New-Indy Containerboard standardizes IT to deliver business value

IT leader Fred Donatucci brings strategy and vision to unify fragmented IT department

Formed in 2012, New-Indy Containerboard is a joint venture between the Kraft Group and Schwarz Partners, two family-owned companies with long histories in paper and packaging. A manufacturer and supplier of recycled containerboard to the corrugated box industry, New-Indy operates three recycled brown paper mills, one virgin paper mill, and three packaging companies with facilities across the United States.

When Fred Donatucci joined New-Indy in 2020 as the Vice President of IT, he found a young company that had grown quickly through the acquisition of several packaging companies and mills and an IT function that was still fragmented across these disparate acquisitions. A proven IT professional with decades of experience in various roles, businesses, and industries, Donatucci needed to hit the ground running at New-Indy. “When I came on board, IT was very disconnected. My first task was to try to understand all the pieces of this IT organization.”

Donatucci recognized that external support would be beneficial to more quickly assess New-Indy’s IT challenges and come up with a plan. “There was a lot to organize and develop, and I needed a structure and framework to drive me forward. I have experience with other external advisory firms, but I needed a partner to help me grow, learn, and leverage best practices. That’s when I started talking to Info-Tech Research Group. They provided a broad set of resources to help me pull this IT organization together and to better understand how to better jump into my new role,” said Donatucci.

Laying the foundation for success with actionable data and expert advice

As a first step, Donatucci took advantage of Info-Tech’s First 100 Days as a CIO program, which takes a step-by-step approach to getting a successful start in a new IT leadership role. To accelerate the process, he used Info-Tech’s Concierge Service, a customized consulting engagement, to build a plan that identified immediate priorities, quick wins, and a first-year strategy. “Info-Tech’s Concierge Service helped guide me to ensure I was seeing the total picture. That was pretty valuable,” reported Donatucci.

Diagnostic tools, including Info-Tech’s CIO Business Vision and IT Management & Governance, have helped Donatucci further identify needs to inform short- and long-term strategies at New-Indy: “The diagnostic tools allowed me to get quick insights into the organization. That was useful for me, especially being new to the company.” He noted that his CFO, now President, also recognized the value of Info-Tech’s diagnostic results. “I shared the assessments I conducted with my CFO, and he saw this wasn’t some generic data. This was applicable to New-Indy, and he saw that I had a real understanding of our pain points. Info-Tech helped me put that information in the right format to make that impact.”

Access to a dedicated executive counselor has been an added benefit of New-Indy’s Info-Tech membership. Donatucci appreciates being able to talk to an advisor with IT leadership experience. “I can have honest conversations with my counselor before I get lost or frustrated. She helps me transition into this leadership role – knowing how to manage expectations and re-enforcing when to take a step back and be a little more strategic. Not only does she assist me with the things that I’m doing, but she also connects me with experts and peers outside Info-Tech who can help me be successful.”

“The diagnostic tools allowed me to get quick insights into the organization. I shared these assessments I conducted with my CFO, who saw this wasn’t just generic data. This was applicable to New-Indy, and he saw the understanding I had of our pain points."

- Fred Donatucci, VP of IT, New-Indy Containerboard

Centralizing IT under “One New-Indy”

Building on the foundation laid in his early days at New-Indy, Donatucci has made sweeping progress to standardize the IT function across the organization in an initiative called “One New-Indy.” The project has focused on consolidating the team, the processes, and the technology for the IT organization. For example, Donatucci undertook the consolidation of multiple service desks, including centralizing the service on a single solution. The team used Info-Tech’s Standardize the Service Desk Guided Implementation, working with Info-Tech advisors to define and optimize IT service desk operations and resourcing. “There were different service desks across the organization, and they were all managed differently. We decided to migrate to a new solution and bring everyone together. We took learnings from the Info-Tech program and applied them to our new service desk,” he explained.

Donatucci has no plans to slow down as he continues to build the foundation and infrastructure for IT at New-Indy. Committed to delivering value, he and his team have been working with business leaders at the company to better understand their needs and support their operational and strategic goals. One key initiative is to develop a business intelligence and data analytics strategy that will collect and analyze multiple sources of data from across the organization to provide the business with accurate and actionable intelligence.

“There were different service desks across the organization, and they were all managed differently. We decided to migrate to a new solution and bring everyone together. We took our best practices and learnings from the Info-Tech program and applied them to our new service desk.”

- Fred Donatucci, VP of IT, New-Indy Containerboard

Leading and learning go hand in hand

Reflecting on IT’s progress at New-Indy, Donatucci credits Info-Tech for its invaluable support from the beginning. “It was a lot to take a small and disconnected IT organization and develop it into this centralized entity. Info-Tech helped me organize and validate my strategy. I view Info-Tech as a partner in helping us achieve our goals. They bring value with best practices and experts who can walk us through some of the challenges. Now, with my next level of leaders, Info-Tech can come in and help them with best practices.”

Enabling his team is an important tenet of Donatucci’s leadership approach. “You can only do so much on your own, so your team is critical. By empowering my team to do more, we can achieve amazing things. I have done a lot of different things – I’ve chased my passion and interests. I tell my team this too, ‘If you’re passionate about what you’re doing and you have the skills, you’ll do well. Go get those experiences, see what you’re passionate about, and continue to learn.’”

With a final piece of advice to his peers, Donatucci added, “Don’t be afraid to get more involved in non-IT areas – learn about the organization and ask all the questions you can. Get creative, apply critical thinking to problems, and use a strategic lens to view what we do. We have a unique perspective to look across the whole organization, and we should take every opportunity to share that perspective.”