the company among Germany’s most innovative mid-sized enterprises. During the award ceremony at the German SME Summit on June 26 in Heidelberg, Christian Wulff will personally congratulate water IT Security on this achievement. The former Federal President of Germany and former Minister-President of Lower Saxony serves as mentor of the TOP 100 innovation competition.
How much time does top management dedicate to innovation? How many new ideas are contributed by employees? These are some of the key questions at the heart of the scientific selection process behind TOP 100. Innovation researcher Professor Nikolaus Franke and his team evaluate participating companies across five categories: innovation-driven top management, innovation climate, innovation processes and organization, external orientation/open innovation, and innovation success. The assessment is based on an online questionnaire completed by the applicants in advance.
These five categories are reflected in more than 100 evaluation criteria. The selection process is conducted by Professor Franke on behalf of compamedia, the organizer of the competition. “At TOP 100, we analyze in depth how innovation-oriented the applicants really are. Those that stand out receive confirmation of their performance with the TOP 100 seal,” says Professor Nikolaus Franke.
water IT Security impressed the jury during the evaluation process and has been entitled to carry the TOP 100 seal since February 1. The company operates in the IT security sector and has built a strong reputation particularly in the areas of Security Operations Center (SOC) and IT security consulting. water IT Security – official Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security and member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) – focuses on the development of holistic IT security solutions and supports organizations of all sizes and industries in designing and implementing modern security concepts to protect sensitive corporate data and critical IT infrastructures. Its portfolio includes TRACE, an innovative solution that uses artificial intelligence to identify security-relevant vulnerabilities at an early stage and helps organizations prioritize and effectively reduce risks.
“Innovation at water IT Security emerges from our day-to-day engagement with an ever-changing threat landscape,” says Alexander Benoit, Founder and CEO of water IT Security. “New solutions, such as our IT emergency environment ARC, often originate from ideas contributed by our teams, who experience current challenges firsthand in their daily work. That is also why we established our Innovation Bay, where employees can contribute and test new approaches, technologies, and processes. Having our efforts in innovation recognized with the TOP 100 award is an important validation of our innovation mindset.”
To ensure equal opportunities for all participants, the TOP 100 seal is awarded in three size categories: up to 50 employees, 51 to 200 employees, and more than 200 employees. In the current 33rd round of the competition, 356 mid-sized companies applied for the seal, of which 282 were successful. A maximum of 100 companies per size category can be honored.
The top innovators of the current year will meet on June 26 at the Heidelberg Congress Center for the German SME Summit, where Christian Wulff will personally congratulate them on their success at TOP 100.
TOP 100: The Competition
Since 1993, compamedia has awarded the TOP 100 seal to mid-sized companies for exceptional innovative strength and above-average innovation success. Scientific oversight has been led by Professor Dr. Nikolaus Franke since 2002. Franke is founder and chairman of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. With 27 research awards and more than 200 publications, he is one of the world’s leading innovation researchers.
Mentor of TOP 100 is former Federal President and Minister-President Christian Wulff. Project partners include the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research and the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW). manager magazin accompanies the competition as media partner, while ZEIT für Unternehmer serves as cooperation partner. More information and registration details are available at www.top100.de
Further information and general image material on the TOP 100 competition can be found at www.top100.de/press or via email at presse@compamedia.de. Additional information about the awarded company is available from the following contact:
Media Contact – water IT Security
Philipp Kretz
Lead Partner Management & Marketing
philipp.kretz@wtrsecurity.de
+49 151 440 50 514
