When companies renew their IT structures and processes, this often has far-reaching consequences. This is because IT transformation also means changes to communication processes and workflows. The IT transformation therefore has an impact on all areas of the company and results in cultural and structural changes. One such case is described by Wolfgang Schnober in his article "Reorganization of an IT organization of an IT system house - A practical example of an IT transformation" in the anthology "The Enterprise Transformation Cycle".
"IT transformation affects all parts of the company" - Wolfgang Schnober in conversation
Katja Heumader: Why did the company you described decide to undergo an IT transformation?
Wolfgang Schnober: There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, the growth of the company meant that IT had not "grown" sufficiently; this led to a considerable backlog in terms of application developments, process optimizations, industrialization of the infrastructure, etc. Secondly, the IT organization was still very classically structured. Secondly, the IT organization was still very classically structured. Topics such as business IT alignment, business, service and process orientation were still largely ignored. The Management Board was well aware of this and therefore appointed a CIO from outside for the first time. He was initially appointed as an external interim manager. After around a year, he took on overall responsibility for IT and IT transformation.
KH: Which areas of the company were affected by the IT transformation?
WS: In principle, all areas of a company are affected by an IT transformation. This is because all areas receive IT services and a different approach. The desired stronger customer orientation of IT was and is noticeable and effective for everyone.
IT gains new self-confidence
KH: So the IT transformation entailed a corporate transformation. What role did the IT department itself play in this process?
WS: No, there was no explicit company transformation. The company is always undergoing transformation due to its growth and the highly volatile environment, but not due to the IT transformation. This was focused on IT, all other areas were indirectly involved and affected in a positive sense.
KH: Did the self-image of the IT department change as a result?
WS: Yes, and massively so. From a pure fulfilment service provider that receives specifications and implements them, the IT department has transformed itself into a business partner that takes on the needs of the business at eye level, optimizes them and solves them. The name has also changed accordingly: before the transformation, IT was called the "data center", now it is called the CIO organization. A separate "Business Account Management" department has been created to take care of internal customer relationships, such as process consulting, innovation processes and value management. This is also an expression of the changed self-image.
New skills, new structures, new topics
KH: The IT transformation also required further development of the skills of employees and managers. How did this development of skills actually take place?
WS: The development of expertise is still in full swing. We have incorporated some significant additional steps. Firstly, the skill requirements have been expanded from purely technical requirements to include areas of expertise such as business management, process consulting and service management, Project Management supplemented. Non-technical skills such as communication, presentation and customer orientation also play a much more important role today.
Secondly, a start was made on consistently aligning personnel planning with business needs, i.e. with the innovative skills required in the future and not just with day-to-day requirements. Building on this, a "skills requirement and skills gap analysis" was carried out. This is based on the following questions:
- What do we need?
- What are we missing?
- What will we no longer need in the future?
- What skills does each individual have, what do they lack and how can we close the gaps?
Building on this, we have created an individual personnel development plan based on business needs and personal strengths, which is now being systematically implemented. This affects all employees. In future, managers will focus primarily on personnel development tasks and less on professional "self-improvement". The management team has also been expanded to include specialist managers, i.e. top experts, top project or top service managers. Today, the management team includes not only personnel managers, but also leading experts.
KH: To what extent did the company benefit from the IT transformation and the new corporate culture?
WS: The company benefits considerably. This is because new topics have been consistently tackled and implemented. We have created a growth-oriented data center in an international data center location instead of expanding our "own basement". The network was set up uniformly throughout the company. The web presence was completely renewed, combined with a massive reorganization of the underlying business processes. Applications can now be introduced in record time thanks to a change in approach. And many other improvements have been achieved that I can't even list here.
KH: Dear Mr. Schnober, thank you very much for the interesting insights into the IT transformation of this company and the many positive effects associated with it. I wish you continued success with TCI Partners.
"The Enterprise Transformation Cycle"- published January 2019
The Transformation Consulting International has been supporting national and international transformation projects in companies for many years. This extensive practical experience has now resulted in the volume "The Enterprise Transformation Cycle"published by the renowned Springer-Verlag, edited by Mario A. Pfannstiel and Peter F.-J. Steinhoff. In the 400-page anthology, numerous authors describe the extensive applicability of the agile and flexible "Enterprise Transformation Cycle" approach in theoretical and conceptual articles as well as in practical case studies.
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