Case Study

SAP was implementing a new IT governance model — Business Information Officers embedded in each Board area, accountable to both Board area leadership and the global CIO. The Operations Board Area had no BIO function. Annual planning cycle, portfolio governance, and budget management were built from scratch.

Company & Position

Global Senior Director, Strategic Programs & UX Consulting, Operations Board Area (2010-2011)

Details

The governance model operated on a 3-year planning horizon with 6-month execution cycles, quality gates at each phase, and COO Council approval required before any program moved to execution. The Operations Board Area portfolio spanned 25+ programs with an 8.3M€ budget and approximately 7K person days — one component of a broader ~100M€ cross-Board portfolio.

Managing the portfolio created visibility into the organization’s most strategic programs and the relationships with the CIO and BIOs to position UX capacity where it would have the most impact — leading to involvement in CRM Usability, Federated Search, Quote to Cash, and Customer Data Management.

Actions

• Established the annual planning cycle, portfolio governance, and budget management for the Operations Board Area IT portfolio.
• Identified business needs, guided business case development, and proposed programs to executive governing bodies.
• Coached program owners on investment proposal development aligned with corporate guidelines and Board priorities.
• Provided regular updates to Board area leadership, BIOs, Controlling, and the global CIO; maintained resource allocation transparency across programs.
• Leveraged portfolio relationships to position UX capacity into the organization’s highest-priority cross-Board programs.

Outcome & Impact

• 25+ programs delivered across IT infrastructure, compliance, and internal product implementation — with proper ownership, oversight, and quality gate discipline.
• UX influence expanded across multiple Board areas and regions into programs including CRM Usability, Federated Search, Quote to Cash, and Customer Data Management.
• Contribution to operating margin improvement through operational efficiencies and UX-driven improvements to enterprise systems.