Markus Grüll - Master Candidate

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Experience

May 2023 - Present

2 years 9 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Master Candidate

Universidad de Málaga

Final preparation for the defense to graduate with a Master's in Computer Science for the PhD

Jul 2021 - Sep 2023

2 years 3 months

Frankfurt, Germany

IT service and provider manager

Financial industry

Conversion of a full outsourcing contract into a new service and pricing model, including contract negotiations and optimization for cost transparency and reduction, as well as adjustments according to the new 6th MaRisk, ESMA, EBA, BAIT, etc.
Communication with all project-related stakeholders
Establishment of an SLA service management to control the cloud provider as part of a migration project in a hybrid architecture environment (Mainframe, Unix, Java, Oracle, Kafka, Kubernetes)

Jan 2020 - Jun 2021

1 year 6 months

Frankfurt, Germany

Remote

Consultant

Financial industry

Remote support services for existing customers in IT procurement and outsourcing
Analysis, review, and design of new and existing IT contracts according to 6th MaRisk, ESMA, (V) BAIT, GDPR, KAIT, etc.
Risk analysis of the standard catalog and derivation of corresponding change recommendations
Consulting to optimize cost transparency and reduction, and to adjust existing IT and non-IT contracts

Aug 2018 - Aug 2019

1 year 1 month

Düsseldorf, Germany

Strategic buyer

Insurance group

Analysis and management (as business partner & quality gate) of global internal customer requirements under the digitalization strategy for the software and services (non-IT) category and its further development
Successful implementation of savings initiatives by designing strategic and tactical procurement processes in a hybrid mainframe and cloud environment for services
Independent negotiation and contract conclusion, considering regulatory requirements (VAIT, BAIT, KAIT, KWG) for SaaS, cloud, standard and custom software, and services
Sub-project lead for requirements definition, tendering, selection, award, implementation, and successful go-live of a selfie identification solution for online identification

May 2017 - May 2018

1 year 1 month

Bern, Switzerland

Consultant

ICT service provider of the Swiss Confederation

Identification of savings potentials and design of the implementation of the new framework for the planned business case to convert freelancer and service contracts into managed service contracts (flagship project, INMA compliant)
Cost reduction at the same service level through successful conclusion of managed service contracts according to the new service and pricing model
Establishment of the new service model and processes in the departments and procurement

Jan 2017 - Apr 2017

4 months

Gernsheim, Germany

Family Affairs

Private

After a death, handling family and business formalities

Mar 2016 - Dec 2016

10 months

Düsseldorf, Germany

Consultant

Financial Institution

Led the procurement workstream to design and evaluate the re-tendering of the IT outsourcing contract for the overall project
Reviewed and optimized the existing full-service outsourcing contract in terms of contract structure, pricing model, SLAs, and regulatory requirements (BAIT, MaRisk, etc.)
Took over procurement-side line tasks for change requests of the existing IT outsourcing contract

May 2015 - Feb 2016

10 months

Bonn, Germany

Strategic Buyer

Retail Bank

Supported procurement side of the carve-out of a bank from a financial group and advised project leadership on setting up and planning the project
Stakeholder management internally and with the group parent
Reviewed software and service contracts for separation relevance, cost-effectiveness, and BaFin/ESMA/EBA compliance, and conducted necessary contract renegotiations

Mar 2013 - Mar 2015

2 years 1 month

Munich, Germany

Senior Consultant

ICT service provider of the public-law financial group

Managed the transfer of IT contracts (volume 80 MEUR p.a.) and the procurement processes as well as license management from a Landesbank to the ICT service provider within an IT outsourcing framework
Responsible for contract reviews and renegotiations to meet deadlines, cost-efficiency, and regulatory requirements for a banking service provider
Subproject lead to capture procurement synergies of the IT outsourcing: planning, control, reporting, and achieving the expected synergies on schedule
Achieved cost reductions > 25% through successful execution of individual measures in complex software/hardware/service tenders in mainframe, Unix, and MS server environments
Designed and established methods to professionalize procurement: category management, cost structure analysis, reporting, spend cube, value contribution, demand management, supplier management, cost management, and risk analysis

Oct 2012 - Feb 2013

5 months

Zürich, Switzerland

Senior Consultant

Private Bank

Planned and executed procurement activities for integration into the Germany branch after acquiring the international wealth management division of a US bank
Delivered value contribution to cost improvement through targeted renegotiations and conclusion of ICT outsourcing and IT service contracts, considering German regulatory requirements
Defined and implemented roles and control processes according to ITIL and supplier management for ICT service providers as well as in relation to the group parent in Switzerland

Mar 2012 - Sep 2012

7 months

Darmstadt, Germany

Strategic Buyer

ICT Service Provider

Responsible for procurement processes (> 20 MEUR) in the IT services category for subcontracts in middle and major bids for ICT services
Purchasing interface between bid teams and providers for supplier evaluation, service and requirements definition, and cost and billing models
Sole responsibility for negotiation and contract conclusion of service agreements

Jun 2011 - Feb 2012

9 months

Zürich, Switzerland

Strategic Buyer

Private Bank

Achieved cost savings through successful price and contract negotiations for cost improvement and cost avoidance in IT hardware, software licenses, maintenance and services in accordance with public Swiss procurement law (EU-compliant)
Subproject lead for designing and evaluating make-or-buy decisions, running, negotiating and finalizing complex software and service tenders (Swiss withholding tax for D+UK, international VoIP)
Advised procurement management on optimizing strategic procurement processes (demand management, cost structure analysis, reporting)

Jan 2011 - May 2011

5 months

Hanover, Germany

Senior Consultant

Energy Supplier

Led an initiative to optimize interfaces between vendor management, IT and procurement
Process analysis, definition, structuring and implementation of processes between IT, procurement and the business

Aug 2010 - Dec 2010

5 months

Hamburg, Germany

Bid Manager Solution Management

ICT Service Provider

Procurement representative in an interdisciplinary team for a proposal on application outsourcing (BPO) for a bank, clarifying technical customer requirements and needs
Designed a standard IT service solution
Ensured the proposal cost calculation together with the finance department
Presented the solution to clients together with the account manager

Dec 2009 - Jul 2010

8 months

Munich, Germany

Strategic Buyer

Semiconductor Industry

Achieved sustainable cost reductions after a carve-out by renegotiating contracts and terms across all relevant IT and non-IT categories
Acted as liaison and implemented new control processes and supplier management between procurement, business units and vendors
Led international offshore IT outsourcing projects with the Singapore branch from request for proposal to contract award

Sep 2008 - Nov 2009

1 year 3 months

Kharkiv, Ukraine

Technology and Information Officer

Sicherheitstechnik

Advising the CEO on IT strategy, IT architecture, data center infrastructure, and ITIL processes
Planning, coordinating, and controlling the decentralized IT project portfolio
Budget responsibility for projects totaling around 3.5 million USD

Summary

Extensive professional expertise (> 20 years) in strategic and tactical IT procurement as well as (business process) outsourcing. IT infrastructure, applications, securities processing, HR, payment transactions, desktop service, facility management, indirect procurement, consulting and services at various levels of production depth along the value chain
Practical knowledge and ability to successfully carry out procurement processes according to the full sourcing process across the relevant IT categories
Know-how of common license metrics for standard software like SAP, S4/HANA, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and modern methods and services like SaaS, cloud, agile software development, etc.
Expert knowledge in designing requirement specifications, requirement sheets, RFIs, RFPs, framework agreements, service specifications, work and service contracts, and award decisions.
Evaluation of make-or-buy decisions and business analysis
Extensive knowledge of service management and governance as well as banking regulations to implement control tools, risk analyses for provider management, and develop sourcing strategies
Project management and methodology for successful leadership, planning and control of complex IT projects and IT tenders
Strong negotiation skills and contract law expertise for contract reviews, drafting and successful negotiations of IT contracts, contract management, as well as knowledge to include regulatory requirements like MaRisk, (V) BAIT, KWG, KAIT, EBA/ESMA, data protection, security, and their operationalization
Line management: over 7 years of leadership responsibility in IT procurement and provider management
Confident demeanor and very good communication skills
Solution and results oriented - team player - hands-on mentality - strong customer focus