Situational Awareness.
IT must fit the business, not the business the IT.
SACOSI stands for Situational Awareness Consulting by Ivo Schönberner. I first capture the situation of the company, then bring in the IT processes that carry it, and hand over with documentation.
employees, Discover Airlines
to independent IT for FraAlliance
IT am Main, certified since January 2025
Engagements in Switzerland and Germany
01 Your role
From ten employees, IT is no longer a laptop. I am …
Every role feels the situation differently. Choose yours.
I am CEO
Does IT carry our growth plan, and what does it do to the value of the company?
- A situation picture on one page: which IT supports which goal.
- Decision papers instead of technical reports.
- Growth without IT surprises.
- FilmEveryone wants something different1:09
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 02: Everyone wants something differentIn preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 01In preparation
I am CFO
What does IT really cost, who approved it, and does the model fit our financing?
- Every IT item with business purpose, owner and form of financing.
- Approvals in the decision log.
- CAPEX and OPEX chosen deliberately.
- FilmEveryone wants something different1:09
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 04: CAPEX or OPEX before the exitIn preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 02In preparation
I am an investor or family office
Which IT risks am I buying, and what does it cost to fix them?
- IT due diligence before the investment, situation picture afterwards.
- Measures by value impact and effort.
- Come in, resolve, hand over with documentation.
- FilmThe investor asks about ITIn production
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 03: What an investor wants to know about ITIn preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 03In preparation
I lead IT
How do I keep operations stable while everyone wants something new at the same time?
- Priorities that executive management backs.
- A target architecture that carries the planned growth.
- Separate environments from the start.
- FilmEveryone wants something different1:09
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 11: Separate environments from the startIn preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 04In preparation
I am responsible for quality and compliance
Which standard applies to us, and where is the evidence that we meet it?
- A list of obligations by industry, market and activity.
- A roadmap by risk and business impact.
- Evidence versioned and approved.
- FilmThe audit is comingIn production
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 05: Conformant or certified?In preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 05In preparation
I am founding or leading a scale-up
From when is IT more than handing out laptops for us?
- IT processes that grow with the company, without legacy baggage.
- Knowing early which regulations are coming.
- Technical leadership for a defined period.
- FilmFrom ten people, IT is no longer a laptopIn production
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 01: From ten people, IT is no longer a laptopIn preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 06In preparation
I am facing a succession, handover or takeover
What does a successor or buyer really take on if they cannot see the IT?
- IT situation picture before the handover.
- Technical due diligence as a complement to the financial one.
- Key-person dependency map.
- FilmThe buyer asks who knows the passwordIn production
- PodcastSituation Picture, Episode 06: Who knows the password?In preparation
- DownloadSituation Briefing 07In preparation
02 The situation
The situation includes far more than IT.
Six dimensions form the situation picture. IT is measured against them, not the other way round.
- L1Company goals
- L2Leadership vision
- L3Core processes
- L4Financial position
- L5Stakeholders and investors
- L6Obligations and risks
03 The method
Situation first. Then IT.
- 01
Capture the situation
What is really happening in the business?
- 02
Understand the situation
Where does IT help the goals, and where does it stand in the way?
- 03
Think the situation ahead
Which IT will carry the business in twelve to 36 months?
- 04
Lead and hand over
Who carries it when I leave?
04 The yardstick
IT is good when it meets the goals of management and investors. Technical elegance alone is not enough.
In detail IT first or business first?
Both paths lead to working IT. Only one leads to IT that meets the goals of the company and its investors.
| Question | IT first | Situational Awareness |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Which system do we need? | What do management and investors want to achieve in 24 months? |
| Yardstick | technical best practice | Goals of the company, leadership and stakeholders |
| Budget | negotiated afterwards | Part of the situation: liquidity and financing stage determine the architecture |
| Who determines the process? | The tool and its standard processes | The core processes; the technology adapts |
| Decisions | implicit, in heads and chats | in the decision log, traceable |
| Regulation | added afterwards | built in from the start |
| End of the engagement | Dependency on the advisor | documented handover to the internal team |
05 Services
Strategy at executive level. Without an apparatus.
I come in, resolve the situation and hand over with documentation.
06 Industries
Where an IT outage immediately hits the business.
07 Evidence
From zero to 2’200. And then let go.
IT am Main was never the classic service provider working through tickets, but a real sparring partner […].
08 Formats
Watch, listen, take away.
The full version of this page: Full text as Markdown
FAQ Answers
Answered briefly.
Who is Ivo Schönberner?
Ivo Schönberner is an IT entrepreneur and advisor based in Zürich and Frankfurt am Main and managing director of IT am Main GmbH. Under the SACOSI brand, he advises executive management, investors and family offices in Switzerland and Germany on IT, risks and regulation, with a focus on start-ups, scale-ups and ventures. His advisory product is called Situational Awareness: IT derived from the situation of the business.
What is SACOSI?
SACOSI stands for Situational Awareness Consulting by Ivo Schönberner. Under this name, Ivo Schönberner offers his advisory product Situational Awareness from Zürich: IT derived from a company’s goals, core processes, finances and stakeholder interests. He works as fractional CTO, IT architect, project lead or sparring partner.
Why is IT a topic for executive management from ten employees?
Because IT then no longer means handing out laptops. It is about customer data and data protection, about the security requirements of customers and investors, about regulations in every market in which the company operates, and about costs that have to fit the financial strategy. These questions decide growth and company value.
What does SACOSI do for investors and family offices?
SACOSI prepares IT situation pictures and IT due diligence reviews for holdings and, where needed, takes on technical leadership for a defined period. The principle: come in, resolve the situation, hand over with documentation.
What does Situational Awareness mean in IT?
Situational Awareness means awareness of the situation. The term comes from aviation and, following Mica Endsley, describes three levels: perceiving the situation, understanding it and projecting how it will develop. In IT this means: first the whole situation of the company is captured, that is goals, leadership vision, core processes, financial situation and the interests of investors and stakeholders. Then IT is built so that it meets exactly these goals.
Which companies does Ivo Schönberner work for?
For the executive management of start-ups, scale-ups and ventures that notice, from around ten employees, that IT is becoming a leadership question. For investors and family offices whose holdings have IT questions. And for companies in industries with high criticality: energy, manufacturing, MedTech and aviation. He supports corporate groups and joint ventures as programme lead.
Does Ivo Schönberner work in Switzerland and Germany?
Yes. He works from Zürich and Frankfurt am Main and takes on engagements in both countries, on site and remotely, in German and English.
How does a collaboration begin?
With a 30-minute conversation without a presentation. You describe the situation, Ivo Schönberner asks questions. Afterwards both sides know whether a situation picture makes sense and which engagement model fits.
How does Situational Awareness differ from conventional IT consulting?
Conventional IT consulting often starts with the technology and adapts the business to the system. Situational Awareness starts with the company: the goals of management, the expectations of investors, core processes and the financial position determine the architecture. The end result is not a slide recommendation but running IT that an internal team can take over.
What is your situation?
Thirty minutes, no presentation.
