Services
We partner with small to medium business C-suite leaders to support effective optimization of technology and adoption of AI.
We support your entire company with Tech across lines of business and all functions, including legal, HR, finance, marketing, sales and more. We are experienced and connected, and we will explore opportunities, advise on improvement strategies and ensure you are connected to state of the art AI, IT and technology solutions.
Our offerings span AI enablement, project assurance and solution delivery including specialty staffing, IT and AI executive leadership, partner ecosystem building and provider connections and advisory services.
Our clients appreciate many benefits from our services, and primarily find value by saving time, saving money, adding productivity, remaining competitive, increasing customer insights and focus, and improving their business and AI / Tech strategy.
AI-Enablement
AI can be a game-changer. Generative AI, agentic workflow, large language models, multi-modal models, vector databases, retrieval augmented generation, retrieval augmented fine-tuning, computer vision and other forms of artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions are providing new capabilities, speed and automation, access to more information, efficiencies and productivity gains.
Determining what type of AI solutions to use, understanding them and actually realizing benefits can be overwhelming. Additionally, there are new risks related to these emerging technologies. We help you choose and incorporate such solutions into your business seamlessly.
- AI Toolsfinder™. Fast-tracked selection of AI solutions based on your priorities and requirements.
- AI Launch Kit™ Lite. Multi-pronged approach to becoming AI-enabled and balancing risks and benefits.
- AI Launch Kit™. Ensuring AI-readiness and a full AI program with toolkits, governance, policies and more,
- AI-Readiness Assessment. Evaluate your state of data, risks, systems, capabilities to identify improvement areas.
- AI Strategy. Develop an AI plan aligned to your company and culture, designed to achieve your goals.
- AI-powered Advanced Analytics. Combine and use multiple data sources into analytics charts and graphs for impactful insights in just minutes.
- AI Solutions and Services. Get trusted recommendations that are specific to your priorities and yield real-value results.
Success Stories
Faster in the field with digitization, natural language processing, voice interface
SITUATION: A commercial construction company’s CEO wanted to get going with AI but wasn’t sure where to start, what to do, or who to trust. He started with AI Toolsfinder™ to determine 6 use cases and select solutions that would add real value to the company’s operations. His #1 priority centered around easy access for his field employees on-site to have access to critical information in their equipment manual, a PDF of 1000s of page.
SERVICES: AI-Enablement: AI TOOLSFINDER™
SUCCESS STORY: An AI-enabled solution was found that digitized and leveraged natural language processing with voice interface. This made it easier and faster to get accurate, necessary guidance on the field using real time information, which was proven out in a free 1-month initial trial.
AI-productivity gains, less paperwork, and keeping pace with growth
SITUATION: A US-based 3-year-old startup with a contract-intensive business model required improvements in contract generation, contract lifecycle management, document search, contract negotiation, review and redlining without restrictive and daunting legal fees or increasing costs with incremental employees.
SERVICES: AI-Enablement: AI TOOLSFINDER™
SUCCESS STORY: Viable, vetted solutions for AI-powered contract management solutions were provided. This allowed the executive leadership team to better understand and compare their options, and understand the available capabilities in the marketplace for their industry. The selected solution met their needs, controlled costs and risks, and ensured they could keep pace with their rapid growth.
Project Assurance
Tech value is delivered through projects. Transformation, digitization, automation, software implementations, data analytics capabilities, cyber security risk remediation and more are done via projects with outcomes that warrant the resources required.
Technology projects are challenging. Statistics show IT projects frequently fail (more than 50% on average). We ensure your prioritized technology projects deliver intended value on time, on budget and as expected.
We have access to the skills and staff you need. With the right skillsets on board, you can improve your outcomes with proven project management methods, frameworks, clear prioritization, and transparent Key Performance Indicators to ensure your most important technology and AI initiatives deliver as intended.
- Project Staffing. Get set up with value-add temporary staff (non-FTE) IT roles to ensure success for your projects including vetted project managers and difference-making specialty skillsets.
- PMO-as-a-Service. For your technology initiatives, get consistency, transparency and risk management with proven processes and informative KPIs without all of the overhead, hiring, software and learning curve of building an in-house PMO. All of the benefit, none of the hassle.
- Executive Program Management. Ensure you and your executive leadership team have clarity into IT initiatives, status, spend and progress. Often leadership direction can reduce project risks and improve outcomes.
- Prioritization and Roadmapping. Align across your departments regarding Tech initiatives and criteria for prioritization. Clients often report having competing priorities, and we can help bring your leadership team into alignment around the most important, urgent and valuable initiatives.
Success Stories
New core system selected and successfully implemented; legacy system retired
SITUATION: A mature startup wanted to improve their operations accuracy through a single software platform. This required retiring multiple legacy, homegrown software systems. The company leadership needed guidance on which software platform was best for them and support in a successful path to implementation.
SERVICES: Project Assurance: Executive Program Management and Project Staffing
SUCCESS STORY: The optimal software was selected, and 10% was negotiated off the recurring license costs. The solution scope was subdivided into planned phases for incremental value. This built-for-purpose solution served as a single source of truth with role-based security and was a more cost-effective and reduced identity and access management risk for the company.
Specialty project management skills supported workload growth, on budget
SITUATION: A PE-owned firm supporting nearly 4000 projects per year, required specialty skills in project management intersecting with IT procurement experience. Additionally, their growth trend was positive, but capacity requirements were still variable, necessitating part-time professional staffing.
SERVICES: Project Assurance: Project Staffing
SUCCESS STORY: Specialty skills were identified at the right time and the right price. The CEO was pleased to have quality talent at part-time costs to meet his project management needs within budget. Now he is highly confident that his company is delivering quality results to their new customers.
Focus on priority requirements for new solution yielded topline improvement
SITUATION: A global, mid-sized strategy consulting firm wanted to improve billable time entry as fast as possible. They were considering alternatives to ensure the quickest route to more timely billing, wanting to improve cashflow by reducing the number of DSO (days sales outstanding).
SERVICES: Project Assurance: Prioritization & Road Mapping; Project Assurance: Executive Program Management
SUCCESS STORY: Support was given in solution selection and vendor negotiation, which aided the journey to the most cost effective, fastest solution. Heeding advice to avoid the distraction of non-essential requirements allowed goals of speed and sufficiency to be met. The solution was a new, no-frills mobile app. The implementation was successful, with quick and effective rollout globally, resulting in an 80% improvement in time-entry accuracy.
Acquisition deal closed successfully with proven program management methods
SITUATION: A global tier 1 auto-supplier was being taken private under private equity purchase. They wanted to ensure they could close the deal mid-month with dozens of ERP systems. They needed project assurance services to facilitate coordination and orchestration of this detailed and complex initiative.
SERVICES: Project Assurance: Executive Program Management; Partner Ecosystem Building: Specialty Staffing
SUCCESS STORY: Executive program management methods with temporary skilled resources yielded critical alignment between multiple teams, including: Infrastructure, Applications, Accounting, FPA, and Plant Finance. Clarity and cohesion around approach, scope, milestones, and accountability made all the difference. The acquisition deal-close was successful and the approach was recognized as instrumental.
AI & IT LEADERSHIP
There are many IT challenges our clients report, and additional executive leadership horsepower, perspective, and experience can make things easier, more clear, reduce risks and increase productivity of your IT department.
- IT Spend Savings (average 15-20%), Contracts Review, Vendor-Value Assessment, Savings Alternatives. Get your current vendor spend and IT contracts evaluated. We’ll inform you about better pricing and provider options, leading to better deals. Most clients find important insights on IT spend and most importantly: significant savings.
- Fractional CIO and CAIO. Part time executive level services are effective and more affordable then hiring these roles full time. Ensure affordable, sufficient IT and AI strategy. Stay on track, invest wisely and prioritize clearly.
- IT Core Processes Assessment. Informative scorecard on IT aspects to know where you’ve got strengths and opportunities compared to your competitors.
- Cyber Security Assessment. We help identify security gaps to prioritize cyber initiatives. Cyber security protects your customers, employees and your business.
- Data Quality Assessment. Determine how to improve completeness, validity and usefulness of your data. Access information faster. Data enables key decisions making, and is not only a competitive advantage, but one of your most important business assets.
- IT Organization Evaluation. Understand more about your IT staff and if it is optimized for success and structured for accountability and delivery.
Success Stories
Take it to the bank savings per contract review and vendor spend optimization
SITUATION: An automotive supplier was keen to reduce recurring technology spend across its many IT contracts. They did not have a clear picture of their vendor-based spend totals or an understanding of the value of their paid services. They were overspending across network, telecom, infrastructure, and software, and couldn’t see it.
SERVICES: AI & Tech Leadership: IT Spend Savings, Fractional CIO; Partner Ecosystem Building: IT Services and Solutions
SUCCESS STORY: With fractional CIO direction, and an experienced services provider, the company saved an average of 15% annually on network and telecommunication costs, without heavy lifting or burdening their teams.
Gaining insight yields lower risk and realized savings when rationalizing licensing
SITUATION: A US-based manufacturing company with multiple, large software contracts did not have a clear picture of their technology vendor spend. They were often behind on renewals and were losing negotiation leverage. They were overspending on software licenses. Also, they were overusing licenses that they hadn’t purchased and were at risk of a software license audit that could have doubled their budgeted software costs not only for the current year, but for the previous 3 years.
SERVICES: AI and Tech Leadership: Fractional CIO, IT Spend Savings; Partner Ecosystem Building: IT Services and Solutions
SUCCESS STORY: By leveraging part-time IT leadership services to review IT budget, vendor partnerships, and taking advantage of specialist partner subscription services, the company was able to avoid the audit, improve their licensure strategy, and save recurring costs in their IT contract agreements.
Partner Ecosystem
AI and Tech benefits are fostered by key partnerships. We connect you to partners that provide solutions, software, staff and skills you need to meet your goals.
The world of AI and Tech vendors is vast and complicated. As generative AI solutions strike a cord with business owners and leaders, the supply market is stepping up. More and more solutions are available almost daily. For individual companies, it can be challenging to know who to turn to and which solutions to trust.
We are connected to vetted, trusted providers and we can guide you to and through partnerships that will be extremely beneficial to your company’s operations, goals and technology landscape. We make it easier to evaluate, select, negotiate and manage partners that provide critical technology services and AI solutions.
- Specialty Staffing. Skills and capacity needs evolve over time in IT. Hiring direct, full time staff isn’t always the answer. Contractor staffing solves this equation. We find contractor (non-FTE) top quality talent with common and speciality AI and IT skills. Uniquely, we specialize in part-time professionals, getting skills you need at a fraction of the cost. We save time and ensure top quality talent with our distinct assessment, reference reviews and psychographic evaluations. We also introduce you to game-changing skillsets that can quickly make impressive impacts and improvements.
- Managed Services Providers. We can help you find or improve services including: help/service desk (ITSM), infrastructure strategy, cloud configuration, mobile device management, end user computing (laptop and equipment procurement and imaging), end point and network cyber security, incident response, backups, and more.
- Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Network. Ensure you have the right carriers, providers, and pricing for any of your infrastructure services and products. Volume of vendors in this space is significant, and you have many options. Insights and data can tip the scales in your favor in terms of finding optimal third party providers.
- Managed Security Services Providers. Providing vulnerability scans, monitoring, patching, security solutions advice, Security Operations Center, SEIM, penetration testing, vendor risk assessments, security standards evaluation and security assessments, and more, we can help you evaluate and negotiate terms with MSSPs.
- IT Services and Solutions. Software, solutions, integrations, reporting and other options related to all departments and operations in your company can be difficult to navigate and having an experienced partner to help you prioritize your needs and evaluate options can make a big difference in spend and service quality.
Success Stories
Improved Cyber risk-management with informed vs. reactionary decisions
SITUATION: A midwestern, mid-sized property and casualty insurance company wanted to ensure their cyber security provisions were sufficient to protect their customers and their business. They wanted a roadmap of improvements over time for greater risk reduction.
SERVICES: Partner Ecosystem Building: MSSP; Project Assurance: Prioritization and Roadmapping
SUCCESS STORY: The C-suite benefited from partnering with an affordable, expert vendor that provided an understandable summary of results. The vendor performed vulnerability scans, penetration testing, and a Cyber Assessment against a trusted standards framework. The clear outline of prioritized gaps allowed them to make informed decisions about investments, risks, and resources. The company now operates with better risk posture, greater understanding and improved security acumen.
Specialty skillsets and proven techniques ensure regulatory compliance
SITUATION: A global manufacturing company was required to reach compliance in several countries with new eInvoicing tax regulations. They were at risk for fines and even operational disruption from failure to meet requirements and regulatory dates on time.
SERVICES: Partner Ecosystem Building: Specialty Staffing; Project Assurance: Executive Program Management
SUCCESS STORY: With guidance to apply program management methods, the multi-country regulatory requirements were streamlined into a single plan. Bringing on board a temporary specialist with IT, Tax, and Accounting knowledge, all regulatory dates and requirements were met. The Chief Accounting Officer, Head of FPA, and Supply Chain leaders were pleased with the clear progress, scope, reduction in risk, and status on delivery.
Preserving revenue by simplifying a heavily customized ERP
SITUATION: A 9-year-old leasing company was experiencing revenue leakage, and found their overly customized, undocumented ERP system was contributing to the loss based on system settings and inconsistent customizations. There was a lack of understanding of how the system should work under certain scenarios.
SERVICES: Partner Ecosystem Building: Specialty Staffing
SUCCESS STORY: By adding a specially-skilled platform expert for just 6 months, the ERP system was simplified, with custom-code removed. This took the system back to a simpler state and resulted in less consternation in Operations and reduced the need for IT support. Revenue loss was reduced and controlled. The CFO and VP of Sales were more than satisfied with the results.
Improved business-decisions with insights from better data quality
SITUATION: A 1000-person, midwestern company was uncertain how to improve data quality. Their new data visualization and dashboards were intended to improve decision making, but were showing they had incomplete, invalid, and out-of-date data that they couldn’t rely on to make decisions.
SERVICES: Partner Ecosystem Building: IT Services & Solutions; AI & IT Leadership: Data Quality Assessment
SUCCESS STORY: An expert vendor in data warehousing was selected and onboarded. A new action-based, cross-functional data governance committee was initiated. The departmental leaders and decision makers were quickly able to improve data quality and have confidence in their new dashboards and reports, leading to strategic growth.
Advisory Services
Advice and guidance from experienced experts in IT and AI can provide powerful perspective, get you quick answers, manage risks and fast-track results on your journey to business improvement through technology.
Executive leaders are busy. Their focus is often honed on running operations. Having a source for quick, sensible insights on AI and Tech saves them time and effort. Our clients refer to this as AI & Tech phone-a-friend and is highly regarded as one of our most valued offerings.
Technology team members focus on the day to day. However, with the ever-changing IT landscape and world of generative AI and other emerging technologies, it is important they get advice, insights and guidance. Advisory services and coaching for your Tech team is an option for professional development, with overall benefits for your business.
- Executive Leader Advisory Services for AI / IT. Tailored for busy executives; focuses on terms, concepts, and insights and perspective for sufficient understanding of options and trends in AI and Tech in functional areas or lines of business.
- IT/Tech Staff Professional Development. IT staff Advisory Services, including career and professional development as well as IT organization structure and roles and responsibilities evaluation for your existing technology team members.
Success Stories
Improving C-suite communication for critical HR systems digital transformation
SITUATION: A $1B services company was undertaking an HR technology transformation and had a track record of failed software implementations. The HR leadership team required clear decision points, timely risk warnings, and reliable status updates amongst the many concurrent workstreams. The IT Manager leading the effort was effective in all the tasks and details, but not always in the higher level executive communication, leaving the Steering Committee lost in too much information, questioning the program and its progress.
SERVICES: Advisory Services: IT/Tech Staff Professional Development
SUCCESS STORY: Our Advisory Services provided improved executive communication, as well as core project management and agile implementation methods. The CIO, CHRO and HR Leadership Team had a clearer understanding of the program. They were enabled to make critical decisions and ultimately realized a successful, low-risk, on-time, and on-budget HR core systems digital transformation.
Enhancing IT talent leads to better Tech results and company-wide benefits
SITUATION: A privately held mature startup needed enhanced strategic technology leadership. Their goal was to take their technological capabilities – and their company – to the next level. The executive team was hoping their current IT Director would develop additional skills and abilities in executive presentation, strategy, and IT departmental leadership.
SERVICES: Advisory Services: Executive Leader Advisory Services for AI/IT
SUCCESS STORY: Advisory Services empowered the leader of IT with frameworks, executive communication methods, and confidence. The improved IT leadership and direction, enhanced skills, executive-level strategic thinking and new approaches led to better outcomes. The IT team’s solutions and contributions to company goals improved and resulted in enhancing the company’s overall success. Also, the employee was elevated from Director to VP, a well warranted promotion.