New Zealand enterprise centralizes IT and creates efficiencies to support business objectives

IT executive James Blair drives digital enhancement and strengthens trust and credibility with stakeholders

In his long career in technology and security, IT executive James Blair has earned a reputation for expertise in digital transformation, which has served him well through several organizations. When working for Todd Energy in a distributed IT operating model, he had top-down support. This support expedited initiatives and enhanced IT value.

“I’ve worked in groundswell transformations, which are very difficult,” Blair said. “I wanted to try a top-down approach, where you have more support from the top, so they gave me the runway and freedom to do that. There was a trust there as well.”

Now, as the Group Manager Technology and CISO of Todd Corporation – the parent company of Todd Energy, which produces a third of New Zealand’s natural gas – Blair needed all that expertise as he was tasked with enhancing digital efficiency. And he knew having the support of stakeholders and his team was key to making sure he was able to deliver.

The First 100 Days As CIO

Armed with a broad mandate to tackle the challenge, Blair turned to Info-Tech Research Group, who he had worked with in the past and whose expertise and advice he trusted. Aware that this was a new role in Todd Corporation, his starting point was Info-Tech’s The First 100 Days As CIO blueprint – a comprehensive process tailored to new CIOs that confers a deeper understanding of the organization’s goals, IT readiness, culture, and other aspects. Blair particularly anticipated its value in helping him communicate both his plan and progress back to stakeholders.

“We needed to start locking in and narrowing down a strategy – getting into the First 100 Days As CIO blueprint allowed us to effectively reset. It basically created a platform for executing our plan,” Blair said.

“Info-Tech gives me end-to-end programs – everything’s structured, and it allows you to be structured for success. And that builds that organizational confidence in you to deliver,” Blair said. “I don’t have someone breathing over my shoulder; they trust me.”

– James Blair, Group Manager Technology & CISO, Todd Corporation

Diagnostics deliver clear, color-coded progress

To gather the information he needed, Blair made use of Info-Tech’s suite of diagnostics – survey-based programs that gather a wide range of data on all aspects of an IT organization and track their current state in color-coded reports.

In particular, Blair relied on the IT Management & Governance Diagnostic for a check-in on Todd Corporation’s core IT processes, the CIO Business Vision Diagnostic for insights on stakeholder satisfaction with IT performance, and the CEO-CIO Alignment Program to ensure his efforts were in sync with business leadership. Together, the diagnostics allowed him to qualify organizational feedback and data and render insights into actionable KPIs to track improvement. Aside from making it easier to measure success, they also helped him communicate progress in a way comprehensible to stakeholders. Blair recalled: “We did the IT Management & Governance Diagnostic, which uses traffic light color coding to assess satisfaction levels. The results indicated areas needing improvement. A year later, we’re just about all green."

“We did a cost/benefit analysis with other advisory services, and they’re always trying to upsell without understanding our business objectives – they take broad brush strokes,” Blair said. “Info-Tech allows the customer to do what they need to do to be successful, and they also look at proactive ways to help the customer to be successful as well.”

– James Blair, Group Manager Technology & CISO, Todd Corporation

A structured approach to success

Those diagnostics, along with The First 100 Days As CIO and other Info-Tech tools and research, were crucial to Blair’s understanding of the task posed by Todd Corporation to create a more simplified and efficient business.

“Info-Tech gives me end-to-end programs – everything’s structured, and it allows you to be structured for success. And that builds that organizational confidence in you to deliver,” Blair said. “I don’t have someone breathing over my shoulder; they trust me.”

A trusted extension of the team

Blair said Info-Tech’s involvement in creating efficiencies had been “fit-for-purpose.” Beyond offering useful resources and ready advice, Info-Tech’s approach was more closely aligned with Todd Corporation’s specific needs – a synergy Blair said he found lacking in other advisory firms he’d considered.

“We did a cost/benefit analysis with other advisory services, and they’re always trying to upsell without understanding our business objectives – they take broad brush strokes,” Blair said. “Info-Tech allows the customer to do what they need to do to be successful, and they also look at proactive ways to help the customer to be successful as well.”

“We needed to start locking in and narrowing down a strategy – getting into the First 100 Days as CIO blueprint allowed us to effectively reset. It's basically created a platform for executing our plan."

– James Blair, Group Manager Technology & CISO, Todd Corporation

Earning a seat at the table

With Info-Tech’s support, Blair and his team have achieved significant IT standardization and centralization, reduced costs, built IT credibility, and enhanced both IT value and IT satisfaction metrics.

Looking to the future, Blair expects to continue earning trust from organizational leadership and raising IT’s profile as a strategic partner at Todd Corporation.

“Technology will make a significant difference to how we run, manage, maintain, and operate our business moving into the future.”