Educational background Nicolai completed his Masters in chemical engineering and commerce (combined parallel post-graduate study MSc and MCom) with distinction 1997 at the Technical University of Berlin.
Subsequently he went on to study the French equivalent of an MBA with a specialisation in 'management of multinational groups' and 'international business strategies' at the French Graduate School of Business in Toulouse (Grande Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Toulouse). This school is one of the few in Europe that holds an accreditation and certification from all three internationally recognised MBA certification organisations.
Work/consulting experience He gained his first working experience during his studies as a freelancer in a medium size management consultancy focusing mainly on training and research. Post-qualification, he was hired by one of the leading international management consultancies as a consultant in their operations business unit in South Africa where he worked on a broad range of projects incl. business transformation focusing on business process reengineering and supply chain improvements.
After this, he joined a leading South African IT and CRM consultancy, where he was primarily responsible for business analysis and design as part of the System Development Life Cycle and the provision of consultancy services in the CRM and system development area. In several projects, he played the role as a Senior Lead Analyst and Engagement Manager.
In 2003, he founded his company 'Ignite Consulting', a business and IT consultancy with clients in the UK, Germany and South Africa.
Over the years, he has gained experience working with clients in a broad range of industries including: the financial services sector (incl. retail banking, life insurance, employee benefit), public services (tertiary education, revenue and customs government agencies), NGOs, multi-level marketing, and the chemicals/petro-chemicals industry.
He furthered his education and knowledge in the field of coaching and is currently building his coaching practice, which trades as 'Ignite Coaching', a division of the 'Ignite Group'. He is a certified Practitioner Coach with the SA College of Applied Psychology as well as a certified Applied Life Coach with the Foundation College and the Creative Consciousness International coaching academy.
In 2004, he started authoring a management book 'Tools for Projectmanagement, Workshops and Consulting' (
www.consulting-handbook.com) which was published in Germany in 2007. The english version was released globally in October 2008. This initiative forms part of the training, lecturing and education together with other related services offered by ‘Ignite Knowledge’.
In 2008 Nicolai began lecturing the content of his books at a MBA program for Management Consulting at a tertiary institution in Germany - focusing on management consulting, case study education and project management.
Mid 2008, a top international management consultancy signed up for their new hires and consultants to be trained in the use and application of the consulting toolbox. Those consultants now use
www.nicanto.com - the latest development by Nicolai - Nicanto the Consulting | Tools | Community - as their repository of consulting tools.
Nicolai lives in Cape Town, South Africa and works both locally and internationally. When not at work, he follows his passion for sports and outdoor activities. You might find him in the sea, lakes, mountains, ravines, forest or deserts around Cape Town.
Selected Accomplishments: • Redesigned and reengineered a key process for a major insurance company during his first engagement in South Africa. He also implemented the restructured headquarter administration processes with team responsibilities.
• Redesigned and reengineered 13 divisions of the finance department of a non-profit organisation in the public education sector (budget R600m) with team responsibilities.
• Supply Chain improvements. Analysis and Design of a SAP enabled purchasing and invoicing process, backed by a business case with projected benefits of @ 0.06 mio (MM and FM module). Preparation and facilitation of a Purchasing Strategy Workshop for a major Oil company in South Africa (Spend analysis, Supply Base Segmentation & development of Segment Strategy).
• Supply Chain improvements. Analysis, Development and implementation of a Demand Management Strategy (Sales & Ops plan, MPS/MRP processes, forecasting and equipment utilisation improvements) with team responsibilities as part of a Supply Chain piece for a major paint company. Projected benefits of € 0.1-0.2 mio.
• Development of a Product Strategy (Analysis and Design for development of Cost Model and Profit Analysis, Pricing Strategy (1200 SKUs), Product Positioning) and Channel Strategy (redesign Customer and Market Segmentation, Channels to Market) with team responsibilities for a major paint company. Projected benefits of € 0.6-0.9 mio.
• Business Architecture. Scoping exercise of an e-Communication project across all product divisions of a leading retail bank in South Africa. This involved analysis of communication and financial transaction channels and development of business architecture for “e” enabled communications.
• Business and System Analysis. Conducted requirements analysis for a campaign management project (CRM program of work) in leading retail bank in South Africa. This included process, technology and context model analysis as well as developing a future campaign process in conjunction with internal communication procedures.
• Business and System Analysis. Lead Analyst for the definition of a customer advice and statement initiative including the development of business systems requirements and business process design. Alignment to a CRM program of work.
• Business and System Analysis. Engagement Management for a detailed systems analysis and systems requirements specification initiative of a retail bank’s authentication system that manages customer access to virtual channels. (CRM program of work).
• Development of Program Management. Engagement Manager for an analysis initiative as well as the development of a ‘program of work’ structure for Customs South Africa (Revenue € 2,4 bn).
• Organisational Structure. Analysis and Design of a new organisational structure for the future Large Business Office Tax Assessment Centre of the South African Revenue Services. (Revenue € 8 bn).
• Customer Segmentation. Development of a Taxpayer segmentation structure for the future Large Business Office Tax Assessment Centre of the South African Revenue Services. (Revenue R 24 bn).
• Business and System Analysis. Senior Lead Analyst for a detailed analysis of business processes and systems and the feasibility study to integrate Customs with the future Large Business Office Tax Assessment Centre of the South African Revenue Services.
• Business Architecture. Engagement Manager for the scoping exercise of the Business Architecture project that investigated all current and relevant future Customs systems for a complete renewal of Customs South Africa.
• Design, development and implementation of an ‘internal consultancy’ for the European IT and services department of an international multilevel marketing company (top 3 worldwide). This included organisational design, roles and responsibilities definitions, SLA definitions, design and analysis of internal surveys, as well as the development of a new program approach for projects and adjustment to the SDLC project management and system development methodology. Furthermore project steering tools and a scorecard were developed and implemented for all five IT and services departments
• Business architecture and business analysis for the development of a communication strategy and the redesign and development of procedures, policies, roles and processes for a communication function for an international multilevel marketing company (top 3 worldwide).
• Training project to skill and coach IT business analysis and IT project managers of an international multilevel marketing company in the areas of ‘system development’, ‘business and systems analysis’ and ‘process design’.
• Feasibility study about the feasibility of using recycled PET material from overseas in the local production for a South African nylon and polyester manufacturer (top 2 in South Africa).
• Business analysis for the migration from a mainframe system to a leading retirement fund administration platform (compass) for a leading Employee Benefits company in South Africa. The focus was on business analysis, business requirements specification, UAT and operational support for the front-end application that would interface to approx. 5000 external client and provide monthly data interchange.
• Involvement in the design and implementation stages of a large scale transformation project for a leading South African financial services company and its IT division. The responsibilities included the organisational design of the IT development area (600 employees) and the preparation for the implementation of the new organisational structure, roles, responsibilities, job descriptions, recruitment and selection criteria, performance measures, key process and accountabilities as well as a business case and implementation plan for a reduced dependency on external contractors.
• Interim-Management role for a SME training company (coach training and personal development) – roles were Operational Management, HR, IT, MD. The focus shifted later on design, development and implementation of operational procedures, systems and structures in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the operational business.
• Business analysis and system design of a back-office database application system - to manage the selection of applicants and the administration process for students that receive a bursary - Bursary management/funding company - NGO division of a leading South Afican asset management company.
• Business analysis, functional specification and part system design for the web development of a leading major media company in South Africa. (confidential development under construction - hence no more information available at this stage)
