Our CIO helped this global publishing company by providing a report on their IT functionality, going to all 13 countries to ensure they had the right information needed.

Company Profile

This company stands as a beacon in the global magazine publishing industry. With a presence in 13 countries, they have multiple titles that cater to diverse readerships worldwide.

CEO’s Mission

In light of the annual staff survey, it became evident that the decentralised IT systems across the countries weren’t delivering as expected. The Companywide IT report revealed communication gaps, and the board found it challenging to get a holistic view of the IT estate’s functionality.

CIO’s Objectives

  • Implement Fractional CIO services to drive IT audits across the company’s 13 global locations.
  • Undertake a CIO-led IT assessment for each local entity.
  • Research and craft a comprehensive IT report to present to the board, highlighting areas of IT function optimisation.

What the Director Did

Global IT Transformation Project

Our CIO, leveraging Fractional leadership in publishing, embarked on a journey to each of the company’s 13 global locations. The mission was to understand the Global publishing IT transformation needs. A week was spent in each office, surveying the IT landscape. Through interviews with key personnel, the objective was to grasp the challenges with the current IT systems, pinpoint problem areas, and assess the future IT requirements for the company collectively.

Initial Reporting

Post discussions with location heads and regional board members, our Director, with his CIO strategic guidance, formulated a report for each country. This report encapsulated:

  • Key issues in the IT landscape.
  • Risks and immediate actions required.
  • Longer-term recommendations for company development, focusing on Publishing IT infrastructure overhaul.

Recommendations and Next Step Reporting

After the exhaustive global review and individual reports for each location, our Associate compiled a comprehensive report for the board. This document provided insights into global actions needed to unify IT systems, aiming for a more integrated reporting mechanism.

Our Director’s expertise shone as he advised on sharing pivotal technology advancements, potential areas to cut costs, and opportunities to capitalise on scale. The report delineated specific strategies to adopt common technologies, like finance systems, ensuring streamlined reporting and efficient data collection in the future, all aligned with the Technology roadmap for publishers.

The Results

Our Director’s reports were agreed with each country location. As a result, each country’s manager agreed to implement the key recommendations.  

Due to the success of the project, our Director was asked to return to the company’s Asia region to review the project after six months to assess the progress towards agreed actions. 

Working with the global Head of HR, the Director developed an extensive Role Description for a Global CIO, who would take responsibility for IT across the company. 

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