European Group Specialized Logistics Services - IT Strategy, IT Operating Model and CIO Change

The company is well-positioned in the European market and offers specialized logistics services, which could be highly tailored to the clients' needs. Previous critical success factors such as quality of the vehicle fleet, skills of drivers and dispatchers, scale, and financial strength have to be extended. Business process optimization at scale, IoT and vehicle IT, an integrated application landscape, and new ways of communicating with the clients have become important.

For IT, this represents a transformational change. Having been optimized towards overall IT costs, it now has to build capabilities and skills to support the updated business strategy while reducing technical debt and maintaining cost-effectiveness.

Challenges and opportunities in integrating European subsidiaries, establishing a strong IT governance, strengthening IT staff and leadership, performing a data center transformation, making decisions on the remaining lifespan of their ERP system, IT security, and the broadening of IoT / vehicle IT initiatives are ahead.

The goal of the project was to develop a new future-oriented IT strategy and IT operating model, considering the following key points in particular:

• Align with the overall corporate strategy
• Reflect the needs and priorities of the business functions
• Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current IT landscape, the IT operating model as well as the context of architecture, IT sourcing, the project portfolio, and business / IT alignment
• Derive scenarios to strengthen IT staff and leadership
• Consider the identified challenges and opportunities in integrating European subsidiaries, establishing a strong IT governance, strengthening IT staff and leadership, performing a data center transformation, making decisions on the remaining lifespan of their ERP system, IT security, and the broadening of IoT / vehicle IT initiatives

The following approach has been taken to develop a new future-oriented IT strategy and IT operating model:

• Settings session(s) with the core team for developing and driving the new IT strategy
• Interviews with the board, IT leadership, IT management, and representatives of business functions
• Analysis of the existing IT strategy and key documents, as well as a briefing workshop series with the IT executives
• Design of an architectural target picture, depicting key elements and formulating vision, requirements, and the road to reach the target state
• Development of an updated capabilities map and cornerstones for the IT operating model
• Develop a strategic roadmap to implement the IT strategy and the corresponding IT operating model
• Finalization and board sign-off of the formal IT strategy and target IT operating model

The project length for developing a new future-oriented IT strategy and IT operating model was approximately 10 months.