Hidden Champion Environmental Technology - IT Strategy, IT Operating Model and CIO Change
A new IT strategy and IT operating model to align with the updated corporate strategy and to prepare for a CIO generation change.
Initial Situation
The hidden champion in environmental technology has grown impressively over the last years; the enterprise developed from a niche company to an international player with a unique product portfolio.
The CIO has served for many years and wanted - in alignment with his managing director - to actively shape his last years before retirement, including succession planning.
Challenges and opportunities in IT sourcing, ERP, IT infrastructure, IT internationalization, and the broadening of industry 4.0 initiatives are ahead.
Overall Goal
The goal of the project was to develop an up-to-date IT strategy as well as an aligned IT target 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 for the succession planning of the CIO
- Consider the identified challenges and opportunities in IT sourcing, ERP, IT infrastructure, IT internationalization, and the broadening of industry 4.0 initiatives
Project Concept
The following approach has been taken to develop the new IT strategy and a corresponding target IT operating model:
- Interviews with selected business executives, board members, the CIO, and his management team
- Analysis of the existing IT strategy and key documents, as well as a briefing workshop series with the CIO
- Development of an updated IT vision and guiding principles
- Workshop series with the CIO and the managing director on the options and cornerstones of the envisioned IT strategy and the target IT operating model
- Iterative development of the new IT strategy and related target pictures
- Communication to the board, the IT team, and relevant stakeholders
Project Duration
The project length for developing the IT strategy and the target IT operating model was approximately 5 months.
Note: The client case description is based on effectively performed projects that are anonymized, generalized, and content-wise altered not to allow for inference.