Technology review

Most owner-managed businesses reach a point where technology stops feeling like an engine and starts feeling like a brake. Projects take longer and cost more than anyone expected. Everyone is talking about AI, and nobody agrees where it would pay. One supplier, one system or one person holds more of the business than anyone is comfortable with. The usual answer is to buy something, hire someone or start another project. Often the cause is somewhere else entirely. This review finds it.

Who it is for

Owners and managing directors of businesses of up to a few hundred people, in engineering, manufacturing, product and services companies, where technology matters to the business but there is no one senior and independent to ask. It also suits a leadership team that is about to spend serious money on technology and wants a second opinion before it does.

What it answers

Three questions, in this order. What is actually holding you back, as distinct from what people say is holding you back. Which of it matters to the business, and which is noise. What to do next: what to stop, what to fix and what to leave alone, in the order that pays.

It covers the technology, the people and suppliers around it, and the direction it is meant to serve, because the problem is rarely in only one of them. Where AI is part of the question, it covers where it would pay, where your data would go and what you would depend on.

How it works

Three to four days of my time over two to three weeks, including the write-up. A short call to agree the questions that matter to you. Conversations with you, with whoever leads your technology (staff or supplier) and with two or three people who use the systems every day. A read of what already exists: the roadmap, architecture notes, contracts and costs. Then a written report, and a session with you and anyone you choose to go through it.

What you get

Findings ranked by business risk and cost, in plain English. A short list of next steps, in order, each with an owner. The questions to put to your team or your suppliers next. Fixed in scope and price, agreed before we start.

Not sure yet?

Start with the free Strategic Deficit Check or the AI Ladder Check. Both take a few minutes, and your answers stay in your browser. Or book a 30-minute conversation.

Afterwards

The report is written so you can act on it yourselves. If you want help doing so, I can stay on as an adviser for an agreed number of days a month: holding the direction, checking the work of your team or suppliers, and being someone senior to think out loud with. There is no obligation. I advise; I do not build your system or take commission from suppliers, so the recommendation is not shaped by who wins the work.