In 2011, the current interim manager was hired by a medium-sized company in the mechanical engineering sector as a global IT manager. The main task was to fundamentally reorganize the company's IT department, internationalize it and align it with the business processes.
Initial situation: IT in need of improvement in many areas
The management had criticized the poor state of the IT organization in preliminary discussions. And indeed, the shortcomings became apparent. The IT organization was not internationally aligned. There was a lack of global standards for the technical infrastructure. Communication was inadequate. This resulted in a lack of transparency in IT projects and decision-making processes. Project and change management were also in need of improvement. The optimization and digitalization of business processes also lagged far behind. Ultimately, there were also considerable shortcomings in budget planning and cost controlling. The cumbersome cost allocation also consumed resources unnecessarily.
IT organization structured globally and standards set
At the beginning of the restructuring work, the current interim manager first took a look at the situation himself. He visited all major branches and then formed the basic outline of an international organizational structure. First, he appointed clear contact persons. In each country, an IT employee was responsible for infrastructure issues and global applications such as ERP, CRM, PLM and more. In consultation with the local IT colleagues, the interim manager also appointed regional contacts to regularly discuss current or strategic issues.
In the course of this organizational realignment, he defined overarching standards in client, server and network management in consultation with the IT teams, which were successively rolled out in the countries.
Project charter and steering committees enable transparent IT management
In order to create transparency about the ongoing IT changes, the interim manager initiated a detailed inventory of the current projects and those desired by the business or IT. He also provided the phases of the projects with a clearly defined status. He regularly distributed this information to those involved. This proactive communication made it possible to create more transparency about the IT projects on the one hand and to significantly improve the standing of IT at the head office and the locations on the other.
The interim manager also improved communication, transparency and decision-making capacity by introducing topic-specific steering groups for larger projects. These steering committees were set up in such a way that the necessary decisions could be made or prepared ready for decision by the management at the quarterly meetings.
IT projects from SAP ECC to Microsoft CRM and CAD systems rolled out internationally
In collaboration with the respective specialist teams and external service providers, the current interim manager led numerous IT projects as CIO, often in conjunction with an international rollout. These included:
- SAP ECC 6.0 in all major national subsidiaries and preparations for S/4 HANA
- Microsoft CRM for sales, service and marketing, initiation of the switch to Dynamics 365
- Service Information Systems (SIS) developed in-house, including a mobile app for technicians
- . a mobile app for the technicians
- Harmonization of the CAD systems (Siemens NX, Zuken CR 5000), uniform use of the PDM system (Siemens Teamcenter)
- Selection/introduction of a manufacturing execution system (Forcam) for production
- Selection of a platform for HR applications (SAP SuccessFactors), Introduction of various HR applications (e-Recruiting, e-Learning, Manager/Employee Self Service, Contract Management, Performance Management)
- Implementation of projects as part of the digitalization strategy (incl.including predictive maintenance, remote service, augmented reality)
- Launch of a customer portal
- Redesign of internet/extranet/intranet presence with new CMS (First Spirit) for publishing and Microsoft Sharepoint for collaboration
IT budget planning including cost controlling established and expanded
In order to prioritize projects, the interim manager established project charters with brief descriptions, responsibilities and reasons. This made it much easier to determine the respective business case for the project and to prioritize projects.
The new project prioritization now also allowed for improved budget planning, which was tracked on a monthly basis. In addition, the interim manager used a pragmatic approach to significantly simplify the allocation of IT costs to the specialist departments and subsidiaries in Germany and abroad.
