Clients often ask me, “Does your company do X?” or “Do you have someone that knows Y?” With over 20 years in consulting, it might be easy to just say, “Of course we do.” But my focus has always been on building a team rooted in Engineering Excellence and leaving clients better off than when we started. That’s why I take a moment to pause, consider the impact of my answer, and instead ask, “Have you heard about Z?” It’s about flipping the conversation and truly understanding what’s best for the client. 

When I think about what makes 3Ci different, I lean into our moral compass of leaving our clients in a better place than when we got there. As our clients are focused entirely on running a successful business, our primary focus should be uncovering tools, technologies, and processes to help our clients be more successful. This methodology of adopting emerging tools and technologies is depicted below:

As I began my journey at 3Ci, we, as a leadership team, quickly realized the importance of establishing Communities of Practice (CoPs). These groups enhance knowledge sharing, collaboration, professional development, and delivery excellence. They are also the driving force behind the innovation and adoption of new tools and technologies. Honestly, this is where the magic happens. 

As I began my journey at 3Ci, we, as a leadership team, quickly realized the importance of establishing Communities of Practice (CoPs). These groups enhance knowledge sharing, collaboration, professional development, and delivery excellence. They are also the driving force behind the innovation and adoption of new tools and technologies. Honestly, this is where the magic happens. 

Identify and Evaluate

The first step is to identify new technologies/tools. At 3Ci, we follow a structured approach that combines continuous monitoring, rigorous assessment, and strategic decision-making. 

During our monthly CoP meetings, we discuss “new technologies/business trends.” During this meeting segment, we discuss what our team members see in the marketplace. We utilize news portals, announcements from key industry leaders, tech conferences/webinars, and essential curation of RSS feeds. These items are added to our existing list of “new technologies/tools.” At that point of the meeting, we discuss whether any of these tools are “viable.” You might be asking yourself, what does that mean? 

During our CoP meetings, we bring in our senior leaders to get updates on what we see in the marketplace. If this specific tool/technology is not being discussed or even mentioned, we will put it in the backlog. 

Finally, we evaluate the tool/technology on these five factors: 

1. Adoption Cost
2. Potential Threats
3. Capability
4. Usability
5. Interoperability

This evaluation happens outside the CoP and typically takes 1-2 weeks to ensure we have given the tool/technology the due diligence it deserves. 

Adoption Cost

Every tool or technology has an associated cost that needs to be weighed before we begin developing expertise within that domain. For instance, if a new technology is launched but the cost to obtain it does not make sense to evaluate, we will add it to the backlog. Similarly, if the price of implementing the technology at a client makes the barrier to entry not feasible, we will add it to the backlog. 

Potential Threats

During this evaluation, we will ensure that the technology does not pose unnecessary risks. We will review various data sources to ensure that the technology is ready to be used, has not undergone security reviews, and does not negatively impact society in a way that could ruin a business. This evaluation focuses on vetting the tool and the organization behind it. 

Capability

The simplest evaluation of them all is, “What does this tool/technology allow our clients to do”? When we are looking into emerging technologies/tools, we want to make sure that they “move the needle” at the client. When we think of “moving the needle,” the tool/technology needs to have one of these four key aspects: 

1. Tangible Impact 
   • The tool/technology should produce concrete, observable results, for example: 
     • Increasing revenue or profitability 
     • Improving operational efficiency 
     • Enhancing customer satisfaction 
     • Accelerating product development 
     • Reducing costs 
2. Scalability 
   • The ability for the tool/technology to be implemented across multiple departments or processes, amplifying their impact throughout the organization. 
3. Competitive Advantage 
   • Truly needle-moving innovations can set a company apart from its competitors, offering unique capabilities or efficiencies that are difficult to replicate. 
4. Cultural Shift 
   • The ability for the tool/technology to lead to a shift in organizational culture, fostering innovation, agility and adaptability. 

Usability

Most new tools and technology can disrupt the marketplace, but at what cost? If the implementation is not easy and we at 3Ci cannot use the technology effectively and efficiently, we will not recommend it to our clients. 

Interoperability

Our evaluation’s last and final checkpoint is ensuring that the technology/tool advances our competitive advantage and aligns with our capabilities. For instance, we may not consider a tool that replaces Microsoft Excel. Although that technology will replace an older one, it does not complement our capabilities. 

Develop Expertise

Once the team has agreed upon a tool/technology that is “viable,” we ask volunteers to take time to develop expertise in the tool/technology. This can look a few different ways: 

• Personal Projects 
  • A team member might already be working on a solution that uses this tool or technology, or they might have a “pet” project that uses it. 
• Experimentation 
  • We ask the team to “play around” with the new tools/technology and return to the team with a showcase of the tool/technology. 
• Contribution 
  • As the team leverages the new tool or technology, we ask them to contribute to the project via “pull requests” or feature requests to find ways to improve it. 

POC and POV

After the team demonstrates the tool/technology expertise, we move into the proof-of-concept and point-of-view phases. 

POC

During the POC, we want to demonstrate the new tool/technology in a real-world scenario and compare the solution without the new tool. The CoP can then ask questions challenging the feasibility of the solution and determine whether it makes sense to proceed. 

If the team agrees with the path forward, we write a POV. 

POV

The POV allows 3Ci to demonstrate our expertise in the new capability and showcase our talent by differentiating ourselves from competitors. It also gives us significant sales collateral to build credibility and trust with decision-makers. 

Integrate into Service Offerings

Lastly, we integrate the new tool or technology into our service offerings. In layman’s terms, we walk through the latest technology with our sales team, explaining the solution’s use cases, why an organization would leverage this technology, and what to listen for when selling the solution. 

3Ci’s process allows us to thoroughly vet tools and technologies, which not only grows our team’s expertise but also empowers our sales team to pursue new accounts and opportunities with confidence. This approach ensures we deliver the best outcomes for our clients while fostering innovation and growth within our organization. 

Are you curious about how our tailored strategies and forward-thinking approach can drive success for your business? Contact us today to discover how we can help turn your challenges into opportunities!