Ole Himmel-Manager Post Merger Integration, Process Management and Digitalization (Software)

Due to the steady growth of the customer organization and the associated increase in the number of projects in a wide range of areas, including IT/digitalization, sales and organizational development, and controlling, the demands on the projects are increasing. Projects are often started but not implemented within the planned time frame, resources are not clearly assigned, and the business value is not clearly demonstrated. The goal of the assignment as Interim Head of PMO is to further develop and embed an existing project organization from the CDO area at management level. It is important that the governance is pragmatic, easy to understand, and simple to apply in daily project work. The tasks and roles are to be defined, embedded in the organization, and this strategic PMO is also to be supported by an IT solution. This solution is to be selected and introduced. In addition, all ongoing projects are to be gradually transferred into PMO governance and project control is to be centralized.

• As part of the consolidation of the IT landscape, DB InfraGo AG wants to harmonize its software for project management in construction projects.
• A new software solution based on SharePoint is currently being developed with the aim of replacing as many legacy applications as possible in the three business areas DB Infrastructure, DB Passenger Stations, and DB Energy.
• Took over the entire rollout management of this software and managed the migration of 3 legacy systems used by more than 3,000 users.
• Ensured system availability while complying with construction operations regulations and coordinated the handover into operations.
• Planned the entire rollout for 3 legacy systems with more than 3,000 users.
• Clarified the migration method by coordinating with external suppliers regarding export, drove the business mapping, and managed implementation planning with ShareGate and PowerShell.
• Involved the communications department and coordinated with the DevOps teams.
• Stakeholder management and creation of the migration concept including testing and soft launch.
• Use of structured interviews, Jira, Confluence, Miro, SAFe, and Kanban.
• Roadmap and milestone planning as well as business process mapping.
• Analysis of the IT landscape with a focus on software including data mapping.
• Change management according to Kübler-Ross and Kotter.
• Technologies: MS Outlook, MS Planner, ShareGate.

• Support with market research and business analysis for IT applications in the area of process automation (RPA) with integration of AI models.
• EU-wide tender and introduction of an automation platform to address demographic challenges in the workforce.
• Support in capturing and coordinating end-to-end processes at levels 3-4.
• Identification, review, and drafting of use cases from departments and management levels.
• Preparation of tender and procurement documents as well as technical support for the procurement process.
• Revision of the market analysis for RPA applications and creation of the roadmap for introducing RPA.
• Coordination of RPA use cases with departments and selected managers.
• Publication of the RPA tender including communication with vendors.
• Creation of a criteria-based evaluation scheme and execution of the evaluation of submitted offers.
• Decision on the tool and IT implementation partner.
• Use of process capture interviews, evaluation matrices, and RPA/AI methods.
• Technologies: MS DevOps, WebEx, MS Office, MS Outlook.

• Supporting the relaunch of the CRM application Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales to optimize and digitalize the sales area.
• Capturing the core processes and technically configuring the application in an agile setup.
• Implementing incremental changes and simple improvements in the form of an MVP.
• Establishing a Community of Practice, providing learning materials, and building a support structure.
• Defining the scope related to the process area as well as conducting process assessment and optimization workshops.
• Building and managing an agile implementation backlog.
• Configuring views, dashboards, workflows, as well as roles and permissions in Dynamics 365.
• Testing and approving backlog items as well as training and communicating new functionalities.
• Stakeholder management and conducting analysis workshops.
• Technologies: MS Dynamics 365 (Sales), MS Teams, MS Office, MS Sharepoint, MS Outlook.

• Interim product management for the train components passenger information system and reservation system during the transition phase from project to operations.
• Requesting and reviewing offers in terms of content and form.
• Monitoring the further development of the system components including test planning and commissioning on the train.
• Coordination in incident and problem management between internal departments and suppliers.
• Documentation of processes in operations and further development.
• Risk and change management including creation of change requests (CR).
• Creating annual roadmaps and aligning budget approval with decision makers.
• Conducting supplier workshops, process interviews, and Kanban methods.
• Technologies: MS Teams, MS Project, MS Office.

• Re-setup and turnaround management of an ERP implementation project that had been stopped before.
• Conducted an initial project assessment and aligned and documented all core production-related processes down to level 2.
• Developed the project structure and organization and gathered requirements for the sub-projects ERP, processes, data cleansing, and tools.
• Managed and monitored project status and conducted process discovery interviews and strategic end-to-end process workshops with management.
• Advised on process planning and optimization of selected processes.
• Managed the IT department regarding migration, IT landscape, data modeling, and data flow analysis.
• Introduced a DMS application (DocuWare) as a replacement for a discontinued solution, including process analysis for incoming invoices, outgoing invoices, and logistics data storage.
• Researched the market and selected DMS applications as well as designed the test environment and carried out the migration.
• Coordinated the introduction of a BI application (Qlik Sense), including capturing the backlog for reports and coordinating roles and permissions.
• Advised on tailored ITIL and conducted requirements workshops.
• Technologies: ERP C3 (Theurer), DocuWare, Qlik Sense, Sycat, MS Project, MS Teams, MS Office.

• Supported the IT departments in the transformation into an agile organization according to the SAFe framework.
• Transitioned traditionally structured programs into Value Teams (Large Solution) and supported the pilot programs.
• Helped developer teams adopt the Scrum framework and formed Agile Release Trains (ARTs).
• Took over the program management office for a large project.
• Planned and ran agile program management.
• Coordinated interfaces as well as planned, ran, and documented all meetings between the Value Team and ARTs.
• Responsible for overall risk and dependency management.
• Stakeholder management and administration of the Jira instance for 500 users.
• Led the Community of Practice for Jira.
• Technologies: Jira, Confluence, AgileHive, MS Teams, MS Office.

• Modernization of the complete IT infrastructure, including Identity & Access Management, cloud services, and renewal of network technology in 38 sales companies.
• Carried out capacity planning as well as created and updated the project plan.
• Prepared and created tender documents for hardware worth over 1,000,000 euros.
• Coordinated the tenders with experts and reviewed and evaluated the offers.
• Coached the co-project lead in agile and classic project management methods.
• Planned and supported the pilot at 2 locations including creating a blueprint template for the further rollout.
• Planned the rollout schedule for all 36 locations regarding timing, duration, and staffing needs.
• Prepared, ran, and documented steering meetings and Scrum formats.
• Created a communication plan for stakeholders.
• Technologies: MS Sharepoint, MS Teams, MS Office.

• Introduction of the PLM/ERP system cplace for the complete product development up to production planning.
• Replacement of existing stand-alone solutions with a highly flexible end-to-end solution.
• Analysis and documentation of requirements as well as creation of a customer-specific backlog.
• Coordination of implementation using the Scrum method with IT consultants and external developers.
• Carrying out the go-live including the hypercare phase.
• Traditional project steering toward management and agile coaching of the implementation team.
• Introduction of an implementation reporting system with KPIs as well as regular rescoping.
• Role as Scrum Master and partly Product Owner in the development area.
• Consulting and implementation of adjustments to the data model including data flow modeling.
• Technologies: cplace, Tableau, Slack, Zoom, MS Office.

• As-is assessment of the project portfolio for the Europe region to increase transparency across all regions.
• Conducting structured interviews with project managers to ensure a consistent evaluation of ongoing projects.
• Transferring the evaluation method into a standardized company process.
• Development of a PMO manual including status profiles for all projects and detailed 5-pagers for the top 5 projects.
• Creation of a high-level concept for a PMO organization and definition of communication channels.
• Derivation of recommendations for action per project based on defined criteria.
• Technologies: MS Visio, MS Office.

• Support with the reorganization of indirect areas such as timetable, fleet management, HR, and finance.
• Conducted a functional analysis of existing processes to identify cost-saving potential.
• Extracted process names and identified volume drivers together with department heads.
• Created an as-is picture using questionnaires and conducted expert interviews with managers to identify synergies.
• Created a transition matrix for the organization’s transition as well as documentation of core tasks and new roles.
• Wrote optimized role and function descriptions.
• Active support in creating decision papers and organizational instructions.
• Technologies: MS Office.

• Created a concept for the workshop landscape due to increasing vehicle demand from a new transport contract.
• Analyzed the impact of the additional vehicles on production and operations, with a focus on maintenance and parking capacities.
• As-is analysis of existing parking areas and research of possible new sites.
• Evaluated the sites using a utility analysis including life cycle cost (LCC) considerations.
• Gathered information on infrastructure and real estate through expert interviews at subsidiaries.
• Created fact sheets for around 24 analyzed parking areas, including technical drawings and cost estimates.
• Determined ownership structures and created rough implementation schedules.
• Technologies: MS Project, MS Office.

• System development for a multiplex system consisting of up to 9 control units on behalf of EVOBUS.
• Responsibility for requirements management, software integration on hardware, and functional verification of the overall system.
• Prototype commissioning at the customer site and leadership of a software subproject.
• Test management for system tests: creation of test specifications and design of the automated test environment.
• Programming of a software interface from PC to CAN bus.
• Development process according to V-Spice including code reviews.
• Technologies: MKS Integrity Manager, CANoe, CANalyzer, DOORS, MS Project, MS Office.