Orchestras all over the world rely on Bamberg software

2023-10-29 17:42:49

Opas Software GmbH from Bamberg offers support in the administration of orchestras. According to managing director Philipp Wunderlich, Opas is the world market leader for orchestra and ensemble management software products and has customers all over the world. It is very easy to “adapt our product to the individual needs of customers,” says Wunderlich. The Windows application has been around for a good thirty years. The successor product is the Opas Next cloud solution; the third product is called Opas Online and is used to communicate with the musicians. There is also a mobile app for the musicians, where they can, for example, see where they should play what. Most customers bought all three products.

According to the managing director, the products can be used to manage the pieces and the focal points of the seasons. You can also see whether there are enough temporary workers and whether there are enough musicians available for a concert. You can use it to plan tours and see whether you need to declare instruments to customs because, for example, they contain ivory, as is the case with some old pianos.

Entry for 5000 euros per year

Library management is also possible with the software products, because musicians often have a lot of sheet music with them. You can also view the sales of a project. It is possible to communicate with the musicians, for example to request a vacation.

Opas offers different pricing models: the subscription model, i.e. a monthly or annual booking, and a one-time payment, where you only have to pay a support fee every year. The price depends on the number of users in the orchestra and the modules required. According to Wunderlich, a simple entry costs around 5,000 euros a year. The products are introduced into the orchestras through consultation and training. Sometimes employees don’t want to use them because they’re happy with an Excel spreadsheet, for example, says Wunderlich.

The connection with other software products has been an essential part of Wunderlich’s work over the past two years. The focus is on room management systems such as Artifax from England. Opas is also a technology partner of Venue Ops from Ungerboeck Systems International GmbH and Daniels’ Orchestral Music Online.

260 orchestras are managed with Grandpas

The competitor in German-speaking countries is Evis from More Dimensions GmbH and in the USA Artsvision. Both have also been on the market for a long time, says Wunderlich. Other competitors have not been in business for as long. “In all cases, they are not as widespread in the global market as we are. As a rule, they are only present in one region of the world.”