Advisory & Validation
Independent expert opinion when you need validation, health checks, or a trusted advisor - without full transformation.
Not every challenge requires a transformation programme. Sometimes you need an independent expert to validate your approach, assess organisational effectiveness, evaluate vendor proposals, or provide strategic advisory.
We offer unbiased, expert assessment from practitioners who've seen what works (and what doesn't) across dozens of organisations. No sales agenda. Just honest expertise.
What's Included in Advisory & Validation
Component 1:
Organisational Health Checks
What we assess
Periodic assessments of delivery effectiveness across strategic direction, product, engineering, and operations. We evaluate roles, responsibilities, culture, metrics, and governance.
What you get:
Independent assessment with clear recommendations on what's working, what's not, and what to prioritise.
Timeline: 2-4 weeks
Format:
Interviews, observations, document review
Component 2:
Vendor & Partner Validation
What we assess:
Evaluation of consultancy proposals, vendor approaches, or performance of existing partners. We validate whether you're getting the right solution, the A-team, and realistic timelines.
What you get:
Unbiased expert opinion on vendor proposals, capability, and approach. Protection from being sold what the vendor wants to deliver (not what you need).
Timeline: 1-3 weeks
Format:
Proposal review, vendor interviews, reference checks
Component 3:
Approach Validation
What we assess:
Review of proposed delivery approaches, transformation strategies, or scaling frameworks. We validate whether the approach fits your context and is likely to succeed.
What you get:
Expert validation of your approach or consultancy's recommendations. Clear assessment of risks, gaps, and what needs to change.
Timeline: 1-2 weeks
Format:
Document review, stakeholder interviews
Component 4:
Strategic Advisory (Retained)
What we provide:
Ongoing advisory relationship with senior Agilicist partner. Ad-hoc advisory, sounding board for decisions, strategic guidance, second opinions.
What you get:
Trusted advisor on-call. No need to engage full transformation - just expert guidance when you need it.
Timeline: 3-12 month retainers
Format:
Monthly calls, ad-hoc Slack/email, occasional on-site
When Training & Certification
Is Right for You
McKinsey, Deloitte, Accenture, BCG - they've submitted transformation proposals. Price tags are £1M-£5M+. Are you getting the right solution? The A-team? Realistic timelines? You need an independent expert to validate before signing.
Our Advisory & Validation Process
Option A:
Organisational Health Check
Phase 1: Scoping (Week 1)
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Define assessment scope and focus areas
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Identify stakeholders to interview
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Agree assessment framework and success criteria
Phase 2: Data Gathering (Weeks 1-3)
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Stakeholder interviews (15-30 people typical)
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Document review (strategies, metrics, processes)
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Team observations (standups, planning, reviews)
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Metrics analysis (velocity, cycle time, quality, etc.)
Phase 3: Analysis & Report (Week 3-4)
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Root cause analysis
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Benchmark against industry standards
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Prioritised recommendations
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Roadmap for improvement
Phase 4: Presentation & Discussion (Week 4)
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Present findings to leadership
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Discussion and Q&A
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Agree next steps (if any)
Deliverables:
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Comprehensive assessment report
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Executive summary
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Prioritised recommendations roadmap
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Optional: Follow-up advisory calls (30-90 days)
Option B:
Vendor & Partner Validation
Phase 1: Brief (Week 1)
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Review vendor proposals or current engagement
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Understand your requirements and constraints
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Define evaluation criteria
Phase 2: Evaluation (Weeks 1-2)
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Analyse proposals for fit, feasibility, value
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Review vendor team credentials
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Reference checks with other clients
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Assess approach against best practices
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Identify risks, gaps, red flags
Phase 3: Report & Recommendation (Week 2-3)
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Written assessment of each vendor/proposal
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Comparison and recommendation
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Risk mitigation strategies
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Negotiation leverage points
Deliverables:
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Vendor evaluation report
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Recommendation (proceed/negotiate/decline)
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Risk register
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Contract negotiation guidance
Option C:
Approach
Validation
Phase 1: Review (Week 1)
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Review proposed approach, transformation strategy, or framework
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Interview key stakeholders
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Assess context fit
Phase 2: Validate (Week 1-2)
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Evaluate against best practices
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Identify risks and gaps
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Assess feasibility in your context
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Recommend adjustments
Phase 3: Report (Week 2)
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Written validation with clear verdict
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What to keep, what to change, what to abandon
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Success criteria and tracking approach
Deliverables:
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Validation report with recommendations
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Risk mitigation plan
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Success metrics framework
Option D:
Retained
Advisory
Engagement Structure:
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Monthly retainer (3-12 months)
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Dedicated senior advisor
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4-8 hours per month (flexible)
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Ad-hoc calls, emails, Slack access
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Quarterly on-site visits (optional)
Use Cases:
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Strategic decisions and direction
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Second opinion on major initiatives
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Advisory during transformation
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Coaching for delivery leaders
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Vendor negotiations and management
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Deliverables:
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Ongoing guidance and support
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Written recommendations when needed
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Quarterly health check reports (optional)
Deliverables & Outcomes from Advisory Services
Tangible Deliverables
Comprehensive assessment reports
Executive summaries for board/leadership
Prioritised recommendation roadmaps
Risk registers and mitigation plans
Vendor evaluation and comparison
Approach validation and adjustments
Strategic guidance documentation
Business Outcomes
Informed Decisions: Make better decisions with expert validation
Risk Mitigation: Avoid costly mistakes (bad vendors, wrong approaches)
Better Negotiations: Leverage independent assessment in vendor talks
Baseline Understanding: Know where you are before transformation
Protected Investment: Validate ROI on major initiatives
Strategic Confidence: Leadership clarity on direction
Success Metrics We Track
Quality of recommendations (actionable, specific)
Decision confidence improvement
Avoided costs (bad vendors, wrong approaches)
Time saved (faster, better decisions)
Client satisfaction with advisory
The Advisors You'll Work With
Partners
Who they are:
Senior practitioners with 15-25 years across multiple industries, methodologies, and delivery contexts. They've been CTOs, Directors and Heads of Delivery, Programme Directors - not career consultants.
What they bring:
Deep pattern recognition. They've seen what works and what fails. Industry-recognised experts. Unbiased perspective (we don't have sales targets pushing specific solutions).
Advisory style:
Direct, honest, pragmatic. We tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. No sugar-coating.
Senior Consultants
Who they are:
Experienced delivery and transformation leads with 10-15 years of hands-on experience. Specialists in specific domains (Product, Agile, DevOps, Quality).
What they bring:
Deep expertise in their specialty. Practical, applied knowledge. Benchmarking capability across dozens of clients.
Advisory style:
Collaborative, detailed, technically sound. They get into the details while maintaining strategic perspective.
Our Independence
Why our advisory is trusted:
No Sales Agenda:
We're not trying to sell you transformation services
No Vendor Partnerships:
We're not paid by vendors to recommend them
No Framework Religion:
We don't push SAFe/Scrum/Kanban - we recommend what fits
Practitioner Credibility:
We've done this work ourselves, not just advised on it
Honest Feedback:
We'll tell you if your plan won't work (even if it's awkward)
How We've Provided Independent Advisory Before
Financial Services Firm:
Validated £3M Vendor Proposal, Saved £800K
The Challenge
Big 4 consultancy proposed £3M transformation. CFO had concerns about cost and approach but lacked expertise to validate. Needed independent assessment before signing.
Our Advisory
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Reviewed 200+ page proposal in detail
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Interviewed proposed vendor team leads
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Assessed approach against firm's context
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Identified gaps and inflated costs
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Provided negotiation leverage
The Results
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Identified £800K in unnecessary costs (junior consultants, extended timelines)
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Negotiated revised proposal at £2.2M (27% reduction)
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Changed team composition (more senior practitioners)
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Adjusted approach to fit client context better
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Engagement succeeded (validated 12 months later)
"Agilicist's validation saved us nearly £1M and ensured we got the right solution."
- CFO, Financial Services
Scale-Up:
Health Check Revealed Critical Delivery Issues Before Crisis
The Challenge
Fast-growing scale-up (8 to 25 teams in 18 months). CEO felt something was "off" but couldn't pinpoint it. Requested health check before problems became crisis.
Our Advisory
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2 Senior DevOps Engineers (onshore, 6 months)
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Built automation, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code
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Trained internal team throughout engagement
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Transitioned ownership after 6 months
The Results
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Identified delivery model breaking under scale (before major failures)
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Diagnosed root causes: unclear ownership, technical bottlenecks, process overhead
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Provided prioritised roadmap for fixes
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CEO acted immediately: Restructured teams, changed governance, addressed technical debt
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Avoided potential crisis: Health check caught issues 3-6 months before they would have caused major failures
"The health check was a wake-up call we needed. It prevented a disaster."
- CEO, Scale-Up
Investment & Engagement Options
Organisational Health Check
£15K - £40K depending on scope and organisation size
Duration: 2-4 weeks
Best for: Baseline assessment, periodic validation
Vendor & Partner Validation
£10K - £30K depending on number of vendors and complexity
Duration: 1-3 weeks
Best for: Major vendor selection, active engagement evaluation
Approach Validation
£8K - £20K depending on complexity
Duration: 1-2 weeks
Best for: Validating transformation strategies, delivery approaches
Retained Advisory
£5K - £15K per month (3-12 month retainer)
Duration: Ongoing
Best for: Continuous strategic advisory, trusted advisor relationship
Scope: Single team vs. entire organization, depth of assessment
Complexity: Regulated industries, multiple vendors, politically sensitive
Urgency: Rush assessments (1 week) cost more than standard timelines
Seniority: Partner-led vs. consultant-led advisory
Duration: Retained advisory discounted vs. one-off projects
What Influences Cost
Advisory Service Pricing
ROI Considerations
Key Insight:
Advisory services have among the highest ROI of any consultancy engagement - small investment, large risk mitigation.
Vendor Validation ROI:
Our assessment of £3M vendor proposal saved client £800K (27% savings).
Our fee: £25K.
ROI: 32x
Retained Advisory ROI:
Ongoing guidance prevented 2 major wrong turns (estimated cost: £400K each).
Annual retainer: £120K.
ROI: 7x
Health Check ROI:
Early identification of delivery issues prevented estimated £500K in failed delivery and rework.
Our fee: £30K.
ROI: 17x
Common Questions About Advisory & Validation
We're practitioners, not strategy consultants. We've done this work ourselves. We're independent (no sales agenda). We're significantly less expensive (40-60% cost savings). And we're pragmatic - we tell you what will work, not what's trendy.
If they are, yes. But we're not here to throw vendors under the bus. Often vendors are doing fine but the approach needs adjustment. We're honest about what's working and what's not.
Absolutely. Many clients start with health check or vendor validation, then engage us for transformation. It's low-risk way to test our expertise.
Completely. We sign NDAs. Our assessments are for your eyes only. We don't share findings with anyone without permission.
That's fine. We provide our expert opinion based on data and experience. You decide what to do with it. We're advisory, not prescriptive.
30 days of follow-up questions included. Optional: retained advisory for ongoing support.
Yes. We can attend pitches, ask probing questions, and provide immediate feedback. Very effective for major vendor selections.
Standard: 2-4 weeks. Rush: 1 week (with premium pricing). We're fast when you need speed.
Get started with Advisory Services
What Happens When You Reach Out
1.
Advisory Consultation (Free, 30 min): Discuss what you need validated, assessed, or advised on.We determine if advisory is right fit or if you need something else.
2.
Advisory Proposal (Within 2 days):
We propose scope, approach, timeline, pricing. Clear deliverables outlined.
3.
Contracting (2-3 days):
Simple engagement letter, clear terms, NDA if needed.
4.
Advisory Engagement (1-4 weeks):
We conduct assessment, analysis, provide recommendations.
5.
Deliver & Discuss:
Present findings, discuss recommendations, agree next steps (if any).
Total Time: 1-4 weeks from initial call to delivered advisory.