Christian Neiderstam

Blentarp · Sweden

Resume — Christian Neiderstam

Summary of my careerEnglish · 2 min

I grew up professionally at IBM, where I started as a System Engineer straight out of university. Working inside IBM's culture — surrounded by highly skilled, humble people who lived professionalism every day — shaped me early. It gave me the ambition, discipline and curiosity that later defined my entire career. I moved quickly into roles as business analyst and software architect, building complex solutions and working closely with major clients.

During my fourteen years at IBM I took on increasing responsibility and eventually became Consultant Manager for IBM Consultant Services in northern Sweden. That role gave me direct access to top-level executives, where I drove business growth and landed large software solution deals. The combination of business analysis, architecture and executive-level communication became my edge, and it has stayed with me ever since.

I was later headhunted to Datavis AB (now Xlent) as CEO, continuing to work closely with senior leadership at major clients. Two years later I was recruited to MAP Skandinaviska AB as CEO and partner, a market-leading software provider for the construction industry in Scandinavia. In every leadership role my strength was the same: understanding the client's business challenge deeply, and using analysis and architecture to create real growth.

In 2008 I chose to leave organisational and personnel responsibility behind and return to what I actually enjoy — the consultant role, solving business problems and building solutions that matter.

In 2015 I certified as Scrum Master and Product Owner through Scrum Alliance. The framework didn't replace my experience. It clarified it. It gave structure to what I had already been doing for decades: driving change, facilitating complex decisions, and working directly with stakeholders at top management level.

Today I combine twenty-five years of business analysis and architecture with a why-to-done mindset, which makes me particularly effective where business, leadership and technology meet. It is also the foundation for my book, and for the value I bring to every client I work with.

Sammanfattning av min karriärSvenska · 2 min

Jag formades professionellt på IBM, där jag började som system engineer direkt efter universitetet. I en kultur präglad av professionalism, ödmjukhet och höga krav fick jag möjligheten att arbeta nära några av branschens mest skickliga personer. Det gav mig en stabil grund att bygga vidare på, och jag utvecklades snabbt till business analyst och software- och applikationsarkitekt med ansvar för komplexa lösningar och stora kundkonton.

Under mina fjorton år på IBM fick jag successivt större ansvar och avslutade min tid som consultant manager för IBM Consultant Services i norra Sverige. Rollen gav mig direkt tillgång till kundernas högsta ledning, där jag framgångsrikt drev affärsutveckling och landade omfattande mjukvaruprojekt. Kombinationen av analytisk förmåga, arkitektkompetens och affärsnärvaro blev min signatur.

Jag blev därefter headhuntad till Datavis AB (nu Xlent) som VD, där jag fortsatte arbeta nära stora kunders ledningsgrupper. Två år senare rekryterades jag till MAP Skandinaviska AB som VD och delägare, ett marknadsledande mjukvarubolag inom byggindustrin i Skandinavien. I alla dessa roller var min styrka densamma: att förstå kundens affärsproblem på djupet och omsätta dem till tekniska lösningar som skapar verklig tillväxt.

2008 valde jag att lämna organisations- och personalansvar för att fokusera helt på det jag brinner för — konsultrollen, affärsanalys och arkitektur.

2015 certifierade jag mig som Scrum Master och Product Owner via Scrum Alliance. Ramverket ersatte inte min erfarenhet. Det tydliggjorde den. Det gav struktur åt det jag redan gjort i två decennier: att driva förändring, facilitera komplexa beslut och arbeta nära stakeholders på ledningsnivå.

I dag kombinerar jag tjugofem års erfarenhet av affärsanalys och arkitektur med ett why-to-done-tänk, vilket gör mig särskilt effektiv i roller där teknik, affär och ledning möts. Det är också den plattform som ligger till grund för min bok, och för det värde jag skapar i varje uppdrag.

2016–26Scrum projects on current app, middleware and backend stacks
14 yrsat IBM, two periods
2 ×CEO, both exits
93Sprints facilitated
since 2016

Since 2015 — Scrum Master and author

2026

Worth Building with Scrum: From Why to Done

Author · 244 pages

A practitioner's account of the chain from a business driver to a line of finished code, told through one team's four Sprints. Every artifact the team produces is published openly so the method can be inspected rather than taken on trust.

About the book · read chapter one free

2023 – 2026

Scrum Master

Itzyblitz Media AB · Dispatch Football Digest and the white-label platform

The project began with an inspect and adapt of the business drivers, product vision and product goal — which is where the decision came from to stop building one app and build a platform that could generate tailored sports-media apps for different markets and brands.

Thirty-three Sprints. A technical migration alongside it: frontend rebuilt in Flutter, backend moved to Supabase, a REST API layer as middleware. An administrator can now configure news, YouTube channels and playlists, podcast feeds, club and league structures, and in-app presentation — all within copyright terms.

2020 – 2023

Scrum Master

Itzyblitz Media AB · SportblitZ

A sports media app curating football content from multiple network sources — news, highlights, statistics and video, organised around the twenty most popular clubs and Europe's five biggest leagues.

Twenty-five Sprints to a beta launch on Google Play and the App Store. Substantial R&D into third-party integrations, evaluated on three criteria: data quality, availability and stability, and copyright obligations.

2016 – 2020

Scrum Master

XlentCon DOO · Belgrade, on site

A content management system supplying historical and structured statistics for every European football team, used by betting operators including X1BET and Bethard to drive odds, live data and analysis.

Thirty-five Sprints, thirty-five releases. First major release spring 2018, then continuous delivery of broader data coverage and more stable integrations into the operators' systems.

How it ended. Covid stopped European football for roughly a season and a half. The data the product depended on simply stopped being produced, the business model ended overnight, and the company was wound up. Worth saying plainly: the work was sound and the market disappeared.

2015

Certified ScrumMaster & Certified Scrum Product Owner

Scrum Alliance · La Hulpe, Belgium

Formal structure and shared vocabulary for work already being done in practice for two decades — empirical process, product goals, backlog management and value optimisation.

Earlier

Open any of these if the detail is useful.

2008 – 2014  ·  Business analysis and architecturePocket Mobile · UDK
2012 – 2014

Business analyst and application architect

Pocket Mobile AB

Mobile solutions for field workforces where data capture, reliable communication and workflow efficiency were operational requirements rather than features.

  • Mobile workflows modelled on real field processes, not idealised ones
  • Offline capability and synchronisation logic for work without network
  • Data models, communication interfaces and backend integrations
2008 – 2011

Business analytics consultant

UDK, now Exsitec

Analysis, design and implementation of PIM systems for retail and distribution clients — mapping product data flows, designing the data models and attribute structures, and integrating with ERP and e-commerce.

  • Higher data quality and clear ownership of product information
  • Faster product launches, less manual handling
  • User training and change support, so the new way of working held
1999 – 2007  ·  Chief executiveMAP Skandinaviska · Datavis Norr
2001 – 2007

CEO and partner

MAP Skandinaviska AB

Recruited to grow an estimating-software company and make it attractive to investors. Turnover quadrupled from 8 to 26 MSEK in four years, with operations established in Finland and Norway — growth financed entirely internally.

  • Established the MAP Applications software concept, creating a consulting business the company had lacked
  • Ernst & Young award, 2003: second-best growth company in Sweden
  • Assigned to sell the company; sold to Agresso AB at the end of 2004
  • Then CEO of the newly established Estonian company until 2007

“In four years Christian managed to quadruple the company's turnover and establish business in Finland and Norway… His work increased the value of the company many times. By establishing a new software concept, quadrupling the turnover and starting up businesses in the other Nordic countries, he made MAP Skandinaviska attractive and sellable.”

Gösta Hällström · Chairman of the board and majority owner, 1982–2005

1999 – 2001

CEO

Datavis Norr AB

Brought in to develop the consulting arm and make the company attractive to investors. Professional services income doubled from 40 to 80 MSEK in two years, and the consultancy grew from 50 to 90 people — financed within budget, with profit higher than before.

  • Introduced high-end Java for internet-based B2B development
  • Majority of Datavis sold to Ratos in 2001, chosen in competition with other IT companies

“He doubled Datavis professional services income from 40 million SEK to 80 million SEK in two years… The growth was fully financed within the company's budget without any external investment, still the profit was higher during Christian's time as CEO than before.”

Gert Söderberg · Chairman of the board, Datavis Norr AB

1985 – 1999  ·  IBMArchitect · project manager · consulting manager
1996 – 1999

Manager, IBM consultants — northern Sweden

IBM Svenska AB

Recruited back to IBM from Cap Gemini. Tripled turnover for IBM's services in northern Sweden.

  • Blue Ribbon Award, 1998 — given annually to a selected group regarded as top management material within IBM
1985 – 1994

Systems engineer, systems architect, project manager

IBM Svenska AB

Systems architecture and project management for management support systems. In 1988, Sweden's representative on a six-month evaluation project in Boca Raton, Florida, concerning IBM's SAA software architecture.

“Christian's deep knowledge regarding system development and architecture made him very successful in working both as a systems architect and project manager… Christian has a unique ability to earn trust with both customers and employees.”

Jussi Sundquist · Client Executive Manager / Site Manager, IBM Sundsvall

All three references are signed employment certificates, notarised by Lars Lindblom, Notary Public, Sundsvall, June 2009. Copies available on request.

The rest

Certifications

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) — Scrum Alliance, 2015

Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) — Scrum Alliance, 2015

IBM Blue Ribbon Award, 1998

Languages

Swedish — native

English — fluent, professional

What I'm looking for

Three directions, depending on what you need. Each has its own page with the relevant detail rather than all of it.

Role Scrum Master Facilitation, business drivers, and the part of the job that happens before the first Sprint. Role Product Owner Twenty years translating what a business needs into what a team can deliver against. Role Teaching Programming, web development, systems and agile working — for schools within reach of Blentarp.

Christian Neiderstam

Blentarp, Sweden

Worth Building with Scrum · the artifacts, free