Technology, growth and legacy: Take-aways from Wiz-Team’s annual offsite
April began with an important gathering for Wiz-Team: our annual offsite, bringing together team members from around the globe including Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, the USA and Ukraine. The two-day event, held at Les Chalets de Champéry in Switzerland, featured a packed programme of activities, presentations and discussions – as well as a special guest.
Following a day of objective-setting, brainstorming new ideas and solutions, and addressing key challenges, we had the honour of welcoming Alain Nguyen, who shared exclusive insights and personal take-aways from his time as Deputy Director of Games Information System for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A perspective from Paris 2024
With over 200 sites, 182 applications in use, and a peak technology workforce of over 5’000 people – technology was, without question, at the heart of Games operations.
Wiz-Team was proud to contribute to this journey by supporting the delivery of several key projects. In addition to the Olympic Torch Relay application and the Spectrum Booking Portal, we worked with clients such as Ville de Paris to manage fan zones across the city, and supported several National Olympic Committees (NOCs) with athlete registration and access management for their Hospitality Houses.
Speaking about Paris 2024’s vision of “building an innovative, high-performance technological base”, Alain outlined the Games’ three pillars of technology: managing and supporting the organising committee through a corporate information system and equipment; delivering and operating the Games using technology tailored to major sporting events; and finally, innovating and transferring knowledge, engaging partners, and securing long-term stakeholder involvement to ensure a legacy – both tangible and intangible.
He then illustrated the parallels between a fast-evolving company like Wiz-Team and the rapid development of the IT function within an Organising Committee, offering practical insights. For a growing, global company like Wiz-Team, the IT Consultant’s experience navigating scale, complexity and technological innovation in a high-stakes environment resonated deeply.
“Organising the Olympic Games begins approximately six years before the Opening Ceremony,” explained Alain. “For Paris, the project started in 2018 with few departments. Four years later, there were more than 40 departments and an exploding number of employees. That kind of growth requires a shift in mindset and the ability to stay flexible.”
A situation that Wiz-team can relate to as it continues to scale up in terms of staff members, partners and clients.
He added: “Our mindset centred around three values – evolution, integration and trust. In short, we were focused on how we could continuously manage change, how could we work efficiently within a heterogeneous environment, and how could we progress in a complex ecosystem and secure the necessary collaborations for success.”
Key take-aways for the team
As Wiz-Team continues to grow and support increasingly complex events in sport and beyond, these insights serve both as inspiration and a reminder of the power of collaboration, the importance of staying agile and the need to think at least one step – but better several steps – ahead.
With this mindset, we’ve taken the time to reflect and align as a team — defining our strategic objectives and the core enablers that will guide us with a clear vision through to the end of 2026. As part of this journey, we introduced the 6D framework, a practical tool designed to help us not just identify challenges but actively explore and shape solutions together. This approach has been further strengthened by a series of inter-departmental sessions, where teams came together to share insights, clarify roles, and explore how we can better support one another. These conversations have reinforced the value of cross-functional collaboration and the importance of building a shared understanding across the organisation.
Team work makes the dream work
Reflecting on the constructive discussions and take-aways from this offsite experience, Wiz-Team Founder and CEO Johann Woringer said: “With the pressure of project delivery and managing our growing team across the globe, it is not easy to organise such company activities, but I firmly believe in their value.” He explained: “We are ever more committed to our people-centric approach, working as one with our staff, clients and partners, no matter how much we grow. Offsites hugely benefit the human connection, and this results in better collaboration, higher productivity and thereby greater performance. I also wanted us to spend time together and celebrate our successes in a better environment than a Teams meeting.”
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