Kalman Tiboldi - CTO & Founder at GemOne-TVH - Simplify or Die: Why Complexity Is the Real IT Challenge
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Belgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english
A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership.Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.This is more than a celebration—it’s an opportunity to reconnect, reflect, and recharge with your fellow digital leaders. Don't miss this exclusive experience packed with inspiring talks, networking opportunities, and special recognitions that highlight the best of CIONET’s history and future.Let’s celebrate the past, present, and future of the digital community you helped build.
Read MoreBelgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english
A special celebration marking 20 years of CIONET—two decades of empowering digital leaders and driving innovation in the technology landscape. This exclusive event will bring together our members to reflect on the incredible journey we've shared and look ahead to the future of digital leadership. Featuring keynote presentations from visionary CIOs, industry pioneers, and founding members, we’ll explore how far we’ve come and what lies ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology. Together, we will honour the contributions of our members who have shaped CIONET’s legacy while offering insights into how the community will continue to lead in the years to come.
Read MoreBelgium 2-9-25 All TRIBERS Virtual english
You’ve been asked a simple question: “What does it cost to host this application?” But the answer is anything but simple. The platform sits across multiple data centres. The app spans a few VMs, shares a backup system, uses licensed monitoring, and touches five different teams. Your CMDB should help, but it’s rigid, outdated, or incomplete. And yet, you still need to provide a number, clear, explainable, and grounded in reality.
Read MoreBelgium 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 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 MoreItaly Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian
Nel percorso verso l’AI e la trasformazione digitale, dati e automazione sono gli elementi centrali di ogni strategia tecnologica. Ma senza una governance chiara, rischiano di diventare non solo fonte di inefficienza, ma anche di rischi e incoerenza. Come garantire che i dati siano completi, accessibili e affidabili? Come automatizzare le operation IT e i processi aziendali mantenendo controllo, compliance e sicurezza? Durante questa roundtable esclusiva, organizzata da CIONET Italia e IBM, affronteremo: La governance come abilitatore di dati affidabili e automazione sicura. Come prepararsi a un’adozione dell’AI realmente scalabile. Il ruolo di controllo, resilienza e gestione del rischio nell’innovazione.
Read MoreBelgium Oct 16, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
AI isn’t just another tool. It changes how we work, how we think, how we organise ourselves.Yet most organisations still approach it like a digital upgrade, deploying assistants, automating workflows, testing use cases inisolation.The results are predictable. Short-term wins. Long-term confusion.Effort spent. Value unclear.Many companies can’t connect AI to their actual strategic goals,and the promised ROI never materialises.At the same time, something deeper is shifting.AI can now reason, decide, adapt. Not just mimic processes butcontribute to them.The technology is evolving, but the way we implement it hasn’tcaught up.If your AI still fits inside a single department, you’re likely solvingthe wrong problem.If it works only for individuals, you're missing how your teamsactually deliver value.If it replaces people instead of supporting them, you're buildingfor today, not tomorrow.The next step isn’t more AI. It’s the right AI.Built for your business, your teams, your way of working.Not a tool to add but a structure to build around.Are we ready to treat AI as a shared capability, not a scatteredexperiment?Can we move beyond individual efficiency and build systems thatcollaborate, learn and adapt with us?Those are the questions we’ll explore at the round table.
Read MoreGermany Oct 28, 2025 Country Members Physical german
Am 28. Oktober lädt CIONET CIOs und Digital Leaders nach Köln ein: hier stellen wir reale Anwendungsfälle vor, in denen KI-Agenten Aufgaben autonom übernehmen, Prozesse beschleunigen und Entscheidungen vorbereiten – mit messbarem Nutzen für das Business.
Read MoreFrance Nov 4, 2025 Country Members Physical french
À l’ère des mutations géopolitiques et réglementaires, l’établissement d’une souveraineté numérique est devenu un élément stratégique essentiel pour les entreprises. Ce dialogue stratégique mettra en lumière le rôle fondamental du réseau dans la mise en place du contrôle, de la confiance et de la résilience. Nous explorerons comment une infrastructure moderne et résiliente permet d’appliquer des politiques de gestion des données et d’assurer la continuité opérationnelle. Ce dialogue stratégique, réservé à un groupe restreint de pairs, est conçu pour permettre aux leaders du numérique d’échanger sur l’un des enjeux les plus urgents aujourd’hui. Nous discuterons des réseaux « sovereign-ready » et débattrons des préoccupations croissantes autour de la souveraineté des données, qui motivent l’adoption de politiques de confidentialité et de protection des données de plus en plus strictes à l’échelle mondiale.
Read MoreNetherlands Nov 10, 2025 Public Physical english
CIONET Nederland vertrekt met een groep Nederlandse CIO's en digital leaders 10 t/m 12 november 2025 voor de geheel verzorgde CIO Innovation Trip naar de Web Summit in Lissabon, Portugal. Reis jij mee of neem je collega(s) mee!
Read MoreItaly Sep 25, 2025 Invitation Only Physical italian
Nel percorso verso l’AI e la trasformazione digitale, dati e automazione sono gli elementi centrali di ogni strategia tecnologica. Ma senza una governance chiara, rischiano di diventare non solo fonte di inefficienza, ma anche di rischi e incoerenza. Come garantire che i dati siano completi, accessibili e affidabili? Come automatizzare le operation IT e i processi aziendali mantenendo controllo, compliance e sicurezza? Durante questa roundtable esclusiva, organizzata da CIONET Italia e IBM, affronteremo: La governance come abilitatore di dati affidabili e automazione sicura. Come prepararsi a un’adozione dell’AI realmente scalabile. Il ruolo di controllo, resilienza e gestione del rischio nell’innovazione.
Read MoreBelgium Oct 16, 2025 Invitation Only Physical english
AI isn’t just another tool. It changes how we work, how we think, how we organise ourselves.Yet most organisations still approach it like a digital upgrade, deploying assistants, automating workflows, testing use cases inisolation.The results are predictable. Short-term wins. Long-term confusion.Effort spent. Value unclear.Many companies can’t connect AI to their actual strategic goals,and the promised ROI never materialises.At the same time, something deeper is shifting.AI can now reason, decide, adapt. Not just mimic processes butcontribute to them.The technology is evolving, but the way we implement it hasn’tcaught up.If your AI still fits inside a single department, you’re likely solvingthe wrong problem.If it works only for individuals, you're missing how your teamsactually deliver value.If it replaces people instead of supporting them, you're buildingfor today, not tomorrow.The next step isn’t more AI. It’s the right AI.Built for your business, your teams, your way of working.Not a tool to add but a structure to build around.Are we ready to treat AI as a shared capability, not a scatteredexperiment?Can we move beyond individual efficiency and build systems thatcollaborate, learn and adapt with us?Those are the questions we’ll explore at the round table.
Read MoreGermany Oct 28, 2025 Country Members Physical german
Am 28. Oktober lädt CIONET CIOs und Digital Leaders nach Köln ein: hier stellen wir reale Anwendungsfälle vor, in denen KI-Agenten Aufgaben autonom übernehmen, Prozesse beschleunigen und Entscheidungen vorbereiten – mit messbarem Nutzen für das Business.
Read MoreFrance Nov 4, 2025 Country Members Physical french
À l’ère des mutations géopolitiques et réglementaires, l’établissement d’une souveraineté numérique est devenu un élément stratégique essentiel pour les entreprises. Ce dialogue stratégique mettra en lumière le rôle fondamental du réseau dans la mise en place du contrôle, de la confiance et de la résilience. Nous explorerons comment une infrastructure moderne et résiliente permet d’appliquer des politiques de gestion des données et d’assurer la continuité opérationnelle. Ce dialogue stratégique, réservé à un groupe restreint de pairs, est conçu pour permettre aux leaders du numérique d’échanger sur l’un des enjeux les plus urgents aujourd’hui. Nous discuterons des réseaux « sovereign-ready » et débattrons des préoccupations croissantes autour de la souveraineté des données, qui motivent l’adoption de politiques de confidentialité et de protection des données de plus en plus strictes à l’échelle mondiale.
Read MoreNetherlands Nov 10, 2025 Public Physical english
CIONET Nederland vertrekt met een groep Nederlandse CIO's en digital leaders 10 t/m 12 november 2025 voor de geheel verzorgde CIO Innovation Trip naar de Web Summit in Lissabon, Portugal. Reis jij mee of neem je collega(s) mee!
Read MoreSupporting PUMA's move to cloud voice with Microsoft Teams with BT
Learn about how BT have been supporting PUMA’s push towards a harmonised global voice and collaboration platform with a cloud-based solution from Microsoft Teams.
Overview
Sports company PUMA is known worldwide for relentlessly pushing sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. The German company is present in more than 120 countries.
When it comes to communications and collaboration, PUMA have taken decisive action to deliver the tools and experiences their people need to keep the business at the front of the market.
We’ve been partnering with PUMA since 2005, so when they wanted to take their cloud communications and collaboration tools up a gear, we were ready with rapid, effective solutions and support.
The challenge
PUMA were using Microsoft Teams as their core collaboration platform, so it made sense to integrate their voice services into the application too. Their drive was to give employees a seamless working experience, focused on a single application. While Microsoft Teams was already used internally, alongside other applications, PUMA also wanted to make it the one-touch solution for communication with external partners and get rid of traditional telephones. From this base, employees would be free to dial out whenever they needed to, and everyone would be reachable via the voice network – removing any barriers to the collaboration and innovation that have made PUMA a success.
Eager to unlock these benefits quickly, PUMA chose to make a rapid, ‘big bang’ change away from a mixture of legacy and cloud Private Branch Exchange (PBX) infrastructure to one, harmonised platform. PUMA wanted a partner that could provide managed voice functionality into Microsoft Teams on a global scale. This needed to include a global SIP service, all number porting and the ability to deliver voice directly into the Microsoft Azure cloud. In addition, the service also needed to connect some analogue devices and fax machines.
As a leading global sports brand, we need to be fast and flexible. As such, it was our ambition to have a leading global solution for communication and collaboration – and BT’s integrated solution does exactly that. Combining Microsoft Teams with BT’s global voice services has given us a seamless working experience within a single application.”
Zoran Balenovic
Teamhead IT Communication Systems, PUMA SE
The solution
We created an integrated solution for PUMA that brought together the power of Microsoft Teams with our global voice services. We combined this with full project management support from our professional services team to ensure a smooth and efficient deployment process.
PUMA’s PBX hardware and local phone lines are now a thing of the past. Our resilient global SIP trunks (secured by Transport Layer Security (TLS) / Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (sRTP) encryption) now connect PUMA to the Microsoft Azure cloud in each region to ensure superior quality of service. Our teams took care of all national compliance regulations involved in porting PUMA phone numbers and provided new numbers when required.
We included PowerSuite to protect PUMA employees’ ability to use Microsoft Teams to call and collaborate wherever they are without disruption. This end-to-end monitoring and reporting tool gives at-a-glance insight into user quality experience. Working across all internet service parts and third-party internet providers, it brings clarity and allows rapid issue resolution. And PUMA can call on our worldwide customer service centres for component support around the clock.
We introduced local managed gateways to take care of analogue device connections and we forward all fax calls directly from our global voice platform to PUMA’s cloud fax service.
The result
In partnership with PUMA, we established a global standard for Microsoft Teams-integrated voice services. The initial stage of roll out saw around 2,000 PUMA users across Germany, France, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands moving onto our Microsoft Teams voice functionality, with the agile implementation process only taking a few weeks.
Today, PUMA has the flexibility to scale their voice services up and down in line with business needs, including coverage in South Africa as well as APAC and EMEA regions. With rapid configuration, short timescales and all the complex regulations that vary from region to region taken care of, PUMA has a secure, encrypted cloud-based voice service that’s ready to grow with them.
Two years into the project, our voice services have delivered the reliability and stability that PUMA needs to thrive; PUMA hasn’t needed to raise a single incident ticket after completing the migration.
It's been fantastic to partner with such a forward-thinking and fast-moving company to streamline their infrastructure and deliver high-quality voice services via Microsoft Teams. A highlight has been hitting every goal – and supporting PUMA’s sustainability journey with a cloud-based, ‘only buy what you need’ service that can reduce power consumption.”
Dorit Bode
Country Manager and Regional Sales Lead, Germany, BT
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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.
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