Working with us
How we are engaged
Four shapes. Which one applies depends on how far a programme has already got and how much accountability the sponsor needs us to carry.
Engagement models
- Diagnostic review
- Two to six weeks. An independent read on what is actually true about a programme, delivered as a position a board can act on. Frequently commissioned before a gate, an investment decision, or a change of sponsor.
- Programme direction
- The accountable seat, reporting to an executive sponsor or board. Full ownership of delivery, governance, the vendor relationships and the commercial position. This is the majority of our work and it is not an advisory role.
- Interim and fractional technology leadership
- Executive capability engaged by the mandate rather than the headcount, where an organisation needs the seat filled credibly during a transition, a search, or a period that does not justify a permanent appointment.
- Independent assurance
- Standing outside the delivery line to review it, including where a regulator, an acquirer or a board has asked for a view that the programme cannot supply about itself.
How we staff
The bench
Engagements are scoped and led directly. Where an engagement needs more than that, it is staffed from a network of senior associates selected for the specific mandate rather than from a permanent bench carried on overhead.
That is a deliberate model. A firm carrying idle capacity has a commercial reason to place it, and clients can generally tell. We would rather bring the right three people to a problem than the available six.
Independence
We take no vendor commission, hold no reseller or referral agreements, and have no product to place. Where we recommend against a platform, a vendor or a course of action, nothing turns on it for us commercially. On programmes where we are also providing assurance, that independence is not a nicety.
Contracting
Engagements are contracted through Forward Leaning Consulting Limited, an Irish registered company. We carry the usual professional indemnity and public liability cover and will provide certificates on request, along with tax clearance and any supplier onboarding documentation your procurement function requires.
To discuss an engagement, write to connect@forwardleaning.ie.