Optimization of IT infrastructure on the road to digitization

During its operations, MK Group realized a significant part of the growth of its operations through acquisitions. Over time, as more companies joined, the IT system branched out into dozens of other systems and processes. As a result, operations were carried out at a high cost, and improvements in the field of IT were challenging. But above all, the key reason for this cooperation was the desire of MK Group to prepare for its digitalization path.

Goals

• Establish an IT infrastructure that is capable of supporting the current and future operations of MK Group.
• Ensure infrastructure efficiency.
• Ensure system resilience to contingencies and downtime.
• Establish an IT infrastructure that ensures business continuity.

Approach

• Thorough IT and tech diagnostics.
• Assessment of IT infrastructure compliance with business priorities and needs.
• Focus on the opportunities for more efficient management of IT resources.
• Analysis of the economic value of IT infrastructure, seen through TCO.

Results

• Analysis and conclusions on infrastructure vulnerability and risk exposure.
• Analysis and conclusions on the capacity of the existing infrastructure.
• Achieving the optimal vision of IT infrastructure.
• A prioritized course of activities until the realization of the desired outcome.

As one of the biggest business systems in the region, MK Group is also the system with the most consistent growth in the region. Through its business development, the company has also faced growing challenges in the field of information technology. IT systems designed for businesses and corporations were previously considered relatively stable and unchanging. Given the assumption of immutability, there were no special requirements for managing them since they were significantly less complex. Today, there is pressure to adapt the IT systems to large waves of technological and business changes. These changes have also reflected on MK Group’s business model.

MK Group is a holding company with over 75 subsidiaries operating in Serbia and abroad. The subsidiary companies operate in the meat industry, renewable energy sources, financial and IT services, real estate, tourism, etc. MK Group is one of the largest and most successful business systems in the country and one of the leaders in agriculture and the sugar industry in Serbia.

Historically, MK Group has realized a large part of its growth through acquisitions. In time, as more companies joined, the IT system branched out into dozens of other systems and processes. The key infrastructure of the companies that are part of MK Group is distributed across 18 locations connected by over 7,000 employees.

The Challenge: An IT System That Supports the Growth of MK Group

As a consequence of these circumstances, operations were realized at high costs, and cooperation and improvements in the IT department were challenging. An additional factor was the desire of MK Group to prepare for its path to digital transformation and to provide the infrastructure that can adequately support this path. At the beginning of its path to digital transformation, MK Group set clear goals and requirements IT infrastructure had to meet. The company Mainstream approached the realization of this project together with the consulting team of PwC Serbia in order to help MK Group respond to the upcoming challenges.

Reaching Solutions and Results for MK Group

During the realization of each consulting project, the focus is on the business and its needs. After defining customer requirements and understanding the direction of the core business development, we have approached the analysis of technological and organizational
infrastructure elements.

Over a period of six weeks, the joint consulting team conducted an analysis based on the current situation and the direction of the future development of MK Group. The overview of the current situation was formed by visiting key IT locations and writing a detailed description of the current way of conducting IT operations in cooperation with MK Group’s IT team. Through the collection and analysis of data on all aspects of the functioning of the IT infrastructure, they have defined the recommendations and priorities in achieving the optimal IT infrastructure.

The recommendations consist of an analysis of the infrastructure’s vulnerability and its exposure to various risks that may jeopardize its function and the company’s operations. Through trend analysis and consideration of the future plans for the development of MK Group’s business system, an analysis of the existing infrastructure’s capacity was performed. A proposal based on these elements was formulated detailing the steps in order of priority that ensure that MK Group’s IT infrastructure functions at an optimal level. More importantly, the foundation has been laid for business digitization with reliable support for business processes.