Solve your IT issues and Leverage Tech Leadership When & Where You Need it. ONLY When & Where You Need it.
Companies rely on modern Information Technology platforms to conduct business on a day-to-day basis, and an enormous industry exists to support the operation and improvement of these software and hardware solutions. Reliable success on this “Basic IT” is TABLE STAKES in today’s economy. If your IT isn’t at this level, your organization is at real risk in multiple ways. Most large and some midsize organizations hire experienced CIOs/CTOs to lead their IT departments to stability and beyond.
But hiring an experienced CIO isn’t always the right move. For smaller organizations and smaller IT departments, there is a real challenge in the traditional payroll model:
- An experienced CIO is very expensive; these are scarce resources and the demand is great
- Middle managers or “homegrown” IT managers are willing to work for less, but may have blind-spots which more than offset the savings
- Just as in the NFL, unless someone has been a CIO previously, they generally have a weakness on “the other side of the ball”:
- Systems, Data, e-Commerce & Analytics
- Infrastructure, Operations, & Security
- Just as in the NFL, leaders who have mastered both sides have results which clearly show the difference
This is where our C-Suite Advisory service comes in. Our expert consultants have this experience, and provide it to clients on a fractional retainer basis. And we even go one step further than CIOs/CTOs obsessed with Efficiency – we target Growth in your Revenue and Market-share.
Install a Safety Net on IT Risk and Focus Your Technology 0n Real Top-Line Growth – Starting at $1500 per week
Leverage the expertise of a successful C-level IT Leader, selected for your organization for industry experience and skill-sets. They can review all of your plans, security protections, processes, budgets, and contracts.
- Are you running risks on stability or security of which you’re unaware?
- Have your systems and data already been comprised without your knowledge?
- Are you being taken advantage of by software and hardware companies with expert negotiators?
Once our consultant ensures your systems are stable, reliable, and efficient, we Innovate Beyond Efficiency. The technologies we often use to drive Revenue are proven and economical, and our experts will collaborate with your leadership and technology teams to bring the best of those options to your organization based on real ROI (surpassing alternative ROIC). We’ve achieved top-line growth with differentiated IT capabilities in many ways in different industries, and we can do it for you.
Pull Back the Curtain on Real Innovation for About the Cost of an Entry-level Technician
Experience MATTERS, but so do costs. Your organization can leverage the SAME level of expertise as your larger competitors, but in strategic spots rather than a full-time role on your payroll. These services are included in our offering:
- FREE INITIAL ASSESSMENT of your IT platform & group
- New Technology trends/capabilities research applicable to your business
- Competitor/SWOT analysis on Innovation & Digital Transformation
- Key question answered: What is needed in IT to catch up with (or surpass) your competitors?
- Identify Stabilization opportunities for unreliable or insecure systems
- Identify Cost Savings opportunities from automation & enhanced systems
- Identify Revenue opportunities from differentiated Tech capabilities
- Analysis & Roadmap: How can your company’s IT platform become a profit center?
- Vetting/consulting on all internal IT plans, budgets, negotiations, projects
- Vendor oversight on all key IT software, hardware, and service providers
- Coaching for a company’s top IT leader, esp. re: a business mindset for IT
End the Trade-offs of Cost vs. Experience and Impact. Let us Tailor a Service for Your Organization’s Needs and Opportunities
- Our consultant can collaborate regularly with a specific CXO (often CFO, COO, CMO, or CEO). This can be a 1:1 private advisory partnership, or…
- Our consultant can participate &/or submit assessments/reports for monthly/quarterly leadership meetings
- Our consultant can regularly touch base and mentor your company’s top IT leader to upgrade their focus on Revenue Growth
- …or any combination of the above
Get your FREE ASSESSMENT and see how we can help your organization
- There is no obligation. If you like, you can take our ideas directly to your Tech team/vendor for them to consider.
- But if you’d like to partner with an expert bringing this approach, signup for ANY/ALL THE SERVICES ABOVE for about the cost of an entry-level technician
Our Advisory Service starts at $1500 per week. Interested to learn how much benefit that can buy you?
Below see some of our recent Thought Leadership on the topics of Innovation & IT Strategy…
Not All Brainstorms are Created Equal
Wikipedia gives this summary and definition of brainstorming: Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members. In other words, brainstorming is a situation where a group of people meet to generate new ideas and solutions around a specific domain of interest by removing inhibitions. People are able to think more freely and they suggest as many spontaneous new ideas as possible. All the ideas are noted down without criticism and after the brainstorming session the ideas are evaluated. It's a powerful concept, first articulated by Alex Faickney Osborn in his 1967 book Applied Imagination, which had multiple followup editions through the 1970's. As with many powerful concepts, though, the specifics of implementation matter. The traditional approach to Brainstorming can fall victim to human nature We love the power of brainstorming, but [...]
Why the IT Bar is Usually Set Too Low
The IT bar is set too low by business leaders Most CEOs and COOs spend their days trying to increase revenue and market share, while most CFOs spend their time optimizing their company’s balance sheet and ensuring that accounting is handled correctly. None of these top executives have the time or the background to focus their efforts on IT, even though all of them need it in order to achieve their goals. Without the context and knowledge of what is possible and what the paths to innovation should be, it is difficult for business executives to set, or even to push for, a vision for the full impact of technology. The bar is also set too low by IT leaders There is a misconception within many corporations that IT is merely backup and tech support for other departments. CIOs are often disincentivized to go beyond operating their platforms reliably, securely, [...]
Change is Faster than Ever, but Will Never Again Be This Slow
This succinct summary of the challenge of modern life is a quote from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, from his keynote at the Davos World Economic Forum in 2018. And although that organization tried to downplay the sentiment later that year, Trudeau's claim seems an accurate summary of our times. Change is hard for human beings; we are accustomed to a great deal of consistency from one day to another: in what is expected of us, in the tools we use to perform those duties, in how we're perceived by others and how we interact with others, in what constitutes the necessities of life, and in how we obtain those necessities. Most of us feel we can "handle" change, but when we say that we usually mean one change at a time, and with a pause after each change before we're forced to confront the next one. The challenge today [...]
Business Impact – the True North for Innovation
There is a lot of hype within the business sector around emerging technologies. Talk of finding new, creative ways to solve business challenges never fails to incite a buzz within organizations, for good reason. With the right compass heading, technology can sustain or change a company’s culture, and many new technologies are emerging that promise a significant impact on business over the next few years. At times the excitement is about the technology and not its business impact Innovation is important, and powerful, and impactful, but only if it creates real business results. Without the right compass heading, forward motion is NOT progress but only wasted effort and time. Likewise, innovation for its own sake (outside of a pure research context) is often just a drain on time and money. Instead of seeking the latest technology for its own sake, an assessment of need & opportunity is incredibly important. Innovative [...]
Virtual CIO Case Study · Paying By the Drink for the Right Wine
Buying wine by the bottle (or case) may be the most economic option to acquire it at scale, but if a bottle is beyond your means or needs, and you find the particular vintage you want, paying by the drink is the right option. And so it is with Virtual CIOs (aka Fractional CIOs/Remote CIOs/Part-time CIOs)... This quote is actually from one of our recent clients, a mid-size company who engaged our Virtual CIO service to provide IT leadership to several IT groups who had previously reported separately to the CEO. Why Our Case Studies are Anonymous Innovation Vista does not list our clients on our website or post a "logo page"; we do not issue press releases to announce client signings or project successes. This policy is an important extension of our care and protection of our clients' strategies, in order to avoid letting their competitors know anything [...]
Gold Nuggets of Data all over the Ground
Increasingly, how an organization views and uses their data determines their level of success, and therefore the value of the enterprise. Data can be as valuable as gold nuggets for companies, but too often it’s ignored--“left on the ground” rather than mined, gathered, and inventoried as a strategic asset. Gartner research indicates that by 2021, the vast majority of stock analysts will include “data” components in their corporate valuation models for how much structured information each company possesses and how strategically they use it. This fact will surprise few. And yet despite this being a well-known fact, Forrester estimates that between 2/3 and 3/4 of corporate data still goes unused in any capacity for analytics. Care Must be Taken to Protect Your Customers’ Privacy No doubt your organization has contractual obligations and has made promises (explicit or implied) to your customers to protect ALL data which, if released, could [...]