Top 4 benefits of hiring a digital strategy consultant

Many companies wonder what are the benefits of using a digital strategy consultant, a role often fulfilled by an experienced CIO or CTO. We see 4 specific areas where digital strategy consultants bring advantages over internal staff or other experts.

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”.

Freeman Clarke often leads digital strategy creation and acts as a consultancy. We have unparalleled experience of devising, leading and implementing digital transformations for mid-market businesses. We bring broader experience, methodologies, impartiality and access to a wider network.

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