Application Management Support for core IT applications

The transition at Lotus faced several challenges, mainly due to organisational decision-making and the vast scale of its operations. As a large corporation with 3,000 stores and managing 5 million daily transactions, Lotus faced the risk that significant errors could negatively impact customer loyalty and financial reporting.

A major hurdle identified during the transition was the significant lack of documentation and source code. This gap made it difficult to understand and manage the existing systems effectively. Moreover, the quality of the available documentation had steeply declined due to previous cost-saving measures, which also negatively impacted quality assurance practices.

Adding to these challenges was the limited availability of key personnel. The employees knowledgeable about the system and its related processes had very limited time to dedicate to the transition.

In the initial planning stage, it was critical to accurately determine the required workforce size. To ensure our support services met the agreed SLAs, we implemented an advanced process mining tool to analyse the existing customer support data. This analysis provided clear insights into the typical and maximum support demands for each application, offering a better understanding of the interactions within Lotus's organisation.

To minimise risks during the transition phase, we established a program governance committee, supported by senior management. This coordinated strategy guaranteed that all team members worked according to a consistent plan, enabling them to quickly identify and resolve tasks.

Based on this preparation, and the limited availability of documentation, we developed a gradual approach to transition and constant communication with the outgoing team throughout the process. This approach not only ensured high-quality outcomes but also significantly mitigated potential risks.

Weigandt Consulting's team of 59 managers and support engineers handled the transition of 29 applications within the allocated six-month timeframe, keeping within the budget and ensuring no negative impact on business operations.

Our team expedited the migration of certain applications, such as Oracle Retail, completing it in just 2-3 months.

The transition gave Lotus full IT independence from its former parent company, setting the Lotus up for growth and digital innovation:

Facilitating M&A Deal: The successful transition of Application Support and Maintenance to Lotus was pivotal in enabling a multi-billion M&A deal.

Strategic Decoupling: Lotus successfully detached its critical applications from its former parent company and gained full autonomy in its IT operations.

Seamless Transition: Despite the complexity of transitioning 29 applications, the process was executed smoothly with no interruptions to business operations.

Enhanced Efficiency: Thanks to the expedited transition of key applications like Oracle Retail, there was a noticeable increase in operational efficiency and reduced downtime.

Empowered Workforce: The engagement of 59 dedicated support engineers and other team members facilitated not only the swift transition but also bolstered in-house expertise.