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Welcome to CIONET Belgium

Realise your ambition! Connect with your local community of digital leaders.

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Upcoming Events

 
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Belgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english

20 Years CIONET - CIONET Belgium: Summer Festival

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.

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Belgium 28-8-25 Country Members Physical english

Summer Festival - Advisory Board

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.

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Belgium 2-9-25 All TRIBERS Virtual english

What Does It Cost to Host an App? ; A practical guide to calculating hosting costs across infra, licenses, and operations

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.

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Upcoming TRIBE Events

 
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August 5, 2025 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual polish

AI Act – praktyka stosowania na rynku polskim

AI Act – dyrektywa unijna regulująca wiele zasad wykorzystania AI w modelach biznesowych- już obowiązuje na polskim rynki. Ciekawe są prawdziwe i realne przypadki jej stosowania. Spójrzmy na temat od strony regulacyjnej, czyli prawnej. Ale zobaczmy praktykę aktywnej w temacie kancelarii prawnej. Zaprosiliśmy mecenaskę Aleksandrę Maciejewicz z kancelarii Lawmore, która od dłuższego czasu jest niezwykle aktywna i praktykuje w tym temacie. Poznamy podstawę prawną, praktyczne case’y i opis sytuacji oczami prawdziwego praktyka.

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August 6, 2025 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual polish

DORA: wszystko, co chcielibyście wiedzieć, a baliście się zapytać

Michał Kulesza, adwokat, partner w departamencie technologicznym kancelarii Rymarz Zdort Maruta i szef zespołu regulacji ICT, przeprowadzi nas przez kluczowe wątki rozporządzenia i zmierzy się z pytaniami zgłoszonymi przez uczestników. Omówimy zarówno krytyczne aspekty na początku wdrożeń, jak i dostrajanie zmian na poziomie organizacyjnym i strategicznym. Masz konkretny temat, który warto poruszyć? Zgłoś go w trakcie rejestracji. Zamiast czytać między wierszami DORA – porozmawiajmy o tym wprost.

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August 7, 2025 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual polish

Automated Systems Testing

Duże tempo developmentu i dokonywanych zmian wymaga nowej klasy testowania. Jakość systemów obserwowana na produkcji będzie pochodną skuteczności tego procesu. Duże nadzieje wiążemy z platformami wspierającymi testowanie i opartymi na AI. Sesja ta pokaże, gdzie jesteśmy w poszukiwaniu takich rozwiązań i gdzie ewaluuje myślenie szefów testów i ich rozwiązania organizacyjne.

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CIONET Partner Updates

CIONET Partner Updates

Recent Cases

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How the world’s largest ad company optimizes FinOps

WPP, the world's largest marketing services company, faced skyrocketing cloud costs due to sprawl across multiple platforms. The Challenge: Gaining visibility into cloud spending and optimizing resource usage. The Solution: Implementing IBM Apptio Cloudability for cost transparency and IBM Turbonomic for automated resource management.

 
Seeking greater visibility into cloud sprawl and spend
 

If you’re one of the approximately 120 million people who tune in each year for the Super Bowl—or at least for the commercials—you’ve seen WPP’s work. If you’re an employee at a Fortune Global 500 corporation, your company has likely worked with WPP.

With more than 2,000 offices under its ownership, WPP is the world’s largest marketing services company, running a global enterprise that produces high-end work spanning the full marketing spectrum, from advertising campaigns, social media management and influencer marketing to commerce solutions, app development, CRM implementation and more. It’s a massively data-centric business.

In recent years, as WPP shifted its IT to a hybrid, multicloud model to gain critical IT and application agility, costs skyrocketed. “We went from paying a fixed bill every month for a set amount of physical assets, to being charged for resources literally by the minute,” says Paul Cocks, WPP’s Director of Global Technology Services. With thousands of disparate organizations building in the cloud for their own needs, WPP faced major cloud sprawl.

 

“We really didn’t know how much we were spending,” says Ananta Manandhar, WPP’s Head of FinOps. “We had hundreds of accounts across all major public clouds. A key objective was consolidated visibility.”

 

On the technology side, Mr. Cocks and his colleague, Cost-Optimization Lead Alan Burnett, recognized the potential for saving millions of dollars by eliminating underutilized computing resources. They wanted to master the art of right-sizing and make the cost dynamics of cloud work in the company’s favor.

 

30% reduction in yearly cloud spend

 
 

Up to 1,000 automated resizing actions every month

 
During the POV, it would have paid for itself ten times over. 
Paul CocksDirector of Global Technology ServicesWPP
 
 Gaining spend visibility and optimizing cloud usage
 

WPP created a well-rounded, efficient FinOps practice by applying two technologies: IBM Apptio™ Cloudability (link resides outside of ibm.com) and IBM® Turbonomic®. The Finance team uses IBM Apptio Cloudability to see exactly how much WPP is spending, and where, across all companies and all cloud platforms. The Operations team uses Turbonomic to expedite savings by efficiently optimizing resources by way of AI-driven sizing recommendations and automated resizing actions.

IBM Apptio Cloudability came first. After evaluating it against a third-party offering, WPP implemented the IBM solution and quickly achieved spend visibility across 99% of its cloud landscape, including AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). “It just worked,” says Mr. Manandhar. “It has very good APIs for integrating across the environment. We onboarded hundreds of billing accounts and mapped the usage to stakeholders. It showed us an actual dollar view; an invoice view; a usage view, including anomalies; and an amortized view. And when we compared it with data directly from the cloud suppliers, it was very accurate. That helped rapidly build trust in our recharging ops with our users.”

Next, Mr. Cocks and Mr. Burnett engaged IBM for a Turbonomic proof of value (POV) that revealed enormous savings potential. Mr. Burnett, who’d gained extensive optimization experience in a previous role at another major enterprise, deployed Turbonomic in one of WPP’s Azure tenants and let the solution generate resourcing recommendations. Mr. Burnett selected from the recommendations to execute 1,100 resizing actions, many through Turbonomic automations.

“During the POV, it would have paid for itself ten times over,” says Mr. Cocks.

WPP has now officially deployed Turbonomic in its Azure environment and will phase it into its other clouds. “It’s revealed massive right-sizing potential and a lot of unused resources—too much to scale down manually,” says Mr. Burnett. On his Turbonomic interface, he views thousands of autogenerated sizing recommendations in addition to the cost impact they would have. The Operations team breaks the host of recommendations into manageable chunks and engages with users to identify which actions make good business sense.

Then, the team can resize with great efficiency using the bulk actions functionality in Turbonomic. They’ve basically doubled the pace they achieved in the POV, now taking approximately 1,000 actions every one to two months. “We got rid of 500 unattached disks in one weekend, saving a quarter of a million dollars,” says Mr. Burnett. “You can’t do that without automation. It enables a pace that really helps bring cloud costs under control.”

 
We got rid of 500 unattached disks in one weekend, saving a quarter of a million dollars. You can’t do that without automation. It enables a pace that really helps bring cloud costs under control. 
Alan BurnettCost-Optimization LeadWPP
 
 
 Significant savings and a new culture of optimization
 

In just the first three months of using IBM Apptio Cloudability, WPP achieved about USD 2 million in savings. Since supercharging FinOps with both IBM Apptio Cloudability and Turbonomic, the company is saving about 30% on its yearly cloud spend.

Now the focus is shifting, according to Mr. Manandhar, “from making it efficient to keeping it efficient, going from campaign mode to regular operations mode.” His team uses the live dashboard feature of IBM Apptio Cloudability to monitor costs and trends and generate monthly reports of ongoing savings potential—setting up targets for Turbonomic as the Operations team applies it first to GCP, then to AWS.

With such clear visibility into costs, usage and waste, WPP is instilling a culture of FinOps in the enterprise. “When you demonstrate that volume of optimization opportunity,” says Mr. Burnett, “it just makes everybody much more aware of how we can drive costs down rather than accept what we’ve got.”

“Because we’re tracking it, people are starting to budget it. They’re actively supporting the overall optimization,” says Mr. Manandhar. “It’s bringing about a cultural difference, creating a much closer partnership between business, finance and the engineering team.”

 
It’s bringing about a cultural difference, creating a much closer partnership between business, finance and the engineering team. 
Ananta ManandharHead of FinOpsWPP
 
 
About WPP
 

WPP plc  owns many prominent agencies in communications, experience, commerce and technology & data. In total, the organization employs approximately 114,000 people in 100 or more countries and works with more than 300 Fortune Global 500 companies. WPP is headquartered in London.

Partners

CIONET Circles

CIONET Business Circles

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Healthcare Circle

Digital Transformation is redefining the future of health care and health delivery. All stakeholders are convinced that these innovations will create value for patients, healthcare practitioners, hospitals, and governments along the patient pathway. The benefits are starting from prevention and awareness to diagnosis, treatment, short- and long-term follow-up, and ultimately survival. But how do you make sure that your working towards an architecturally sound, secure and interoperable health IT ecosystem for your hospital and avoid implementing a hodgepodge of spot solutions? How does your IT department work together with the other stakeholders, such as the doctors and other healthcare practitioners, Life Sciences companies, Tech companies, regulators and your internal governance and administrative bodies?

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Telenet Business Leadership Circle

The Telenet Business Leadership Circle powered by CIONET, offers a platform where IT executives and thought leaders can meet to inspire each other and share best practices. We want to be a facilitator who helps you optimise the performance of your IT function and your business by embracing the endless opportunities that digital change brings.

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Les Rencontres

Découvrez la dynamique du leadership numérique aux Rencontres de CIONET, le programme francophone exclusif de CIONET pour les leaders numériques en Belgique, rendu possible grâce au soutien et à l'engagement de nos partenaires de programme : Deloitte, Denodo et Red Hat. Rejoignez trois événements inspirants par an à Liège, Namur et en Brabant Wallon, où des CIOs et des experts numériques francophones de premier plan partagent leurs perspectives et expériences sur des thèmes d'affaires et de IT actuels. Laissez-vous inspirer et apprenez des meilleurs du secteur lors de sessions captivantes conçues spécialement pour soutenir et enrichir votre rôle en tant que CIO pair. Ne manquez pas cette opportunité de faire partie d'un réseau exceptionnel d'innovateurs numériques !

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Female Leadership Circle

CIONET is committed to highlighting and celebrating female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, creating a leadership programme that empowers and elevates women within the tech industry. This initiative is dedicated to showcasing the achievements and successes of leading women, fostering an environment where female role models are recognised, and their contributions can ignite progress and inspire the next generation of women in IT. Our mission is to shine the spotlight a little brighter on female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, and to empower each other through this inner network community.

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Check out our latest news

Testimonials

Geert Goethals
Geert Goethals
CIO
Sibelga
Bahadir Samli
Bahadir Samli
CIO
ING Belgique
2-Feb-29-2024-11-35-00-9309-AM
Bart Kerkhofs
Vice President & Head of IT
Bridgestone EMIA
Untitled design (1)-Apr-01-2022-10-58-34-57-AM
Michał Paprocki
Group CIO
Euroclear
1-Feb-29-2024-11-34-59-8990-AM
Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer
Chief Information Officer
NATO
Untitled design-Nov-22-2023-08-42-05-3178-AM
Annick Faes
Vice President IT and CIO Medical Devices EMEA
Johnson & Johnson
Piet_De_Ceuleners
Piet De Ceuleners
Global IT Director
Melexis
1658251930890
Dirk De Bevere
Large Enterprise Sales Leader
Telenet Business
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Stef Schampaert
Country Managing Director BeLux
Red Hat
CIONET Belgium - Advisory Board Member - Geert Lejon
Geert Lejon
Vice President Head of Belux / Head of Comms Benelux
Cognizant
Kevin_Ledegen
Kevin Ledegen
Group IT director
SDWorx
Gunter-Van-Craen_Small
Gunter Van Craen
Chief Digital & Information Officer
Bekaert
Thomas Kessler
Thomas Kessler
Partner | CIO Programme Leader
Deloitte
Emmanuel Gob
Emmanuel Gob
CIO
DPD
pascal pauwels
Pascal Pauwels
CIO
Colruyt
Untitled design (4)-Dec-13-2023-10-53-15-5032-AM
Koen Segers
Managing Director Belgium and Luxembourg
Dell Technologies
benoit dewaele
Benoît Dewaele
Group IT Directo
Vandemoortele
Dirk Deridder-1
Dirk Deridder
CTO - Technology Services & Practices
SMALS
Thierry Driesens
Thierry Driesens
CIO
TVH
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Koen Vandaele
CIO
Delen Private Bank
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Liesbet D'hoker
Managing Director
Kyndryl BeLux
steven-vermeulen
Steven Vermeulen
CIO
Digitaal Vlaanderen
Jack Hamande
Jack Hamande
Director General Digital Transformation
Federale Overheidsdienst Beleid en Ondersteuning
Tom Tomczak
Tom Tomczak
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
NRB
1726588748718
Cassandre Laurent
Directeur général
Agence du Numérique
an swalens
An Swalens
Head Of IT (CIO)
National Bank of Belgium
Untitled design (2)-Apr-01-2022-10-58-34-68-AM
Elke Laeremans
Chief Digital & Supply Chain Officer at Casa International
CIONET Belgium - Advisory Board Member - Koen Van Loo
Koen Van Loo
CIO
Group S.
Peter Sany
Peter Sany
Executive Advisor
Zoom
CIONET Belgium - Advisory Board Member - Steven De Haes
Steven De Haes
Dean
Antwerp Management School
Marleen Thorré
Marleen Thorré
Head of Digital EMEA
Mitsubishi Chemical Group
christel-plessers
Christel Plessers
Head of IT European Markets
Mercedes-Benz Europe

Team

Luc Hendrikx
Luc Hendrikx
CEO
Inès De Bien
Inès De Bien
Partner - CCO
1-Feb-08-2022-10-22-08-68-AM
Daniel Eycken
Partner - COO
Hendrik Deckers
Hendrik Deckers
Founder - MD
Untitled design (1)-2
Jelte Scheys
Tribes Sales Director Belgium
foto Herman
Herman Roelandts
Tribe Master
Joseph Antoun
Joseph Antoun
Senior Program Director
1-Dec-16-2021-02-15-57-02-PM
Eman De Sutter
Program Manager
4-Feb-08-2022-10-22-09-03-AM
Shelly Deracourt
Program Manager
Untitled design (5)-Sep-01-2022-02-47-55-60-PM
Charlotte Coen
Partner Success Manager
Untitled design (1)-Nov-22-2023-08-56-42-6802-AM
Ivana Bradvica
Junior Event Manager
ML B-W-1
Martine Lefevre
Financial Controller
Vlera Berishaa (1)
Vlera Berisha
Junior Community Manager
Phaedra Vanhaeren
Phaedra Vanhaeren
Programme & Event Manager

Contact us

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