SOVEREIGN
Think Like A Grandmaster “Chess helps you to concentrate, improve your logic. It teaches you to play by the rules and take responsibility for your actions, how to problem solve in an uncertain environment.” Garry Kasparov Dmitri Bountsman is a chess Grandmaster, software architect and entrepreneur based in Stuttgart, Germany. Born in the ex-Soviet Union, his family moved to Germany when he was 9 years old. Learning chess helped him overcome language barriers and becoming an International Grand Master opened a new perspective on what is possible, forever changing his own perception on success. He participated to World and European Chess Championship. He was ranked 97th in world chess ranking and 3rd in Germany, aged 17. Two years later he decided to study IT and worked as a software developer and software architect. Dmitri led the entire software architecture in a project which required 960,000 man-hours to complete, creating a viable ecosystem and the solutions which allowed the organization operates and thrive. IT is his main passion and his strategic thinking opens new opportunities for other businesses he runs together with his wife, Florence, a chess champion too! In the last decade they invested in real estate in an exclusive part of Germany, in Stuttgart, and developed a rental property portfolio that they manage. A strategic mind, Dmitri opened is also the head of IMN Stuttgart, were they help to connect like minded business owners and entrepreneurs with a growing international community. What inspired you to create your business?
What problems are you solving?
From my point of view, for successful development of a piece of software, IT people have to understand the business they are working in and consult other departments of the same project. Successful business decisions of senior management need to be supported by control of own IT.
I solve the problems of high IT-costs and especially slow IT-implementations of necessary business changes. After my work is done, my client will have the control over its own IT system. The IT department (or whatever the structure is) will be able to consult on business changes and give correct estimation for time and schedule of any change.
All these years I worked as an IT architect, in any company I worked with, same problems are always present. I speak about companies where IT is not the primary business. There are of course technical issues but there are also communications and mindset problems,on different levels. Often the IT is seen at a kind of “necessary evil” and software developers as coders. I decided to help companies gain control over IT, keep it, save a lot of money and accelerate their business growth. My goal is to change IT from “necessary evil” to a strength that makes the difference.
How does it work? I come into my client’s organization as part of the team, and depending on organization size, I spent between 3 and 15 days to analyse the situation and find out what can be improved and where the problems are. Then, I offer to the company three different packages: •The first is where I come in for a project, resolve the problems, make workshops and finally give the results over. •The second is like the first plus at instead of leaving I stay and consult for
