Two words. One clear lane.
Calder and Lane is a technology advisory firm. We come in from outside, learn how your business actually runs, and then say the things nobody inside can say out loud.
The word we work by.
Calder and Lane. The last word is the one we work by.
A lane is one clear path through traffic. For most of the people who call us, the traffic is vendors, quotes, tools, and a fresh pitch in the inbox most mornings.
Search for a technology consultant and every result sounds certain. Our job is to find the one path that fits the way your business already runs, and then to stay in it with you, the same person the whole way.
What an outsider is for.
Before they hire anyone from outside, people tell us the same worry. You do not know our industry, our people, or how we work.
On day one that is true. It is also why we are useful: we have nothing here to protect, so we can say what people inside already know.
The job has two halves: learn the business first, then say what needs saying. Here is how the usual worries line up against that.
- “You don't know our industry.”Not on day one. So we ask until we can describe your week back to you and you nod, and only then do we say anything.
- “They'll say our business is not special.”A firm that says that has already decided what it is going to recommend. We do not know yet, so we ask.
- “You'll tell the boss what he wants to hear so he can justify what he already decided.”We ask the people who do the work what they think, then we tell the people who run it. The answer goes in writing either way.
- “You'll tell us what we already know.”Then we say so, and we move on to what is stopping you from doing it. That part is usually the job.
- “You guys are not on the same page.”One person, every week. You see what is open, whose move it is, and what happens next, and if something has stalled, that week's call says so.
Took the time to understand our business.
The product got named before they asked a single question about us. That is what people say about the last firm, and it is what they want to be different this time.
So it starts with your business, in this order, and we do not skip steps.
- We start with the paper you already have. The contract, the bill, the questionnaire, the quote, and the renewal date nobody wrote down.
- We ask two questions and then stop talking. What is slowing you down right now, and where do things fall through the cracks?
- We sit with the people who use the systems, not only the people who signed for them. The front desk knows things the org chart does not.
- We list what you already own and already pay for. Part of the answer is usually in the building, switched off.
- Then we bring in the right engineers from the right providers for the technical discussion, more than one provider, and we sit on your side of the table while they talk.
- You get the options side by side, with the upside and the downside of each, including leaving it alone. You choose, and the provider you choose does the work with us still in the room.
Three things we turn down.
The quickest way to tell advice from a sales pitch is to watch what the advisor says no to. Here is our list. If we ever keep naming one product, ask why, and we will put the comparison on paper.
- We turn this downProcess over toolsWe turn down a new tool when the problem is a process. A new system does not fix a habit, and we will tell you which of the two you have.
- We turn this downNo unnecessary licensesWe turn down a purchase when a few settings changed on what you already pay for would get you there. The license bill is the usual example: seats paid for every month that nobody has logged into.
- We turn this downSeveral quotes, or we walk awayWe turn down the one-quote answer. We do not carry the same short list of vendors from job to job, and no provider gets our recommendation until others have been put beside it and their engineers have answered the same questions. You see the comparison, and you choose.
The rules every job runs on.
Four practices, one set of rules, whether the job is a carrier contract, a Microsoft 365 tenant, an insurance questionnaire, or an AI pilot. The [How we work](/how-we-work/) page goes deeper.
- We learn your business first. No product gets named until we can describe your week back to you and you nod.
- We compare several providers, never one. Their engineers come to the table and answer the same questions, you choose, and the provider you choose does the work with us still in the room.
- Every contract gets read before you sign it, and every renewal date goes on a list you hold. You hear about a window before it opens, not after it closes.
- Every account, admin login, backup and document is in your name from the first day. Nothing depends on a login only we hold.
- You hear from us every week, including the quiet weeks: what moved, what did not, and what we need from you.
- The person you meet on the first call is the person who stays, the same person the whole way.
- Plain English, no geek speak, on every call and in every email. If we use a word you would not use, ask, and we will say it again in yours.
Who you talk to.
At this technology advisory firm, the person you talk to is the person who does the advising. One person who takes ownership, not a ticket, and the same person the whole way.
If that person is away, nothing of yours is out of reach. The record lives with you, every account is in your name, and nothing depends on a login only we hold.
- WhoThe person who does the advising, on every call and in every email.
- HowPlain words, in writing, every week, including the quiet weeks.
- WhereOn your side of the table, from the first read of a contract to the day the work is done.
What does a technology advisory firm do?
We help you decide, and we stay with you while it gets done. A technology advisory firm reads the contracts, quotes and plans on your desk, learns how your business runs, and works out what the problem actually is. Then we bring in the right engineers from the right providers for the technical discussion, help you choose between them, and stay at the table as your advisor while the provider you chose does the work. Call it a technology consultant, an IT consultant or an advisory firm, the job is the same. The advice can include keeping what you already have.
You're an outsider. How can you know how we work?
On the first day, we cannot, and we will not pretend to. That is why the first part of any engagement is questions: what you already pay for, who does what, and where the two do not match. We write it back to you before we recommend anything, so you can tell us where we are wrong. The other half is why you bring in someone from outside at all. We have no history here, so we can say the thing everyone inside has been thinking.
We already have an IT company and an internal IT person. Where do you fit?
Alongside them, unless you ask us otherwise. You already trust someone else, and we are not there to replace them. Most businesses we meet already have an IT provider, a carrier rep, or one overworked person who does it all. We read the contracts they are working under, we talk to them directly, and we give the person who runs your IT a second opinion they can take to their own boss. When a provider's engineers come to the table, your IT person sits there with us. If something should change, you hear it from us in plain words, and so do they.
Are you going to tell us what we want to hear?
No. If the plan you already have is fine, we say that, and the call is short. What we will not do is dress up what you already know as a finding, or dress up what you hoped to hear as one. Advice that could apply to anyone is the kind we do not send.
Who does the work? Does a senior person sell it and someone junior deliver it?
The provider's engineers do the technical work, and the person you met on the first call is the one beside you through it. We know the fear: someone with no industry experience and numbers off Google, sold to you by a senior person you never see again. Here there is one person, and that person stays: on every call, at every meeting with a provider's engineers, and on the record you own, from the first read to the last item on the list. The hands-on work, the configuring, the installing, the migrating, is done by the engineers of the provider you chose, with us at the table asking the questions you would not know to ask.
You're a small firm. What happens if the person on our account gets hit by a bus?
You keep going. The word for what you are asking about is continuity, and ours rests on what you own rather than on any one person at our end. Every account is in your name, every admin login is yours, your backups sit where you can reach them, and the record of what was decided and why lives with you. Nothing depends on a login only we hold, and your providers have your name on the account, so your call gets answered whether or not we are on the line. We would rather say that plainly than claim a bench you have never met.
Will we end up depending on you for every little change?
No, and we count it as a failure if you do. The fear we hear is that things fall apart after the consultant leaves, and it is a fair one. So we explain the why and the how as we go, in terms you can take home and think about, so your own people can spot a problem and ask the right question. When a provider's engineers set something up, we ask them to leave it in a state your own people can run, with the documentation in your hands. The measure we care about is that you need us for fewer things over time, not more.
Test us on one thing.
Pick the thing on your desk you are least sure about. A contract, a quote, a bill, a plan, an insurance form. Send it over. The person who reads it is the person who calls you, within two business days, with a straight opinion. Thirty minutes. No charge and no pitch. After that we leave you alone unless you ask us not to. If you have had five experts already, do not take a sixth on faith. Send one thing.