The client’s problem
A large Northern European telecom provider required a clear business IT strategy to support business ambitions and prepare for the next generation of products demanded by customers. The IT strategy had to balance the complex demands of various business units across multiple countries and the desire to develop new products with the highly technical requirements of operating the business day-to-day. In addition, the organisation had recently merged with several other companies, creating a complex environment in which countries had differing IT setups at various levels of maturity.
Our approach
Oleto Associates worked closely together with a multinational client team to define the future business IT strategy around three key business ambitions: development of a fully digitalised and customer centric experience for users, retention and growth of current business and launch of next generation products. The project was structured along two parallel workstreams, the first focused on understanding business demands and the second on how IT could meet these needs. The complex nature of the IT environment meant that it was important for the strategy to be tailored to each country. The first phase of work established transparency, including key business priorities consolidated from stakeholder interviews, revenue and cost breakdowns, sourcing mix, IT system landscapes and investment portfolios. The second phase focused on defining suitable target scenarios, evaluating each scenario against business ambitions and developing future target pictures. The third detailed implementation roadmaps and target architectures, including estimated investment requirements, transformation initiatives and a future organisation and governance structure. Meetings with board members, senior executives and business unit owners took place throughout the project to ensure continuous alignment.
Value delivered
Created a business IT strategy which supported current business needs and provided a detailed plan of how IT could enable the development of next generation products and digitalised customer experiences cost effectively and with low risk of business disruption. Increased transparency also enabled decisions on resource allocation to be made with greater clarity and supported the development of other strategies.