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CIO Advisory | Information Technology

We focus on the three central fields of action in the CIO Advisory

IT Strategy

Consulting Expertise
IT Strategy:

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IT Transformation

Consulting Expertise
IT Transformation:

  • Sustainability Implementation
  • IT/OT Convergence
  • S/4 Hana Journey
  • AI Transformation
  • Project Portfolio Assessment
  • Project Turnaround

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Operational
Excellence

Consulting Expertise
Operational Excellence

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Information Technology in the Age of Digitalization and Industry 4.0

The importance of Information Technology and its drivers within the business is rapidly increasing in the face of new business opportunities brought by digitalization and Industry 4.0. The adoption of other technologies such as Big Data, Data Analytics, Social Media, Mobility/Connectivity, and Cloud Computing is leading to the creation of new products and services, as well as business models, processes, and value chains. These developments and changing expectations from businesses are putting pressure on IT departments to rethink their existing operational models and setups.

The CIO team faces a particularly challenging balancing act: On one hand, business units expect IT to quickly and dynamically implement significant innovations as part of the digital transformation, but on the other hand, they also expect the maintenance of existing IT services and systems. These should continue to be offered reliably, securely, and cost-effectively, and serve as a dependable backend for future digital services.

The pressure also stems from exaggerated expectations to create financial and resource leeway for investments and innovations in digitalization through efficiency improvements in legacy operations. Success in this area is anticipated through the standardization and consolidation of the IT landscape, migration to cloud computing models (whether SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS), and the intensification of nearshoring and offshoring.

 

Sustainable design
Positioning

Development of a forward-looking IT organization model

It remains to be seen which IT organization (target operating model) promises the greatest efficiency and probability of success given this range of tasks and balances the balancing act between evolution and revolution in the best possible way. In our view, trends such as bimodal or two-speed IT misjudge the reality in companies and make acceptance and feasibility in IT organizations more difficult. It is much more important to address the following dimensions for the entire IT organization and to work on them in a corresponding transformation process:

  • Aligning IT management with new requirements and management responsibility
  • Initiating the change process in the IT organization and among employees to apply new technologies, agile methods and new forms of cooperation
  • Establishing and maintaining an integrative innovation process for IT and business
  • Aligning IT, its systems and innovations with the user (customers, employees)
  • Utilizing new sourcing options where appropriate and value-creating (e.g. cloud computing, cloud services) and establishing corresponding governance and control structures
  • Analyzing and positioning the company in new areas such as IoT, blockchain or data analytics
  • Providing flexible data exchange platforms and mechanisms (e.g. API architectures, data management)
  • Securing increasingly open IT platforms and systems against misuse and data theft (e.g. cyber security, data security)

Positioning IT in the digital transformation

In addition to the realignment of IT, the IT strategy processes should clarify how IT can position itself within the company in the course of digitalization. If the business units set up their own platform products, this is often done without IT. It is also unclear to many departments why they need internal IT when they can obtain entire systems as a cloud service directly from the provider. The question of how these systems can be integrated from a data and security perspective is often initially ignored. The aim is for IT to actively introduce such SaaS or PaaS offerings itself and then act as a competent integrator and data architect/manager of the entire IT landscape.

 

 

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4C Study 2021: "Key factors of successful CIOs"

What makes CIOs successful?

60 above-average successful CIOs have shared their experiences and recipes for success with us.

We are in a time of unstoppable change. While uncertainty is growing in many companies, digitalization continues to advance. How can CIOs meet this growing challenge? Our study "Key factors of successful CIOs" now provides the first comprehensive insight into the working world of CIOs at top German companies:

  • Which factors influence the success of CIOs
  • Why leadership skills are more important for CIOs than technical and business know-how
  • What particularly attracts German CIOs to their position
  • Where the IT bosses themselves see their greatest successes

You can find an overview of our most important findings in our article in CIO Magazine.

 

Our Focus

Top topic
Cyber Security

How to make your cyber security organization fit for the future

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IT Strategy Roadmap

The definition of the business model of IT

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Digital Transformation Journey

Development of a future-proof digital strategy

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IT Sourcing

IT Sourcing is increasingly becoming a core discipline of IT

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Cooperation

Hamburger IT Strategietage

The 4C GROUP is pleased to announce that it is an official network partner of the renowned Hamburg IT Strategy Days.

In February 2025, the Hamburg IT Strategy Days will bring together the Who's Who of the IT management community in Hamburg for the 23rd time! The Hamburg IT Strategy Days 2025 offer numerous opportunities for personal exchange and networking as well as a wide variety of presentations by renowned speakers from business and science on the most relevant topics.

Our experts Martin Stephany and Markus Matschi will also be on site to hold interesting discussions with the CIO community and share valuable insights.

More about the IT Strategy Days

Publications

4C Study 2023: "Contribution and Success Factors of Sustainable IT"

Discover the growing importance of sustainability in the IT world in our latest study. Based on in-depth interviews with 20 leading CIOs and Sustainable IT Managers, this study sheds light on the current practices and benefits of sustainability-oriented IT strategies. Learn how sustainable IT contributes not only to Corporate Social Responsibility but also leads to significant cost savings and competitive advantages.

This study highlights how CIOs and IT Managers can enhance their visibility and reputation within the company through the implementation of Sustainable IT, opening up new career paths. Additionally, the report provides insights into various approaches and success factors for the implementation of sustainable IT, enabling IT organizations to be perceived as responsible and future-oriented.

Learn more about Sustainable IT and discover how you can optimally utilize the potentials and opportunities in your company.

Download now

Your Experts

Martin Stephany

Partner

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Markus Matschi

Senior Manager

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Stefan Hornke

Senior Manager

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Christopher Kaetz

Senior Manager

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Anna Leddin

Manager

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Martin Vogel

Manager

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Thank you for your trust. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Claudia Bauer


+49 89 599 882 0

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Maike Ring


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