Altimeter Group

Consulting

Altimeter helps companies stay on top of disruptive technologies, advising them on how to create and implement robust digital strategies that complement and support corporate goals.

Altimeter typically works on a retainer basis with clients, starting with a minimum of a three month engagement. The client receives a pre-determined number of consulting hours each month which can also be applied to project work, webinars, speeches, and training. Short term engagements, such as project work or message/positioning reviews, are also available, and are scoped on an individual basis.

Altimeter Consults On Four Areas

We work with companies to address issues in four primary areas – Leadership and Management, Customer Strategy, Enterprise Strategy, and Innovation and Design. Included below are examples of some of the client work we have done.

Leadership and Management. A major reason why digital strategies fail is not because of the lack of planning, but because of inexperience in how to lead in the uncertain environment of a changing technology landscape. When implementing new technologies, companies often undergo a fundamental transformation in the way they are organized and managed. Leaders need to be aware of the stresses they will encounter along the way and prepare accordingly.

• A large, multinational company invited Altimeter to speak with its board of advisors about how emerging social and mobile technologies will impact its major lines of business. We went through each area, detailing what was happening today and providing concrete recommendations on not only how product development and marketing needed to change, but also the stresses the company would face internally as employees became more engaged via social technologies.
• An agency engaged Altimeter to help it redesign itself and engage its leadership so that it could become Agency 2.0 – more flexible and hence more responsive to its clients. This included recommendations on how executives need to give up control over who could and should engage with clients.

Customer Strategy. Many companies have implemented new technologies as point solutions that lack integration with business goals. The result: wasted time and resources. Altimeter focuses first on the business results that need to be achieved, the audience being addressed (both internal as well as external audiences), and then on the technologies that can best be used. The main goal is to be consistent and supportive of existing business strategies and goals.

• A technology vendor engaged Altimeter to review its current strategy and product positioning. We provided specific advice on how the presentation should be reshaped and also highlighted weak areas in not only the positioning, but also the overall strategy. We also provided introductions to agencies able to provide direct feedback on the offering and who could serve as sales referrers for the vendor.
• An agency sought guidance on how the marketing and communications landscape was changing – and how the firm needed to shift its strategy and change its organization to meet the challenges of a maturing social landscape. We spoke with leaders in each practice area and worked with them individually and as a group to craft an initial strategy on how to integrate social media into their business.

Enterprise Strategy. Disruptive technologies are impacting enterprise systems, such as cloud based computing, social CRM, collaboration tools, and mobile technologies. The Atlimeter Group’s focus on helping CIOs and business units define a strategy stems from research and practice.

• A technology delivery firm asked Altimeter to provide a framework on how to go to market with new technologies.incorporating social technologies into legacy IT processes.
• Community platform companies request help on go-to-market strategy that includes feature prioritization, messaging, and timing.

Innovation and Design. Technology changes too quickly for any one company – or even a great research firm – to stay completely on top of. Altimeter leverages its extensive network and community to provide feedback on technology vendors and agencies. Altimeter also looks at long term technology trends, providing advice on how companies can and should prepare for – and capitalize on – future changes.

• A financial institution and consumer products company asked for recommendations on how to select a social media agency or consultant. We used their specifications and requirements to provide detailed recommendations and feedback on which agencies would be a good fit for their needs.
• A technology company engaged Altimeter to help its executive team think about new strategic product and service delivery options, addressing the question, “What’s next?”. We provided research on trends we were seeing, but also helped them move beyond a primarily ROI-based evaluation criteria to think about game-changing platforms that they could develop.