International Retailer Fashion & Luxury - IT Strategy and IT Operating Model

For a long time, the international retailer had established a strong brand in the fashion & luxury segment. Internationalization, brand adjustments, and keeping business processes efficient and effective are performed regularly. The significant shifts in consumer behavior and technological possibilities of the digital revolution are simultaneously an opportunity and a threat to the business model.

For corporate IT, a set of challenges and new demands have to be met. The applications area needs to significantly scale e-business capabilities and perform a transformation of its core applications. The IT infrastructure area must primarily push the company's cloud transformation and rethink IT sourcing in their realm while maintaining secure and efficient operations and the highest system availabilities.

Overall the collaboration model with the business functions, agile transformation, the IT governance model, rejuvenation considerations in IT management positions, and employer attractiveness for digital & IT talent have to be appropriately pushed to be future-ready.

The goal of the project was to develop a new future-oriented IT strategy and IT operating model, considering the following key points in particular:

• Align with the updated business strategy, in particular, strengthening e-business capabilities and allowing a significantly faster rate of adopting the business model in future
• Reflect the needs and priorities of the business functions
• Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current IT landscape, the IT operating model as well as the context of architecture, IT sourcing, the project portfolio, and business / IT alignment
• Consider the identified challenges and opportunities in core system(s) transformation, accelerating the journey to the cloud, IT security, the collaboration model with the business functions, agile scaling, the IT governance model, rejuvenation considerations in IT management positions, and employer attractiveness for digital & IT talent

The following approach has been taken to develop an updated IT strategy and IT operating model:

• Settings session(s) with the core team for developing and driving the new IT strategy
• Analysis of the existing IT strategy and key documents, as well as a briefing workshop series with the IT executives
• Development of an updated IT vision and guiding principles
• Development of an updated capabilities map and cornerstones for the IT operating model, including modern business / IT alignment and agile scaling considerations
• Alignment with the board on the updated IT strategy the IT operating model, and the corresponding strategic roadmap
• Finalization and communication of the formal IT strategy and target IT operating model

The project length for developing a new future-oriented IT strategy and IT operating model was approximately 8 months.