Program · for the CIO, CTO, and CISO

Build, Buy, Borrow.

An honest read of what you are trying to do against the operating model you actually have. We map each capability to one of three calls, build, buy, or borrow, and end the shelfware that no one can support.

Scoped to your situation · Founding Client terms apply
The problem

Your last three tools are shelfware.

Most enterprises buy what they cannot support and build what they should have bought. Tools land on the strength of a demo and no one can run them; capabilities get half-built in-house and never mattered to the business in the first place.

Both waste budget and attention. The fix is a clear call, per capability, against the operating model you actually have.

What's included

What you get.

  • The capability map. What you are trying to do, and the gap against the operating model you have today.
  • Build. Own it when it matters enough to the business and you can support it.
  • Buy. Take the off-the-shelf option when the problem is already solved well.
  • Borrow. Bring someone in to create it, then transition it to your team to run.
How it works

Assess. Map. Call it.

Assess
Ambition vs model

What you are trying to do against the operating model and the team you actually have.

Map
The gaps that matter

Where the ambition and the model do not line up, prioritized.

Call it
Build, buy, or borrow

A clear recommendation per capability, with the reasoning.

What it's worth

Invest where it counts.

The point is not the framework. It is the judgment applied to your situation, your constraints, and what your team can realistically sustain.

No more shelfware

Stop buying what you cannot run and building what you should have bought.

Capabilities that matter

Own the ones that move the business, and only those.

A defensible plan

A clear call per capability your CFO and your team can stand behind.

No hidden interest

We do not implement or resell, so no version of the answer pays us more.

Why Phronia

Advice with no hidden interest.

Phronia does not build the systems it assesses, resell the products it might recommend, or take referral fees. When we tell you to build, buy, or borrow, no version of that answer pays us more than another. The advice is the only thing on sale.

Every agency will wordsmith your message. We are the buyer you are trying to reach. Howard Holton has been the CIO, the CTO, and the CISO, more than once, across many companies, sizes, and industries. This is not one analyst's opinion. It is the read of the person who signs the check.

Get started

Scoped to your estate.

The Maturity Assessment is scoped to the capabilities and the part of the operating model in question.

Founding Client: start your first engagement by July 31 and take 40% off, as one of a small charter group, in exchange for becoming a reference.