As a company grows, its IT environment must also be able to evolve alongside the business. The technical functionality of systems is important, but equally essential is how they function as part of the organization’s daily operations. Do they support people’s work, are the procedures surrounding them clear, and can the entity be managed and developed systematically?

These were familiar questions for Fodelia, a listed food industry company whose IT environment had been built over the years according to the varying needs of different business units. When the group’s first joint IT team began operations at the start of the year, it was a natural time to form a shared vision of the IT environment’s current state and future needs.

“Before we started developing the IT environment further, we wanted to stop and consider whether our current solutions support our growth and where we should invest in the future,” says Heidi Silvennoinen, Development Manager of Fodelia’s IT team.

Since Fodelia’s team did not have its own IT architect, they wanted to involve external IT architecture expertise in defining the overall structure. Reflector was chosen as the partner, and a shared understanding of the project’s goals was easily established.

“We particularly valued Reflector’s independent perspective. They didn’t start by offering us a specific system or technology; instead, different options were examined genuinely based on our needs.”

Guidelines for future IT systems

The work began with a mapping of Fodelia’s current IT environment and the identification of key challenges. Following this, alternative scenarios were formed based on business objectives regarding the future needs of the IT environment. The work also resulted in a concrete roadmap for the coming months.

“The work provided us with the necessary tools to manage IT and plan future system procurements even more professionally. Many observations confirmed our own team’s thoughts, but at the same time, we gained deeper insight and a clear direction for the future to support them,” Silvennoinen says.

Functional IT is more than just technology

Silvennoinen was also impressed by how strongly Reflector emphasized the tactical side of IT alongside the technical review. The project did not just look at systems and technology, but also at how the whole is managed and how people are able to work with it in their daily lives.

According to Reflector’s Tomi Mörsky, these perspectives inevitably go hand in hand.

“Technology should not be planned in isolation from people and operating models. No matter how good a technical solution is, the full benefit will not be realized if the organization lacks clear operating models, the necessary expertise, or ownership around it. That is why we always examine what is required of the technology and what is required of the organization side by side,” Mörsky says.

External insight to support growth

Silvennoinen recommends collaborating with Reflector for companies that may not yet have their own IT architecture expertise.

“In my opinion, Reflector is particularly suitable for companies like ours, where IT is not at the core of the business, but growth brings a need for stronger IT expertise. As a company grows, new business functions and systems are added, and the whole becomes more complex. In such cases, an external perspective helps to outline the direction in which IT should be developed,” Silvennoinen concludes.