SRH University: From Client to Community Facilitator

Website interface for SRH University featuring a video play button, campus tour invitation, and sections for services and gallery.

SRH is one of Germany’s largest private education and healthcare groups—with dozens of subsidiaries, hundreds of editors, and the ambition to keep it all together digitally and on-brand. What started as a classic client relationship has grown into a genuine partnership over the years. And at some point, into something more: SRH didn’t just remain a client—they became a community facilitator.

How It All Started

Three flags displaying the letters "s," "r," and "h" in white on colored backgrounds, positioned outside a modern building. — © typo3-the-camp.de/gaellery

The starting point was clear: a growing organization of this size needed a strategic platform that could bring together multiple web presences in a unified, future-proof way.

SRH has multiple subsidiaries operating across different locations, each with their own editorial teams, languages, and audiences. The group needed an easy-to-use content management system that could enforce central governance and a consistent brand strategy across all websites—without taking away the flexibility local teams need to make their own adjustments.

Given these complex requirements, SRH had already committed to TYPO3 before they came to us.

TYPO3 appealed to us early on because it fits complex organizational structures so well. It’s stable, scalable, and multi-tenant capable—giving us the ability to combine central standards with decentralized maintenance. For a group in the healthcare and education space like SRH, that’s extremely important.

— Simon Kambert, Strategic Brand Manager, SRH

From Client to Partner

When SRH first started working with b13, they were primarily looking for reliable technical partners who knew TYPO3 and user experience design. At first, they saw the b13 team as service providers who could think along with them—people with an eye for the overall web presence, brand management, and long-term maintainability.

But Simon Kambert and the SRH team were pleasantly surprised by what the collaboration turned into:

The collaboration became much more of a partnership than we might have expected at the start. It wasn’t just about ‘service provider and client’ anymore—it became increasingly about a shared understanding of quality, sustainability, and continuous improvement.

— Simon Kambert

Years of working together built a foundation of genuine trust:

We see b13 as a sparring partner who keeps all the threads together. Their technical perspective and deep understanding of the system give them a particularly clear view of how projects fit together—not just technically, but in terms of structure, functionality, and architecture. They know how certain changes ripple through to other parts of the instance.

— Simon Kambert

From Partner to Community Member

Over the years, SRH came to realize that TYPO3 was more than just a CMS—it was “an ecosystem of people, agencies, developers, and organizations who genuinely think long-term.”

Through many practical touchpoints—strategic workshops, technical alignment sessions, and more—SRH got to know the community behind the CMS:

A group of eight people seated around a square table, engaged in conversation, with drinks and snacks on the table. — © typo3-the-camp.de/gaellery

What mattered most to us were formats where people talked about real, everyday challenges: How do you train editorial teams? How do you create central standards without over-constraining your subsidiaries? Overall, we found the community very approachable. You’re taken seriously—you’re not just a client, you can become part of the conversation.

— Simon Kambert

But SRH’s view of the TYPO3 community shifted even more significantly when they came on board as the location sponsor for THE CÄMP.

From Community Member to Community Facilitator

This case study could already close here as a success story—but SRH didn’t stop at being a community member. They stepped up as a facilitator: offering their campus as the event venue for THE CÄMP—the TYPO3 Camp Baden-Württemberg in May 2026—and giving their employees the opportunity to attend. Their motivation was straightforward: positive experiences and a genuine alignment with the camp’s philosophy.

We didn’t just want to use TYPO3 as a system—we wanted to actively support the community behind it. When you’ve benefited from a technology and a community for years, getting involved is the natural next step.

— Simon Kambert

For SRH employees, THE CÄMP was their first barcamp ever. The format—sessions emerging spontaneously, knowledge shared openly, hierarchies left at the door—was new territory.

Read more of SRH’s thoughts on the TYPO3 spirit in this blog post: The TYPO3 Spirit in the Spotlight

Groups of people engage in conversation outside SRH University, with tables set up for a gathering or event. — © typo3-the-camp.de/gaellery
Attendees of THE CÄMP on the campus of SRH University Heidelberg.

A Two-Way Street

SRH’s involvement pays off. One example: they got a lot out of the User Stage—the part of THE CÄMP aimed not at developers, but at everyday users.

Talks about content management systems tend to go technical—but the User Stage looked at the topic from an editor’s perspective: How do you manage large editorial teams? How do you keep websites current? How do you bridge the gap between what’s technically possible and what organizations can actually pull off?

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This exchange between equals was extremely valuable.

— Simon Kambert

Looking Ahead

For SRH, TYPO3 is “not just a tool, but a piece of digital infrastructure that many people work on with great professionalism and passion.”

That’s why their involvement isn’t meant to be a one-off. SRH plans to keep supporting events like THE CÄMP and to actively give their employees the opportunity to attend community events—because they benefit from it too:

Our teams come back with new ideas, a better understanding of TYPO3, and a clearer sense of their role as web managers and editors.

— Simon Kambert

A person sits on a sofa working on a laptop in a modern lobby with a large promotional backdrop and empty chairs. — © typo3-the-camp.de/gaellery

SRH’s expectations of TYPO3 as a CMS remain clear:

We expect TYPO3 to continue delivering stability, security, and flexibility. For an organization like SRH, we need a CMS that’s reliable in the long run while keeping up with modern requirements.

— Simon Kambert

Equally important to them is the system’s continuous development—staying future-ready on topics like AI support in editorial workflows, quality assurance, and backend usability.

SRH expects TYPO3 to lead the way here—and we’re confident the system is well positioned to do exactly that.

A Community That Delivers

Simon’s recommendation is clear: don’t just see TYPO3 as software—see it as an ecosystem. The real value only emerges when you actually use the community—for exchange, learning, and inspiration. Larger organizations benefit especially, because many challenges aren’t purely technical. It’s about people, processes, roles, and long-term digital quality.

Don’t just use TYPO3. Get to know the community. Bring your perspective. Send your teams to events. Because in the end, everyone benefits—the community, the agencies, us as clients, and most importantly, the users of our websites.

— Simon Kambert

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