De Heus – Redesign of Infrastructure Management and Sourcing Strategy
De Heus faced the challenge of fundamentally overhauling its IT infrastructure and sourcing model. The organization operates internationally with a combination of Dutch and Global IT activities, where responsibilities were distributed across multiple suppliers and internal teams.
The existing situation was characterized by fragmentation, overlap in responsibilities, and differences in working methods between regions. At the same time, international growth, cloud adoption, and digitization called for a scalable and unified IT model.
SourceMinds supported De Heus in shaping and realizing a future-proof sourcing strategy as well as the associated supplier selection for infrastructure management.
The Challenge
The complexity lay not only in technology, but primarily in the organization:
- Division of responsibilities between NL and Global IT
- Multiple suppliers with overlapping roles
- Limited control over end-to-end service delivery
- Differences in maturity and governance between regions
De Heus wanted to work towards a model in which it takes the lead as ICT orchestrator itself, with clear frameworks for collaboration with external partners.
The Approach
SourceMinds guided the process from strategy to contracting, with an explicit dialogue-driven approach.
- Sourcing strategy and target model
- Analysis of current infrastructure and vendor landscape
- Defining a target architecture and sourcing direction
- Establishing clear service domains with ownership
- Clear demarcation between governance (De Heus) and delivery (vendors)
- Market approach via Request for Dialogue (RfD)
- Actively gathering information on the strategy from the market
- Testing choices regarding governance, collaboration, and global support
- Refining scope and requirements
- Dialogue sessions
- Sessions with selected vendors
- Focus on:
- Governance and Operational Service Integration
- Multi-vendor collaboration
- 24/7 support for international organization
- Actively involving vendors in thinking about the best implementation
- Selection and contracting
- Drafting and issuing a sharply defined RFP
- Structured assessment and consensus building
- Guiding decision-making and contractual agreements
During the process, the emphasis was on topics such as governance, multi-vendor collaboration, and international service delivery, essential within the complex NL/Global context.
Result
The process has led to a clear and future-proof IT and sourcing setup:
- Clear sourcing strategy and governance model
- Less fragmentation among suppliers
- Clear responsibilities per service domain
- Strengthened governance position for De Heus
- Better alignment with the international organization and growth
The role of SourceMinds
SourceMinds acted as an independent advisor and director, where strategy and execution went hand in hand. By combining substantive infrastructure knowledge with sourcing expertise, we helped De Heus gain control over both direction and realization.
Get in contact
Reach out to us for any questions