IT that knows the situation of the business.

Situational Awareness is the advisory product of Ivo Schönberner. It aligns a company’s IT with the entire situation, that is with company goals, leadership vision, core processes, financial situation and the interests of investors and stakeholders: in four steps from capturing the situation through the fit analysis and the target picture to implementation and handover to an internal team.

Six dimensions: the company’s goals, the leadership vision, the core processes, the financial position, the interests of investors and other stakeholders, and obligations and risks. IT is deliberately not part of the situation; it is measured against it.

Because IT ties up money and can save money. Liquidity, budget, cost structure and financing stage decide which architecture is viable. A technically ideal solution that overstretches the company financially does not meet the goals of management.

Their expectations are explicitly captured in the situation picture, for example growth targets, exit readiness, due diligence readiness or requirements of shareholders. IT is designed to support these goals measurably, and conflicts of objectives between stakeholders are openly put forward for decision.

With proven management tools instead of IT jargon: SWOT analysis of the company, process map, process flows of the core processes (for example in BPMN), stakeholder, RACI and prioritisation matrices, and a decision log. The target picture and roadmap of IT are derived from these.

All results are kept in a conformant manner, for example according to the requirements of ISO 27001 and ISO 9001: versioned, with approvals, owners and evidence, in an auditable system instead of scattered files. This way an auditor can trace every decision, even after the handover.

For three: first, a company driven by the goals of its investors and stakeholders, such as growth, company value or exit. Second, an existing company facing a handover, to buyers, successors or the next generation. Third, a company that first has to lay the groundwork in order to realise synergies, including with AI. The method is the same in all three; the emphasis shifts.

For goals of investors and stakeholders: IT due diligence and situation picture for holdings, decision papers and financing logic (CAPEX or OPEX) for executive management, and technical leadership for a defined period as a fractional CTO. For a handover: NextEra Copilot, a digitalisation audit that places every core process on a level from 1 to 5 and delivers a departure plan. For the groundwork for synergies: AI implementation in five stages, from foundation and infrastructure through processes and structured data to a curated data location.

A handover is the fourth step of the method, “Lead and hand over”, applied to the whole company. Anyone who sells, hands over or buys needs a situation picture of what really changes hands: which core processes are documented, which knowledge depends on individual people and which risks the financial due diligence does not show.

From aviation and human factors research. In 1995 Mica R. Endsley defined Situational Awareness as the perception of the elements of a situation, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their future status. Pilots and air traffic controllers train exactly these three levels.

Typical signs: employees keep shadow lists alongside the system, processes are rebuilt because a tool requires it, decisions depend on individual people, and nobody can explain on one page which IT supports which business goal.

A situation picture on one page, a fit analysis with a decision log, a target picture with a roadmap and, if desired, the implemented IT with a documented handover to the internal team, including playbooks (documented procedures, SOPs) for operations and emergencies.

That depends on size, locations and regulation. Scope and timeframe are set in the initial conversation and are then fixed in writing.

No. It is a way of working with fixed results. Existing standards such as ISO 27001 or ITIL are used where they serve the business, but are not introduced for their own sake.

From the start-up with ten people to the company with around 1’000 employees, plus programmes in corporate groups and joint ventures. What matters is not size, but that IT and business are drifting apart.

Responsibility for decisions stays with the company. Ivo Schönberner prepares decisions, documents them in the decision log and implements what has been decided.

Yes. Technology follows the business. Microsoft 365, Mac and Windows, cloud or locally operated AI are chosen by fit, not by partner status.

There is no off-the-shelf package. Billing is by day rate or as a monthly engagement, depending on engagement model and scope. You clarify the framework in the first conversation.