SYSMEX:
Communicating IT's measured journey from firefighting to trusted business partner
Client
Sysmex Europe
Industry
Healthcare Technology
Size
> 9,000 employees worldwide with around 2,500 employees in the EMEA region.
Defining a strategy is the start. Taking your people on the journey is what makes it real. We helped Sysmex EMEA's CIO bring her IT function and the wider organisation along on her measured vision, translating it into a clear narrative, a One IT visual identity, and the formats to keep everyone moving together.
The Challenge
When Sysmex EMEA's new CIO joined, her IT function was in firefighting mode. People were heroic problem-solvers, but the system around them was decentralised, fragmented, and exhausting. Her vision was clear, but deliberately measured: stabilise first, become a trusted service provider, and only then earn the right to be seen as a strategic partner. The temptation, as in any IT transformation, was to fast-forward to that destination with bold slogans and a confident new brand. The CIO refused. "Credibility beats ambition" was her principle, and she wanted communications to reflect that. The challenge for us: how do you give an IT function a voice, an identity, and platforms without overpromising, and while staying honest about where it is on its journey?
The Goal
To help the CIO communicate her IT transformation with clarity and credibility. This meant equipping her with sharper language for her strategy, turning her leadership team into confident communicators with the tools to speak with one voice, and creating moments where the function could rally around its direction. Above all, it meant building a customer-centric communications tone, the kind that earns trust with end users over time rather than demanding it through slogans.
The Solution
Build a One IT story and identity:
We ran a series of working sessions with the CIO to translate her strategic vision into clear, honest language that resonated with her IT staff and selected business stakeholders. We wrapped that narrative in a distinctive visual style under the "One IT" banner, giving the function an identifiable brand and signalling its new direction without overstating where it had already arrived.
Equip the leadership team:
We provided the IT leadership team with editorial support, an editorial calendar, templates, and slide narratives so they could speak with one voice, communicate the strategy with conviction, and keep it alive in their day-to-day work. We also helped them build a more customer-centric tone, writing emails and messages in language end users could actually understand, with the empathy that earns trust over time.
Give IT its own stage:
We co-created a dedicated IT event with the CIO, shaping its format and its narrative so she and her leadership team could bring the vision directly to their teams. It turned strategy from a memo into a moment, replaced scattered updates with a shared rhythm of communication, and helped get the noise down across the function.
The Result
Our work helped Sysmex EMEA's IT function communicate its journey with credibility:
A clear and consistent strategy narrative the CIO and her team could tell with confidence
A unified One IT visual identity signalling the function's direction without overpromising the destination
IT leaders equipped to communicate independently, with editorial calendar, templates, and ready-to-use materials at their fingertips
A regular IT event giving the CIO a direct platform to her team and the function a shared rallying moment
A more empathetic, customer-centric tone in IT communications, noticed and welcomed by colleagues across the organisation
A shift in the conversations the CIO is now having, from operational escalations to strategic discussions about priorities, budgets, and what's next
Step by step, conversation by conversation, Sysmex EMEA's IT function is earning its place at the strategy table.