Let’s be clear - business transformation can be ambiguous

Back in 2018, Ben Dainton, who has worked in cyber security for over 20 years, partnered with Sinclair Elliott, a specialist in business transformation and credit card migrations, to create a new breed of IT transformation consultancy. Here, Ben explains how clarity and collaboration is key to Iridium’s success. 

 

"Our model is built for the way people do business today. The traditional consultancy model is made up of teams of permanent staff who are much more generalist. Our model, which sees us working with a network of fantastic consultants, can be scaled-up very quickly, and every team or solution we deliver is bespoke specifically to a client’s problem - taking into account their unique requirements, type of industry and capabilities of internal teams. 

 

"There are more than two options. Clients looking for transformation typically believe they have one of two choices. Consultancies, who may have a great name but very rarely deliver, or recruiters, who place bums-on-seats. But what we offer sits in-between the two of these options, joining the dots so that our clients get everything under one roof. 

 

"Clients rarely know what to expect when they work with a business transformation consultancy. Consultancies can be expensive, offering little value for money, resulting in uncertainty or bad decisions - like using many different suppliers, which can be messy and confusing. 

 

"We believe it’s crucial to be open from the very start. If a client is clear on what to expect, then we are free to get on with our job and leave our clients with the lasting change they desire. We approach every challenge with a complimentary, half-day meeting which enables us to provide a straight-forward proposal. This will address the problem very clearly, what our response will be, as well as the outputs, and will also include timescales and costs. 

 

"Seeing is believing. We want to show people, not tell them, exactly what they’ll receive when they choose to work with us, which is why we’re in the process of developing our sample report section on our new website. The current state cyber security assessment report, which is available to download right now, is based on “the best report we’ve ever received” according to our client. Many organisations don’t commission current state assessments because they think they’ll simply be told what they already know. In some cases, this will be true, but, as you can see from our report, we also include advice on how to solve problems, along with a clear remediation report. 

 

"We work with, not for, our clients to deliver change. When working with a business, we need to understand their problems and pain points so we can work collaboratively with them to cut though these problems and allow them to realise the benefits and cost savings of successful changes. Good change always comes from the top-down, so we work with, and drive change, alongside the management team. We then augment the delivery team with our own team of associates or our client outsources the entire function to us. 

 

"All successful outcomes are built on listening, flexibility and transparency. Strong consulting and delivery is all about asking the right questions, listening, and then asking more questions. Play that back to the client so they know you understand their problem, and then put an effective plan in place to get them to where they want to be. When change programmes fail, or are reversed, it’s usually because the plan was not right from the start. 

 

"We help clients to stand on their own two feet. Our remediation reports are integral to our current state assessments. We don’t just tell our clients their problems, we show them how to fix them by making changes across people, process and technology. Most consultancies will do the assessment and not really be clear on the advice bit, but having worked as internal managers, as well as working with major consultancies, Sinclair and I understand the downfalls - which is why we created Iridium to be different." 

 

Download our current state cyber security assessment report here or contact ben.Dainton@ir77.co.uk to discuss your business transformation needs.