IT Service Providers Group - Executive Coaching and Corporate Strategy

An established IT service provider has secured a strong position within specific market segments and niches. Its portfolio includes individual software development, software integration, and a range of proprietary specialized software products.

However, several challenges have emerged:

• Anticipated retirement of long-serving senior executives
• Risk concentration from a historically balanced client base
• Significant business impacts from emerging technologies and paradigms, particularly AI and low-code/no-code platforms
• Decreased price negotiation power due to increased competition
• Major shifts in employer attractiveness, employee experience expectations, retention rates, and applicant behavior

Following a series of strategic acquisitions by the proactive ownership and supervisory board to bolster market positioning, there is now the need to develop and implement a comprehensive overall corporate strategy.

The project's primary objective was to collaborate with top executives across the IT service provider entities, alongside the supervisory board, to forge a comprehensive new corporate strategy. This strategy aims to encompass:

• A balanced analysis of the current strengths and weaknesses across the group's IT service providers
• An in-depth review of the existing client landscape, identifying opportunities, threats, and key market trends
• Formulation and consensus on the foundational elements of the future service and product portfolio
• Strategic directives for business development, focusing on the combination of service offerings, portfolio expansion, and key client relationships
• Integration strategies to unify the disparate IT service providers within the group, promoting a cohesive operational framework
• Executive succession planning and delineation of future leadership responsibilities
• Definition of a strategic implementation roadmap to operationalize the new corporate strategy effectively

The new corporate IT strategy development for the group followed this structured approach:

• Conducting a series of comprehensive, full-day workshops aimed at collaboratively defining key elements of the corporate strategy
• Ensuring full executive engagement by having all top executives present their current state assessments and strategic visions in advance
• Facilitating sessions to harmonize differing viewpoints and reconcile the group's history with future objectives
• Performing complementary off-site events designed to foster unity and leverage the diverse experiences of the executive team
• Maintaining continuous dialogue with the owners group and the supervisory board to monitor progress, address potential challenges, and secure final approval

The comprehensive development of the corporate strategy for the IT service provider group spanned approximately six months.