Interview with Björn Griese, Senior Solution Sales Manager Managed Services at CANCOM
In an increasingly digitalized world, a high-performance IT infrastructure plays a crucial role in the success of companies. Toshiba Tec Germany Imaging Systems GmbH was faced with the challenge of separating its entire IT environment from a shared service center of the Toshiba parent company via a carve-out, while at the same time meeting the highest requirements for stability, security, and flexibility. In this interview, our colleague Björn talks about the implementation of the project, the special customer relationship with Toshiba Tec, his role in it, and his personal ‘CANCOM moment’.
20. March 2025
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Reading time: 7 min.
CANCOM Slovakia: You have been with CANCOM for over 13 years. How has your career progressed, and what do you do at CANCOM?
Björn: I entered the IT world quite early on, with a job in a computer store while I was still at school. Before I came to CANCOM, I was able to gain a lot of experience in various positions and companies. I started at CANCOM in August 2011, when the Managed Services division was still being set up, and I was one of the first salespeople for such projects. I was able to acquire many well-known customers, most of whom are still our regular customers. As a Solution Sales Manager, I am primarily responsible for customer acquisition and the development of suitable IT solutions for managed services. In the initial phase, I am the central point of contact and accompany the entire offer process – from calculation to technical advice and coordination with the various departments.
CANCOM Slovakia: You were significantly involved in projects with Toshiba Tec. Can you tell us more about them?
Björn: Toshiba Tec Germany Imaging Systems GmbH (TGIS) is part of the global Toshiba Tec Corporation. Its product portfolio includes multifunctional systems and printers, label printers and software solutions for document management, process automation and individual programming. Toshiba Tec has been one of our customers for almost ten years and we have implemented a large number of projects for the company.
The largest of these include the creation of a modern network infrastructure via a network-as-a-service solution that covers all 15 company locations in Germany, Belgium and Spain, in addition to the development of a Europe-wide SD-WAN network. We provide all LAN and WLAN components and take over the configuration and operation of these components. This provided the basis for what was actually the largest project: the IT carve-out of Toshiba Tec’s entire IT environment from the previous IT service provider.
CANCOM Slovakia: What are the advantages for Toshiba Tec of outsourcing its IT?
Björn: The biggest advantage is the relief for their internal IT team. Since all IT was previously operated by the shared service center, the company’s own IT department was very thinly staffed. In addition to flexibility, it was important to the customer to have a secure and high-performance workplace environment. As CANCOM, we take care of all aspects, from the network port or access point to the data center. We also provide the customer with fully managed end devices. Our CANCOM AHP, a digital workplace that enables flexible working regardless of location, time and device, can be used to work securely in our data center. During the coronavirus pandemic, this new way of working was put to the test for the first time and had to map all workstations virtually overnight. With our scalable solutions from our data center, this was achieved in the shortest possible time.
The customer greatly appreciates this advantage and benefits from financial flexibility: Toshiba Tec only pays for the services it actually uses, instead of incurring high investment costs. What’s more, the solution is scalable, which means that we can quickly and cost-effectively expand both the data center services and the network infrastructure as needed.
CANCOM Slovakia: Were there any particular challenges during implementation?
Björn: One of the biggest challenges was the decoupling of Toshiba Tec’s IT infrastructure from the previous IT service provider. The process was complex and involved technical and organizational hurdles, especially because the IT service provider did not actively support the migration. This made coordination and implementation more difficult. We had to find a solution that was both financially and operationally efficient. The central component in this project was AHP, which gave us the option of testing and fallback scenarios at all times. The flexible SD-WAN and network-as-a-service concept was always able to provide access to data that was still in the old data center. Despite the challenges, we were able to successfully complete the project, thanks in large part to our close collaboration with the customer. It was characterized by mutual trust and a joint search for solutions.
CANCOM Slovakia: What makes this project special for you and CANCOM?
Björn: This project was one of the most demanding that I have supervised so far, because the conditions were very challenging. What makes it special for me is the great cooperation with the customer, especially with Toshiba’s CIO Europe, Norman Depke. He was very involved, thought proactively, provided very good ideas, and was convinced by our work. We always pulled together and looked for solutions together, so we managed to extract Toshiba Tec from the Shared Service Center and build a stable new infrastructure. This makes the work a lot of fun, and I always look forward to meetings with the customer.
For CANCOM, Toshiba Tec is a valuable reference in the area of managed services. The customer also uses the CANCOM AHP Digital Workplace. Norman Depke is so enthusiastic about the solution that he is appearing as a keynote speaker at some of our roadshows to present the advantages of the solution. He also tells the audience that he became a Toshiba customer not least thanks to AHP CIO Europe. This is because he and his team were among the first to be allowed to work again when security incidents occurred because our data center, which runs the AHP, was not affected.
CANCOM Slovakia: Is there any particular experience you have at CANCOM that you would like to share with us?
Björn: Working with my colleagues and communicating honestly with customers have had a particularly strong influence on me. These values are the key to success for me in customer care, because you can only win customers and successfully implement projects through credibility and trust. In the end, it’s just great to hear when a customer is completely satisfied and everything is running smoothly.
I also like to talk about a “CANCOM moment” – when, despite major challenges and time pressure, everything comes together in the end and we are able to successfully complete a project. Even though it’s sometimes very stressful, it’s precisely these moments that motivate me, when everyone works together and makes the impossible possible. It’s great to be part of such a strong team – working here is really fun.
CANCOM: Thank you for the conversation and the exciting insights into your work and the project with Toshiba Tec!
You can find more details about the Network-as-a-Service project here.
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