Lyttelton Port Company enables innovation and growth through IT

CIO Jackie Dawson leads the way to a modern data strategy

When Jackie Dawson first stepped into her role as CIO of the Lyttelton Port Company (LPC), which manages the busiest port on New Zealand’s South Island, she faced the momentous task of ensuring the organization’s IT capabilities matched its vision of efficiency, sustainability, and innovation.

A cornerstone of that effort was the adoption of a data strategy, which would enable the port to take the guesswork out of planning and allow it to maximize its use of emerging technologies, including AI. “We wanted to become a data-driven organisation,” Dawson explained. “Without clear utilisation of data to support decision-making, we can’t even look to innovate or automate.”

“Info-Tech saves us time and money. We’re able to achieve results by leveraging Info-Tech products and not needing to reinvent the wheel.”

– Jackie Dawson, CIO, Lyttelton Port Company

Leveraging collaboration & expertise

Dawson’s career journey has been marked by progressive leadership roles in various industries, contributing to a collaborative leadership style and a deep understanding of the intersection between technology and business. Her ability to inspire and lead teams to achieve common goals was the ideal match for the LPC mandate: Build IT strategy and IT’s strategic role in the organization.

When it came to data, Dawson explained that LPC’s past attempts to implement a data strategy hadn’t been successful because of its complexity and the many stakeholders involved: “We needed a methodology to get all stakeholders engaged appropriately to show demonstrable progress.”

This time, LPC leaned on Info-Tech Research Group to help deliver that strategy. Dawson noted the practical, cost-effective, and tailored IT advice the organization received: “Info-Tech saves us time and money. We’re able to achieve results by leveraging Info-Tech products and not needing to reinvent the wheel.”

A seamless extension of the team

Dawson singled out the immediate and frequent access to Info-Tech analysts and counselors as being particularly effective in sharing Info-Tech’s expertise with her team. She noted their personal interest in the wellbeing of her staff and their outcomes, as well as the breadth and depth of their knowledge.

“Info-Tech analysts understood the unique needs of our organisation,” she said. “To be able to go to one Info-Tech analyst and get a really good business context and then go to another analyst to get a really good architectural oversight and technical depth is absolutely brilliant.”

No one size fits all: Tailored solutions to specific needs

When seeking external advisory services, Dawson found that other firms failed to provide practical and customized guidance. Info-Tech’s Guided Implementation advisory solutions, which walk step by step through the research in a series of calls, were just what the team was looking for.

As the team worked through the details of their nascent data strategy, Dawson noted: “The data strategy Guided Implementations were outstanding, and the technical advice on data tooling was exceptional.” She added, “Advice on data storage, integration, and presentation tooling was well thought through and specific to our size and needs.”