Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) is a relatively new electrical therapy for heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. The majority of patients eligible for CCM will also need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). To-date, three pacing electrodes are mandatory for CCM therapy because the current CCM signal delivery algorithm requires sequential intra-cardiac sensing of a p-wave, followed by appropriately timed ventricular activations by the two ventricular septal leads. As there is no device combining CCM with ICD functions, most CCM patients will need multiple intra-cardiac electrodes, which increases the cumulative risk for complications such as systemic infections, thrombosis of central venous lines, insulation failures or lead fractures. The long-term complications associated with trans-venous ICD leads have led to the development of a totally subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD). In this essay the two technologies CCM and S-ICD are reviewed. Additionally, we present their successful combination on the basis of a case report on the first patient receiving both devices.