Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
Find out more:
Belgium 9-9-25 Squad Only Physical english
As Belgium navigates the complexities of GDPR and various data sovereignty regulations, organizations across multiple industries face both challenges and opportunities in managing their data across borders. The quest for compliance often intersects with the need for business growth, raising questions about the balance between protection and progress. How can companies effectively own and safeguard their data while ensuring compliance without stifling innovation and expansion in a multi-industry landscape?
Read MorePoland 9-9-25 Invitation Only Virtual Polish
Utrzymanie talentów w organizacji IT ulokowanej na konkurencyjnym rynku pracy to nie lada zadanie. A jeśli do tego mówimy o organizacji z sektora publicznego? O swoich i swojej organizacji doświadczeniach, metodach i programach opowie Anna Wituła z CIRF. Będzie to jak zawsze okazja do dyskusji na temat różnych sposobów na utrzymanie talentów w firmie.
Read MoreBelgium 11-9-25 Squad Only Virtual english
You’ve built the portal. Added the chatbot. Rolled out self-service. But your support lines are still ringing. And your frontline teams are still improvising. If you want digital services to feel seamless, not just look polished, this session brings you back to where value is felt: at the frontline.
Read MorePoland 11-9-25 Invitation Only Virtual Polish
W fabrykach cyberbezpieczeństwo często zależy od podwykonawców – integratorów, dostawców systemów automatyki i firm serwisowych, które mają zaskakująco szeroki dostęp do infrastruktury OT. W tej prezentacji Igor Zbyryt z BZK pokaże, jak z perspektywy końcowego użytkownika i integratora wygląda współpraca z tymi firmami oraz jakie realne ryzyka to niesie – również w kontekście NIS2. Zamiast wyliczać różnice między IT a OT, skupi się na wspólnym mianowniku i tym, co trzeba zmienić w podejściu organizacji, żeby cyber w produkcji zaczęło działać.
Read MoreBelgium 13-9-25 All Members Physical english
Join us for a scenic ride along the route of the Brabantse Pijl!This ride is suitable for all levels of cyclists and doesn’t require advanced technical skills. We’ll start at de Zoete Waters, where parking is available, and head into the charming Brabant region. Along the way, we’ll tackle some of the area’s iconic climbs — including the legendary Moskesstraat, known for its cobbled character and history in pro cycling. Expect a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and beautiful views throughout. Whether you're training, exploring, or just riding for fun, you’re more than welcome to join!
Read MoreBelgium 16-9-25 Squad Only Physical english
The system works. That’s the problem. It’s old, complex, deeply integrated, and still running your most critical operations. Everyone agrees change is needed. But no one wants to be the one who breaks it. The stakes are too high.
Read MoreGermany Sep 9, 2025 Country Members Physical german
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 MoreBelgium Sep 13, 2025 All Members Physical english
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 MoreGermany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german
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 MoreGermany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german
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 MoreGermany Sep 18, 2025 Country Members Virtual german
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 MoreBelgium Sep 18, 2025 Country Members Physical french
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 MoreGermany Sep 9, 2025 Country Members Physical german
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 MoreBelgium Sep 13, 2025 All Members Physical english
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 MoreGermany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german
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 MoreGermany Sep 17, 2025 Country Members Physical german
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 MoreGermany Sep 18, 2025 Country Members Virtual german
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 MoreBelgium Sep 18, 2025 Country Members Physical french
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 MoreThe Buyer’s Guide to IT Transformation
Find the right EAM/SPM tool to support your IT transformation with this comprehensive buyer's guide. Know what to look for when comparing different solutions on the market, explore common use cases, and get familiar with the seven core capabilities of successful EAM/SPM platforms.
“All business is IT—all IT is business.” Today, as business success is increasingly defined by the speed of innovation, there’s more truth than ever to Gartner's findings that all business is IT—all IT is business. As the world becomes more digital, and customer expectations change at ever faster rates, your IT needs to change as well—to incorporate the new technologies that will make your enterprise stand out from the competition.
How, though, can you ensure your IT portfolio is in line with your business objectives? Increasingly, companies are turning to support their enterprise architecture management (EAM) and strategic portfolio management (SPM) practices with made-for-purpose software tools that can handle the massive complexity inherent in today’s IT. A tool-based approach enables you to visualize the cost, complexity, and feasibility of a proposed IT change, and how it relates to your vision for the future.
As will be explained in the competitive landscape overview, integrating the enterprise architecture management (EAM) and strategic portfolio management (SPM) disciplines significantly increases the number and quality of IT insights. According to Gartner:
There are tools that span both practices, and it’s important to consider both. That’s why this guide often addresses both enterprise architecture management and strategic portfolio management “EAM/SPM”.
This guide is designed to help you find the right EAM/SPM tool to support your IT transformation endeavors. We will help you understand what an EAM/SPM platform does best, figure out what capabilities you want, and justify your choice within the scope of your organization’s needs and budget. It is divided into five sections.
First, we’ll help you understand what enterprise architecture management (EAM) and strategic portfolio management (SPM) platform buyers are typically looking for. We’ll then explore some of the key differences between the solutions available on the market. After that, we’ll take a look at some common EAM/SPM use cases and probe deeper into the seven core capabilities you’ll want to have for use across your transformation projects. Finally, we’ll give you some tips to begin your EAM/SPM journey—and move toward the choice of a platform.
With so many competing tools and providers on the market, identifying the solution that will best meet your enterprise’s needs can be difficult. From our experience, however, there are several things that users seeking IT transformation are typically after.
An important step in finding the right EAM/SPM tool is assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the different players on the market. This process is often informed by past frustrations: many firms come to EAM/SPM after struggling for years to inventorize their IT, track projects and prioritize investments with PowerPoints or disconnected spreadsheets. Modeling tools, such as MS Visio, are another attempt to get visibility into the IT landscape, but they’re also incapable of handling large and diverse inputs of data that range from strategies to technology solutions, to investments, and KPIs.
The need to gather high quality data from a range of sources means that integration and data management are a key part of the picture. This leads some firms to look to business intelligence solutions, which often come with powerful data management capabilities. These tools, however, lack many of the core architecture capabilities of EAM/SPM itself—which means they need to be developed and maintained in-house, driving up costs and diverting attention from what matters most: building a thriving business.
You may also be enticed by software in other EAM/SPM “adjacent” markets, such as IT service management, configuration management database, or IT asset management. Often vendors of these products claim to cover EAM/SPM too—and if you’ve already installed their software for other uses, giving this a try could seem expedient and cost-efficient. For similar reasons, some users find it tempting to “sew together” EAM/SPM capabilities from multiple products they’ve already acquired.
If you’re considering either of these paths, we’d recommend you challenge vendors on the seven core capabilities discussed in the next section—and consider the advantages of having them natively integrated in one product. A decision to skimp on a made-for-purpose EAM/SPM solution won’t seem so cost-effective down the line if this mixed bag approach fails to deliver, and your enterprise is forced to start anew. If you’ve decided—wisely—to pursue an EAM/SPM-specific solution, you still have a choice between solutions geared toward each discipline and those that integrate the two into a single product. EAM-specific tools will give you a single source of truth—to simplify your IT landscape, understand the implications of IT change, and anticipate system disruptions before they do damage to your business. SPM-specific tools will help you connect the dots between IT change and your strategic goals—a process accomplished through portfolios that link all elements of your IT architecture to a clear functional purpose.
Although both types of tools provide value as stand-alone products, we strongly recommend a solution that incorporates both. Enterprise architecture management, after all, is most impactful when it’s used as a foundation for SPM-driven change impact discoveries. And strategic portfolio management works best when its portfolios are based on the interdependencies identified by EAM—enabling the enterprise to more boldly pursue business opportunities, defend its market position, and build greater resilience to operational risks.
This function pulls together information from various sources to build an iterated business strategy. The point is to generate a clear line of sight between the organization’s high-level vision and its implementation. Business strategy development includes:
Once you’ve built your business strategy, the next step is designing a more detailed operating model. Effectively, this is a road map for changes to your business capabilities, processes, and broader organization. This includes:
Today’s rapidly changing business environment requires agile delivery of IT services and products—with transparency, analytics, and feedback from stakeholders at all levels of the organization. An EAM/SPM approach to agile transformation offers:
This function helps enterprises organize, and optimize, their IT to set the pace for change. Creating a tightly integrated IT portfolio reduces planning errors, helps stakeholders collaborate, and provides transparency that helps users avoid conflicts. IT portfolio management includes:
This capability provides the underlying tools needed to ensure effective EA discipline—which in turn leads to greater agility and reduced costs and risks. It includes:
This function helps organizations optimize their IT with an eye toward cutting costs and ensuring new IT investments add value to their business. It includes:
An integral part of aligning business and IT is the management of risk—and achieving greater efficiencies in compliance control. Important capabilities include:
The number of capabilities outlined above may feel overwhelming. The broad scope of enterprise architecture management and strategic portfolio management can certainly be daunting. And, truth be told, there are rare instances of companies that execute fully on all activities. What’s most important is that you view these capabilities as a means to an end: supporting the job that needs to be done today. The job could be planning a cloud migration strategy, positioning the enterprise against cyber threats, or determining how a new technology might advance your business strategy. It doesn’t matter which: once you’ve captured your enterprise architecture as the basis for any of these or other uses, you’ve taken a critical first step that will lay the foundation for other “ends” in the future.
The most common entry point into EAM/SPM is application rationalization. Many companies want to cut costs and get rid of the clutter. A logical next step is to better understand the technologies supporting the application portfolio—to see where it’s possible to rationalize the technology portfolio, and standardize to increase agility. From there, many move on to a more critical examination of their business capabilities and processes before turning to their project and product portfolios: most, in other words, attempt to first get transparency.
It's important to keep in mind, of course, that every enterprise is different. Some may begin their journey with a very specific goal; others may find it helpful to start with basic questions, such as: “What is in our application portfolio?”; “Who are our technology owners?”; or “What is our business IT alignment?” For companies with little or no prior experience in enterprise architecture or strategic portfolio management, it may make sense to seek out a vendor that offers an entry-level solution—one with a just a few functional capabilities, pre-configured views and prescribed data for these sorts of common questions. Tackling the basics will often lead to a desire to ask more complicated questions—say, “How do we realize greater cost efficiencies?” or “How can we make savvier IT investments?” At this point, you’ll likely want to upgrade to a tool with a broader scope of capabilities and more configuration options. Ideally, then, the solution that you start with should offer the ability to scale up as seamlessly as possible.
As we’ve already discussed, EAM/SPM acts like a guardian of IT change—one that helps you simplify your IT landscape and make decisions driven by insights to accelerate your business strategy. But what, exactly, does this mean in practice? A 2020 study by Aite Group, a technology advisory, offers some idea of what you’ll gain with the right product. Its research, based on deployments at 11 large organizations of Alfabet, Software AG’s industry-leading EAM/SPM platform, identified several direct benefits, including cost reductions brought on by the avoidance and elimination of redundant assets, increased purchasing power, decreased project rework, and reduced headcount. Indirect benefits included improved compliance, enhanced enterprise security, improved knowledge propagation, and reduced operational risk.
Users of Alfabet interviewed by Aite’s research team offer a sense of what this means at the individual enterprise level. One noted their organization was on track to reduce application costs by 50%. Others praised the platform for helping their firm “avoid costly technology sprawl” and noted its ability to provide “continuous course corrections,” while channeling investment into the systems and applications that matter most. As one user in the utilities sector put it best: “Here, every project and investment goes through an objective intake process, enabled in Alfabet, in which mission criticality is formally assessed. This way, cool, hyped, or favored technologies don’t take money from what we rely on.” In other words, Alfabet allows this user’s enterprise to cut through the noise and focus on the IT that matters most.
Are you ready to finally take control of your IT? To ensure your IT landscape is agile, cost-efficient, free of risk, and, above all, a driver of business success? If you’re still reading this, we suspect the answer is yes. And we hope this guide has helped demystify the process—to unpack exactly what you want in an enterprise architecture management (EAM) and strategic portfolio management (SPM) platform and how the capabilities embedded in such a tool can prepare your enterprise for such a wide array of transformation projects.
The information in this guide should be of help no matter the EAM/SPM solution you ultimately decide on. That said, we suspect there’s a good chance that Alfabet could be the platform that you’re after—whether you’re a small business looking for a risk-free way to learn what EAM/SPM is all about, or a large organization ready to dive head on into an enterprise-class solution. Whether installed on-premises, or deployed as SaaS, Alfabet will help you invest wisely by optimizing your IT landscape and collaboratively planning for the future. And we’re not the only ones who’ll point you to it: in its 2022 Magic QuadrantTM for Strategic Portfolio Management, Gartner named Software AG as a Leader.
Would you like to learn more about how Alfabet can kick-start your IT transformation journey? Get in touch: we’d be happy to share more of our expertise.
11 Views 0 Likes Read More
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.
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.
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
Head of IT Germany and Regional Office Lead Munich, Microsoft
IT Director, IT Thinker
Vice president IT & Compliance, VisionaryRCM (A Carlyle Grp Company)
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.
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.
with digital leaders who share your interests, who face the same challenges, who care about the same topics.
stories, experiences, and ideas around our shared mission.
from our exclusive events, publications and research.
inspiration, thought-provoking conversations, expert perspectives and exclusive first-hand content each and every day
and make better, more well-informed decisions on how to lead your digital business.
your potential. Realise your ambitions.
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!
Would you like to know more about CIONET, membership or partnership opportunities? Do you have feedback or any other question? Send us a message!