By John Monahan
As I see it, the best part of my job is helping clients solve tough questions.
If we are truly going to achieve our vision of being a trusted partner with our customers, we can’t simply be focused on selling products. We need to ensure that we are offering the right resources to help those businesses take care of what they need today and are positioned to grow smartly with the strategic use of their IT resources.
Being a trusted partner is about more than just supporting infrastructure, it’s about ensuring that our clients understand the current industry environment and have a vision of what’s coming next. That’s a big reason we host a handful of CIOs from around the region at our ongoing retreat series, held at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. For two days, we step away from the daily business operations and take a deeper dive into the future state of IT.
The centerpiece of the weekend is an exclusive three-hour session with HP’s Chief Creatologist, Joe Batista. Yes, we know that’s not a common title, but the greatest value that Joe delivers is that he isn’t a conventional IT executive. His role is about helping HP clients discover, unlock and unleash the power of innovation, a common theme in the many years that he has joined in our CTG retreats. Joe talks about how to think differently about your business, your technology and your assets in ways that drive new growth and real results. It’s how to use IT, if you will, to change the game.
Why is this so important?
1. The world is getting more complex, and we need creative approaches to find the best answers. To gain the competitive advantages required, businesses need to look for more than off-the-shelf solutions. They need to know how to leverage both their legacy and emerging technologies – along with their human resources - to work in innovative ways.
2. We learn from others. Just like the best technologies can’t exist in a silo, we can’t try to sit apart to plan out the next technology steps. With this opportunity to talk with other technology executives, participants can look at the bigger picture and learn about best practices that they can apply to their current challenges and opportunities.
3. Technology fuels innovation. You can have the best or most unique business idea, but getting it to market today requires the smartest IT backbone. If it’s simple and straightforward, someone has probably already done it. To distinguish yourself and your product, you need to come at your business in ways that you probably have yet to consider – and you need to develop the strategic mindset and identify the tools to help you make those dreams into realities with bottom-line gains.
We’re looking forward to hearing the latest visions and insights from Joe, whom we have access to as part of our Platinum Partnership with HP. We’ll be sharing more in the days ahead, so be sure to keep following CTG on our social channels.
John Monahan is co-founder of Convergent Technologies Group.
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