Introduction A growing restaurant chain had ongoing challenges with its point-of-sale (POS) system. Their heavily customized Micros Symphony setup was plagued by frequent crashes, data inconsistencies, and an outdated user experience. These inefficiencies disrupted daily operations, leading to frustrated employees and diminished customer satisfaction. The Challenge The Restaurant faced four critical pain points: System Instability: Frequent crashes and downtime severely impacted business operations. Data Inaccuracy: Inconsistent data made it difficult for leadership to make informed business decisions. Poor User Experience: The complex and outdated interface frustrated staff and slowed service. Vendor Lock-In: Extensive customizations made fixing and optimizing the system both costly and challenging. Recognizing the need for a modern, scalable solution, the restaurant partnered with Altum Strategy Group to implement a streamlined and effective POS transition. The Solution The restaurant selected Toast POS, a cloud-based, user-friendly system known for its reliability and ease of use. With tight timelines and high operational stakes, Altum played a pivotal role in ensuring a smooth transition by providing strategic guidance and hands-on technical support. Key steps in the transformation included: Rapid Contract Negotiation and Hardware Procurement: Altum facilitated contract negotiations and finalization with Toast in just 24 hours. Essential hardware, including registers, handheld […]

What was the client’s challenge? Using a highly successful acquisition and growth strategy, one of the largest dental support organizations in the United States had grown to over 1700 general and specialty dental practices. As each practice group was onboarded, they migrated to similar on-premises solutions to support key aspects of patient care, including scheduling, follow-up, patient billing, and clinical care. However, supporting, enhancing, and maintaining these local systems within a growing portfolio soon became a challenge. The outdated on-premises solution made it difficult to support and unify the practices across the company’s wide footprint. In addition, the rapid expansion of the practice footprint also caused operational issues in supporting the practices and their tenants, understanding performance, patient growth, and resource efficiency. Furthermore, there was a pressing need to align the practices with the company’s strategic vision and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations. The client needed a thorough evaluation of practice management software (PMS) and a transformation strategy to streamline support and operations, ensure consistent high-quality support and patient care, and enable centralized reporting. The core areas of consideration were: How would a cloud-based solution improve the ability to scale further? How would the PMS support the organization’s […]

Digital Transformation Podcast · Episode

AI will continue to redefine competitive advantage, but integrity will determine who earns the right to lead.

Introduction As businesses grow, the demands on people operations evolve dramatically. What starts as transactional functions, including onboarding, compliance, and managing payroll, must transform into strategic enablers that powers sustainable expansion, preserves company culture, and anticipates future workforce needs. Scaling successfully requires a shift in mindset: from reactive support to proactive partnership. Companies that invest in building flexible, scalable people strategies early are far better positioned to manage change and fuel long-term success. Start with the End in Mind A scalable people strategy begins with clarity. Leaders must align around a shared vision for success: What does growth look like? What capabilities will the business need in six months, one year, and three years? Without alignment, people operations risk becoming a patchwork of short-term fixes rather than a durable foundation for scale. One real-world example: during the launch of a major new product division at Oakley, an initial reliance on outsourcing was necessary to meet an unexpected surge in demand. But leadership quickly realized that long-term success depended on building an internal team with the right skills and cultural alignment. This pivot highlighted a critical lesson — proactive talent planning would have accelerated growth and reduced pressure on existing teams. […]

Inaugural U.S. Cybersecurity Leaders Survey from Altum Strategy Group finds boards demanding business-relevant metrics as organizations blend in-house and managed cyber capabilities. NEW YORK. IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Altum Strategy Group today released its inaugural U.S. Cybersecurity Leaders Survey, showing that American cybersecurity decision‑makers are heading into 2026 focused on protecting sensitive data, speeding up threat detection and response, and putting AI to work as a practical enabler. The survey of 163 U.S.-based cybersecurity experts with decision-making responsibility finds that 44% rank protecting sensitive data in their top two cybersecurity priorities for 2026, ahead of threat detection and response (36%) and AI enablement (25%). These priorities anchor cybersecurity strategy firmly in business risk and resilience. The research also points to a shift in what boards expect from security leaders. More than half of respondents say their boards are asking for foundational security metrics (51%), business resiliency risks (51%), and insights into advanced persistent threats (50%), signaling a move from technical dashboards toward metrics that directly connect to revenue, operations, and reputation. “Our inaugural U.S. Cybersecurity Leaders Survey shows that security teams are prioritizing exactly what boards care about most: protecting sensitive data and keeping the business running,” said Matthew Gantner, CEO, […]

As organizations expand across geographies, adopt remote work models, and decentralize data ownership, traditional data governance frameworks are increasingly falling short. What once worked for small, co-located teams managing tightly controlled datasets no longer scales to the speed, scope, and complexity of modern enterprise operations. In a world driven by AI and empowered by federated data models, governance must evolve to ensure quality, compliance, and usability, without slowing the business down. Why Traditional Governance Models Fail Many legacy governance frameworks were built for a narrow scope: a small data team, limited use cases, and a single source of truth. But today, enterprises operate with thousands of data streams, cross-functional users, and decentralized decision making. That’s where cracks begin to show. The rapid acceleration of AI adoption has amplified the need for governance that moves at the speed of data. In the past, governance often sat apart from data strategy as an afterthought or compliance checkbox. Now, as AI depends on reliable, well curated data, governance must sit at the core of how businesses define and implement data strategy. Three Keys to Modern, Scalable Governance Implementing scalable governance in a decentralized enterprise can feel daunting. But organizations can take actionable steps […]

Introduction Hybrid and remote work have permanently reshaped the workplace, redefining what employees expect from their employers. In this new era, companies must design people-first operating models that balance flexibility with performance, sustain culture across distributed teams, and reinforce accountability without leading to burnout. Flexibility as a Standard, Not a Perk Before the pandemic, remote work was a limited offering. Today, flexibility is foundational. Employees seek autonomy over when and where they work, and businesses that embrace this shift are better positioned to attract and retain top talent. That doesn’t mean every employee or team thrives in the same environment. Early career professionals may benefit from more structured, in-person guidance, while experienced team members may prefer more autonomy. Successful companies design hybrid models intentionally, balancing team needs, business objectives, and role specific requirements. The key is tailoring flexibility to support high performance without sacrificing clarity or cohesion. In one organizational transition, a company moving offices recognized that a traditional five-day office schedule no longer fit its evolving workforce. Rather than defaulting to rigid expectations, they provided teams with coworking memberships and rotating in-office anchor days, allowing each function to define what worked best. Intentional flexibility created alignment without chaos. Maintaining […]

Navigating Uncertainty: Building Resilience for 2026! As we look toward 2026, business leaders are facing a dual challenge: economic pessimism has doubled, and geopolitical and trade risks have surged to the top of the agenda. In conversations with executives, one theme stands out—getting back to the foundations. What does that mean in practice? ✅ Scenario Planning: Best, good, and worst-case revenue and risk models. ✅ Liquidity Focus: Ensuring cash reserves and credit facilities are ready for rapid execution. ✅ People Transformation: 42% of leaders say people transformation is in the top 2 of their agenda for 2026. Workforce isn't just about headcount analytics—it’s about unlocking hidden potential. Upskilling existing talent for data, AI, and operations initiatives is becoming a strategic imperative. The companies that thrive will be those that combine financial resilience with human adaptability. It’s not just about weathering uncertainty—it’s about building agility into the DNA of your organization. How is your team preparing for 2026? Let’s start the conversation. #Leadership #EconomicOutlook #BusinessStrategy #PeopleTransformation #FutureOfWork #AI #Upskilling #Resilience #ScenarioPlanning #AltumStrategyGroup #TidalShiftThursday

As organizations increasingly rely on data to power operations, customer experiences, and strategic planning, choosing the right data architecture has never been more critical. Two modern models dominate the conversation: data fabric and data mesh. Each has unique implications for scalability, governance, and enterprise agility. Understanding the key differences, and how they align with business structure and goals, is essential for long-term success. What Is the Difference Between Data Fabric and Data Mesh? At their core, the difference comes down to centralization versus decentralization. Data Fabric is an integrated architecture designed to unify data management through a centralized platform. It leverages automation and metadata to help technology discover, manage, and connect data across sources. In this model, a centralized corporate data team typically governs and maintains the system.  This model also typically leverages a technology driven approach to hide complexity. Data Mesh, on the other hand, is decentralized by design. It is built around the concept of domain-oriented ownership, where individual business units manage their own data pipelines, systems, and outputs. In this model, data is treated as a product, with each team responsible for its lifecycle, accessibility, and quality. Scalability and Structure Scalability is a primary driver behind architecture […]

Altum Strategy Group has been aiding a restaurant and retail client in transforming its financial and supply chain systems as part of a continuing two-year partnership. Starting with a requirements-based software selection, Altum thoroughly examined the client’s needs and culture, identifying the business’s critical issues and challenges. The software selection process included over three hundred requirements, incorporating process flows across 19 business process areas. This selection process involved three distinct ERP solutions, with more than 40 stakeholders contributing to the final decision. Following the selection, Altum continued as the Solution Architect, overseeing the data transformation. The Altum Team adeptly directed the chosen implementation partner, leveraging their experience in business operations and requirements. As Solution Architect, Altum facilitated the deployment of Financials, Supply Chain Management, and Warehouse and Inventory Management. Under Altum’s leadership, the client opted for a location-based deployment strategy, which allowed for effective implementations built upon previous successes. Financial Operations Transformation With Altum’s assistance, the client’s initial deployment focused on their financial operations. As part of this rollout, Altum implemented the following functionalities within the new system: Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Fixed Assets From a data perspective, Altum enabled the client’s processes through: Extraction, Transformation, and Load of over […]

In this year’s NextWave Survey by Altum Strategy Group, 73% of U.S. C-Suite business leaders told us that external economic conditions will have the biggest impact on their revenue in 2026. The second most influential factor? Regulatory changes, cited by 68% of executives. These insights highlight the critical need for strategic agility as we head into 2026. Want to know what else the C-Suite is telling us about the year ahead? 📩 Contact us today to dive deeper into the full findings. #NextWaveSurvey #NextWave2026 #AltumStrategyGroup #CLevelInsights #BusinessStrategy #EconomicTrends #RegulatoryImpact #FutureOfBusiness #LeadershipInsights #2026Forecast #CorporateStrategy #ExecutiveLeadership #MarketTrends #BusinessGrowth #StrategicPlanning #EconomicOutlook #RegulatoryCompliance