TransformationIQ

“IT can be an organisation’s Achilles’ heel – it can make it harder to achieve things. But James gets it, unlike many people I’ve met before.”

- Simon Hughes, Director

 We recently caught up with one of our longstanding clients and collaborators, Simon from Transformation IQ, to get his views on digital transformation and how IT decisions can make or break a business.

Transformation IQ are a team of expert consultants who help organisations become more impactful and profitable by transforming the ways their people work through their technology, processes, structures, systems, and relationships. On any given day they can advise on organisational design, request for proposals (RFPs), human resources information systems (HRIS) – think payroll, workflow and processes – and help build HR teams’ capabilities and structures. A key focus area is supporting organisations to successfully manage change and its impact.

Their clients generally have around 150 to 500 employees, although they’ve done targeted projects for clients with 2,000 employees. What their customers have in common is they have complex needs and big aspirations, but they don’t always have the budget for the Big Four consultancy firms or high-cost HR models

Simon, you’ve worked with Unisphere for four years. Why do you continue working with us?

Having been exposed to people in small and large organisations here and overseas, James is the best I’ve come across. He’s the one that understands the relationship between what the organisation is trying to achieve at a strategic level and how IT can be used to enable that.  

In a lot of organisations, IT can be the Achilles’ heel – it can make it harder to achieve things, through poor investment, unclear IT strategy or capital constraints. James gets it, unlike many people I’ve met before. He understands what it takes – what a business is trying to achieve and how technology can enable it; and most importantly, the best way to get real value from their investment. On that basis I’d put him in front of any of my clients – no hesitation.

What do you think makes us different?

 Working with James can be refreshing and challenging. James will tell you not to waste your money on a certain idea or new gimmicks. He’ll say, ‘give me 48 hours and I’ll come back to you with something better and more cost effective’; and he will. It can be quite confronting, the pace at which he thinks and the depth of understanding he has!

Tell us about that…

 He’s had years of experience studying the market and being curious. A lot of the time people aren’t curious enough about what’s going on outside their own business or on the market’s periphery.  James has got an insatiable appetite to learn and he’s able to synthesise a whole lot of information to create a meaningful recommendation quite quickly.

Why is curiosity so important?

James not only understands how technology works, but he also really understands how businesses make money, the strategic advantage they hold and how to scale that. He also deeply understands the commercials behind how licensing and commercial deals operate. He will know relatively quickly which is the best functional fit and cost-effective option based on your end game. He’ll understand the right choice for the longer-term or he will say ‘don’t waste your money, there's actually a better option’. He has solid knowledge of how businesses and commercial deals work and how IT architecture performs to extract the best value out of those licensing arrangements.

From your experience, why is making the right IT decisions so important, particularly in a New Zealand context?

 In New Zealand, companies generally don't have a lot of capital to invest into IT. Because of the size of the market, a lot of companies don’t have big dollars to invest into architecture so it’s really important to get it right, spend your money wisely, and not keep on doing things that don’t work.

Can you give us a real-world example of this?

 James and I worked with one client who previously had several goes at trying to find software for their work management system. They had lots of variable systems and James was able to go, ‘right, we are not doing this again. Let’s review what you’ve actually got. Is there anything that’s salvageable before we go and buy something else, and what can we reuse or reframe?’

Then he’d say, ‘we need one solution that meets all the needs of the business, which are quite varied. And how do we do that properly?’

With Unisphere, there's no vested interest, no conflict of interest around what you’re selling. As opposed to some places which can be heavily vendor driven around their own commercial relationships. James is agnostic around systems. So, you’ll get advice based on what’s best for you.

What’s been the most valuable aspect about using Unisphere?

 I know that anyone James puts in front of me is at the top of their game. He’s a very good recruiter. If James puts someone on a project they're going to deliver. Because he hires well, he can take a governance role – although he’ll step in if unexpected challenges arise and that can be on the vendor side because the complexity becomes a bit more than we thought. He doesn’t just walk away. He monitors and he’s active when he needs to be. He’ll ask ‘how much interaction do I need to have to keep this on track for the customer?’ As opposed to looking over everyone's shoulder all the time. If you’re hiring good people you can let them get on with their job.

Thanks Simon for your insights and feedback.

To sum up, Simon’s top recommendations for effective digital transformation in New Zealand are:

• curiosity and in-depth market knowledge

• getting it done right the first time

• reviewing which systems and processes are salvageable and what has to go

• being independent, not vendor driven

• spending your money wisely and taking a long-term view

• understanding the commercial aspects of licensing arrangements and cutting through the fluff

• recruiting your people wisely and letting them get on with the job.

• And, of course, if you need help leading your team through the change, get James to hook you up with TransformationIQ

Has IT become your Achilles’ heel?

Get in touch with James and the team at Unisphere today. We can help you with all things cyber security, digital transformation and IT strategy.