Whistl
‘ Build the plane while we ’ re flying ’ is the motto behind the mail delivery specialist ’ s IT strategy , steered by an outward-thinking director who arrived with no formal technology background
Making sure that mail travels from A to B requires a much more robust and slick functioning IT infrastructure than one might originally think . Alignment with the rest of the business ’ s operations is critical , and this is the job of Whistl ’ s IT Director .
After spending 12 years delivering vital business operations and product innovation , working closely with crucial operational , billing and CRM systems from a strategic standpoint , a move to IT Director may not have appeared as a natural step .
Three and half years on and this is exactly what has happened at Whistl . Formerly TNT Post - the UK arm of Dutch company TNT ( Post NL ) - the now-autonomous business has seen a huge overhaul in the way technology is managed .
Guiding the transformation is Whistl ’ s IT Director Lieneke Happel . Having been involved in the company ’ s journey since 2004 , Happel always believed IT could hold the key to real transformation into a market leader .
“ I always felt that within our IT functions we could do so much more ,” she says . “ But I don ’ t have an IT background and didn ’ t really know exactly what my criticisms were based on – I recognised that alignment with the business is just so critical . The business just wants IT to work as effectively as possible .”
“ I was excited about the challenge , yet a little scared at the
72 July 2016