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In-houseSep 2020 — May 2023 · 2 yrs 9 mos

Lead Solution Architect

Ricoh Europe

Senior member of Ricoh Europe's architecture team, leading the technology evaluation and integration architecture for a multiyear $500M Oracle Cloud transformation — and Lead Architect across HR, finance and customer-facing modernisation running alongside it.

Oracle Cloud transformation
$500M
Oracle Cloud transformation
Fewer support-desk emails and calls, via an AI chatbot
27%
Fewer support-desk emails and calls, via an AI chatbot
Workstreams led in parallel
6
Workstreams led in parallel
HR platforms modernised
5
HR platforms modernised

Context

Ricoh Europe was moving core business platforms to Oracle Cloud as part of a multiyear, $500M transformation. Around it, HR, finance and customer-facing systems all needed modernising — largely in parallel.

My brief was to drive the technology evaluation for Oracle Cloud adoption and to be a trusted adviser to the business on data and integration: showing how the right platforms and patterns would solve their challenges.

Role & scope

Role
Lead Solution Architect, senior member of the architecture team
Reporting to
Head of Enterprise Architecture
Programme
Multiyear $500M Oracle Cloud transformation: technology evaluation, migration and integration
Partners
Amelia professional services, for the customer-portal chatbot
Workstreams
HR modernisation, Concur and invoice management, an AI chatbot for customer portals, and enterprise API management — in parallel
Platforms
SaaS, workflow, HR and shared business platforms
Data & integration
Integration patterns for downstream systems; data quality management process
Commercial
Statement-of-work process for an enterprise-wide API management gateway

Key achievements

Oracle Cloud evaluation and integration

Challenge
The business needed confidence in Oracle Cloud before committing to a multiyear migration.
Approach
Drove the technology evaluation for Oracle Cloud adoption, and owned the overall cloud migration and integration architecture.
Outcome
A target architecture and implementation roadmap across SaaS, workflow, HR and shared business platforms.

HR platform modernisation

Challenge
HR ran across a mix of platforms: iPeople, SAP SuccessFactors, Axon Ivy, TalentLink and ServiceNow.
Approach
Led the architecture for modernising the HR estate across all five platforms.
Outcome
More consistent HR platforms with greater operational maturity.

Conversational AI for customer portals

Challenge
The support desk was carrying a heavy load of routine customer queries by email and phone.
Approach
Lead Architect for implementing the Amelia AI chatbot on the customer-facing portals, in partnership with Amelia's professional services team — integrated through APIs so it understood each customer: their recent orders and their status.
Outcome
27% fewer emails and calls to the support desk.

Expense and invoice management

Challenge
Expenses and invoices flowed through separate systems.
Approach
Lead Architect for Concur and invoice management, integrating Concur, DocuWare and TrustWeaver.

Enterprise API management and data quality

Challenge
Integration across the enterprise needed consistency, control and trusted data.
Approach
Managed the statement-of-work process for an enterprise-wide API management gateway; defined integration patterns for downstream systems and designed the data quality management process.
Outcome
Integration and data quality guardrails that improved reliability and supportability.

Highlights

  • Drove the Oracle Cloud technology evaluation and owned cloud migration and integration for a multiyear $500M transformation.
  • Lead Architect for an Amelia AI chatbot on customer portals, integrated via APIs with customers' orders and their status — cutting support-desk emails and calls by 27%.
  • Lead Architect for HR modernisation across iPeople, SAP SuccessFactors, Axon Ivy, TalentLink and ServiceNow.
  • Lead Architect for Concur and invoice management, integrating Concur, DocuWare and TrustWeaver.
  • Managed the statement-of-work process for an enterprise-wide API management gateway.
  • Defined integration patterns, data-quality processes and delivery guardrails to improve reliability and supportability.

How I led

Leading without authority

The situation
With no direct line management, delivery depended on external partners — and on internal teams with their own priorities. Partners regularly hit deadlocks they couldn't resolve on their own.
What I did
I gave partners clarity on what was needed and why, then cleared the path: working with Ricoh's infrastructure team and the subject-matter experts for the HR systems and an in-house application in Ricoh's data centre to resolve each blocker.
What changed
Deadlocks were removed and delivery kept moving — without needing formal authority to make it happen.
  • Lead through clarity, not authority: make what's needed — and why — unmistakable.
  • Be the bridge: connect partners with the internal experts who can unblock them.
  • Treat partners as part of the team, not as suppliers to be managed.

Lessons

Influence is earned by removing other people's blockers. Make their work easier, and authority stops mattering.

Most deadlocks between partners and internal teams come from missing context, not missing will.

Technology & domain

  • Oracle Cloud
  • SAP SuccessFactors
  • ServiceNow
  • Axon Ivy
  • TalentLink
  • iPeople
  • Amelia (conversational AI)
  • SAP Concur
  • DocuWare
  • TrustWeaver
  • API management
  • Data quality management

Contact

Let's talk.

I'm based in London, UK. Whether it's a leadership role, an advisory engagement or a transformation that needs shaping — my inbox is open.

srini.vankee@gmail.com
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