Leading IT to success

• Quick Start the platform team with experienced Indian executives and experienced expats from our network
• Long-reaching architecture design decisions for major system platforms
• Security and Privacy build-in by design and a strong security team with our specialized partner
• Strong and agile management of the major platform partners to deliver scalable and reliable platforms at numbers unseen before
• Pilot many innovative approaches, out of which some were disrupting the market (e.g. digital authentication of customers instead of paper-based process)
• Grow and develop the Indian team by a factor of 10 during 3 years to reduce dependencies from partners

• Strong leadership team taking full accountability for all platforms
• Reliable Architecture and Partners, who are now capable of supporting scale and reliability for more than 200mn customers
• No. 1 free app in India after six weeks of launch (MyJio)
• Fastest growing platform business three months after launch (100 mn. customers in 170 days), more than Facebook, Twitter et al.
• Completely agile delivery model
• Disruption of the market through fully digital on-boarding of customers: Reducing activation time from 12-48h (market) to 5 minutes (Jio)
• Data consumed on Jio’s network is almost as large as in the US and 50% more than China (January 2017)

RMC was asked to assess the target stack of BT/EE and the existing migration plans and to recommend opportunities for improvements. These would result out of potential gaps in the target stack and / or functionalities needed for future market needs. Also, specific aspects of agility of the mobile business and scalability due to largely extended number of customers were considered. RMC and the architecture community of BT/EE formed an integrated team to assess and recommend areas for improvement. The team was co-led by the chief architect of BT and Dr. Steffen Roehn.
The project duration was 2 months.

The future stack was found to be fit for purpose and principally ready for integration, however important functionality needed to be added. Also, as important result a specific architecture for a federated identity to de-risk migration has been worked out and decided by the technical leadership. As part of the team building during the assessment, the two rather different kind of technical leadership cultures of BT and EE were integrated in a positive learning spirit.

Together with the founders and anchor investors, Dr. Steffen Roehn identified the necessary core competencies and strategic options for DeinDesign. He also helped the founders to implement these successfully over the course of three years.

It started with the finding, that the growth potential for design foils – DeinDeisgn’s core product – would be substantially limited, despite the success of especially US competitors. Thus, focus was shifted from foils to cases, which meanwhile are the strongest growth driver in the accessories business. Transforming the complete value chain, the suppliers and the production was completed successfully within one year.

Second to this, the existing eCommerce platform – a complete in-house development – was transformed during a period of two years towards a state-of-the-art visualization technology. Due to the very high effort for the B2B business, it was decided to reduce DeinDesign’s B2B segment to the highly standardized part, which could be run online. And last, but not least the most important decision: Further financing through extended friends&family and KfW/ISB (German banks) instead of VC based funding to keep independence.

The project was run over a period of three years and is an excellent example for sustainable advisory.

DeinDesign was very successful with the transformation towards design cases from design foils – showing remarkable growth rates. With that, the foundation for further growth was built. By focusing on eCommerce, premium quality and highest degree of customization the desire of customers was met perfectly.

In 2015 DeinDesign was sold, as aspired by founders and investors, to CEWE, European market leader for photo- and online-printing. A perfect match indeed: DeinDesign received funding for further growth and CEWE closed a strategic white spot in their offering, which now offers both companies even further growth.

RMC was asked by the CEO to work out a transformation masterplan. This was done together with the Vimpelcom CIO and his IT leadership team and in close alignment with the ongoing network transformation. Key elements and drivers of this transformation plan were (1) improving customer experience, (2) closing substantial gaps in the B2C and B2B segment, (3) improving agility and (4) reducing architecture complexity. The transformation roadmap covered four years, starting with substantial quick wins in the first 9 months. During the first six months the local leadership team was supported by RMC not only in the assembly of the transformation roadmap but also the actual implementation.
The project duration was 8 months.

The target architecture and the transformation roadmap was approved by the Russian management board and initiated in a short time. This was possible due to strong stakeholder management within Vimpelcom across all functions. The local IT team implemented important quick wins and laid the foundation for more structural changes in the stack. As well as this, a new business prioritization process was established. Also, a new IT organization to handle the transformation was established, enabling talented new leaders to take accountability. The whole IT and business team were focused and mobilized by a strong and compelling vision. The transformation also served as blueprint for other transformations within the Vimpelcom Group.

Dr. Steffen Roehn – together with the head of IT Strategy at Allianz – collected and analyzed relevant experiences of global IT operating models from large coprorations and faculty research. Major topics out of these were (1) demand management, (2) involvement of local business and IT units, (3) standardization, (4) change management, (5) intercultural awareness and (6) global governance. These results were used for example for a critical kick-off workshop with the most important CIOs of the Allianz group.
The project duration was 3 months.

Allianz has positioned itself globally with a dedicated focus on IT/Technology. With it’s service provider AMOS global delivery models have been implemented successfully together with the corresponding business unit. Many conceptual building blocks have been laid by RMC with this project.