Across the Consulting industry it is always a fair idea to keep the revenue engine moving, especially in an unprecedented environment where digital transformation is booming. Most consulting firms have emphasized the importance of digital change and have been formulating strategies and deriving solutions that fit the complexities of IT infrastructure, improving performance, scalability and revenue. Innovation Vista, with a network of C-level IT leaders, have been providing innovative industry-relevant solutions for clients’ most strategic decision points, by combining capabilities of innovation and tech consulting. Jeff Roberts, Founder and CEO of Innovation Vista met with the CEOViews team to share details on how they help business accelerate their growth.
Inception and mission
After 5 tenures as CIO for midsize companies, Jeff decided to launch Innovation Vista, to bring IT leadership services on a contract basis to small and midsize companies. Over the years they have build a consulting network of over 300 successful former C-level IT leaders, choosing the best fit for each client’s needs and tech vision based on technical expertise and industry experience. They further empower these expert consultants with an award-winning innovation framework and a subscribed best-practices library of IT solutions to guide quick and insightful actions.
Approach
Thinking beyond traditional IT goals, the company has developed a unique approach to technology innovation that goes beyond efficiency. Innovation Vista provides proven C-level IT leaders to serve clients across the full spectrum of IT capabilities as a progression in tech maturity, from being able to run systems reliably, to connecting them for efficiencies, and ultimately, to opening new business model capabilities via Digital Transformation.
Combines innovation and technology
Operating globally across all major verticals, via white-label partnerships and direct to clients, Innova- tion Vista combines capabilities of Innovation Consulting and Technology Consulting firms. Leveraging IT and digital capabilities, they empower clients’ IT departments to generate revenue and become profit centers. These capabilities enable some clients to transform their business models and disrupt their industries. Through technology consulting, they try to improve the performance, stability and capabilities of the organisation and help clients in applying the optimal combination of technologies to solve business problems and take advantage of business opportunities. Their innovation consulting helps to discover and develop new ideas for products, services, supply or delivery chain, at times surfacing new ideas to revamp the client’s entire business model.
Thinking beyond traditional IT goals, the company has developed a unique approach to technology innovation that goes beyond efficiency.
Standing out from peers
In addition to looking for technical skills and experience relevant for clients’ goals, Innovation Vista matches them with a consultant who has experience in their sector, so they walk in the door knowing the basics of the industry and can understand how the client is seeking to differentiate themselves. Speak- ing more about what differentiates them, Jeff said, “Unlike most of our competitors, we don’t have a bench of a few consultants that we place like square pegs in round holes; instead we have a network of over 300 proven, experienced C-level leaders from whom we can choose the best fit for each client’s industry, strategy, and culture in an affordable consulting relationship that leverages their expertise for real innovation.”
Innovation and culture
Innovation Vista has a proprietary framework focused on surfacing opportunities for IT and data to have an impact on revenue. There are often valuable new ideas of efficiencies for clients. Unlike other firms, Innovation Vista helps clients positioned and interested in top-line innovation to go “beyond efficiency” to monetize their IT and data creating new revenue stream to accelerate existing business modals.
Talking about the firm’s culture, Jeff said, “We have a very empowered culture, being blessed with an expert team of consultants who bring with them vast experience and skills. While we support them with the materials and subscriptions, it’s important to us to minimize the interference between those consultants and our clients. We are very selective regarding our CIO consultants, whom we are willing to put on our team. Besides having a technical background, they must have an innovative mindset to think as much as a business leader as a technology leader.”
Bringing top-flight IT leaders within reach
One of the strongest value propositions they bring to clients is the leverage on the experts’ time. These are top-flight IT leaders who’ve succeeded in the C-suite across their career. Clients generally don’t have the budget to hire them full-time, but the value they deliver on those “highest leverage” decision points is more than worth their investment. Jeff feels that only the most experienced and most confident of CIO consultants understand the power of this model and are willing to take fractional roles.
Thinking beyond traditional IT goals, the company has developed a unique approach to technology innovation that goes beyond efficiency.
Future vision
Speaking about their plans for expanding, Jeff said, “We continue to grow organically as more small and midsize organizations hear about our unique approach. Growth via acquisition is a future possibility, but strategically, it would need to be a good match on capabilities and approach with how we operate today.”
Jeff believes that the true secret of effective innovation is to combine the expertise of consultants with the ideas currently locked in the heads of the client’s employees. In doing so, they avoid the most common consulting mistake of coming in as a “consultant know-it-all”. Creating an innovative vision needs ideas from both an expert consultant and the client’s staff who live and breathe the work every day.
Innovation Vista helps clients to achieve optimization and efficiency with their innovation and technology and based on their unique approach, are worthy of inclusion in our list of “most innovative companies”.
