Management Information Systems students had the opportunity recently to learn directly from industry through an engaging guest session with business transformation leader Véronique Pontoizeau.
Drawing on more than 20 years of experience across business transformation, delivery and change, Véronique challenged students to look beyond technology implementation and consider what successful transformation really means for an organisation.
Her central message was simple but powerful:
“A successful transformation is not when the technology works. It is when the business works differently because of it.”
Throughout the session, Véronique explored a challenge familiar to many organisations: a technology project can be delivered on time, within scope and technically successfully, while still failing to produce the business outcomes that originally justified the investment.
Using practical industry examples, she encouraged students to consider the different definitions of success held by business leaders, technology teams and vendors. While a vendor may reasonably focus on implementation, functionality, technical quality and contractual deliverables, the business may be looking for improved customer outcomes, greater efficiency, changed behaviours, better employee experience and measurable business value.
Students were also challenged to think carefully about vendor selection and governance. Rather than asking only whether a product can deliver the required functionality, leaders need to understand who will actually deliver the work, what assumptions each party is making, what responsibilities sit with the client and vendor, and whether both sides genuinely mean the same thing when they use terms such as scope, readiness and adoption.
The session then moved from discussion into application through Project Northstar, an interactive client–vendor transformation case study.
Students took opposing roles representing Northstar Group, the client organisation, and Orbit Solutions, its preferred technology vendor. Each side received different information about a proposed CRM-enabled business transformation and was required to develop its position before meeting the other party.
The exercise deliberately exposed the kinds of issues that can remain hidden during major technology procurements: different expectations of scope, unclear responsibilities for organisational change, assumptions about data quality and business resources, ambitious timelines, competing definitions of success and gaps between what a vendor sells and what its delivery team can realistically provide.
Rather than looking for a single “correct” answer, students had to question one another, identify hidden assumptions and decide whether new information should change their original position. Client and vendor teams then came together to determine whether the transformation should proceed, proceed with conditions, or pause.
The combination of industry experience and hands-on decision-making provided an excellent opportunity for students to connect MIS theory with the realities of organisational leadership.
For students preparing to become managers and technology leaders, the session reinforced an important lesson: technology is an enabler of transformation, not the transformation itself. Effective leaders must keep business outcomes at the centre of technology decisions, challenge assumptions early and ensure governance continues well beyond implementation.
A big thank you to Véronique Pontoizeau for sharing her experience, insights and time with our students, and for delivering a session that generated thoughtful discussion, challenge and learning across the class.
