<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2528533714139722&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
New call-to-action
https://4295993.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/4295993/INT_CIONET-International/VIDEO/CIONET_HM.mp4
CIONET - What's next

Connecting ambitious digital leaders and businesses around the globe.

Catch up on the upcoming CIONET Events

             
Banner

Germany Sep 9, 2025 Country Members Physical german

Frankfurt: AI Driven Logistics

Vom ersten Use Case zur strategischen Neuausrichtung CIONET lädt bereits zum vierten Mal zu einem exklusiven Roundtable für CIOs und Digitalverantwortliche aus Logistik und Handel ein. Im Mittelpunkt des Abends steht die Frage, wie Unternehmen ihre KI-Initiativen erfolgreich skalieren und aus ersten Use Cases echten strategischen Mehrwert schaffen. Microsoft 365 für Frontline Worker: Moderne Tools, die Mitarbeitende im Tagesgeschäft entlasten ServiceNow für Prozessintegration: Automatisierte End-to-End-Workflows – vom Schadensfall bis zur Retourenabwicklung KI-gestützte Disposition und Planung: Mit smarten Algorithmen zur optimierten Supply Chain Digitale Lieferketten und letzte Meile: Transparenz, Effizienz und Kundenzentrierung durchgängig gedacht

Read More
Banner

Belgium Sep 13, 2025 All Members Physical english

CIONET Cycling Event

Join us for a wonderful ride. The ride is accessible to all levels of riders and doesn't require extensive technical skills. More information will follow soon. Looking forward to ride together!

Read More
Banner

Germany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german

München: Cyber Security Fatigue

Cybersecurity ist längst kein reines IT-Thema mehr – sie betrifft das gesamte Unternehmen. Doch während die Bedrohungslage zunimmt, geraten viele Security-Verantwortliche an ihre Belastungsgrenzen: zwischen 24/7-Verantwortung, wachsenden Anforderungen und dem ständigen Innovationsdruck.

Read More
Banner

Germany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german

Köln: CIO & CISO, das Rezilienz-Power-Duo

IT-Betrieb und Cybersicherheit stehen heute unter extremem Druck: steigende Komplexität, wachsende regulatorische Anforderungen (NIS2, DORA, KRITIS), chronische Ressourcenknappheit – und gleichzeitig eine Bedrohungslage, die keine Verzögerungen duldet. Trotzdem agieren viele IT- und Security-Teams noch immer in Silos. Die Folge: ineffiziente Abläufe, Tool-Wildwuchs, langsame Reaktion auf Vorfälle und unklare Verantwortlichkeiten.

Read More
Banner

Germany Sep 18, 2025 Country Members Virtual german

Online: Nachhaltige IT - CIDO Priorität

Nachhaltigkeit ist für CIOs nicht nur ein „Nice-to-have“, sondern eine strategische Priorität – sie beeinflusst direkt die finanzielle Performance, die operative Effizienz und die langfristige Wettbewerbsfähigkeit.

Read More
Banner

Belgium Sep 18, 2025 Country Members Physical french

Les Rencontres: La dette technique : Un défi stratégique pour les entreprises

La dette technique est comparable à la négligence des réparations d'une maison. Ignorer un toit qui fuit peut faire gagner du temps aujourd'hui, mais cela pourrait conduire à l'effondrement du plafond plus tard. Pour remédier à la dette technique, il faut trouver et réparer ces fuites dès maintenant et mettre en place un plan d'entretien de la maison afin qu'elle soit prête pour les extensions futures. Pour résoudre ces problèmes, il faut définir des priorités stratégiques, communiquer clairement avec les parties prenantes et établir une feuille de route à long terme pour la modernisation. Cet événement se déroulera entièrement en français.

Read More

Recent Cases

Please Log In with your CIONET account first

Signed just hours after sending.

The Otto Group brings digital collaboration to a new level with Adobe Acrobat.

Objectives

  • Faster procurement processes to create an agile business environment
  • Increased capacity for key strategic purchasing
  • The same legal value as handwritten signatures
  • Low training costs and high acceptance among employees

 

Results

  • Signature processes completed in a just few hours make ad-hoc procurement easier
  • Saving time enables more effective purchasing consultancy for business-critical projects
  • Standard compliant and secure signatures meet the strictest compliance requirements
  • Users love the intuitive experience and minimal support required

 

The path to a digital future

The Otto Group is on a clear course to a digital future. The retail and service group has successfully developed from a traditional mail order company to one of the largest online retailers in the world. The Otto Group aims to consistently expand and grow its role as a digital leader across multiple specialisms — as an e-commerce marketplace, electronic payment specialist and app developer for positive customer experiences. To achieve this, the Group is investing heavily in the digital transformation of its internal processes. As well as the OTTO headquarters, Group companies such as myToys, ECE, WITT and Bonprix are simplifying their signature processes by using time-saving e-signatures through Adobe Acrobat Sign.

The paper hurdle for agile working

Time is important to Lukas Lübberstedt. As a strategic purchaser in the Otto (GmbH & Co KG) Corporate Procurement department, he procures digital tools to support in-house software with the company’s rapid transformation from a mail order business into a digital marketplace. “As a tech company, we develop on the basis of agility. The sprint working style means that the company needs to be able to achieve rapid procurement as well. Our aim for the purchasing department is to optimize our processes and, if possible, to speed them up with new solutions — in this case, with Acrobat Sign,” explains Lübberstedt, who is responsible for introducing the electronic signature tool at OTTO.

Handwritten signatures on supplier contracts have long been slowing the strategic purchasing team down. Sending contracts over long distances in the mail and then through multiple levels of hierarchy can take up to several weeks — which isn’t compatible with a modern growth strategy. When the eIDAS Regulation defined legal standards for electronic signatures in 2019, OTTO finally had the all-clear to gradually replace handwritten signatures.

As well as its ease of use and high compatibility with the existing IT landscape, Acrobat Sign was a solution that was able to meet the Group’s compliance requirements.

“Acrobat Sign is very intuitive and easy to use. You don’t need to be an IT expert to get started, which immediately convinced almost everyone that it’s ‘cooler’ to sign documents electronically rather than by hand.” Lukas Lübberstedt - Strategic Purchasing Manager IT, Otto (GmbH & Co KG)

Scaling with speed

Acrobat Sign was introduced at the Otto Group in March 2020. Originally planned as a pilot project for the procurement department at the Group’s headquarters, it was immediately obvious how scalable the solution was. When the pandemic placed new demands on digital collaboration, large parts of the OTTO campus in Hamburg quickly said “Goodbye pen and paper, hello e-signatures.” Many other locations quickly moved to adopt Acrobat Sign as well.

Services and goods purchasing, finance and event organization: By the end of 2021, 30 of the Group’s departments and companies across Germany, Austria and Switzerland were on board, with around 500 documents signed using Acrobat Sign. And these numbers are only rising.

When onboarding lots of new users over a short period, Lukas Lübberstedt can count on the Adobe solution: “Acrobat Sign is very intuitive and easy to use. You don’t need to be an IT expert to get started, which immediately convinced almost everyone that it’s ‘cooler’ to sign documents electronically rather than by hand.” says the purchasing expert.

Even the Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) was accepted right from the start. Because of the identity verification, it takes more steps to set up. However, as the most secure type of e-signature, the QES allows the Otto Group to sign off on employee transfers and financial matters with Acrobat Sign.

“In purchasing, we can focus more on the truly important tasks thanks to the time saved through using Acrobat Sign, meaning that we can contribute even more to the company’s success.” Lukas Lübberstedt - Strategic Purchasing Manager IT, Otto (GmbH & Co KG)

Greater performance in digital competition

With Acrobat Sign, the Otto Group has significantly accelerated its procurement processes. “Acrobat Sign has reduced weeks into mere hours. It no longer matters where the authorized signatories are. If it’s needed quickly, a signature can still be formally equivalent when the signatory is out of office,” explains Lukas Lübberstedt.

When purchasing professionals don’t have to chase after signatures, it’s easier for them to execute short-term procurement orders themselves at the Otto Group’s high growth rate. More time also means more valuable capacity for the purchasing department to offer strategic consultancy. The right selection of tools is important for achieving the best possible performance, making it a key competitive factor.

“In purchasing, we can focus more on the truly important tasks thanks to the time saved through using Acrobat Sign, meaning that we can contribute even more to the company’s success,” explains Lukas Lübberstedt.

Next objective: digital workflows

To convince users, Lukas Lübberstedt plans to use Acrobat Sign as a foundation for building a digital future for OTTO purchasing. This means that use will be expanded to include international Group contracts. Integrating digital workflows into office solutions will also become more important in the future. The Otto Group has already successfully tested initiating signature processes directly from Microsoft Teams, for example, thanks to Acrobat Sign interface.

Technologies

Adobe Acrobat Sign

Partners

Checkout our CIONET COOKBOOK

cookbook

Embark on a culinary journey through the ever-evolving world of digital leadership with our third edition of the CIONET Cookbook: Recipes for Digital Success. Unveiling the intricate trilemma faced by today’s Master Chefs, our trailblazing European CIOs address a challenge at the nexus of customer interests, digital transformation strategies, and IT modernisation. Their secret? Synchronising the gearing between customer, business, and technology to create a frictionless movement through the digital landscape.

The CIONET Cookbook uses the analogy of a five-star restaurant to explain the importance of optimally integrated technology, with the CIO as Master Chef. In order to provide the best service to its customers, a top restaurant must have the right atmosphere, an inviting menu, a well-equipped kitchen, talented and committed front-of-house and kitchen staff and smooth-running processes that ensure an enjoyable experience for diners.

CIONET TV

 
Banner

Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge

Banner

Isabelle Droll - CIO for Airline, Corporate, Hotels & Resorts and Sustainability at TUI - Data, Diversity, and Destinations

Banner

Sharon Prior - CIO in transition - How Great Tech Leadership Begins with Business Thinking

Banner

José Antonio López, Group CIO at TOUS - Jewels, Data & AI: Inside the Digital Transformation of TOUS

Banner

Tom Tanghe - General Manager ITC EMEA at Daikin Europe - Reinventing the CIO Role

Banner

CIOFEST 2025 - From Order Taker to Proactive Disruptor

CIONET Reports

 
Banner
Get your copy

Cybersecurity in critical infrastructure

Geopolitical tensions have dominated the headlines for over two years now. In this context, the cyber threat landscape is also evolving rapidly. The protection and security of critical infrastructure – both physical and digital – is becoming increasingly important.

Banner
Get your copy

HDS - From Hype to Reality Navigating the Challenges of GenAI

Banner
Get your copy

Integration In An Era Of AI: Challenges And Opportunities

Join over 10.000 digital leaders worldwide

in our exclusive CIO community

Latest CIONET News

Join your local CIONET community

Discover the CIONET app

Staying ahead of trends and connecting with other CIOs was never easier.

In our new app, our members connect with other digital leaders from around the world to find better solutions to their challenges.

Connect with digital leaders like you

Share ideas, best practices, and new resources

Experience inspiring and thought-provoking content and conversations you can’t find anywhere else

Make better, more well-informed decisions about the topics that are most important to you

Anna Kopp (1)

Anna Kopp

Head of IT Germany and Regional Office Lead Munich, Microsoft

“The CIONET App allows us to learn from eachother and and find the courage to be authentic by hearing stories from others! Thanks to Tobias and the whole team for bringing us together:-) ”
Mauricio Amaro

Mauricio Amaro

IT Director, IT Thinker

“The main things that I would like to get from our community of Digital Leaders are: networking, share experiences, share best practices and successful cases, and comments and recommendations about providers.”
Vijay Anand

Vijay Anand

Vice president IT & Compliance, VisionaryRCM (A Carlyle Grp Company)

“The CIONET app provides a really cool platform to network and share insights.”

About CIONET

CIONET’s mission is to help IT executives become more at ease and above all more successful in their jobs. So they can do more than just keep up with change but ultimately define it. CIONET opens up a whole new universe of opportunities in IT management.

With the largest membership of corporate digital leaders across Europe, Latin America, US and Australia, CIONET has the expertise and pioneering vision to solve or address any IT management challenge.

Why join CIONET?

From our local and global events, from our publications and research to our executive education programmes, everything we do is aimed at making sure digital leaders maximise their potential.

Connect

with digital leaders who share your interests, who face the same challenges, who care about the same topics.

Share

stories, experiences, and ideas around our shared mission.

Learn

from our exclusive events, publications and research.

Find

inspiration, thought-provoking conversations, expert perspectives and exclusive first-hand content each and every day

Grow

and make better, more well-informed decisions on how to lead your digital business.

Maximise

your potential. Realise your ambitions.

About CIONET

Join CIONET

We'd love to welcome you as the newest member of our CIONET community where Digital Leaders unite. 

You can either send us a registered handwritten letter explaining why you'd like to become a member or you can simply talk to us right here!

Contact us

Would you like to know more about CIONET, membership or partnership opportunities? Do you have feedback or any other question? Send us a message!