About me
Ralf Thomas
Located in Germany • born in 1966• retired in 2025
Work experience
With more than three decades at the forefront of global IT and cloud operations, I help organisations navigate complex technology landscapes and deliver measurable business value. I have led and coached international teams and multimillion‑euro programmes at Eviden and Atos, serving as Manager of Infrastructure Services and heading Public & Sovereign Cloud Services. Today, as an independent advisor, I blend hard‑won operational expertise with the latest Generative AI tooling to accelerate outcomes for my clients in Germany and Europe.
Global leadership: 30+ years leading and coaching distributed teams across EMEA, the Americas and India.
Proven delivery: Successful migrations, transformations and service launches in highly regulated industries.
Innovation mindset: Early adopter of cloud, data analytics and Gen AI to drive continuous improvement.
Quality & compliance focus: ISO, ITIL and industry‑specific frameworks embedded in every engagement.
Roles & Projects
July 2025 – present: rth66.net - IT Management Advisor & Coach - CIO as-a-Service
Freelance advisory in IT Management, Cloud Transformation, Data & Gen AI, and Quality & Compliance. Structured 1:1 coaching for IT professionals and executives. Four proprietary frameworks: AI Adoption, Sovereign Cloud, DDDM, Cybersecurity.
Jan 2023 – Jul 2025: Eviden - Director Global Cloud, Quality, Compliancy & Security
Led 12-person globally distributed quality & compliance team across 5 countries as the organisation scaled from 1,200 to 1,700 employees. Designed ISO 27001-compliant operations framework; served as compliance authority for hyperscaler partner audits. Pioneered Eviden's first Gen AI chatbot for compliance knowledge management.
May 2016 – Jan 2023: Atos SE - Director Global Cloud Services, Run-Support & Deployment
Built and scaled offshore/nearshore engineering organisation from 15 to 75 engineers (India, Poland, Romania) for full deployment lifecycle of Atos Private Cloud. Supported 20+ enterprise customers across UK, France, Germany, USA, and Australia. Positioned Atos Private Cloud as a sovereign alternative to public hyperscalers.
Mar 2014 – Apr 2016: Atos SE - Director Cloud Services Production Center Europe Central
Scaled dual-site nearshore delivery across Poland and Romania from 150 to 250+ certified engineers at 40–50% lower cost than onshore. Positioned both centers as preferred delivery for regulated industries (banking, insurance) in Germany and Austria.
Jan 2012 – Mar 2014: Atos SE - Manager Infrastructure & Cloud Services Germany
Full accountability for IT Service Center and Data Center delivery in Germany. Grew managed services revenue from ~€25M to ~€60M. Led integration of Atos Origin's acquisition of SBS Siemens Business Services, tripling the German Business Unit within 12–18 months.
Jan 2004 – Dec 2011: Atos Origin GmbH - Manager System Technology, German Data Centers
Led System Technology teams across German Data Centers through the Atos Origin / SBS Siemens Business Services integration. Built unified engineering capability across Server, Storage, and Backup Management; established foundation for subsequent Director-level roles.
Jan 2000 – Jan 2004: Itellium Services GmbH - Manager System Technology
Led 50 engineers through the carve-out of Karstadt-Quelle's internal IT into a fully independent, P&L-responsible managed services provider. Drove change management programme transforming an internal IT cost centre into a customer-first, commercially accountable delivery organisation.
May 1991 – Dec 1999: Quelle Versand - Database & System Management (various roles)
Progressed from System & Database Administrator to team lead across Data Centers in Nuremberg and Leipzig. Built IT infrastructure for Germany's first online shopping platform (1992) and Germany's first Teleshopping channel — a joint venture with Pro7 that later became HSE (1995).
Testimonials
For insights into my professionalperformance, please refer to the genuine feedback shared by colleagues and managers throughout my career:
Education
2010 Executive Education Program at HEC Paris, France
1991 San Diego State University, Advanced English Studies
1989 Diplom Informatiker (FH) at Georg-Simon-Ohm Fachhochschule Nürnberg, Germany
... and countless Trainings & Cerifications in my Professional career ...