When Arum re-organised their business around a mission to deliver independent credit management solutions globally, they realised they needed strategic technology experience in their Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
After a long-standing member of the SLT left, it exposed an idiosyncratic approach to technology that didn’t fit with the company’s plans for growth. It was just enough to ‘keep the lights on’ but lacked the vital elements of robustness and proactivity needed to support Arum’s step change in ambitions.
While the earlier approach had helped Arum remain flexible and agile, they now needed an enhanced level of operational maturity. That meant that their SLT needed to be supported by a Chief Information Officer.
A Chief Information Officer oversees the maintenance and enhancement of IT systems to ensure that they support the organisation’s business objectives.
Commanding very high salaries, a CIO is out of reach for most small to medium sized businesses. That’s where Evolve’s virtual Chief Information Office (CIO) service comes in. Being able to hire a CIO on a virtual (or part time) basis means that a company gets the expertise they need at a price they can afford.
Working alongside the team at Arum, David Watson from Evolve created a Technology Roadmap and has begun the ongoing process of overseeing progress and reviewing the plan on a regular basis. Examples of initiatives completed to date:
This has allowed Arum to proactively address technology challenges in their business. It has to their systems and reduced the risk from unproductivity and cyber vulnerability. It has allow services to their clients with enhanced levels of reliability and quality.
Ultimately it is helping them move up the operational maturity path, freeing them to concentrate priorities and turning technology from a support service into a forward-looking asset.