There are a few criterias you should always look for when using intelligence services. It’s about finding a partner who share your vision, understands your challenges, and is committed to YOUR success.
Let’s get deep into our subject straight away with 5 important points.
1. Specialization Over Generalization
True mastery lies in specialization. The one-stop-shop is most likely to be a fraud. They offer: physical security services, the best cyber experts in the world, the greatest analysts ever, 29 languages, special ops, strategic consulting and more… Maybe ask them if they can cook Italian-Japanese fusion and make Ethiopian coffee too?
Your intelligence partner should not aim to be a jack-of-all-trades but rather a master of specific domains, ensuring that their insights are tailored and addresses your challenges. Specialization can be over a region, a language, or specific type of expertise in the sector/industry that you’re interested in.
2. Customization is the key
The dynamic nature of business necessitates solutions that are as unique as the challenges they address. The era of one-size-fits-all solutions is obsolete.
Your intelligence partner must demonstrate the ability to not just understand but also anticipate your needs pro-actively, take initiatives by offering bespoke solutions that resonate with your specific business environment.
3. Trust and Credibility
Trust is the cornerstone of this field. The ethical standing of your intelligence vendor is of paramount importance. Your partner's values, vision of the world should match. You’re going to share this partner crucial information about yourself, your company. You must align on values and principles. If this is a matter that is important to you, you should also check methods of data collection, analysis. That’s a way to ensure that the information provided to you is credible and ethically obtained and delivered.
This level of integrity fosters a relationship of trust and reliability, crucial in strategic decision-making. The shadowy and mysterious intelligence agencies that bring the sexy spy vibe, nice for movies, but it’s a no-go for you.
Don’t forget, in the intelligence private sector, the lack of industry-wide ethical standards/regulations necessitates a rigorous vetting process. It's essential to ensure that your intelligence provider's ethical code aligns with your values, adhering to compliance standards.
4. The Size Counts…
Intelligence big corps are well known for being expensive - you pay for a name, a few reknown retired experts - ex-FBI, Mossad, MI6 or CIA - and they share the big cake of the international market.
These same companies use subcontractors: they get the job done by freelancers or little agencies, for a honest and normal price, and resell it to their clients at a much higher price.
So – I’d strongly recommend you look for a human-sized company. An agency where you know the leaders, where you have someone to talk to that is not the intern or the associate senior junior manager director partner. Yep, they all got weird titles nowadays.
By doing so, you’ll get :
- More transparency on the processes and on the prices
- Clarity and speed in answers: no need to go through long lengthy report for every question asked
5. Partnership with a Private Intelligence Agency
Engaging with an intelligence vendor should be viewed as a partnership rather than a transaction. This relationship should be long term, and is rooted in mutual support, understanding, and a shared goal of achieving strategic objectives. Effective communication, clarity in requirements, and a deep understanding of each other's strategies and objectives are fundamental in transforming raw data into actionable intelligence.
The engagement with your vendor should be dynamic and interactive.
It's not just about asking questions but about sharing insights, refining the scope of work, and staying connected throughout the process. This collaborative approach ensures that the intelligence provided is relevant and adaptable to the evolving business landscape.
The right partner will provide information but will also offer insights, strategies, and solutions that are ethical, tailored, and aligned with your business goals.
Chose wisely and surely !
Bonus: The Checklist
To help you, Maria Robson-Morrow, Paul Kolbe, and Katie Tucker, published in January 2024 in the Harvard Business Review a checklist of questions you should ask before engaging with an intelligence provider - that I copied here for you.
1. Does the vendor’s expertise match my needs?
☐ Vendor has clear specialties, underpinned by deep expertise.
☐ They invest in their people with training and ongoing development.
☐ Vendor closely oversees any subcontractors and has insight into their collection methods.
2. Does the vendor tailor to my needs?
☐ Vendor has given us a trial or demo.
☐ They have explained how they can customize their services to meet our requirements.
☐ They have discussed source qualifications and access sufficiently for us to have confidence in the quality of their intelligence.
3. Does the vendor’s ethical code align with my own?
☐ They have a robust ethical code that aligns with our values and compliance standards.
☐ They have a track record of resolving legal or compliance concerns or declining work that is suspect.
☐ They will protect our data.
4. Am I supporting my vendor?
☐ I know what they need from us for success.
☐ They are open to collaborating with us and developing intelligence requirements together.
☐ I am confident we will have a dialogue and they will be responsive to our ongoing needs.
About OC Strategic Advisory
Our goal is to democratize the secret tools and methodologies of intelligence to apply it to business strategy.
At OC Strategic Advisory, we provide with:
· Consulting Services and Trainings· Profiling services, background checks, due diligences· OSINT and HUMINT services· Strategic intelligence reports (regions, industries)· Strategic communication· Strategic negotiation support· Market emotions research and analysis
If you’d like to hear more, don’t hesitate to book a discovery call.
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