CIO advisory

Our IT strategy service focuses on aligning the priorities of your IT organisation with your business priorities.

After assessing the business priorities, we define the target to be achieved (platform, organisation, processes, governance, sourcing) and map out the path to align IT services and capabilities with business needs. Our work results in a short- and medium-term IT action plan aligned with the business strategy, and IT solutions, that best fit the business objectives and harmonise well with the IT strategy, can be selected.

We take into account current IT trends and new technologies that have already been proved at several companies and that align with your company culture. In many cases,  the implementation of new technologies gives companies a competitive edge, opens up new markets and ensures long-term quality improvement and revenue growth.

Implementing the strategy, our goal is to improve the level of IT support of your business along with the use and predictability of human and technical resources at your organisation. Our advisors have extensive experience in shaping IT strategies, and our work is guided by international KPMG methodologies.

We transform our clients’ IT organisation based on best practices and industry characteristics by defining processes built on ITIL standards. Our advisors support the IT transformation process and make recommendations on structure, resources and capabilities.

The outcome of the engagement for our clients is as follows:

• Higher quality and efficiency of IT services and higher level of security in operations.
• Better cooperation between business areas and the IT organisation.
• The IT organisation participates more productively in developments serving business areas.
• Shortages of human resources and competences can be managed and avoided more easily.
• Develop a proactive approach in IT operations, preventing problems instead of responding to them.

With our service we support our clients by assessing existing IT resources (hardware, applications and organisation) and processes and controls,and drafting recommendations to enhance the operational efficiency of the IT organisation and to ensure business continuity.

The outcome of the engagement for our clients is as follows:

• Lower business risks by adopting appropriate processes and controls.
• Higher efficiency – optimisation of costs and staff.
• Identification of optimal infrastructure and organisational development opportunities.

Continuous business development requires the continuous improvement of IT infrastructure. New business challenges may require the introduction of new IT solutions. The procurement of high-quality IT services is a complex task. Well-founded decisions are necessary when we need to decide whether to outsource services or manage them within the firm, taking into account the relevant environment, the people affected as well as legal and taxation requirements. Our service provides assistance in the selection of software, hardware and partners that meet new business needs the most.

As independent advisors we provide support for our clients at multiple levels, including:

• Preparing for procurements – value analysis, risk analysis, definition of service scope, business plan preparation, writing of RFIs and RFPs.
• Supplier selection – evaluation of suppliers based on proposals, negotiations with suppliers, coordination of selection.
• Interim period support – review of compliance, SLA agreements and support for service delivery.
• Change management and governance.

Most of all, our goal is to ensure that the selected solution supports business goals and the organisation’s strategy in both the short and long term.

The cloud is one of the fastest expanding technologies today, and using it is no longer a competitive edge but a required core capability for businesses. Adapting clouds requires diverse knowledge to ensure that its inherent business and IT advantages are actually utilised by the company.

Our experts primarily support this by first assessing our clients’ IT applications and needs, based on which, in light of the current legal environment, they make proposals on moving resources and applications to the cloud, thereby supporting management decision-making.

Financial return calculations form part of our activities along with the mapping of the cloud solutions (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) available on the market, through which we support our clients in selecting the best cloud service provider. We have experience with both large international (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure) and local cloud service providers. If requested, our security consultants assess the security risks of the selected solution and prepare a summary report of the results for our clients.

Your organisation is best able to exploit the business advantages of cloud-based solutions if it has the proper operational framework built around it, and our advisors can help you develop this.

Controlling IT costs and the mitigation and optimisation of technology-related costs is a growing need that is becoming ever more important and critical as a result of scarce resources and the requirements of businesses.

For all companies, the goal is to develop a technology and cost structure that can be considered optimal for IT services, IT architecture and the organisation as a whole. This all allows for an appropriate quality of IT services and ensures that the level of service meets the requirements of both your internal and external customers. The continuous development that is all so characteristic of the IT industry enables companies to cut their costs by introducing new technologies.

In addition to identifying cost-cutting measures, it is important that the planning and launching of changes aligned with corporate strategy is also integral part of the cost optimisation project. Apart from cost controls, rationalising and modernising the current organisation and technology along with identifying reserves in terms of organisation, technology and licence management may also be necessary for the long-term sustainability of performance growth. Through its methodology and experience, KPMG has performed several successful cost optimisation projects that have ensured considerable savings and improved efficiency for its clients in both the short and long run.