What is Digital Garage?

Finding the right strategic advisory partner can take time, and many firms may be struggling with sufficient criteria that they can use to find a partner that will be able to add value in the short, medium, and long-term. 

 Some of the preliminary questions that you may ask are as follows:

• Do they have the specialist knowledge needed?
• Do they have enough manpower to deliver? 
• Are the services cost-effective without sacrificing the quality?

Although these questions are a great way to start filtering out at a top-line level, we’ve created a short guide on the three areas/specialisms you can use to identify the right strategy advisory partner – enabling you to assess beyond the basics.

Strategy

Ultimately, your strategy and your strategic advisory partner need to be aligned – not necessarily on the process, as they’ll help you to create this, but more on the short, medium, and long-term goals. You want to know whether this partner has delivered to other organisations of similar ilk, so you can a) know that they’re capable and b) understand the learnings and ensure that your process runs smoother. 

Ultimately, a strategic advisory partner is there to guide you on all layers of your strategy, so understanding their process, approach, and how they look to implement your agreed strategy is crucial before deciding to partner with them.

You can assess for this by simply seeing case studies where they have delivered similar outcomes, or working together on a smaller project to check that you’re aligned before diving into something deeper. 

Infrastructure and operations

Infrastructure and operations constitute a large portion of what makes a great strategic advisory partner. 

Although your partner will already be advising you on best practice on how to utilise your infrastructure and operational abilities, it’s crucial that they have an up to date, but also holistic understanding of infrastructure and operations beyond the basics. They must also be able to look at the scalability of what they’re proposing – particularly in high-growth businesses or those that span across multiple locations. 

What works for one organisation isn’t guaranteed to work for another – so understanding how they look at infrastructure and operations as a whole is crucial. 

Technology and innovation

The right strategic advisory partner will look to connect companies with emerging (but also appropriate) technologies. 

This could be automation or the cloud, but it could also be implementing CRM’s or rolling out training to ensure that individuals within an organisation are appropriately upskilled. A strategic advisory partner within technology should also have their finger on the pulse of the changing market trends, and advise based on this. 

What are the benefits of using a strategic advisory partner?

Expertise and knowledge: Strategic advisory partners have a breadth of experience and knowledge, as well as working with a wide range of organisations, technologies, and solutions. This versatility enables them to create bespoke processes but also advise with real-world experience!

Access to resources and a strong network: Whether it is human resource, or simply connecting you with sales or technical professionals – strategic advisory partners provide access to these individuals or services quicker than you’d be able to source it yourself in most circumstances. 

Track record and case studies: Strategic advisory partners – regardless of their specialisms, have an incredible track record and have executed difficult mandates time and time again. 

This means that they’ve (most likely) encountered mistakes and figured out how to mitigate them on future projects. This not only saves time when working with an advisory partner, but also reduces the risk that can come with taking on projects on your own.

At IFO advisory group, we look to consult and create bespoke solutions across multiple areas to benefit our clients and enable them to achieve their goals. To learn more about how we can help you, contact one of our specialist consultants today.