Interview with the CFO of Colruyt Group
May 2021
These days he is known as Chief Financial Officer within Colruyt Group, but in a previous life, Stefaan Vandamme used to work amongst others as a manager within strategy consulting companies. This makes him the most suitable sounding board for the enterprise architects at Myreas during major transformations.
Refining the TOM
In recent years there has been a much greater emphasis within Colruyt Group on process-oriented work. This also applies to all teams within Finance that have now been given a broader range of tasks from functional teams to process-oriented teams. The principles that a process-oriented organization must meet to be successful had already been defined within Finance in the 2015 Target Operating Model (TOM). Currently, together with Myreas, the strategic plan is being revised. "In this regard, the TOM should not be completely reinvented, but rather fine-tuned. The core of a process-oriented organization supported by SAP for all finance processes can simply be retained."
This process has gone hand in hand with a complete renewal of the software within Finance. While they used to work in an application that Colruyt Group had developed itself for the mainframe, they have been switching to an existing package (SAP).
"I have seen several SAP implementations over the years, but never in this way. In fact, we deliberately chose to build a sustainable interface layer as a separate 'front door' outside of SAP to keep the entire system flexible. A strong piece of architecture that could only be conceived here!"
Swift availability
That's not the only thing Stefaan had never seen before. The complexity and quantity of systems is also unique within a Belgian organization. For this reason alone, Myreas strikes him as a fantastic learning school for every enterprise architect. "As a strategy consultant within a Big Four environment, you're most likely to be focusing on strategy. At Myreas, there is a much broader framework in which data, processes and people have a significant role. For example, we're now outlining a strategic plan for Finance, in which the enterprise architect is digging deep into the matter and outlining ambitions and strategic objectives."
Thanks to the tremendous growth of Myreas during the past year, Stefaan also experiences hardly any waiting times to get up and running. "In our meeting with Jef Colruyt it was then decided that we needed an enterprise architect and the next day Katrien was already standing here. Absolutely great service!"
Thorough architecture
For Stefaan, however, moving quickly does not mean skipping certain steps in the process. "You can't afford to take any risk when it comes to a solid architecture. If something is wrong there, you're going to pay for it later in the process anyway." That is why, according to him, it is extremely important to ensure sufficient iterations to properly consider all aspects of the architecture. In addition to this facilitating role in the decision-making process, every enterprise architect should also challenge and bring in best practices based on his/her own experience. It is no longer sufficient to merely think along from a strategic framework. You must be able to translate this into practice. Key to this, according to Stefaan, is empathy. "Everything starts with showing some understanding. Then you must be able to lift a detail to a higher level and give people an idea of how their situation will eventually work out better.
Stefano joined Myreas in March 2021 but is already doing a fantastic job in that area.” The fact that you sometimes have to let go of the conceptual aspect does not always make it as easy as that, but a solid enterprise architect - like the ones you happen to find at Myreas 😉 - masters this skill.