What are the benefits of hiring a digital strategy consultant? Many mid-market businesses ask this question when they begin reviewing their technology and digital strategy. An experienced digital strategy consultant, often a CIO, CTO or CISO, can help leadership teams identify opportunities, reduce risk and create a clear roadmap for digital transformation.
We see four specific areas where a digital strategy consultant can bring advantages over internal staff or other experts. These advantages often become clearer as organisations scale and face more complex technology and digital strategy decisions.
Broader experience
Digital strategy consultants will typically be working with a wider range of businesses, in both your sector and in adjacent sectors.
For most companies, strategic reviews are relatively rare, whereas for consultants this is bread and butter and they are able to bring a wide range of recent experiences to bear.
It’s important to have experiences from the same sector, but we would also point to extremely valuable experiences from adjacent or entirely different sectors. For example, B2C e-commerce has seen major innovations in recent years that have shifted people’s expectations and these are now being reflected in changes in B2B e-commerce.
Methodology
Corralling a management team through a strategic review process can be a difficult challenge in itself.
Part of the challenge is to present a simple, sensible and appropriate methodology that the leadership is confident with. Digital strategy consultants are able to refer to a range of methodologies and established practices that they have used many times and are able to confidently follow.
The consultant’s confidence in the methodology can create momentum and enthusiasm that is transformational in itself.
Impartial
Impartiality has a number of different aspects. Of course, it includes being distant from the internal politics and the competing objectives of different leaders within the organisation. It also means not being tied to particular solution vendors and other external teams.
The best digital strategy consultants are able to work through internal battles and to recommend what is right for the organisation rather than receiving commissions or other incentives to sell particular products.
Access to wider network / other outside experts
Digital strategy consultants are often able to access other networks of experts and advisors. These include specific functional experts as well as companies who can implement their recommendations.
This is obviously useful in itself but also means that they can check the achievability of their recommendations during their consultancy intervention. They can, for example, create a vision to match a budget rather than working in a vacuum, and they can ensure that further partners are lined up to deliver the vision rather than just creating a “white elephant”.
Another important benefit of working with a digital strategy consultant is the ability to turn strategic thinking into practical action. Many organisations understand that technology and digital capabilities are essential for growth, but translating high-level ideas into a clear and achievable roadmap can be difficult.
An experienced consultant can help leadership teams prioritise initiatives, sequence projects and ensure that investment in systems, data and digital platforms is aligned with business objectives. This structured approach reduces the risk of costly missteps and ensures that technology decisions support long-term performance.
For mid-market organisations in particular, where resources must be carefully allocated, a digital strategy consultant can help focus effort on the initiatives that will deliver the greatest commercial impact.
Freeman Clarke often acts as a digital strategy consultant for mid-market businesses. Our experienced CIOs, CTOs and CISOs bring broad experience, proven methodologies, impartial advice and access to a wider network of experts to help organisations design and deliver successful digital transformations, ensuring technologyinvestments translate into measurable business outcomes, sustainable growth and long-term competitive advantage.