Expert interview with
Tobias Eberle
1.Data Migration International offers the JiVS information management platform, a tailor-made solution for different use cases which helps to manage the entire lifecycle of company data independently of systems and applications. How was this last year (2020) for your company and what will drive your business in 2021?
Answer TE: The pandemic presents our society, and business with enormous challenges. Companies not only have to save costs, but also master digital transformation, in particular by implementing SAP S/4HANA. And they also have to future-proof their business through activities such as takeovers or spin-offs. These were priorities before the pandemic, but the crisis has really pushed them to the fore. We can support companies in all of these scenarios with the JiVS information management platform. Numerous companies are already benefiting from our support, even if some projects have been delayed due to the crisis and lockdown. Overall, we can look back on the past year with satisfaction.
And what will drive business in 2021? Our approach of separating information lifecycle management from the lifecycle of applications and systems has proven its worth, especially during the pandemic. Customers can save massively on costs and implement new software versions more quickly and cost-efficiently. They can also manage mergers, acquisitions and the sale of subsidiaries and business areas much faster and with less effort. IT becomes as agile as the business demands. Our goal for 2021 and beyond is to bring the benefits of our platform to an even wider audience and demonstrate its application across many further business scenarios.
2. In 2020 virtual project work made its way to the forefront and this is continuing. This now includes less travelling, less travel expenses and therefore savings for the companies in some project areas. Will this be a lasting trend in general for IT environments and what rule do you think compact solutions, which can be applied completely remotely (let`s say at the push of a button), play in future IT projects?
Answer TE: There’s every indication that the remote working trend will continue. And Data Migration International is well set up to support companies virtually. This is where we have an advantage over more traditional information management approaches. Bringing together heterogeneous IT landscapes in mergers or acquisitions, for example, or conversely in the case of sales, then ensuring only the necessary information is extracted and handed over to the buyer – all of this used to take a lot of time and considerable financial and personnel investment. In contrast, our JiVS IMP platform extracts all of the information and data at the push of a button, transfers it to our platform in a legally compliant manner and organizes it according to business criteria. In this way, we massively simplify and accelerate the entire process. Our approach and our platform are disruptive, and save our customers a lot of time and money.
3. Last but not least, do you think we are witnessing some substantial changes in the way large IT projects are approached? And what is the biggest pain point for customers in 2021?
Answer TE: I think companies will certainly expect the same agility and speed in their IT projects as they do in their own business. Cost savings will also be front of mind for organizations considering a large-scale IT transformation. The beauty of our approach is that we offer a small-scale solution capable of generating large-scale value. Using the JiVS platform, companies can quickly shut down legacy applications and systems, saving an average of around 80 percent in operating costs. Companies that want to accelerate their transformation to SAP S/4HANA can reduce the project effort by 50 percent.
For mergers and acquisitions, we can help companies harmonize their IT infrastructure quickly, easily and cost-efficiently, including the decommissioning of any applications or systems that are no longer required. In the case of subsidiary sales or carve-outs, companies can separate relevant data and documents at the push of a button and hand them over to the buyer in a modern format. In every scenario, our platform ensures easy access to all legacy information. And because we also manage the entire life cycle of information stored on our platform, companies stand to gain 100 percent legal security. It’s really our aim as a company to help customers get the maximum value from their IT systems and information – with the minimum of effort.