The i4 Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a multinational IT company with an emphasis on telecommunications. I am the 5G core business line manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The i4 Group?

On this particular engagement, we were doing a business value stream mapping using SAFe (scaled agile framework) with The i4 Group.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The i4 Group did a value stream mapping exercise for us where they surveyed a wide group of stakeholders. They went through system artifacts, trying to look for improvements within our chokepoint and following excellent improvements within our construct. The team also dug through our Jira data within the system. 

We still have some tailing follow-up activities as they’ve been helping us with a few more concrete recommendations.

What is the team composition?

I was only personally working with Charles (Principal), but I believe they were a team of about 5–6 people. We’re geographically dispersed, with different people working in India, France, and the US.

How did you come to work with The i4 Group?

Someone else in our company had found them when they were looking for SAFe consultants, so The i4 Group came to me by internal reference. 

This was the second engagement we’ve had with them. Initially, they were helping us get organized early in the agile transformation of our business. They did their first evaluation of our maturity and gave recommendations. We asked them to help us again a year later when we were having some very specific problems that we were struggling to overcome internally.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was a quarter-long project that officially lasted from November 2020–January 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t have any metrics as far as outputs, so it’s all subjective rather than objective. We have a high degree of respect for Charles in particular — he was able to massage the data and make some concrete recommendations out of it. Overall, we’re quite satisfied with the results of the bigger challenge. 

Right now, we’re working on some follow-ups to try to figure out how to make the recommendations more executable and not just theoretical. I’m also helping some of our teams work out how they could actually take action. 

How did The i4 Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very happy with the project management structure. The team used Miro to regularly show us dashboards. They kept a good track and were able to report on what they had done towards their objectives as well as do some advance reviews.

Because I was one of the final stakeholders, I was able to meet with them early and look at the results. I gave feedback in terms of what could be changed and what the broader stakeholder community needed to see, which The i4 Group was able to take on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The depth and breadth of their knowledge on SAFe execution were very impressive. As consultants, they had a practical understanding of where theory meets practice. We were using Jira, and they had the knowledge of the tools and systems as well as their application in a real-world scenario.

There were still an awful lot of areas that were in the maturation process, so whenever we hit a problem, they knew how to handle it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Speaking on behalf of the other people that I heard feedback from, The i4 Group has a good understanding of practical implementation but they still had a tendency to be a little bit vague in their recommendations.

To some extent, it would help for them to be more specific and it’s always a difficult line for a consultant to walk on. However, some of our team members were looking for them to make much more pointed and targeted recommendations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of CMIT Solutions of Bitmore, and we’re an IT management company providing technology to small and midsized businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The i4 Group?

We wanted to lead our business in an agile way, and we wanted to make decisions and implementations using that agile framework. We wanted to get certified and get instructions from someone that has successfully done it for a while, and that’s where I came in with The i4 Group.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

What The i4 Group was able to do for us is to contract with us, and provide us with a certification course that included exams. The course was very flexible and we were able to go through the training in just a couple of weekends. They prepared us for the test which I was able to pass, and get the certification.

What is the team composition?

There were three people from The i4 Group that were assigned to the workshop. They did a good job and all of them were pitching in different ways. There was one primary instructor who had two assistants that were helping throughout the course.

How did you come to work with The i4 Group?

I became familiar with the owner,  who I met through a professional organization that we were both a part of — I knew the training and certification that he was getting. I did a little bit more research about what his group does, and I was able to see that they do something not many people do — and they do it at a very high level as well.

They are able to provide their services to Fortune 500 companies, smaller-sized companies, and enterprises such as ours. We were very excited by what we saw and gave them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

The certification was a $20,000 investment.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement and certification were completed in November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Having that certification has already added to my credibility. It helped me land a couple of deals because it shows our investment development. The agile framework is so popular among many organizations, including Fortune 500 companies. 

Additionally, it has pulled me into larger organizations. I’m now on a strategic advisory board for HDI, a national board association, so I think it’s added to both my personal and business credentials.

How did The i4 Group perform from a project management standpoint?

What I appreciated from them, is that they were able to adapt to the individual needs of the group without slowing the class for everybody. Not everybody is going to have the same learning style, and they were really adaptive. The assistance that they had was able to address everyone’s needs and keep the class on the same pace, despite being on different levels — which is not an easy thing to do.

We did the virtual class via Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate that they’re a minority-owned business because that’s rare in this particular sector. They were very adaptive to meet the individual needs of the group. They were able to provide business-specific examples that tied to the main points. When necessary, they also used business challenges that were being experienced by the group, and it was very effective. It felt like a boutique-type service, where they can accommodate up to whatever scale was needed.

It would be difficult to find the level of expertise that’s as flexible as The i4 Group has.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always room for improvement anywhere, but they just did such a good job. The online course would be a difficult thing to keep people engaged with. I think their interaction was great, their use of the breakout rooms was great, and they’re only going to get better in the virtual space as well. I don’t really have a lot of negatives because they kept us all interested the entire time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear as you can with what you want, and if you have very specific needs, take advantage of their ability to be adaptive and flexible — because that’s what they are. However, if you don’t exactly know what you need, take a little time and be upfront with that. With their experience, they’ll be able to get what you need, so look at their reviews, feedback, and know that you’re going to be in good hands.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a consulting, staffing, and training organization. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The i4 Group?

We hired The i4 Group to help us in providing support for our clients. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The i4 Group’s scope of work is varied in different engagements. We’re currently working on a requirement for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Previously, they supported us in delivering requirements for some of our federal contracts. They provided us an on-site Agile coach for these federal contracts.

They also supported us with a requirement for a transportation company, where they provided an intro course for the company’s senior leadership. 

What is the team composition?

I work with Charles (Principal) and Muhammad (Associate Consultant).

How did you come to work with The i4 Group?

We met them when we were supporting a large vendor for the federal government. This vendor had secured a federal contract where their teams needed some Agile training. Then, we engaged The i4 Group to come in and do some of the training. We determined that they were the right fit because Charles had a credential that only about 10 people in the world have.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent between $200,000–$1,000,000 for their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2015, and we’re still engaged with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We have a good working relationship. They’re our go-to partner because they’re very responsive in supporting us even though we’re a small company. For instance, we got into a bit of a crunch while building the team to work on our NATO requirements. We had very limited time to do it. I called Charles, and his team quickly pulled together some additional team members. 

The i4 Group also gives us access to business development resources that they have that we otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Their databases are their competitive edge, but they give us passwords and other information to get in. That just shows what kind of partners they are. We can’t go to all our partners and get that kind of reach. 

How did The i4 Group perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of project management, we’ve experienced no issues. They represent our values, and they look at work the way we do. They add value to engagements, so we have no complaints. The relationship is smooth, and they work the same way as we work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work seamlessly with our team. There are some clients where we can elevate them, and their resources represent our company on some engagements that we have. They’ve been an amazing partner. We’ve gone to conferences together and they participate with us when we’re courting potential clients. When we’re taking the lead, they graciously take the backseat and become part of our team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t. I’m sure we’ll have things that we can improve on as we start to grow, but there’s nothing I can readily point to right now at the level that we’re working.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The i4 Group’s team members are experienced subject matter experts. A lot of times, smaller companies want to hire their resources as transactional partners to come in, sit down, augment the team, and check some boxes, but The i4 Group isn’t those kinds of people. If you need strategic partners, they’re the go-to team. Since they’re smaller and boutique, they’re high touch. I never had a time where I was chasing them down for an issue I’m having.