He has been with Accenture for 11 years and has extensive retail industry, ERP and business intelligence implementation experience.
His primary responsibility has been the implementation of significant business change programmes at various clients. Katzen says he enjoys the responsibility as it provides a constant challenge, keeps him on his toes and allows him to continue to learn and develop as a person.
Katzen was previously employed as a design engineer in the automotive and aerospace industries and has been involved in the implementation of a number of consumer engineering concepts.
He is currently part of a dedicated team implementing Retek (a best-of-breed merchandise and planning solution) for Woolworths' clothing and food businesses. According to Katzen the new solution will make life easier for the merchandisers as it provides a single platform for managing merchandise data, controlling the order management process, and having visibility of the merchandise through the supply chain.
Katzen has worked across multiple retail clients, including Dion, Makro, the Edcon Group, CNA and Woolworths, implementing a diverse set of business solutions including Retek and SAP.He has also worked across industries such as utilities and resources, implementing solutions for clients such as Eskom and Afrox. One of Katzen's current focus areas is RFID tagging, and he believes that the days of barcodes are numbered as RFID technologies mature and become more cost effective. According to him, RFID promises to transform the retail industry as it offers significant improvements in efficiency and accuracy of data.
Katzen agrees that consulting is not an easy lifestyle and says Accenture's success in this regard could be attributed to its methodologies, approaches, ease of client access to Accenture industry experts as well as its highly skilled people who work hard to ensure that they deliver quality work at all times.
Katzen enjoys pop and rock music, playing golf with his son and watching as much live sport as possible. He enjoys road running and has run the Two Oceans marathon several times. He balances his work effort by spending quality time with his family.
Born in 1966 In Bulawayo—Zimbabwe, Katzen matriculated in 1984 at Jeppe High School for Boys in Johannesburg. In 1989 he graduated with an aeronautical engineering degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Back to the Executive View Home Page