E-CON

ÖBB - Austrian Federal Railways

Transforming Mission-Critical Services and Enterprise IT at Austria’s National Railway Operator.

Executive Impact.

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Trusted advisor across two transformation mandates spanning four years

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Customer service, digital workforce, and enterprise IT operating-model responsibilities

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Business-critical national customer-card platform successfully insourced

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Nationwide digital workforce initiative established for frontline railway operations

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Executive operating model developed for enterprise-wide IT consolidation

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Strategic initiatives delivered across business, technology, and operational domains

Outcome.

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National customer platform insourced and launched ahead of contractual deadlines

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Transition from external to internal operations completed without service disruption

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Production readiness achieved early, enabling accelerated go-live and stabilization

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Mobile capabilities established for frontline railway employees

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Legacy operational devices replaced through a modern digital workplace

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Executive target operating model developed for enterprise IT consolidation

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Standardization, efficiency, and procurement opportunities identified

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Solutions adopted and sustained within the organization over the long term

Executive Summary.

Austria’s national railway operator faced several strategic transformation priorities across customer services, frontline operations, and enterprise IT.

Executive leadership was initially engaged to insource a business-critical customer-card platform and establish the operational capability required to run it internally. The mandate later expanded into digital workforce enablement and, in a separate engagement, enterprise IT operating-model design.

The work combined uninterrupted operational continuity with technology modernization and organizational redesign.

Situation.

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Business-critical customer card services operated by an external provider

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Contractual transition required a seamless transfer into internal operations

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Limited documentation and fragmented process knowledge

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Frontline employees relied on aging and unwieldy operational devices

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Multiple IT organizations operated independently across group companies

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Technology landscapes and sourcing approaches had developed separately

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Growing demand for standardization and enterprise-wide coordination

Situation.

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Situation.

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Business-critical customer card services operated by an external provider

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Contractual transition required a seamless transfer into internal operations

▪

Limited documentation and fragmented process knowledge

▪

Frontline employees relied on aging and unwieldy operational devices

▪

Multiple IT organizations operated independently across group companies

▪

Technology landscapes and sourcing approaches had developed separately

▪

Growing demand for standardization and enterprise-wide coordination

Challenge.

The three initiatives differed in scope and timing but shared a common requirement: major organizational and technology change without disruption to railway operations.

The customer platform had to be transferred under fixed deadlines. Frontline employees required modern mobile capabilities suitable for demanding operating conditions. Enterprise leadership needed a future model for coordinating several decentralized IT organizations.

Success required business continuity, organizational change, technology modernization, and long-term operating-model decisions to be managed as one executive agenda.

Challenge.

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Challenge.

The three initiatives differed in scope and timing but shared a common requirement: major organizational and technology change without disruption to railway operations.

Success required business continuity, organizational change, technology modernization, and long-term operating-model decisions to be managed as one executive agenda.

Leadership Contribution.

Customer Service Transformation.

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Led the transformation and insourcing of the national customer-card platform

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Facilitated extensive cross-functional process redesign workshops

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Rebuilt operational processes previously performed by an external provider

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Established the foundation for a new web-based customer platform integrated with SAP finance and accounting

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Coordinated business, technology, and implementation partners under fixed deadlines

Digital Workforce Transformation.

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Led the development of a next-generation mobile platform for train conductors

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Established collaboration between ÖBB, IBM Austria, IBM Germany, IBM Canada, and Apple Inc.

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Supported the transition from legacy industrial terminals to iPhone, iPad, and mobile printing technologies

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Contributed to an MVP that later developed into a productive enterprise solution

Enterprise Operating Model Transformation.

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Assessed IT organizations across multiple group companies

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Analyzed organizational structures, technology landscapes, sourcing approaches, and operating models

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Developed an executive target model for enterprise IT consolidation

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Identified standardization, efficiency, cost, and procurement opportunities

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Prepared strategic recommendations and decision materials for executive leadership

Key Takeaway.

Mission-critical transformation requires operational continuity, workforce enablement, and enterprise design to be governed as one leadership agenda.

The strongest result was not a single technology deployment. It was a more capable organization able to operate, modernize, and scale.

Transformation succeeded because operational continuity, workforce enablement, and enterprise design were governed as one leadership agenda.