Thought Leadership on AI & Tech Leadership
Topics
Latest !nsights from our Experts
Aren’t CIOs just for Large Companies?
CIOs are not just for large companies, because experienced IT leadership matters even for small organizations. Asking the right question is key, and it matters whose hand is on the steering wheel for your technology. Experienced leadership will typically pay for itself, and going without leaves blind spots.
We have an IT manager; Do we also need a Virtual CIO?
Companies that rely heavily on technology need a competent IT manager or vendor partner, and for some organizations that is sufficient. Others benefit from adding a Virtual CIO to guide technology strategy. Companies that invest in one are likely to see significant benefits.
When Governance Becomes an Unlock · Spotify
Governance is usually treated as a tax paid for operating at scale, a necessary drag on the business. Spotify engineered it differently, with four layers working as one system. Most organizations have never asked what governance would look like if engineered to enable them.
Digital Transformation · Necessity, Not Luxury, for the Modern Age
Digital transformation is not merely an option but an absolute necessity for organizations striving to secure their future. The article explains why it is critical and outlines strategies for doing it well. Embracing it lets businesses optimize operations and stay competitive.
The Power of Collective Intelligence · LEGO’s Turnaround
In 2003 LEGO was bleeding cash, with revenue near $800 million and falling after a decade of diversifying. The fix was already in the room, in the collective intelligence outside its walls. The question is whether you have built the infrastructure to hear it.
Fox Business segment on Digital Transformation, featuring Innovation Vista
CEO Jeff Roberts appeared on a Worldwide Business with kathy ireland segment on digital transformation. He discussed the true and false conceptions of the term and why transformation is feasible and powerful for small and midsize organizations.
Innovation Vista Acquires BoardTechAdvisors.com
Innovation Vista has acquired BoardTechAdvisors.com as another upgrade to the firm’s depth and portfolio. The deal bolsters its proprietary CIO IQ service, which offers strategic IT and AI guidance for midsize organizations starting under $1k per week.
The Many Dimensions of Innovation Change Management · from Human to Tech
Technological change is rarely a simple swap of old tools for new ones. The Human-Tech Ladder, developed by a researcher at Info-Tech Research, shows each rung as a dimension where change ripples through an organization. Organizations that climb it with purpose will keep pace as technology evolves.
What Is(n’t) Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is the ultimate buzzword, so it helps to say what it is not. Implementing videoconferencing, collaboration software or a digital marketing solution is not it. Real transformation takes a professional approach, outside experts where needed and continued senior leadership commitment.
So Obvious It’s Revolutionary · The Culture-Driven Success of Barry-Wehmiller
Barry-Wehmiller built an organization where trust in people is tested under real economic pressure and holds. Trust shows up as observable behavior, applied through a loose-tight principle. In its view the trust is the stabilization, the collaboration is the competitive advantage and the culture is the strategy.
Webinar · How Innovation Vista Assesses IT Platforms
Founder Jeff Roberts presented a webinar on Innovation Vista’s approach and framework for assessing IT platforms and organizations. The webinar provides a framework that CXO business executives can use to assess the IT function at their own organization.
Helping Overwhelmed CIOs be Hero Intrapreneurs
Enterprise CIOs juggle everything from IT operations to AI, so it is hard to know where to spend time. That is especially true for new CIOs and when fires are burning. Outside thinking, targeted experience or extra bandwidth can help CIOs plan complex technology transformation.
Innovation Vista Acquires FractionalCIO.com
Innovation Vista has acquired FractionalCIO.com as the next step in enhancing the firm’s depth and portfolio. Founder and CEO Jeff Roberts says the domain aligns perfectly with the firm’s consulting service offerings and broadens its footprint.
The Five Highest-Leverage Activities of a CIO
The CIO role is among the most complex in the C-suite, so a CIO must choose where to spend personal time. Of five highest-impact activities, the first three are strategy, culture and talent. Other IT leadership functions can be delegated and monitored.
Innovation Vista named Most Promising Emerging Digital Transformation company
CIO Review named Innovation Vista the Most Promising Emerging Digital Transformation company this year and put it on the cover. The firm says the interviewers and editors grasped what makes it unique among IT strategy consultancies.
Innovation Vista Acquires DisasterRecoveryCIO.com
Innovation Vista has acquired DisasterRecoveryCIO.com as another key step in enhancing the firm’s depth and portfolio. Founder and CEO Jeff Roberts is very happy with the addition, which aligns with one of the firm’s most critical consulting offerings.
Ignoring the Blind Spot · The Help Most CEOs Need, But Few Engage
Most CEOs are business leaders rather than technology leaders, which creates a blind spot. Technology is the fastest-changing segment of the economy, so the risks multiply. Removing the blind spot in the C-suite helps an organization grasp all the tools it needs to succeed.
An Auxiliary Brain for your IT Leader
Covid raised IT’s profile to levels never seen before, and CEOs now feel better about its enabling impact. Departments unprepared for the surge saw changes in leadership, funding or both. Look to your IT leaders for real enhancements to the business model, not just basic capabilities or efficiencies.
Is Your Organization AI-Ready?
AI is seldom as simple as business leaders want or some AI service companies claim. Without significant preparation, there are substantial risks of false positives and false negatives from AI models. A set of readiness questions helps you judge whether your organization is ready for AI.
Your Help Desk is more Strategic than You Think
Business executives, and even some CIOs, often see the help desk as a necessity with limited impact potential. That attitude drives a mindset of cost control. If your service desk was hit by the great resignation, consider what you give up by not fully restaffing it.
Innovation Capital · Beyond “Last year + x%” IT Budgeting
Preparing the annual IT budget is work many tech leaders dread, even as a percentage change on last year. Two types of IT costs call for two different mindsets. A framework for surfacing ideas for innovation capital helps you grasp this exciting time of innovation and transformation.
Expertise on a String for MSPs · White-Labeled vCIO Strategy
Managed services renewals are decided in boardrooms by executives who increasingly want to talk about AI and modernization rather than uptime. White-labeled vCIO strategy lets an MSP move from stack operator to boardroom voice at the right price. It stays ready when needed and invisible when not.
Innovation is a Process · “Vista Score” Triage & Prioritization
Mid-market IT leaders know the meeting where every department head argues for their project to top the roadmap. The problem is not the projects but the process for choosing between them. A common framework with a transparent score moves the discussion to the right sequence for maximum impact.
Innovation is a Process · The Power of (Effective) Brainstorms
Brainstorming, a group technique for gathering ideas spontaneously, can fall victim to human nature. A better solution is to assign pre-work for initial ideation. Draw on the people who live with the demands, pros and cons of the current business model every day.
The Tragic Near-Death of Efficiency Lemmings · 6-Sigma at 3M
For nearly a century 3M was synonymous with innovation, with a 15% rule from 1948 giving engineers time to explore. Six Sigma did exactly what it was designed to do and nearly destroyed that culture. The margins looked great on the way down.
Why the IT Bar is Usually Set Too Low
Business executives set the IT bar too low because they lack the time and background to focus on technology. Without context on what is possible, they struggle to set or push for a vision of its full impact. IT leaders set the bar too low as well.
Broadening Minds on the Business Potential of IT
Founder Jeff Roberts was interviewed by Corey Prator, founder of Consortium Partners, about Innovation Vista’s purpose and approach. The conversation explores how the firm helps leaders broaden their minds on the business potential of IT.
Innovation Vista Acquires MergerCIO.com
Innovation Vista has acquired MergerCIO.com as the next step in enhancing the firm’s depth and portfolio. Founder and CEO Jeff Roberts is very pleased, saying the domain aligns perfectly with one of the firm’s most important consulting offerings.
Change is Faster than Ever, but Will Never Again Be This Slow
In 2018 Justin Trudeau said the pace of change has never been this fast yet will never be this slow again. For mid-market executives it now reads like a validated threat. The winners will be leaders who stop waiting for the storm to pass and build in the rain.
Virtual CIO Case Study · Paying By the Drink for the Right Wine
Paying by the drink beats buying a bottle when a bottle is beyond your means, and so it is with Virtual CIOs. For organizations with high needs and IT complexity but limited budgets, it brings in the right wine. The post also explains why its case studies are anonymous.