Technology Solutions: The Recipe vs Shopping Lists

Several years ago the controller and de facto I.T. Director of a company in Arizona asked me to come in for a meeting.

How my name got in front of her is a story for another day. Suffice to say, I'd sent her an email about how many (most) organizations felt their I.T. ROI (value returned for money spent) left a bitter taste in their mouths.

Her response to me was short and emphatic.

"We have a little bit of everything here and often have no idea what it does or why. Can you come in for a meeting to discuss this?"

In her office we spoke about their current technology. She gave me a quick tour of their server room - ie: closet space. It was fine.

We went back to her desk and I asked her about the company: Where people work? What software they use? How remote sales/satellite offices connected and/or provide updates to the system?

I asked where the company was going? Where management saw growth potential? What their biggest frustrations were when it came to how they used technology, the data they captured, and the type of reports it provided? I asked what projects that had been completed, failed, or were never undertaken?

System Wide Upgrade

She had mentioned earlier that they were looking to upgrade their technology - their servers, desktop computers, software, remote connectivity, and more.

After discussing the various questions and ideas above she pulled out a file and laid three multi-page documents in front of me.

"These are quotes from three different vendors for upgrading our network and infrastructure. None of them asked me the things you did or discussed our future business plans."

She explained that one quote was for $160,000, one was for $190,000, and one was for $230,000. Not earth-shattering prices but for a small (100 person) company, substantial enough.

"While I'm inclined to choose the less expensive quote, I couldn't tell you, beyond price, why?

And then...

"Could you review them and help me select which one is best?"

I told her I couldn't really do that. Not because I can't review the quotes but because the approach was flawed.

I said:

"It could be that $160,000 is what you need to spend. But it could be $230,000. It might even be $350,000 or more. Or, it might be $50,000."

I continued:

"These are all shopping lists. You don't have a recipe. You need a recipe!"

"I suspect each of these proposals have some great ingredients. I'm fairly certain, with some decent planning and thought, we can improve your technology with those ingredients. We can cook something up that taste better than what we can make with the ingredients you have now."

"But without a recipe, I couldn't effectively tell you which shopping list is best or if any of them are the right shopping list."

She asked the next, logical, question:

"How do we get a good recipe?"

To which I replied:

"I help you create a great recipe. I meet with you, ownership, management, and key personnel to understand what's needed - in the immediate and for the company's future plans."

Which is what we did. Over the next three weeks I helped them formulate a technology blueprint - a recipe - to deliver high-value technology across the organization.

I recall meeting with the founder of the company. Just he and I in their conference room - a room where I'd met with him, his leadership team, and numerous personnel over the past three weeks. This, along with some departmental immersion - spending time in departments, working with end-users from management to customer service reps - had given me a fair amount of insight into many opportunities for dramatic improvement.

In the end, we ended up with significantly better aligned technology, at less costs than the shopping lists they had been provided.

The founder, holding my technology plan, said:

"Okay, I love what you've provided but how do we put all this in place?"

My answer:

"You hire me as your Fractional CIO/CTO and Strategic IT Consultant."

I explained:

"While I saved you money on the technology purchase, you are going to pay me those savings and in return have technology that provides real value."

He actually laughed. But he also agreed.

Over the next 12 months I, along with some hand-selected help, implemented that plan. I continued consulting with them, nearly full-time, for another 9 months and then sporadically for another year until the company was sold to a larger corporate entity.

While the first push of the plan involved several infrastructure upgrades - network & gear - the higher-value work, and where organizations still feel they don't get the bang for their I.T. dollar, was in streamlined reporting systems and workflow automation.

Additionally, and this is a hidden value-killer, I uncovered numerous opportunities for function specific training. Making users more knowledgeable about the tools they use - just Excel alone is a big one - is one of the FASTEST and MOST EFFECTIVE methods to get more from your I.T. spending.

I told the controller, who became a close friend, that my goal was to be a superhero to the organization. More importantly, it was to enable everyone using technology to become a superhero in their domain.

An organization of technology superheroes, at the user level, is powerful!

Recipe Versus Shopping List Thinking

The upside of a recipe is that you know what to shop for. It isn't a money saver, necessarily, but it is an money optimizer.

When I have been brought in and asked to help bring a project back on track, in time, or under budget, I push back. Similar to what I had explained to the controller in our first meeting:

"I can't promise you your project will come in on time or under budget. That's not what I do. I can promise you that it will be the right project. That's far more important."

Well... it should be more important.

There are times that people in an organization would rather stoke the engines of a train headed toward a broken track and an inevitable crash, than stop the train, fix or change the track, and then stoke the engine. This is usually an ego or fear driven response.

This to is also a discussion for another day.

Concluding Thoughts

When I wrote, Building Your I.T. Career (published by Pearson), while I covered resumes, cover-letters, interview skills, etc. - the real message was to convince I.T. professionals to view technology for its role in, and value to, the organization.

I re-read my book recently. I don't know if I got through any three page stretch where I don't discuss understanding and growing the value you bring the organization you serve.

Thinking in terms of the recipe - what we want to make; nutrients and taste - rather than a list of ingredients (components), even really tasty ingredients, will help you see and build technology that is more holistic and yields higher value.