Eight services. All of them starting with your business, not with technology.

Most mid-market businesses don't have anyone in-house who really understands the technology world and the vendors in it. So when a vendor pitches, or a contract comes up for renewal, or a major platform decision needs to be made - there's no one to cut through it.

That's what this relationship fixes. I get to know your business - what's core to it, what matters commercially, who the right partners are - and I become the person you trust to connect that to the technology world. You stop relying on Google, stop following in competitors' tracks, and stop taking vendor advice at face value.

Your IT manager knows how to run IT. They don't know how vendors think, how proposals are built, or what's actually being sold to them. I do - because I've been on that side.

• Structured around a set number of days per month, on a monthly retainer
• I attend the meetings that matter - executive, board, vendor - you decide
• Driving technology initiatives aligned to your business
• Technology direction and investment prioritisation that actually reflects your business
• Vendor and partner accountability - someone in your corner when renewals and pitches come around

Most AI advisory starts outside in - pitch the technology, then find a use case to fit the business around. That's how you end up with expensive pilots that go nowhere.

The right approach is inside out. Start by going into the business to find the real opportunities - whether they're AI, automation, or something else entirely - then go to market with a clear brief.

I work with your team to understand where work is genuinely slow, costly, or error-prone. From there we work out what would actually help and prioritise it commercially, and I help you find the right partners to build it. I don't build the technology - I make sure you're building the right things with the right people.

• Discovery across the business - not just IT
• Genuine AI and automation opportunities, prioritised by commercial value
• Partner and solution evaluation
• The right questions to ask AI vendors before you commit

I spent years running a managed services and consulting business. I know how managed service agreements are structured, where scope gaps get hidden, how pricing is built, and what a good deal looks like. Most businesses signing or renegotiating a contract don't have anyone in the room who knows any of that.

A business switches managed service providers based on price or sales pitch, without understanding the scope differences or opportunities. They find the gap in service after the fact. This is the engagement that prevents that.

• What you're actually getting versus what's in the contract
• Whether the price is fair - not just competitive
• Renegotiation positioning
• Fair risk allocation
• Vendor shortlisting and selection support

Run an MSP or consultancy yourself? See MSP & Consultancy Advisory below.

I've run a technology consultancy and managed services business from the inside - not as an observer, but as the person accountable for how it worked commercially and operationally. That's a different kind of perspective to a generic operations consultant.

Every MSP and consultancy faces some version of the same questions: is the operating model actually scalable, is the commercial model (pricing, margin, scope) sound, is the business too dependent on one or two people, and is it structured to grow into new markets or through a leadership change without losing what makes it work.

I've been on the inside of all of these - including taking a business through the move from founder-led to professionally run, without losing its culture or its client relationships along the way.

• Operating model and governance maturity - structure, KPIs, and accountability that actually stick
• Commercial model review - pricing, margin, and scope discipline
• Growth and market expansion - new verticals, new territories, without losing delivery quality
• Leadership and succession transitions - including founder-to-professional handover, done deliberately rather than by accident

Ad hoc or initiative-based engagement. Right for owners and leadership teams who want an outside perspective from someone who's actually run one of these businesses, not just advised on them.

A technology strategy built around what your business is actually trying to do - not a vendor's product roadmap with your logo on it. I'll ask the right questions first, understand the commercial situation and constraints, and then work out what the right technology direction looks like.

The output is something your board will fund and your team can execute - not a document that requires another consultant to interpret.

• Where you are now and what it's actually costing you
• Technology direction tied to business strategy and growth plans
• Build/buy/partner recommendations with honest commercial rationale
• Investment prioritisation your board can act on

Most businesses talk to their incumbent vendor, get a price or two, and call that a market check. It isn't. A properly run sourcing process forces the market to compete on ideas, approach, and price - and surfaces options you didn't know existed. That competitive tension is where you get a genuinely better outcome.

Having written bids from the vendor side, I know exactly how responses are constructed to look compelling while leaving the real commitments vague. I help you design a process that gets past the pitch.

This isn't just for large procurement exercises. Mid-market businesses and NFPs often go to market for technology services once every few years - without the experience to run it well. That's where an outside perspective pays for itself - not just in price, but in what you actually end up with.

• RFP and RFQ design with evaluation criteria that actually work
• Market engagement and vendor briefing
• Reading past the pitch to what's actually being offered
• Shortlisting, recommendation, and contract negotiation support

Technology risk and commercial assessment for acquisitions, PE investments, and transactions. The question I'm answering isn't "what technology do they have" - it's "what does this mean for the deal, what are the risks, and what's the commercial implication."

I work with your advisors and the target's team to build the right picture, then translate it into something a board or investment committee can act on. Commercial judgment, not a technical audit.

• Technology risk, dependencies, and key-person exposure
• Vendor and partner contract risk
• What integration actually takes - not a blind objective
• A report your investment committee can use

When a technology project or services contract ends up in dispute, the questions that matter are rarely purely technical. What was actually promised? Was the scope clear? Was the delivery reasonable against what was agreed - and against what the industry would normally expect?

I've spent years on the provider side - writing the proposals, building the pricing, structuring the managed service agreements, delivering the work, and managing the escalations and contract disputes when things didn't go to plan. That gives me a practical view of how these arrangements work in reality, not just how they read on paper.

Independent, evidence-based opinion - grounded in firsthand experience, not advocacy for either side.

As well as independent expert reports, I can work as a consulting expert behind the scenes with your legal team or in-house counsel, helping you understand the technical and commercial position before deciding how to proceed.

• Independent expert reports and opinion on technology contracts, projects, and services
• Consulting expert support for law firms and in-house legal teams
• Review of proposals, statements of work, contracts, and delivery records against what was agreed and what's reasonable industry practice
• Early case assessment - understanding the position before costs escalate
• Support through mediation, arbitration, and expert determination