C3 Technology Advisors Targets IT Buying Visibility with Dashboard

C3 TECH SUMMIT — C3 Technology Advisors just unveiled a new dashboard to give its business customers visibility through the process of evaluating and ordering technology.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based consultancy on Tuesday demoed its C360 portal, which houses clients' information for quotes, orders, inventory, contracts and renewals. The firm used its annual summit in its hometown to introduce many of its customers to the platform for the first time.

C3's Matthew Toth

"Over 16 years, executives have come to us and said, 'From the moment I think I might need some kind of technology and I'm in evaluation, all the way through years of having that solution and needing to renew that service — what does this whole journey look like? How do I put this into a single pane of glass?" C3 president Matthew Toth said.

C360 will also offers a centralized place for clients to request quotes, rather than using email and spreadsheets to organize the requests.

"It's as simple as filling out one form to C3. Once that is submitted, there's an entire automation process behind scenes where C3 will get notified that your site is ready to receive quotes," director of operations Taylor Vossler told an audience of customers.

C3's Taylor Vossler

C360 includes live surveys that will go out to different customer stakeholders during the technology demo process. As clients undergo demos from various vendors, they can score and rank the different products in C360 based on the features and requirements listed in their RFP.

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"At any point where you're trying to come up with that decision of, 'Who is the best vendor for us to move forward with, and who's going to strategically align with our organization?' this is your holy grail here," Vossler said.

C3 executives added that the platform will help IT decision-makers with long-term planning. In particular, it can provide stability during times of turnover and M&A. Toth said when a new CIO takes over a company and needs information on the company's inventory and IT spend, C360 will come in handy.

C3's Taylor Vossler demos the C360 portal.

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C3 Technology Advisors will also be rolling out regular "Pulse Reports" to its client base covering different technologies. The first will cover customer experience (CX). C3 through these reports is tapping into its own experiences with technology vendors at the customer level.

"The idea is that Forrester has their Forrester Wave, and Gartner has their Magic Quadrants. We said to ourselves, 'We have over 1,000 clients. We've done thousands of projects. We have an opinion on this too. So why don't we put those things out there?'" Toth said.

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C3 is a technology advisor, which consults with customers on an array of IT, telecommunications, customer experience and AI offerings to help them make educated investments in their technology stack. The world of technology procurement faces increased complexity and an overload of information that business customers must wade through. Technology advisors help customers reduce the time on their projects, Toth said.

"It is hard talking to all these vendors and reading all these white papers and looking through 100-page proposal. So we help you. We augment your staff and help you in doing this, everything from creating RFPs and running them, all the way through the implementation and renewal," Toth said. "You're making decisions at the end of the day, but you need a partner to give you that insight and experience."

The process is also about minimizing risk, he said.

"We exist because buying technology is hard. It is fraught with pitfalls. There are minefields everywhere. There's never enough time and energy and resources you can devote to doing all things you're supposed to do in order to buy technology," he said.

And it's that behind-the-scenes role that will support customers in their business goals.

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"We enable Bissell to sell more vacuum cleaners. We help Grand Valley State University students access their student aid. We help ATI Physical Therapy schedule patient appointments. We want to help you do the things that you do. That's what we're here for," Toth said. "I don't want the center stage in your world. We want to be the folks that are doing the plumbing, who are elevating all of you, allowing you to do the things you're supposed to do."