Debbie Tarry: Women in Digital Award Ceremony 2023

Not all details of Debbie’s work can be made public but one example from Volkswagen gives an idea….

Volkswagen Group UK completed a three year, £40m program of IT and organisational change. The NVS (New Vehicle Systems) Program was the largest change program undertaken in Volkswagen in the last 20 years. It impacted all areas of the organisation, introduced approximately 20 new IT applications (70% of the systems landscape) and associated processes.

Following the implementation of new applications and processes, issues raised by users were not understood by IT teams leading to poor resolution times. This presented a commercial risk to the organisation as sales and customer services were being compromised.

It was Debbie’s role to manage the change to resolve the issue where she:-

Defined the Business Case.
Led the tender and supplier selection process.
Defined the contractual terms, including SLA’s and KPI’s for the team, identified the key skills and attributes of required staff and supported the supplier in recruitment process
Launched the new Business Support Team, including comprehensive communications plan.
Implemented the service provision & managed outsourced suppliers against contracts
Developed and managed relationships & engagement models with multiple third party application support and development partners.
Successfully turned perception around of IS ability to support new systems – 30% increase in customer satisfaction scores within 12 months.
Lead and coached the team to achieve 110% of KPI & SLA targets.
Maintained relationships with key stakeholders to ensure the service provision met and exceeded expectations.

Within 12 months, the Business Support Team successfully transformed the way IS supports their user base. I have subsequently developed and extended the service to meet new business needs and support the organisations strategy for growth.

In Debbie’s career, working at global brands including Shell, Barclaycard, Volkwagen, International Airlines Group (IAG) and Costa Coffee the one constant has been the leadership of change.
An experienced IT professional, she has specialised in leading both organisational and IT Change across multiple industry sectors. With a proven track record in successfully managing complex change within multi million pound projects across large, multi-channel user bases to deliver significant operational improvement and cost benefits.

With strategic appreciation and vision she has been able to build and implement sophisticated plans. But that is only part of it. Debbie’s approachable, open and honest approach, her energy and positive outlook has inspired others around her. During my personal interaction with Debbie’s colleagues and peers in Costa and IAG, a common phrase has been “like a breath of fresh air” and that is the personal side that motivates and encourage the team and change.
There can’t be many companies that have been as hard hit by the pandemic as coffee shops and the airlines and Debbie has been at the centre of operational and technology change of both. At Costa Debbie built the Infrastructure and Operations (I&O( and UK & Ireland teams from the ground up, pivoting services through the pandemic and delivering key transformation programs.
International Airlines Group (IAG) was formed in January 2011 after a merger agreement between British Airways and Iberia, the flag carriers of the United Kingdom and Spain respectively, when British Airways and Iberia became wholly owned subsidiaries of IAG. Since its creation, IAG has expanded its portfolio of operations and brands by purchasing other airlines – BMI (2011), Vueling (2012) and Aer Lingus the National flag carrier of Ireland. (2015). In 2022, Debbie was accepted the role of Group Director Infrastructure & Operations to take on the challenge of building the infrastructure and operations of the IAG brands. Previously distributed across the ISG group, Debbie has led the building of a group delivery organisation that enables the effective and efficient business operations for all the IAG brands. Her leadership has been truly inspirational to the Infrastructure & Operations team and highly valued by the IAG leadership and executive, but Debbie is always the first to give the credit to the talent and passion of her team and colleagues.