The practitioner’s advantage: how to deliver value in the IT/TMT industry beyond strategy decks

Closing the gap between vision and reality

In the conference rooms of private equity funds, telecom operators, and fintechs, the “value creation plan” (VCP) is a term spoken with great conviction. However, conviction alone does not increase EBITDA, market share, or customer loyalty. Too often, a transformation program begins with a costly strategy presentation, and its implementation loses momentum when faced with the complexity of daily operations.

The truth is, most management teams do not suffer from a lack of ideas. They suffer from the gap between intention and execution. In the IT/TMT industry, this gap can be lethal: technology cycles are short, competitors are agile, and investors expect speed. At 3 Hazel Tree Partners, we believe the most effective way to close this gap is through advisory led by practitioner managers—a transformation delivered by leaders who have built, scaled, and managed a P&L themselves, not just advised from the outside. We know the technical, commercial, and organizational pitfalls because we have experienced them ourselves. This experience changes everything.

Why execution led by operators delivers different results

Traditional consulting excels at analysis. Companies arrive with polished methodologies, clear frameworks, and a fresh outside perspective. These elements are valuable—they can clarify the market situation and sharpen the strategy. But when the consultants hand over their presentations, the real battle begins. Practitioner-advisors, in contrast, remain on the battlefield.

We take responsibility for the results by integrating into the management structures, leading transformation management offices (PMOs), heading supplier negotiations, and making the same tough decisions we once made in our C-level (CxO) roles. We know where the landmines are hidden: integrations that always take twice as long, suppliers who promise the world but deliver late, and internal silos that can silently halt progress. In this model, success is not measured by the elegance of the recommendations. It is measured by revenue growth, margin improvement, churn reduction, and shorter time-to-market.

Lessons from practice

Our work in Central and Eastern Europe and the Benelux countries has repeatedly shown that the most ambitious transformation goals are achievable—but only if their execution is designed from the outset to survive harsh market realities.

When a leading telecom operator (Tier-1) faces stagnation despite having solid “digital transformation” plans, operational involvement in program execution can yield tangible results. Through active renegotiation of supplier contracts and a redesign of the management model, it becomes possible to generate significant savings and substantially shorten product launch cycles, which translates into revenue growth.

In the airline loyalty program sector, the complex challenge of replacing an outdated platform requires not only technical knowledge but also the ability to coordinate politically within the organization. Effectively aligning the positions of key departments—marketing, IT, and commercial—enables migration to a modern, cloud-based technology. This, in turn, opens the way for expanding partnerships and significantly increasing the share of non-airline revenue.

For a fintech company backed by a private equity fund, it can be crucial to simultaneously conduct post-acquisition integrations, adapt to regulatory requirements (like PSD2), and launch a new product. Operating within a transformational PMO allows for the coordination of all these tasks. The use of nearshoring teams allows for cost optimization, and the entire endeavor can result in a timely rollout and the delivery of a distinctive product to customers. The common denominator in these scenarios is one: a breakthrough is possible not thanks to a new presentation, but thanks to leaders engaged in operational activities.

Three frameworks for delivering value beyond presentations

Thanks to these experiences, we have developed three practical frameworks that ensure transformation programs in the IT/TMT industry move from theory to measurable results.

1. Value levers: Every transformation should have a quantified set of drivers—revenue growth, cost efficiency, and capital optimization—each linked to specific initiatives. Quick wins are planned at an early stage to self-fund long-term projects, and a dynamic “value creation dashboard” ensures the program is accountable for hard financial results.
2. The transformational project management office (PMO): In our model, the PMO is not a reporting function; it is an execution engine. It reports directly to the CEO or steering committee, integrates financial tracking with the business case, and operates at the intersection of business, technology, and regulatory areas. Most importantly, it uses results-oriented KPIs—such as EBITDA improvement or shorter time-to-market—rather than activity-based metrics.
3. The Central and Eastern European talent and nearshore delivery model: Central and Eastern Europe remains Europe’s most powerful combination of cost-effective and high-quality talent for project execution. By combining on-site strategic leadership with stable, specialized teams in Poland, Romania, or the Czech Republic, we regularly achieve savings of 20-40% without compromising on innovation. These competence centers are not just for programming; they are for building capabilities in product design, data analytics, and AI/ML that accelerate competitive advantage.

Why do we focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the Benelux countries?

The CEE region offers a unique advantage in project execution: deep engineering talent pools, cultural proximity to Western Europe, and cost structures that remain competitive. The Benelux markets, with their high level of digitalization and appetite for innovation, are an ideal testing ground for new products and services before their wider rollout. Our cross-regional model allows us to combine these strengths—executing projects in CEE, testing them in the Benelux, and scaling them to the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and beyond.

Takeaways for PE and enterprise leaders

Involving experienced managers in strategy execution brings tangible benefits to both sides of a transformation. For operating partners in Private Equity funds, this means lowering investment risk and shortening the time needed to achieve financial goals. In turn, C-level managers gain a partner who not only helps create a plan but, above all, actively participates in its implementation, guiding the organization through the most difficult stages of change to success.

The “practitioner’s advantage” concept is more than a slogan. It is the fundamental difference between a strategy that looks good in a presentation and a transformation that generates real, long-term growth in the company’s value. In the dynamic IT/TMT industry, where time is crucial and competition is high, this ability to act effectively can determine the company’s development for the next decade.