International Medical Association
International Medical Association Gets More Done with Expert Technology Consultation
The Challenge
Regarding CIO positions, opportunities are often created out of challenges. Such was the situation when Mark Moen was afforded the CIO role at a leading, international medical association.
Although the organization was continuing to provide vital and high-quality services to their members and industry, there were many challenges facing their technology team.
As with many organizations during the pandemic, but specifically with associations, critical internal IT resources were already stretched thin. Mark found himself and the team with more issues to address than they could juggle in the timeframe the association desired. He decided to seek assistance from an outsourced technology expert.
As with many smaller, fast-paced organizations, their CIO had too much on his plate. He needed a partner experienced in SaaS product development to validate his assumptions. He needed someone that was able to move the needle and push to get things done, someone that could identify problems before they happened and help navigate as true a course as possible. He also needed someone that would bring his own extensive rolodex to the table to provide resources and support in whatever areas that were needed.
The Solution
Brian Scott with ClearTone Consulting fully understood Mark’s challenges as he has sat in the same seat and faced these situations as well. He understood how important it is for a new CIO to be able to effectively demonstrate progress while maintaining steady-state on existing backlog and production support.
While Mark would focus on several of the most critical and sizable issues within the association, he asked Brian to address several of the important but more internally focused challenges. He engaged Brian to assess and improve the software development, release, and support life cycle. He also asked Brian to engage the customer service team and lead an effort to select a new vendor to supply centralized call center voice, chat, email, and SMS support channels.
“Brian continues to collaborate effectively with both technical team and operational leaders to move the needle". – Mark Moen, CIO
The Impact
Brian was able to engage with the technology software development and networking infrastructure team members, build a trusted rapport with them, and dive deep into their ongoing processes. With the information exchanged through these trusted relationships, Brian was able to recommend a process automation solution in which the team was enthused and supportive. Through the engagement process, the team even made several process changes that minimized communication confusion prior to finalizing a plan for continuous automated deployments.
Brian was also able to build trust with the customer service team, guide them through a requirement gathering process, solicit vendor responses through a rapid-RFP process, and ultimately select a vendor with unanimous support from staff. Customer service team members are excited about the value the new system will bring to them in terms of productivity and capabilities. They are equally as excited to provide improved support to their member customers by bringing new support channels online.
Mark commented, “Brian helped my team understand that he was here to do things ‘with them’ and ‘for them’… not ‘to them’. Brian continues to collaborate effectively with both technical team and operational leaders to move the needle.
The Impact
Brian was able to engage with the technology software development and networking infrastructure team members, build a trusted rapport with them, and dive deep into their ongoing processes. With the information exchanged through these trusted relationships, Brian was able to recommend a process automation solution in which the team was enthused and supportive. Through the engagement process, the team even made several process changes that minimized communication confusion prior to finalizing a plan for continuous automated deployments.
Brian was also able to build trust with the customer service team, guide them through a requirement gathering process, solicit vendor responses through a rapid-RFP process, and ultimately select a vendor with unanimous support from staff. Customer service team members are excited about the value the new system will bring to them in terms of productivity and capabilities. They are equally as excited to provide improved support to their member customers by bringing new support channels online.
Mark commented, “Brian helped my team understand that he was here to do things ‘with them’ and ‘for them’… not ‘to them’. Brian continues to collaborate effectively with both technical team and operational leaders to move the needle.