01
Initial Interview
With you: the sponsor, founder or executive owner. Establishes context: your business, your stage, your risk profile. Also identifies who else needs to be in the room.
For Business · 5 of 6
The Delivery
Diagnosis.
Your systems, your data, your transformation. You are told they are fine, or on track, or value for money. You have no independent way to check whether any of that is true.
Your team or your vendor is throwing tools, timelines and acronyms at you. Some of it is right. Some is overkill. Some is missing. You have no way to tell which is which.
An independent look at your systems, data and how they are run. No vendor agenda. No framework handed to a junior. I work with you directly, deliver a plain-language report your board can read, and give you the right questions to ask your team and your vendors, with what a good answer looks like. So you can own the answer.
Independent systems and data review · Fixed price · Plain-language report
Book the DiagnosisReport within 5 business days. If you don't leave with clarity, you don't pay.
What You Walk Away With
A position you
can defend.
The Risk Profile
Your organisation's stage, sector, and the delivery and data risks that are actually relevant to you. Not a generic framework. Not a template. Specific to what you are.
An Honest Audit
What your current systems, data and delivery setup really look like: what's working, what isn't, and who owns what.
A Scope Reality Check
What you're genuinely required to do, what's optional, and what's irrelevant for your stage. In plain language.
Prioritised Actions
Options for every gap with pros, cons and rough cost. Each one specific enough to start on Monday.
A Readout Session
I walk your leadership team through every finding, with time for questions. Everyone leaves with the same picture.
The Right Questions
The framework to evaluate your systems and data yourself: what to ask your vendor, your data lead, your delivery team, and what a good answer looks like in each case.
How It Works
3 DAYS · ON-SITE OR REMOTE
From first call
to clear answer.
02
Follow-on Interviews
With the relevant people: your system vendor, internal data or systems lead, delivery lead, or whoever owns the decisions. I ask the questions you don't know to ask.
03
Ad-hoc Follow-ups
Where specific detail isn't available during interviews, I request what I need directly, without creating noise for your team.
04
Written Report
A full assessment covering every area in scope. Delivered within 5 business days.
05
Readout
I walk your leadership team through every finding, in plain language, with time for questions.
Scope
What's in.
What's out.
In Scope
- +A read on the organisation: how mature it is, the stage of growth, how much is moving at once
- +The delivery and data risks relevant to your organisation specifically
- +Inventory of current systems, data and processes: what exists, who owns it
- +Evaluation of current vendors and your internal team
- +What's missing, what's overkill, what's misaligned for your stage
- +An independent verdict on a system, vendor or tool you're considering
- +Prioritised recommendations in business language
Out of Scope
- ,Hands-on implementation, migration or build (a separate engagement, delivered by Stratford Ellis)
- ,Formal certification or accreditation
- ,Fixing or rebuilding the systems themselves
Design Principle
Right-sized for what you actually are. A thirty-person business doesn't need the kit a bank needs. A regulated, data-heavy organisation does. I tell you what fits your stage, your sector and your real exposure. Nothing more. Nothing less.
When to Book This
The right moment
to get the read.
Before a Board Review or Fundraise
People will ask whether your systems and data can keep up as you grow. If you can't answer, it plants doubt. Get the independent read before they ask.
Before a Big System Decision
You're about to pick or replace a core system. Get an independent view before you spend the money.
Your Board Is Asking
You shouldn't be relying on your vendor to speak for you in that room.
Team or Vendor in Place, No Way to Judge Them
Having someone in place isn't the same as knowing whether what they're doing is right for you.
A Programme Is Stalling or Going Over Budget
Before you react and start spending, work out what actually needs to change.
Onboarding a New Lead or Provider
Before you hand over the keys, know what the baseline is and what you should expect from them.
After an Incident, Outage or Failed Go-Live
Find out what really went wrong, with no one's reputation on the line but the truth.
Entering a New Market, Scale or Way of Working
The bar just moved. Know what that means before the bills land.
Why Barbara
Both sides
of the table.
I have operated at both ends of this. I've built and owned the systems, data and operations functions, and I've come in from outside to evaluate them. That combination is rare.
I know what good looks like. I also know what it costs to build, what's genuinely worth it at your stage, and what isn't.
Most advice in this space comes from people who have only seen one side: either the vendor selling the solution, or the team deploying it. I've been inside both.
I have no product to sell. No vendor agreement. No referral fee. When I recommend something, it's because it fits, not because it pays.
Final Call to Action
Know where
you stand.
The questions to ask your team and your vendors. What good answers look like. A clear, written position you can defend to your board, your investors and yourself.
Fixed price · No jargon · No vendor agenda · No open questions
Common Questions
What people
ask first.
- What is a systems and data diagnosis?
- A structured review of your current systems, data and delivery setup: what you have, who owns it, what's working, and where you're exposed. It tells you exactly where the gaps are before your board or your customers find them. A plain-language report in 5 business days, with no vendor agenda and no product to sell you.
- Do we actually need a new system or platform yet?
- Not necessarily, but you need to be able to answer the question. The diagnosis tells you which path makes sense for your stage and what to prioritise first, so you don't spend ahead of need or behind it.
- What do investors and boards actually check on systems and data in due diligence?
- Typically: whether your data is accurate and accessible, whether your systems can scale, how dependent you are on key people or spreadsheets, and whether you have a credible plan. The bar rises sharply with stage. Most leaders prepare for the wrong things. The diagnosis tells you what actually gets asked.
- Should we replace our system or fix it?
- It depends on the gap. Sometimes the system is fine and the operating model is broken; sometimes it's the other way round. The diagnosis tells you which, before you spend on the wrong fix.
- What does an organisation at our stage actually need?
- The baseline is usually: accurate, accessible data; systems that match how you actually operate; clear ownership; and a plan that survives your next phase of growth. Most organisations aren't fully there. That's what scrutiny exposes.
- We already have a data or systems lead, or a vendor.
- That's exactly why this is useful. The question isn't whether you have someone. It's whether what they're doing is right for your stage and your risk. This gives you the independent read.
- We're not in a regulated industry.
- Regulation is one risk vector, not the only one. Data loss, key-person dependency, systems that can't scale, runaway cost: these aren't compliance problems, they're business problems.
- We'll handle it after the raise, or next quarter.
- The questions get asked in due diligence and board reviews. If you can't answer, it creates doubt. This gives you a clear, defensible answer before the question is asked.
- This sounds expensive.
- Most organisations at your stage are either overpaying for capability they don't need, or missing what actually matters. Knowing the difference saves you far more than the cost of finding out.
VI · What People Say
Words from the room.
A handful of notes from leaders, founders and chairs I've worked alongside.
Barbs walked into a programme that had been stuck for nine months and had us all reading off the same page inside a fortnight. The plan we left with was the one we actually ran.
Helena Marsh
COOFolio & Field
She tells you what she thinks. No fluff, no vendor agenda. Our board got a read on our data we could finally act on, and a short list of fixes we could start on Monday.
James Okafor
ChairNorthstone Group
Having Barbs in the room changed how we made the call. She knew the context from month two and saved us from at least one expensive mistake on the systems side.
Priya Shah
Founder & CEOLoomwork