Be2

be2 - Online Operations Assessment and Process Integration (2008) (EN)

Assessment IT Operations

Company profile

be2 GmbH is one of the world’s leading matchmaking services. Based on a personality test, be2 joins single
people with compatible personalities and interests for fulfilling long-term relationships. More than 10 million
members in 31 countries on six continents trust in be2’s state of the art matching methodology, developed by a
team of expert psychologists, sociologists and statisticians.
Within just four years, be2 has become the matchmaking service with the most visitors in Europe and worldwide
as well as the one growing most strongly according to ComScore and Nielsen Netratings, the two main industry
monitors. Currently, more than 20,000 new members join be2 every day.
be2 has been growing at a tremendous rate of more than 100% every year – in visitors, members and revenues.
The company employs more than 200 people from 39 nationalities who ensure completely localized services in its
31 markets.

Challenge

An accurate assessment had to be made of be2 IT operations, to identify the pros and cons of the existing IT
operations framework, all within a short time period. Proposals had to be generated for the next step of
reorganization of the IT operations within an IT department operating on different continents and with changing
responsibilities.
Definition of the project
A workshop at be2 GmbH was carried out with the aim of assessing the current IT operations and data centre
management situation. The assessment included interviews with the COO, the CTO and the IT operations team to
identify the current situation vis-à-vis IT operations and data centre management. The interpretation of the
interviews highlighted differing views between the two departments. The goal was to assimilate those views and to
identify strengths and weaknesses within the be2 IT function in addition to putting forward possible
recommendations and improvements for increased efficiency in business and technology.

Solution

Based on aicooma’s previous experience and with the help of tools developed by aicooma, the interview process
was quickly and successfully accomplished.
During the interview period it was necessary to adapt the goal of the project from the originally planned traditional
assessment to a performance-based assessment by identifying what was performing well and what needed some
correction within be2 IT operations. By understanding the immediate need to increase business value, a concrete
schedule for the next 6 months was developed, including the organizational framework and processes both to
secure day to day operations and to increase efficiency and business value by creating an IT organization with the
ability to fulfil future needs. Short-term goals included training for human resource gaps, demand management and
documentation to increase transparency. This assessment was based on aicooma’s experience and is part of
aicooma’s business philosophy of bringing the flexibility required by the customer to each project.
aisooma’s holistic working strategy between itself and IT co-management enabled fast-paced forward movement
within a changing and dynamic environment. This approach allows for the future broad and secure growth of the
business.

Advantages

· Compliance to time constraints with the housekeeping competence of aicooma and the IT Co-Manager
· Use of the aicooma network to participate in best practice results
· Conformance to all milestones within the agreed time line
· The ability to introduce additional ideas to the existing team from aicooma’s knowledge base

Benefits

· The input of external knowledge has allowed the IT operation to function at the speed needed from the
business
· Effective implementation of service support
· Embedding documented processes in the organisation ensuring effective knowledge transfer

“We initially approached aicooma on the back of two independent and highly enthusiastic
recommendations from well-respected members of our business network.
Following the initial analysis, a big driver for continuing with the larger project was the way aicooma had
demonstrated a clear grasp of our requirements and an ability to build immediate rapport with the team, all
within a short evaluation project to accurately identify issues.”
Dr Dave Sharrock, Director IT

Download Success Story: be2.pdf