Thought Leadership on AI & Tech Leadership
Topics
Latest !nsights from our Experts
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.
Innovation is a Process · Nurturing a Culture Where It can Happen
Headlines say companies must innovate or die, and boards treat them as calls to action, even during a pandemic. Innovation is not a task to check off but the outgrowth of a culture of collaboration and teamwork. Make sure any partner adopts the same teamwork approach you nurture across the enterprise.
The New Digital Normal of Customer Expectations
Customer expectations are no longer shaped by traditional standards but by the best digital experiences people encounter anywhere. The new digital normal has four key components, including AI-powered personalization. The ROI of these investments has become undeniable, even in times of uncertainty.
Don’t TiVo it: The Wrong Questions Stop Innovation at Efficiency
TiVo owned its market so completely that its name became a verb. It got stuck in the efficiency trap and never asked the reinventive question. The box was never the point, the viewer’s experience was, and Netflix understood that.
The Journey from Stability to Optimization
After a stretch of IT stability, leadership notices that things have gotten quieter and credits better IT management. What they miss is that stable is not enough. Optimization means better visibility and decisions made from real data, which justifies the hard integration and change work.
The Journey from Crisis to Stability
Every IT leader remembers a first real crisis, when nobody knows what is wrong and the CEO wants a conference bridge. The first five minutes call for diagnosing before treating and not confusing motion with progress. Leaders who apply it build teams that handle the next crisis faster.
Turning CRM Data into Deep Customer Insights
Personalization lets companies track buying patterns and learn preferences, but it has also opened the door to inappropriate uses of data. Used well, CRM and other data can create Deep Customer Insights. That matters most to companies for which understanding customers is important.
Collaborate, Don’t Interview · How to Talk with Business Stakeholders about Tech
In a typical requirements gathering session, a technology leader asks prepared questions while a business executive checks the clock. Both walk away unsatisfied. A collaborative posture builds trust, the prerequisite for every meaningful change a technology organization can drive.
CRM Adoption Needs Good Leadership as Much as Good IT
Over 90% of companies with dedicated sales teams have licensed a CRM, yet far fewer believe it is strategic. Adoption depends on leadership as much as on IT. C-suite leaders must set the stage and nurture a culture in which the team will want to use it.
What CXOs should know about Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is a buzzword whose definition varies greatly. Innovation Vista defines it as the effort to use technology to grow revenue. It reflects a broader view of IT, and an experienced consultant brings the right knowledge to strategic planning.
Why our Engagements are Month-to-Month for Clients
Innovation Vista’s engagements are month-to-month, from CIO IQ to Contract CIO+, with no penalties, exit clauses or fine print. The policy reflects a belief in flexibility, transparency and performance. Clients stay because the ROI is clear, not because they have to.