A multi-branch industrial distributor with over a century of history and multiple branch locations across the Upper Midwest was growing steadily. Relationships were strong. Operations were solid. But technology investments were happening without coordination, without governance, and without a plan.
The company had elevated technology to a strategic priority for the first time in its history. The problem was, nobody had defined what that meant in practical terms. An internal chatbot project was underway without a clear business case. A field services platform had been purchased and partially deployed, with low adoption and no executive sponsor. An aging e-commerce platform was falling 12-18 months behind competitors. Manual order processing was consuming hundreds of hours of staff time each month. There was no shortage of technology activity. What was missing was direction.
We came in as fractional CTO to provide that direction. Over the first several months, we assessed the technology landscape, mapped every initiative to the company’s strategic goals, and built a $2.6M three-year technology roadmap covering 10 projects across three investment waves. We established a Technology Steering Committee with executive leadership to create the governance structure that had been missing. We introduced a build-vs-buy decision framework. We prioritized ruthlessly: some projects moved forward, some were put on hold, and one was stopped entirely because the business case wasn’t there.
The roadmap wasn’t a wish list. Each initiative had a business owner, an investment range, a timeline, and a connection to specific strategic objectives. The first wave focused on quick wins and foundation-building. The second wave addressed competitive gaps. The third wave positioned the company for AI-powered operations and advanced customer capabilities. Every dollar was tied to a business outcome, and every project had someone accountable for it.
The company went from reactive technology spending to a coordinated, governed investment portfolio. Leadership can now evaluate technology proposals against a clear framework instead of defaulting to whoever speaks loudest. Projects that had stalled for years have clear owners and timelines. The first wave is executing on schedule, with order automation already reducing manual processing. The Technology Steering Committee meets regularly, and technology decisions now go through a transparent prioritization process aligned with the company’s strategic plan.