IT and Commerce Strategy · Platform Selection

Three strategy papers in the drawer. None of them executed.

Insight isn't the problem. Execution is.

Architecture strategy, platform selection, sales digitalisation for industry and wholesale. Three phases with stop conditions: analysis, advice, execution. Recommendations follow your fit, not our margin — we do not resell licences.

Let's talk Three phases
Approach

Three phases,
one delivery path.

Classic strategy consulting stops at the slide deck. We stay until the program runs — either hands-on ourselves or as outsourced program management against the selected partner. Phases are separately budgeted with stop conditions; after each phase you can walk away or continue.

  1. 01
    Data over workshop mood

    Analysis.

    Market: Competitive mapping, platform and vendor landscape in the DACH region.
    Technology: Audit of your stack — ERP, Commerce, CRM, PIM, data flows. Where lock-in lurks, where the debt lies.
    Organization: Org reality check, processes, sales, adoption hurdles. Who actually decides, who blocks.

    Output: Findings report plus a list of OpEx and risk levers ordered by impact. Not a slide deck — a working basis.

  2. 02
    Options with risks and sequencing

    Advisory.

    Roadmap with three paths, total cost of ownership per path, delivery timeline, risk profile. We explicitly state what we do not recommend, and why. Focus areas depending on the mandate: IT strategy, commerce platform decision, sales digitalization, operating model design.

    Output: A decision-ready brief for management or steering committee, with clearly named assumptions and stop conditions.

  3. 03
    Execute ourselves or steer the partner

    Execution.

    Three models: (a) We execute directly, with Team Charlie as the delivery organization. (b) Vendor selection without provision bias, then ongoing governance against the chosen implementer. (c) Hybrid: critical path with us, scale with the partner.

    Output: Deliverable programs, not recommendations. Handover point clearly defined — from there, the internal org carries it alone.

Voice from a strategy mandate

What clients
took away.

Energy sector · 2024
"The right architecture decisions — and at the same time, the foundations for a high-performing team of development and product management were put in place." — Arne Sextro, Managing Director EWE Servicepartner

Architecture and org design advisory with measurable impact on the delivery cadence of the internal tech organization.

TOWA · 2021 – 2025
"Focused, pragmatic, solution-oriented when things get tight. A reliable advisor when it truly matters." — Karsten Krause-Ablaß, TOWA

Four years of senior sparring at leadership level during the build-up and scaling of the Spryker practice — from platform decision to team operations.

How we work

Workbench, loops, handover. Three principles.

We build with you, not for you. Engagements are workbenches, not theatre. Delivery in short loops. Clean handover, then your team carries it alone.

Method in detail
Experience & contact

Deep platform expertise.

25 years in IT, 14 of them in B2B commerce. Architecture mandates with large enterprises, building and steering distributed expert teams, vendor-neutral project rescue. Focus areas: platform architecture, project rescue, team operations.

Chris Zepernick

Senior consultant · Hamburg

Before you call

Three questions, three straight answers.

"Why not McKinsey or Roland Berger?"
MBB is good when board-level storytelling is the core output. But your gap is execution. Bitkom 2026 identifies program governance as the bottleneck for 53 % of companies — not a knowledge problem. We stay until it runs.
"What's the engagement model?"
Phases are separately budgeted with stop conditions — meaning: after Phase 1 you can walk away without committing to Phases 2 and 3. TCO predictable up front, no sunk-cost pressure. Clear time boxes, clear outputs, clear handover points. Terms are mandate-specific — we discuss them on the phone.
"Are you large enough for our program volume?"
For the strategy phase, 1–2 senior heads are sufficient — it scales by experience, not headcount. For the execution phase we bring in Team Charlie or govern your implementation partner. We don't sell you an apparatus you don't need.
What we have learned

We work with you, not for you.

At the center are the people who work with the systems — their daily routine should get easier, not fuller. What we can do, you can do afterwards too.

How we work

Moin.

Strategy paper already sitting in the drawer? Let's talk about how we get it moving.

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