“Abraxio’s main benefit is 360° CIO management.”

• Hassan Qamar (Digital Director, Crous d’Orléans):

I discovered Abraxio when I was head of department in the CIO at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin. When I arrived at Crous d’Orléans, I knew that to successfully steer a CIO, you need a tool that covers all the dimensions of management. I naturally chose Abraxio, as I was aware of its ability to meet these needs.

• Guillaume Rehm (Information Systems Director, Crous de Strasbourg):

I arrived as the new CIO at Crous de Strasbourg in the summer of 2024. I needed a tool to steer the CIO, particularly in terms of reporting, organization and projects portfolio. In my previous position, we used an internal tool, so I could see the benefit of a dedicated solution. Compared to other solutions on the market, which are certainly very complete but too complex and costly, Abraxio seemed to me to be the right compromise. I’m still in the discovery phase, I haven’t got my whole team on board yet, but I can already see that it facilitates the circulation of information.

• Hassan Qamar:

The two most important aspects for us are Projects portfolio and Budgets.
Firstly, the project portfolio: Abraxio makes life easier for us in the complete loop of Projects management, from scoping to communication. It enables us to describe all our Projects, track their progress in a highly automated way, assess the workload of our Teams, and easily produce reports and summaries for management. This is a real time-saver for Projects reviews, and reinforces dialogue.
The budget module is also essential, as every project has a financial aspect that needs to be mastered, even if the project is multi-year. On these two modules, Abraxio is really solid.

• Guillaume Rehm:

For me too, the main challenge was to have a tool that would structure Projects and Reporting, and promote calm and effective communication within the team. When I arrived, I noticed that there were difficulties in communicating and defining the organization, tasks, Projects and Budgets. Abraxio is designed to make all this easier and more fluid, by strengthening cross-functionality. It’s a win-win situation.

• Guillaume Rehm:

Even if they know it’s strategic, senior management don’t necessarily want to attend all IT Project reviews. Having automated flash reporting at their disposal, which they can access quickly and independently, means they don’t have to project themselves into a tool they don’t know, and we don’t have to consolidate adhoc presentations. This avoids a big bang in their practices, while enabling regular tracking of activity.

• Hassan Qamar:

It’s true that the flash report, which displays a quick weather forecast and project risks in particular, is very practical. Before, we used to track everything using Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint, but as the number of Projects increases, we need to be able to centralize information and communication between departments, and formalize project reviews. Abraxio facilitates communication with management and streamlines our exchanges. My GM really appreciates the clarity of the reports .

• Hassan Qamar:

In universities, and even in the public sector in general, we really need to demonstrate the workload of our Teams to justify our ability to take on new Projects. It’s infuriating to hear from management, who have no real visibility, but who are constantly pushing us to meet new demands, “you’re not at 100%“, or “the PCs don’t break down every day“, even though the Teams are over-staffed. Time recording in Abraxio will enable us to prove that we can’t take on certain Projects for lack of capacity. At least not without giving up others.

• Guillaume Rehm:

It’s also a request from our general management: to assess our capacity to absorb new Projects. And it’s also very useful for internal management within the CIO, in particular to steer the right balance between run and build. If tomorrow I find that we’re spending 80% of our time on run, we’ll have to question our organization: are we under-staffed? Can we automate, reduce or do things differently? It’s a real help to IT department steering itself.

• Guillaume Rehm:

In our company, no one yet seizes the time. I’ve done this elsewhere, particularly in the private sector, and it’s essential for a realistic view of Projects. We sometimes estimate that a project will take 130 man-days, but in the end it takes 430… It’s all very well to manage capacity at portfolio level, but without real measurement, it’s impossible to steer projects reliably and monitor execution, or to anticipate hidden costs. This is important for us, but even more so for our senior management, who rightly expect this consolidation.

• Hassan Qamar:

There’s always some apprehension about taking your time: the fear of being tracked down, of feeling hounded. I reassure my Teams by explaining that, on the contrary, it’s a way of saying “no” to management in a factual way , by showing our objective limits. By arguing “I don’t have the time“. And above all, it enhances the value of their work.

• Guillaume Rehm:

Exactly. That’s our role as managers: to add value to the activity of our Teams. Without data, we can’t do it But at some point, you need reporting with objective proof: that’s the whole point of workload and capacity planning.

• Hassan Qamar:

Formalization, synthesis, efficiency.

• Guillaume Rehm:

Comprehensive, affordable, cross-disciplinary.

• Guillaume Rehm:

For us, Abraxio is in a one-year test phase within the CIO. At the end, we’ll take stock and see if we can extend it to other departments. Ideally, we’d like to have a common tool for all the different departments.

• Hassan Qamar:

The big benefit of Abraxio is 360° CIO management. Abraxio was designed by real CIOs, people who have been in the field, who know what a CIO really is and what he or she needs. Today, the tool is already saving me a lot of time in my role as manager. I hope that in the future, integrations with public sector financial tools will enable me to go even further in budget tracking, but as things stand, the service provided is real.