Author: Ian Jongste

Success is often an interplay of at least four factors: teamplay, strategy, data and impact. This is as true for major digital transformations as it is within top-level sports. In this series of articles, management consultants from Anderson MacGyver talk with multiple rowing champion Lisa Bruijnincx. In this second installment, Edwin Wieringa, Guild Lead Organization and Management Consultant, talks to her about the value of good team spirit.  

In the double scull, Lisa Bruijnincx invariably rowed with Fien van Westreenen, with whom she won gold at the 2019 World Championships. When her regular rowing buddy started doing something else this year, she switched to the quad scull: new in terms of setting and in terms of team with diverse experiences, backgrounds and characters. The challenge is to bring this all together in an optimal and result-oriented way. Teamplay plays a fundamental role in this, as it does within organizations.  

“Practically from the beginning, I rowed with Fien,” Laura says. “We are reasonable opposites, so we complemented each other well. At first, I found it awkward that she wasn’t there. For example, during a training I could already tell by her shoulders how she was feeling. In a new team that takes some time to develop. The mutual match takes some time, but it worked out.” The foursome finished first this summer at the World Under 23 Championships in Varese, Italy.  

Edwin Wieringa: “One question about your old rowing mate: in what respect did you differ so much and how did you deal with that?” Bruijnincx: “Fien and I started rowing together as 17-year-olds and at that age you deal with problems differently than when you are 21. Initially I was more shy and reserved. We both handled a bad training day differently, for example.”  

“In the beginning we mainly looked for our similarities and tried to grow towards each other in various aspects. A good coach taught us to accept that no one’s approach is the same. He showed us when one of us needed space, or when it is wise to do something together. With that, you empower each other.”  

“When we stressed before a game, for example, I want to talk. No matter about what, I have to get rid of the tension. While Fien and many other people dive into themselves. That doesn’t match at that moment and you have to acknowledge that. I then have to find someone else to talk to and she looks for a quiet place.”  

Tough period

Anderson MacGyver consultant Edwin Wieringa wants to know if she will take this experience with her to the quad scull, in which she and stroke rower Femke Paulis are the experienced forces, and Vera Sneijders and Willemijn Mulder are younger and newer. All of this while there wasn’t much time to train.  

“We had just under two months: a short and intense period, in which we got to know each other very well very quickly. Here, all of us also dealt with tension differently. I myself have become more outspoken since and also strongly solution-oriented. Because we are not all the same, you have to give each other space and trust that in the end everyone gives the required 110 percent effort.”  

Is it an advantage for balance to have two less experienced people in the boat? “Definitely. We also had a good mix in terms of uninhibitedness. On the one hand dreaming about things that are possible, on the other hand realism and result orientation. In terms of balance, that worked perfectly. Now of course that was taken into consideration with the  composition: whether it all fit in terms of rowing performance and characters.”  

With Anderson MacGyver, it works broadly the same way. It starts with the question: is it a question around strategy, technology, data or something organizational? “We have different disciplines for that. Certainly the more senior employees really have their specialism; they transfer that to the less experienced people. Together they form the optimal mix. That’s a clear parallel with top sports.”  

Optimal division of roles  

In addition, according to Edwin Wieringa, it’s all about complementary characters: you put a fact-oriented person next to someone who looks at the big picture. An analyst is a good complement to a relationship-oriented man or woman. “For that role assignment and match with the client, we have useful tools internally, such as the Myers-Briggs type indicator. But tell me: what other people play a role on your team?” 

Lisa Bruijnincx: “The quad scull has two coaches. One focuses mainly on feeling, the other on tangible aspects and analysis. Together these coaches make the final decision on when to train or rest and what needed to be done during training. Who is in the boat is determined by the national coach.”  

She refers to this division as a ‘secure ring’ and ‘safe team environment’. After all, when one coach or manager has to combine the roles of coordinator, coach and evaluator, insecurity can arise. “You may then be judged for what you share, inhibiting you from expressing yourself. Or, on the contrary, you may be judged more leniently because the coach knows you well. When you involve multiple people, and you also use data; conclusions and judgments become more objective.”  

Intermediate evaluation

Wieringa wonders if she would recommend this to organizations: clarity about role assignment and influence. Bruijnincx: “Hierarchy is not really my thing, but that security is very important. Those who were very tired could have a confidential conversation with one of the coaches, who could then adjust the schedule together. Because there was room to take a step back sometimes, we all had top fitness levels at the start.”  

Anderson MacGyver holds regular evaluations with clients to gauge how everyone is doing. Wieringa: “With Agile working, you invest responsibilities as low as possible in the organization: ownership, involvement and supported decisions within teams. This has been proven to work better, although it is more difficult in larger organizations because individual levels of influence are sometimes less clear. Then you have to make sure the organization works as a whole. Do you see that too, do you have any tips?”  

“When teams and organizations get too big, sometimes people stop communicating,” Bruijnincx replies. “Then all the individual dreams are no longer shared. If the goal is a medal, and everyone is thinking of a different color, then there is no shared focus. My advice is to always make everyone’s dreams explicit, even if that leads to a little suspense. What matters is that at the end of the day, everyone gives those mentioned 110 percent to achieve the shared goal.”  

In consulting practice, one record or statement often visualizes where we want to be in concrete terms at a certain point in time. Edwin Wieringa: “Then you create instant bonding.” Lisa Bruijnincx agrees: “The goal ‘out in the open’ is a great way to create a bond. Then you can make each other accountable or express your doubts. You then literally are in the same boat. 

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As CIO of PostNL, Marcel Krom was at the forefront of a successful transformation to a digital company. He was the driving force behind technological solutions for optimizing (chain) processes and customer experience. After almost thirteen years as CIO, he will start working part-time as a consultant. Gerard Wijers, director and co-founder of Anderson MacGyver, and Marcel Krom talk about the why, what and how of this collaboration.

“You don’t take a decision like that overnight,” the former CIO says about the career switch. “PostNL is a beautiful company with great people. I certainly could have stayed there a few more years until retirement. Then my farewell speech would have been mainly about PostNL, while I often got outside the company walls enough to know that there is more. To be able to discover and explore all that, I need freedom and time. I then set a date for leaving, which was postponed twice. After all, it took a while to find my successor and I wanted to hand everything over properly.” 

Krom deliberately chose not to take on a new CIO role, because then he would once again be in one domain for a long time. He wants to develop more broadly, gain experience in different industries and positions. “As CIO, you are also operationally responsible 7×24 hours in addition to the digital business strategy. After all, if IT doesn’t work, nothing works anymore. When you have a thousand systems, and they all have a problem three times a year, you know you’re constantly dealing with operational sores.” 

Making translation 

He wanted more time for the creative part: to translate the business activities into the enterprise architecture and then the IT architecture. As far as he is concerned, digital transformations start with the business and end with IT via the operating model. Those three pillars should come together in the architecture. “For me, that is the core,” said Krom, who prior to his appointment as CIO held leadership positions for more than ten years at PostNL subsidiary Cendris, which specializes in customer contact. 

He then began to have exploratory conversations with various consulting firms. “You quickly come to the consideration: in the Netherlands or internationally? I didn’t feel much like sitting on a plane all the time anyway. But also: do the culture and methodology match my own views? I wanted to work two days a week as a consultant in order to have enough time for other activities as well.” Krom has been a commissioner of Facilicom Group since 2020 and a member of TWTG’s advisory board. 

“Marcel called me last fall that he was quitting,” explains Gerard Wijers of Anderson MacGyver. “We were on his shortlist and he was curious to see how things worked here. Preferably, consultants join us on a permanent basis, in view of our self-developed approaches and concepts – our intellectual property. Joining as an associate is possible in specific cases. But everyone follows the same training program, participates in in-depth meetings, training sessions, team-building initiatives and so on. Regardless of one’s background, competencies or role.” That clarity did appeal to Krom. “It is a great advantage that we have worked closely and enjoyably together within PostNL.” 

Right match 

Anderson MacGyver indeed turned out to be the right match, the former CIO explains. “Indeed, we have known each other for some time. They have well-thought-out models and standard approaches for successful digital transformations. Think of the Operating Model Canvas and multimodal analysis to optimally align operations and IT with the business. Or the Value Web, which provides insight into a company’s added value within a market or ecosystem. Moreover, Anderson MacGyver is not that big, is humane and has both feet on the ground.” 

Apart from its philosophy and methods, the internationally developing consulting firm does indeed have a distinctive signature: familial, authentic, passionate and determined to make an impact for clients. Wijers: “That suits Marcel well. He is ideally someone who wants to move forward in a good atmosphere. In addition, he has seen that we only work with the best people. That’s a coat that fits and feels right, both for him and for us.” 

Half of the time Marcel Krom does other types of work; things that do not necessarily fit with Anderson MacGyver’s strategy and activities. For example, in a country or area where one is not active or something within a completely different domain. “Where possible, I will always do something together with Anderson MacGyver or other parties. On your own, you may be able to think fast – this is the direction it should go – but on your own you won’t get far. Collaboration and connecting companies allows for speed and makes it scalable.” 

Within Anderson MacGyver, the 2020 CIO of the Year has no distinct status or role, but ‘just started’ as an associate on September 1 of this year. “We did a trajectory together last summer and it went flawlessly. We let it all develop organically. More creative, less operational and in different environments.” 

Developing organically 

Gerard Wijers: “The fact that Marcel has joined us says something about where we stand as a company. He is one of the best known and most highly regarded CIOs. In addition to his stature, he has a strong personality. As a person and a professional, he can offer us a lot. We are super happy and proud that Marcel has chosen us. Our impact with clients will be even greater with his knowledge and experience.” 

Anderson MacGyver stays true to the proven models and methods used to solve challenging puzzles for clients. “We typically do this in consultation, with carefully assembled teams and with attention to both the business activities, the operating model and the IT architecture,” said the managing director and co-founder. 

“We are at the top when it comes to digital strategies and transformations. We work for clients like Leaseplan, PostNL, Eneco and other large Dutch companies. In the Nordics, we advise Scania, among others. We often advise on projects that require huge interventions and investments. We also find small clients interesting. The most important thing is that we can use our creativity and our craftsmanship.” 

People and the planet

At PostNL, the transformation was fundamentally about making the company able to withstand change. Given its crucial role, that was an economically and socially very meaningful ambition. “You noticed that in the commitment and energy of the people working at PostNL,” says Marcel Krom. “Everyone wanted to show that this huge transformation was possible. For such assignments, I want to have more opportunity. Knowing what’s going on, and knowing what needs to change, with an eye for people and planet.” 

Interested in Anderson MacGyver’s solutions for digital services?

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Thanks to technological advances, education is personalizing along the principles of ‘any time, any place, any path, any space’. Universities and colleges will likewise offer modern online and offline learning concepts. The required flexibility, scalability and user experiences require an appropriate IT infrastructure that facilitates this optimally. From our consultancy practice in the education sector, we present the vision on this topic as seen by some of our customers. This week, Ellen Schuurink, Manager Digital Operations at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, has the floor.

‘The coherence in focus’

Ellen Schuurink has been working for Hogeschool Utrecht (HU) since 2016. After she started as Manager Digital Learning Environment and Digital Research Environment she made the connection between didactics and IT. At the time, the focal point was the newly formulated digitalization ambition, focusing on personalized education, among other things. Agile, DevOps and low-code development were important tools in the realization.  

As Manager Digitalization Business Operations, she is now shaping the next battle in digitalization, in which three elements play an important role: people, processes and IT. “Business operations are organized in such a way that students, teachers and researchers can focus optimally on their core tasks.” 

Innovation and optimization 

HU is one of the large educational institutions in the Netherlands with almost 35,000 students. “Given our nature and size, everything we do ultimately has a significant social impact,” says Schuurink. “With all the initiatives we undertake, we ask ourselves, for example, how this will make things easier for the student or teacher, or how it will improve the process.” 

Ultimately, everything must be in line with the digital strategy. “In doing so, we are always looking for the balance between innovation and optimization.” Some time ago, with the help of Anderson MacGyver, the Manager Digitalization Business Operations and her team ran a project in the ERP domain, aimed at optimizing basic administration. “That too involved the trade-off between super fancy and super simple, or something in between.” 

Target audiences

By examining the entire process and the supporting IT, you will easily get a good picture of of the coherence. In the ERP project, for example, the relationship with the various related financial and HR processes and systems became clear. This includes matters that seem more distant from these processes. As a result, the impact of choices also emerges.  

“For us, for example, a so-called contract student – a student who combines work and study – is of a different importance than a 17-year-old who chooses their studies following their high school in his or her region. The latter will come to us automatically, while for contract students we compete with other colleges and institutions, commercial or otherwise, at home and abroad,” Schuurink said. 

“Both categories relate to the administrative process, but for the young student from the region we can probably suffice with a standard solution in terms of CRM, while we may have to differentiate with regard to the contract student.” 

Vision and expertise

“In a decentralized governance, you can enter into dialogue about every point solution that should make the difference,” says the Manager Digitalization Business Operations. “For a lot of support processes, uniform systems suffice. It’s a missed opportunity to do all of that on a small scale and every man for himself. That does require a clear demarcation, where you choose technological solutions that fit the strategy and the purpose of use.” 

“Anderson MacGyver helps us get the insights based on which we can make these choices. They make a nice picture of that. They also know the products available in the market. Everyone brings in his or her individual knowledge and skills: overview, content, execution power, knowledge of architecture and so on. That all works well with the people involved on our side.” 

Pressure cooker 

In the trajectory with Anderson MacGyver, a pressure cooker was chosen, aimed at delivering two things: the documentation of the thought process and their outcomes, plus a translation into business impact suitable for decision-making in the IT board. The focus here was on the supporting processes. 

Together with the IT board, costs are also considered. “By investing in IT you can improve things, but the operating costs have to be kept under control.” 

“The question here is also: where do things need to be stable and reliable, and where is agility required? What buttons do we need to press to be effective and efficient, but with the right change capacity and absorptive capacity? Here it is all about finding a collective point of view.” 

Starting point  

“The target architecture is the starting point,” says Ellen Schuurink. “The interpretation must be based on the question in which areas you want to be distinctive as an organization and where uniformity is sufficient. Thanks to the trajectory with Anderson MacGyver, we have a handle to give direction to this.” 

Interested in Anderson MacGyver’s solutions for digital services and digital strategies?

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Success is often a combination of a number of factors: team play, strategy, data, material and impact. This is true in major digital transformations as well as within professional sports. In this series of articles, management consultants from Anderson MacGyver talk with multi-time rowing champion Lisa Bruijnincx. In the first edition, David Jongste, who recently became the director of the Netherlands, talks to her about the meaning of impact. 

The impact and goals of top rower Lisa Bruijnincx reaech far beyond the sport. While many fellow athletes have set their sights primarily on winning an Olympic medal, her main ambitions are to inspire people and make them better. She does that through sports and her studies in biopharmaceutical sciences – where she contributed to clinical trials, among other things. Medals and sporting achievements are nevertheless important sub-goals that also help her put things into perspective. 

“When I think of impact, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is something that affects the lives of others: inspiring people through the sport of rowing to get the most out of themselves,” Bruijnincx answers when asked what the term means to her. “I started studying biopharmaceutical sciences because I was good at biology and chemistry, but also because during my internship I saw how much influence a medicine can have on someone’s life. To be able to contribute a little bit to that is impact for me. In addition, the concept relates to myself: my confidence and development, my place in the rowing world and society.” 

According to David Jongste this is not very different at Anderson MacGyver. “For us, making an impact means helping organizations achieve their goals: serving customers, enabling different ways of working, developing and marketing products. We achieve this by getting the most out of IT, data and people. For us, impact also means being a facilitator for others. But why did you choose rowing?” 

Bruijnincx says she started on the recommendation of her best friend’s father. In 2016, shortly after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics where the Dutch Nicole Beukers won a silver medal. “In an interview she talked about the process leading up to it – what she had done to get there and how awesome it was. I immediately knew: I want that too! I went to the same club and the nice thing is that I now see her every month.” In 2019, Bruijnincx won gold at the World Junior Championships. 

Inspiration 

Jongste recognizes the importance of having an appealing example. Someone who inspires you to do the same and keep going in the face of setbacks. “Is that what you think about when you need to push through?” Lisa Bruijnincx: “I row for a gold medal, because in the end that’s where everything from the preliminary process comes together. Even the difficult moments, for example when I’m training alone in a boat in the middle of winter. Then I think about all the good things that lie behind me and the euphoria of winning a possible gold medal.” 

“So your athletic goal and compass are the Olympics,” states Jongste. “We as Anderson MacGyver are striving to be somewhere in terms of name and impact by 2030. That result is important, of course, but it’s mostly about the road leading up to it and the people with whom we make that journey. Working together, experiencing fun things. Overcoming difficult moments by reflecting together on what we do and how we can turn things around. But also by building teams around our customers and really doing it together, co-creating and celebrating successes.” 

A common goal creates cohesive teams, according to Lisa Bruijnincx. “I sometimes describe it as ‘flying together’. When you know what you’re doing it for, momentum is more likely to build.” David Jongste adds: “When you see that things are developing, you get into a flow with each other. Those are the cool moments that you look back upon when things get a little more difficult later on. The insights you gain during the journey are much broader than just the sport – or in our case the profession.” 

Balance 

The Anderson MacGyver consultant then asks about the balance between her social career and professional sports. Do those things reinforce each other? Yes they do. “Through sports I learn who I am and what I am capable of – for example, in terms of perseverance. That translates to my self-confidence as a student or in my job. I know I can handle bad moments and work my way through them. I take that confidence with me for the rest of my life.” 

Rowing on its own would be nothing for her. “The combination helps me put things into perspective. That life doesn’t revolve around professional sports and that one bad training session doesn’t define my day. Moreover, there is a life after professional sports. I have experienced several times what it is like to win and especially in the beginning it is awesome. But that euphoria fades away after two weeks. If only winning would count, you experience many small black holes in your active career. Imagine how it feels when you stop. Hence the balance. My connection with the rowing sport will not end after my time as a top athlete. After that I can mentor other talents, inspire them and so on.” 

“I do see an analogy with how we stand in our work,” says David Jongste. “We often face complex issues at the organizations we serve. It’s often about getting to the bottom of things, breaking patterns and bringing people together. When we succeed, we make a substantial, impactful contribution. But it is also extremely important that we regularly take a step back from it.” 

Catalyst  

Lisa Bruijnincx: “A little room to breathe, so you can go at it again with fresh energy. By the way: none of my medals were an easy victory; there were always many obstacles to overcome. But that is what gives things added value and creates cohesion within the teams. That is much more valuable than gold.” 

David Jongste: “Success indeed becomes more valuable when you have had to overcome obstacles. If you haven’t experienced friction, I wonder if the medal is shiny. Success is not an end in itself, but is especially important as fuel or catalyst for sustained and impactful change. That is always a journey with people for the longer term. That applies to you but also to our business – whether it’s about enabling the energy transition, optimizing a business in the logistics sector or other big challenges. It’s ultimately about the impact for others.” 

Interested in Anderson MacGyver’s solutions for digital services?

Contact our specialists! We are happy to assist you.

Thanks to technological advances, education is personalizing along the principles of “any time, any place, any path, any space”. Universities and colleges are also increasingly offering modern online and offline learning concepts. The required flexibility, scalability and user experience require an appropriate IT infrastructure that facilitates this optimally. From our consultancy practice in the education sector, we present the vision on this issue as seen by some of our customers.  This week, Ronald Stolk, Director of the Center for Information Technology (CIT) and CIO of the University of Groningen, has the opportunity to present his views.  

‘Ingrained habits up for discussion’  

Ronald Stolk, as Director Center for Information Technology (CIT) and CIO, has been responsible for all IT-related matters of the University of Groningen – a broad education and research institution with 40,000 students and 8,000 employees – since 2017. This includes the IT organization, the fiber optic infrastructure, the data centers, applications and the hardware in the study halls. 

In addition to office automation, focused on HR, finance and facilities issues, among others, there is support for the research and education domains. To do this as well as possible, a transformation was initiated five years ago, which was completed over two years ago. IT staff was organized across domains in Agile teams. Consultants combined IT and specific domain knowledge and, together with teachers and researchers, looked for the best-fit solutions. Regular services were also supported in this way. 

The covid-pandemic has made it even more visible how important digitalization is to the university. “In that sense, we’re floating more and more on IT,” says CIO Ronald Stolk. “From a traditional structure you are far too slow to quickly and adequately support that. Therefore, you have to allocate responsibilities further down in the organization: people should be able to make their own decisions to a certain extent in conjunction with the IT consultants.”  

Expertise 

Many things are developed in-house based on the available expertise. In terms of education, think of the possibilities for examination in digital rooms, where students must be able to look things up in Wikipedia, for example, but are not allowed to talk online with friends. That requires specific adjustments to the network. In the digital tests that students can take at home, the questions are randomized, which makes discussing difficult. 

With respect to research, it is often about facilitating data processing, sometimes with proprietary equipment and proprietary datasets, which of course must meet the FAIR principles of findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. In addition, the university traditionally had capabilities for high-performance computing – once set up for the data processing of the Westerbork radio telescope. 

The size and diversity of the University of Groningen presents Ronald Stolk – who is also a professor of clinical epidemiology – and his colleagues with challenges when it comes to secure, high-performance, available and appropriate IT support. “We serve the most idiosyncratic beta researchers, who prefer not to be limited by standards, but also philosophers who primarily use a text program, so to speak.” 

Challenges 

Naturally, there is a considerable emphasis on security within all functions and domains. It is important that students and employees restrict themselves to centrally facilitated and controlled facilities and do not share files and data via Dropbox or other services. “Then hackers can enter in a flash. Sharing passwords with colleagues and assistants is prevented through two-factor authentication.” 

“In addition, in terms of security, there is also a behavioral side,” Stolk continues. “People have to understand that in terms of IT you can’t just bring in all kinds of things you’ve bought or developed yourself. Something like that would be unthinkable at a bank, for example. There, everyone automatically goes along with the standard.” 

Besides that, there is another tension at play. “Universities employ very special and important people who discover beautiful things for society. In doing so, they often push the boundaries: building their own solutions for research, inventing things. Those lecturers and researchers are part of one of the eleven faculties, all of which are organized differently. They have a certain degree of autonomy and with that come their own wishes regarding the same central IT service.” 

Governance 

Anderson MacGyver has very effectively supported the university on their journey. The Agile transformation that was initiated five years ago was ‘exected’ in order to be able to translate questions and requests easily into the most appropriate solutions. Ronald Stolk: “The optimal governance is clearly visualized with areas and colors. Moreover, a distinction is made between IT support that can be standardized and IT with which you really distinguish yourself as the University of Groningen.” 

“For example, we recently incorporated a computing cluster costing tons into the infrastructure, financed from the decentralized research budget. Sometimes there is a grey area, with a server running somewhere under a desk or in a broom closet. Then you have a challenge in terms of governance. Anderson MacGyver taught us how best to interpret and adjust those things.” 

“The view from outside by Anderson MacGyver’s experts is that they aren’t limited by taboos. Ingrained habits are easily brought up for discussion. I am satisfied with what we have managed to do, and I’ll keep working on more and more improvement.” 

Interested in Anderson MacGyver’s solutions for digital services?

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Of course, we all know salmon is a tasty fish that is prominently featured on the menus of many restaurants. The association with an IT director comes to mind for far fewer people. Yet salmon and the IT director share an important similarity. 

The similarities

Salmon are known as goal-oriented fish, going through hoops to reach their goal of spawning high in river springs. Through intricate routes, against the current, salmon secure their future each year. 

Purposefully going against the current is something the IT director and salmon have in common. In many companies, IT, digitalization and data are seen as ‘office automation’. Making sure ‘the internet works’, making sure ‘you can log in’, making sure ‘the access passes work’ and at best ‘making sure the customer database is up to date’ and that ‘the webshop is up and running’. 

IT and digitalization are rarely seen as strategically important, and certainly not as so essential that a board seat is allocated to IT/Digitalization. ‘First make sure that everything works …’. The IT director swims against the current with their vision and investment plans. 

This is a strange situation because IT has been ubiquitous from a business management perspective for decades. Every business unit has to deal with it. From logistics to manufacturing, from HR to sales & marketing and from finance to legal, they all use computers, tablets and mobile phones. On these devices there is software that makes their work easier, better and more fun.  

The importance of IT

From a commercial perspective, IT has been important for a long time. An efficient, well-automated operation leads to lower costs and more competitive pricing. Reliable and relevant data on all fronts leads to targeted marketing, predictable market movements, customer and employee management and more. 

Flawless operational and integral IT is indispensable, but just as important is a multi-year strategy on IT and digitalization. Of course, we all have an idea of what needs to improve tomorrow: aligning systems, efficiency, cloud-based, SaaS and a few more buzzwords. All are nice concepts, but they are optimization strokes and it’s all about the bigger end goal. 

Ambitious journey

What really matters is what’s at the top of the river. In the world of salmon, that’s its future, namely spawning grounds. In the world of the real IT visionaries, that’s augmented and virtual reality, digital-mobility, the real global village, fully transparent real-time insightful business processes and much more. And quantum computing that makes all that possible. 

It is important to know that digitalization and digital transformation are not just about tomorrow or next year, but a combination. After all, salmon must swim up the right river tomorrow, but it does so because of its ambitious vista, the spawning grounds that make the journey there worthwhile. A visionary salmon therefore does not belong on, but at the table in the boardroom! 

Interested in Anderson MacGyver’s solutions for digital services?

Contact our specialists! We are happy to assist you.

Thanks to technological advances, education is personalizing along the principles of ‘any time, any place, any path, any space’. Universities and colleges will likewise offer modern online and offline learning concepts. The required flexibility, scalability and user experiences require an appropriate IT infrastructure that facilitates this optimally. From our consultancy practice in the education sector, we present the vision on this topic as seen by some of our customers. This week, the floor is given to Rob van den Wijngaard, Director of the Administrative Shared Service Center at Leiden University. 

‘Replacing complexity with uniformity is a quest’ 

The Administrative Shared Service Center (ASSC) was established in January 2021 within Leiden University, which, from a multidisciplinary perspective, will have to make an important contribution to the realization of an appropriate, future-proof IT infrastructure. 

ASSC director Rob van den Wijngaard and his teams have been facilitating various functional domains and stakeholders in the field of HR, finance, IT, customer relations and document management from the ASSC for over a year. “Our field of work is broad and diverse within a complex environment. Due to the decentralized setup, the faculties have a high degree of autonomy. The challenge is to provide an efficient, user-friendly and contemporary service with which everyone is satisfied.”  

“If you really want to mean something to people and the organization as a shared service center, then mutual chemistry, trust and being people-oriented are fundamental,” says the ASSC director. It typifies Van den Wijngaard as a leader and helps him with his responsibilities within Leiden University. “I usually give a lot of space and trust to colleagues. That’s how you make the most of everyone’s unique traits and skills, so too within the MT.”  

Multidisciplinary

Leiden University, like any traditional educational institution, operates in a changing social and economic dynamic in which the organization must move efficiently, quickly, with agility and scalability to meet the changing needs of both students and people working within teaching, research and support functions. “This development is being driven by broad digitalization.” Other keywords include connection, innovation, diversity, inclusivity and self-reliance.  

Digital transformations, according to Van den Wijngaard, should not be limited to modernizing existing IT. “Such a fundamental change process is highly multidisciplinary. If you pull a string within one domain, it will irrevocably move elsewhere. The HR component in particular is very important and is quite often overlooked.”  

The ASSC director promotes a multidisciplinary approach that includes aspects such as people and culture, processes, management and organization, customer interaction and information technology. Change is thereby always embedded in the big picture. 

Industry standards  

That holistic view was also the starting point of Anderson MacGyver’s analysis, which involved all key activities and stakeholders: boards of directors of functional areas like HR, finance and IT. Plus the people responsible for information management, the ISSC (focused on hardware support) and the ASSC board. “The result is a widely supported and inspiring report including a concrete approach for the follow-up process.”  

Van den Wijngaard continued: “The report confirmed what we already thought: that for many basic activities you can suffice with uniform processes and solutions. You can for example use cloud-based platforms in the HR domain. Think of Workday or SuccesFactors, which have been developed as ‘industry standards’ specifically for higher education or for a specific functional domain.” 

Uniformity  

Anderson MacGyver’s MultiModal analysis helps with what is known as the “fit for future” design of IT. The colors green, blue, orange and purple stand for different types of business activities, such as: common, specialized, distinct and adaptive business activities. (a more in-depth explanation of the model and business activities colors can be found in our whitepaper ‘MultiModality‘)

The analysis showed that a lot of energy was spilled on insufficiently uniform and harmonized basic activities. When you address this, people can put more time and energy into things that make a difference for the university. “Set up eighty percent of all things tightly and as standardized as possible. For the remaining twenty percent, you then provide customization or specific solutions, with which you optimally relieve and support people.” 

Fundamental choices  

Going from “orange” to “green” requires making fundamental choices. “Replacing complexity with uniformity is a quest – both when rolling out new solutions and replacing legacy. You can’t force illogical solutions down people’s throats. But you also don’t have an unlimited budget to deliver the optimal solution for everyone.”  

“Sometimes you are helped by vendors discontinuing support for older applications. Another time there is a strong impetus from the business. The trick is to continually seize the momentum and urgency to roll out a new application and the corresponding updated processes. All aimed at better supporting the process.” 

Organizational dynamics  

This often requires a different way of managing. Hierarchy is making way for a network-like structure, in which, as stated, action is taken on the basis of cohesion. “Within the complex organizational dynamics there is often an imbalance between the way you organize processes, IT and responsibilities. You can only put the right pieces of the puzzle in place when the organizational structure is in order.”  

Within Leiden University, the ASSC is a link in the overall chain where execution, policy and the organization come together. “From that triangle we look for the connection to get things done.” 

To avoid creating false expectations, Rob van den Wijngaard says it is important to communicate well with all stakeholders. “It requires constant coordination and transparency to match our solutions to the expectations, urgency and ambitions. Again: that quest is our challenge, given the obvious limitations in terms of people and resources.” 

Solid foundation

Due to the scarce internal resources and the high workload at the university, the ‘fit for future IT’ is still a work in progress. “That’s an important disclaimer.” The journey is not an easy one. The ASSC director is nevertheless satisfied with the results: “We exist for eighteen months now. In the first year we worked hard to put a solid foundation in order, also in terms of MT and teams. In the meanwhile, great solutions have been rolled out.”

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