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Recently, you both stepped into new roles. Tell us more about your areas of responsibility and how they’re interconnected.  

Orlando Wolf: In our respective roles, we cover the full spectrum of IT across the organization. This includes maintaining the on-site IT infrastructure for headquarters and all subsidiaries, while continuously strengthening cybersecurity across the Group. There is significant overlap between our areas, particularly when it comes to infrastructure, user management, and security. These domains are tightly interlinked and require close coordination to ensure stability and protection across all systems. 

Bernard Pletikosa: Our shared goal is to establish a unified, secure and cost‑efficient cloud platform. More and more of what we manage is moving into the cloud, and this trend will continue as we move forward. With the introduction of Dynamics 365, a substantial portion of our IT landscape is now cloud-based. Ultimately, IT keeps the company productive, secure, and operational, while cloud services provide a platform that powers our collaboration, SaaS offerings, and future expansion. 

Our organization has evolved to combine IT, R&D, and digital product teams under one roof. Are you already seeing advantages? 

O.W.: Yes, definitely. The touchpoints have always been there. Now, we can collaborate even more closely and share expertise across various domains. Our IoT solutions involve a lot of connected devices, and that’s where hardware and network knowledge is helpful. At the same time, we can learn a lot about cloud applications from the other teams.  

Coming back to the implementation of our Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform, which you were both deeply involved in. What were the biggest challenges and successes from your perspective? 

O.W.: This implementation was one of the most complex and demanding projects we’ve undertaken. A major part of the preparation involved upgrading network infrastructure across all subsidiaries, including LAN, WAN, WLAN, and hardware environments, in order to create a consistent foundation. One of the biggest challenges was mapping highly customized legacy processes into a largely standardized platform and – even more so – aligning global teams to follow new, harmonized processes, many of which originated in Switzerland. Despite the challenges, the system is live and we are fully operational.  

B.P.: For me, this was probably the most challenging project of my career. Data migration and system integrations proved more complex than expected. In some cases, limited documentation and reliance on single experts slowed our progress. However, as Orlando said, we are alive and kicking. We have worked hard and collectively made this transition happen. As soon as we resolve some remaining bugs, we will start seeing a major advantage of improved data quality and transparency. This will help us to further optimize our processes and enable data-driven decision-making across the organization. 

Which topics are top of mind for you right now? Which large projects are you implementing next? 

O.W.: The priorities we’ll be focusing on include the introduction of an Information Security Policy and working toward ISO 27001 certification. We will also continue migrating into the cloud while optimizing the systems already in use. 

B.P.: Yes, optimizing and reducing licenses and overall cloud costs are a top priority, since these expenses grow quickly and require continuous monitoring to ensure we operate efficiently and sustainably. The scaling of our IoT platform Elevate and integrating it with Dynamics for subscription billing purposes will be a big topic, just like the adoption of AI tools. 

You have both mentioned migration into the cloud several times. How are we using cloud infrastructure today, and what are the benefits of a cloud-first approach?

B.P.: Cloud services are already a core part of how we operate today. We rely on cloud infrastructure to run Microsoft SaaS products, such as D365, support our Elevate platform, and provide a modern, scalable foundation for internal applications built on technologies like Power BI and Fabric. This allows us to do things better and faster while reducing operational overhead of maintaining on-prem systems. 

At the same time, the cloud is not a silver bullet. It cannot solve every problem, and costs can grow quickly if not managed carefully. Automatic scaling, for example, can be both a powerful tool and a huge cost. As we continue expanding our hybrid environment, cloud services complement and extend our existing infrastructure, enabling us to grow as a company, collaborate more effectively, and innovate faster. 

Although we have to give up some decision power to Microsoft, such as the timeline for fixing certain bugs, what we get in return outweighs this disadvantage. More flexibility, better security, regular improvements and built-in integrations – all of this frees up resources we’d need for maintenance and development of a purely on-prem system and allows us to focus more on improvements that matter to our customers.  

O.W.: These are all valid points. I would just add that the greatest benefit I see lies in easier collaboration, whether internally between our global teams or with external partners. Cloud-based solutions are often less complex to integrate with dynamics 365 or other cloud-based solutions. 

What steps are we taking to keep all the data secure? 

O.W.: We are very strong from a technical perspective. We implement multi-factor authentication across critical systems, use encryption for data in transit, and secure applications through controlled identity and access management. Our infrastructure is continuously monitored using specialized tools to detect and quickly respond to anomalies. At the same time, we are strengthening our organizational framework, with ISO 27001 certification as a key goal. This ensures that security is also systematically embedded into processes and governance.  

B.P.: That said, human error remains the biggest risk, particularly in areas like phishing. This makes ongoing awareness and training essential, regardless of how advanced our technical controls are. 

Why is the ISO 27001 certification becoming so relevant now? 

O.W.: It boils down to finding the gaps, filling those gaps, and ensuring that the employees follow the established processes. Especially the last part is important – it's not enough to have the processes written down somewhere in an old cabinet. If people don‘t live them, the whole exercise is pointless. If done right, it will be very beneficial for the company as it will enable us to improve continuously. Last but not least, it serves as proof to our customers that we take data security seriously.  

B.P.: We went through this certification in my previous company. The documentation effort was tremendous, but it allowed us to really spot the areas where we were not doing a great job. As Orlando mentioned, it will also be helpful in retaining customers and possibly winning new ones. 

Besides cybersecurity, everyone’s talking about AI adoption. What’s the plan for CEDES? 

O.W.: AI is clearly here to stay and will continue to grow in importance. At the same time, it needs to be used responsibly, with a clear understanding of its limitations. Human common sense is key. 

B.P.: True, AI keeps getting better, but it’s not perfect. It still makes mistakes, and human oversight remains essential. We need to leverage it wherever it can deliver real business value. Some seemingly straightforward tasks proved too slow and too expensive to automate. Sales order intake is a very good example here – since the data comes from different external systems, in all sorts of formats and with various designations, it would take too long to train AI to process it correctly, and errors would have serious consequences for our customers.  The fact that Microsoft hasn’t yet integrated AI into D365 already says a lot. 

On the other hand, there are many cases where AI saves us hours of manual work, for instance when it comes to code reviews or detecting security incidents. Also, it’s become easy to experiment, validate ideas and build small tools that make our work easier. As an example, I could build an app for managing D365 licenses in a couple of hours, which would otherwise take me 3 to 5 days.  

O.W.: Exactly, we are seeing positive results for some specific applications, where the underlying process is clear from A to Z, or when it comes to searching for information in defined data sources like product manuals. Looking ahead, we want to go beyond simple prompting toward agents that would become virtual assistants for different functions and part of automated processes. However, we must ensure that data protection and security remain a top priority, especially as AI technologies can also be exploited by attackers. Our goal is therefore clear: adopt AI strategically and responsibly, maximizing its benefits while carefully managing risks. 

Orlando, you’ve been with CEDES for almost ten years now. What’s the most impactful change you’ve seen during this time? 

O.W.: It’s crazy to think that I’ve worked for CEDES for almost a third of my life. During this time, there have been many major changes, including a management buyout, several acquisitions, new subsidiaries, and major network overhauls. However, the most impactful change was definitely the transition to Dynamics, since it was extremely demanding and involved the entire company. At the same time, it laid the foundation for a more integrated and scalable organization. 

Bernard, you’ve worked in software engineering across various companies and projects. What’s different about how things are done at CEDES? 

B.P.: A defining aspect of CEDES is the strong cross-functional alignment. We operate across the full technology stack, from hardware and embedded systems to cloud platforms and data-driven services. This end-to-end ownership is quite unique. It increases complexity but also makes the work more tangible. We are not just building software – we are contributing to physical, safety-related systems where reliability and security are critical. In my current role, I find it engaging to shape how cloud services evolve from a supporting function into a core part of the product offering, especially as SaaS is becoming more central to our business. 

Thank you both for your insights!