In a recently published article on cio.de (German only) the two authors Aneta Nowobilska and Andreas Joebges report on their experiences with the most important success factors for two-speed IT architecture at publishing house Axel Springer.
Axel Springer is the leading digital publisher in Europe consisting of 180 companies. The ever progressing digitization considerably influences their business model – not just the support processes but the core business.
Axel Springer’s Enterprise Architects are tasked to structure and control the IT that is significantly influenced by this transformation process. To be successful, the following aspects are important:
- The architects at Axel Springer use the architecture management approach of the Gartner Paced Layered Application Strategy that differentiates between three IT systems: “System of Records”, “Systems of Transformation” and “Systems of Innovation”.
- Architects are placed directly in Hot Spot Projects to ensure that important projects are aligned strategically.
- For the documentation of the business architecture a lightweight tool is used. With leanIX Axel Springer has decided to use a tool that guarantees easy use, availability in the cloud and ‘out of the box’ functionalities in the architecture area. “The architecture tool suits the requirements of our heterogenuous and international organization. It enables our teams to achieve the necessary transparency and gain a quicker overview of the IT dependencies. The information available in the tool reduce the time for the ramp-up phase in IT projects and help us to identify synergies,” says Volker Dirksen, Head of Corporate IT at Axel Springer until recently.
- Between Commodity and Product worlds central platforms for a Transformation Layer. Their data from various systems is available for use by end user apps.
- Digital Transformation is driven by technology innovation. Axel Springer relies on an internal crowd funding platform and local technology scouting in Silicon Valley amongst others to not miss out on new technologies.
André Christ, CEO of LeanIX comments: “Axel Springer is very innovative client that is promoting a fast transformation of its business model. We are very proud that leanIX, a modern SaaS platform, is supporting the change in IT architecture at Axel Springer. Thanks to its intuitive use leanIX is available as an information platform for many employees so that communication is fostered, which is essential during the transformation process.”
Would you like to find out how Axel Springer is using leanIX to support the digital transformation process?