Belgium 16-12-25 Invitation Only Physical english

CIONET Round Table: Mastering Enterprise Service Management

This CIONET Round Table will focus on how the IT department can be the enabler that unlocks organisational efficiencies and helps to improve the employee experience. We will explore how CIOs and Digital Leaders can fundamentally transform the internal service experience by breaking down organizational silos, orchestrating complex cross-functional workflows, and leveraging a unified platform to deliver a truly frictionless experience for every employee.

Belgium 18-12-25 Invitation Only Physical english

AB Christmas Dinner

We look forward to brainstorming with you on how we can strengthen meaningful engagement among our participants, create valuable opportunities for visibility, foster peer-to-peer networking, and deliver impactful content. Your expertise and guidance will help shape our strategy for the coming year and ensure that we continue to provide the best possible value to our entire community. Together, we can build a stronger, more connected community that benefits us all.

Belgium 13-1-26 Squad Only Virtual english

Moving Legacy Systems to the Cloud Efficiently : Balancing cost, risk, and continuity in complex migrations

Migrating legacy systems to the cloud remains one of the toughest balancing acts in IT. Every choice affects stability, cost, and trust at once, and what starts as a modernisation effort quickly turns into a negotiation between ambition and reality. Suddenly budgets rise, dependencies appear late, and timelines tighten as old architectures collide with new expectations. In the end, success depends on sequencing, ownership, and aligning business priorities with infrastructure limits, and not only on technical readiness. Making it work requires more than a plan on paper. Knowing which systems genuinely belong in the cloud, which can wait, and which should stay put shapes the entire roadmap and defines its success. Each refactoring decision sets the level of future flexibility, but it also drives cost and risk. The trade-offs between speed, sustainability, and resilience only become clear once migration begins and pressure builds. Let’s discuss how to plan migrations that stay on track, manage hidden dependencies, and handle downtime with confidence. Let’s also discuss how governance, testing, and vendor coordination keep progress visible and credible. Are you in? A closed conversation for those who turn cloud migration from a disruption into a long-term advantage.

January 13, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

Moving Legacy Systems to the Cloud Efficiently : Balancing cost, risk, and continuity in complex migrations

January 22, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Virtual english

AI-Driven Development: Redesigning workflows, responsibilities, and trust in the age of automation

AI coding assistants entered development teams quietly, but their impact grows by the day. What started as autocomplete now shapes architecture decisions, documentation, and testing. And when productivity gains are visible, so are new risks: security blind spots, uneven quality, and the slow erosion of shared standards. Teams move faster, but not always in the same direction. The challenge has become integration rather than adoption. And new questions have risen: how do you blend automation into established practices without losing oversight? When is human review still essential, and what should the rules of collaboration between developer and machine look like? As AI tools learn from proprietary code, where do responsibility and accountability sit? Let’s talk about how to redefine those workflows, balancing creativity with control, and protecting code quality in a hybrid human-AI environment. A closed conversation on where AI accelerates progress, where it introduces new debt, and how development culture must evolve to stay credible.

January 27, 2026 Squad Session Invitation Only Physical english

Zero Trust in Reality : Making segmentation, identity, and access work in complex environments

Zero Trust sounds simple on paper: trust no one, verify everything. But once you start implementing it, the fun begins. Legacy systems, hybrid networks, and human habits don’t read the manual. The idea is solid; the execution, not so much.

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Agfa's Digital Transformation - Navigating Legacy and Embracing Standardisation

Agfa, facing declining film business and slow new venture growth, tackled aging infrastructure and complex legacy systems with a bold digital transformation. They focused on standardisation and efficiency by implementing SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud. This case study highlights Agfa's pilot project success and key factors for global scaling.

The Challenge

Declining Core Business: The rapid shift to digital imaging significantly impacted Agfa's film business, resulting in shrinking margins.
Legacy Systems Complexity: Four independent SAP ECC systems, riddled with 60-80% unused customisations, created operational inefficiencies and hindered agility.
Aging Workforce: A large portion of the workforce, aged 55-65, was trained on legacy systems and accustomed to bespoke solutions, leading to resistance to change.
Slow Growth in New Ventures: Growth in new business segments wasn't offsetting the decline in the film business.
Urgent Need for Standardisation: The company needed to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency to remain competitive.

The Solution

Agfa strategically decided to adopt a "standard first" approach, eschewing a lengthy process redesign exercise. The key elements of their solution included:

SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud Implementation: Leveraging the SaaS model of SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud to adopt out-of-the-box functionalities and reduce customisations.
Pilot Project in US and Canada: A representative pilot project in the US and Canada, encompassing production, shared services, HQ functions, and complex regulatory requirements, served as a proof of concept.
Deloitte Partnership: Collaborating with Deloitte to ensure successful implementation and provide expertise in SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud.
Emphasis on Show and Tell & Exploration Sessions: Focus on training and knowledge transfer to gain user buy in.
Integration Focus: Prioritize seamless integration of the S/4HANA Public Cloud with the rest of the IT architecture.
User Adoption: Intensive focus on change management and user adoption.

Implementation and Results

The pilot project, launched a year ago, demonstrated the feasibility and benefits of the standardisation approach.
The go-live, two weeks prior to the case development, exhibited remarkably low defect rates, indicating the success of the implementation.
The pilot successfully convinced the organization that the standard approach was viable.
The biggest effort was put into integration and user adoption, both very important to a successful transition.

Key Learnings and Challenges

Change Management is Paramount: Overcoming resistance to change from a workforce accustomed to custom solutions requires a robust change management strategy.
Pilot Project as a Catalyst: A well-executed pilot project can build confidence and demonstrate the value of standardisation.
Integration Complexity: Integrating a cloud-based system with existing infrastructure can be complex and requires careful planning.
Balancing Standardisation and Flexibility: Striking the right balance between standardisation and the need for some level of flexibility is crucial.
Scaling the Solution: Successfully scaling the pilot project across the global organisation presents a significant challenge.

Recommendations

Develop a Comprehensive Change Management Plan: Implement a structured change management program to address resistance and facilitate user adoption.
Establish a Centre of Excellence: Create a dedicated team to manage the S/4HANA Public Cloud environment and support users.
Prioritise Data Migration and Integration: Ensure seamless data migration and integration with existing systems to minimise disruption.
Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Encourage a culture of continuous improvement to optimise processes and maximise the benefits of the new system.
Communicate Regularly and Transparently: Maintain open communication with stakeholders to address concerns and build trust.
Carefully plan the global rollout: Learn from the pilot, and build a detailed rollout plan, with clear milestones, and proper resource allocation.
Create champions: Identify key users within each department, and train them to become champions of the new system.

Conclusion

Agfa's journey demonstrates the potential of standardisation and cloud adoption to transform a legacy-heavy organisation. By embracing SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud and focusing on user adoption, Agfa has taken a significant step towards achieving operational efficiency and sustainable growth. The success of the pilot project provides a solid foundation for scaling this transformation across the global organisation, enabling Agfa to navigate its challenges and secure its future. The biggest challenge now is scaling the project, and not loosing the momentum that was gained during the pilot.

Technologies

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

CIONET Business Circles

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?

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.

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 !

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.