DCT Advisory
How an engagement works
Each stage ends with a decision, so a leadership team commits one step at a time, with the evidence in hand. The analysis is DCT Advisory's work; the leadership team's time goes to the decisions.
How an engagement works
High analytical depth. Low executive burden.
Engagements are scoped to the enterprise: a single division, a group of departments around a shared platform, or a whole company. Each phase ends at the corresponding Helix gates, so the client can decide at every stage whether to continue, expand, pause or stop, with the evidence in hand.
DCT Helix white paper (October 2026), page 44 and Exhibit 36 (verbatim)
Before the engagement
Diagnose
G1 · Baseline certifiedThe state is declared, owned and measured; maturity is assessed; the transformation inventory is complete.G2 · Diagnosis certifiedA causal account of value, tested against evidence and stakeholder feedback, with scenarios declared and couplings mapped.Design
G3 · Step certifiedValue at stake (P10, P50, P90), risk appetite, readiness and first-tranche funding signed off by the board.G4 · Design certifiedThe portfolio fits budget and change capacity, dependencies are scheduled, and every initiative has an owner, a benefit case and a KPI.Orchestrate
G5 · Benefits bankedValue that shows in the income statement, balance sheet or cash flow, not in plans; each wave closed with its interfaces intact.G6 · New equilibrium certifiedThe step holds under measurement and the new KPIs run in business as usual.Embed and renew
G7 · Renewal decisionHold, extend or start the next turn of the loop, decided before a crisis decides it.
DCT Helix white paper (October 2026), page 44: an engagement follows the loop — diagnose, design, orchestrate, then embed and renew.
Executive Discovery Conversation
Purpose
To establish whether there is a transformation question important enough for DCT Advisory to address, and whether DCT is the right instrument for it. It is a conversation, not free consulting.
Duration
45–60 minutes, by video
Your time
45–60 minutes
What happens
- The trigger for the transformation and its strategic imperative
- Where the enterprise stands today, and the future state in view
- The transformations already under way, and how they interact
- The constraints that bind: capital, technology, organization, risk and time
- What the board expects, and the cost of doing nothing
- Who owns the transformation
What you receive
- If there is a fit: the DCT Transformation Opportunity Brief, within about two working days
- If there is not: a candid note saying so
Who takes part
- The chief executive or the sponsoring executive
- Dr. Samir Asaf
The decision it supports
Whether the question merits a closer look.
Fee
No charge
What comes next
The DCT Transformation Opportunity Brief.
DCT Transformation Opportunity Brief
Purpose
To show how DCT frames the problem and to propose the right first engagement. It demonstrates the thinking without delivering the solution.
Duration
Within about two working days of the conversation
Your time
Twenty minutes to read; an optional 30-minute call to discuss it
What happens
- The situation as understood
- The transformation imperative
- Initial DCT hypotheses
- The questions that need validating
- Apparent constraints and interdependencies
- The value potentially at stake
- The recommended next step
- The proposed DCT Helix Diagnostic, with its scope
- An initial information request
What you receive
- A written brief of two to four pages
Who takes part
- The chief executive
- Dr. Samir Asaf
The decision it supports
Whether to commission the Diagnostic.
Fee
No charge
What comes next
The DCT Helix Diagnostic or, when the question starts with systems, the DCT ERP Effectiveness Review.
DCT Helix Diagnostic
Purpose
To establish, on evidence, what the transformation must address first, and what it should not attempt yet.
Duration
Two to four weeks
Your time
About six hours of the chief executive's time; an hour with each selected executive; a focused workshop only where the evidence needs one
What happens
- One executive kickoff
- Documents and data provided by the company
- Interviews with selected executives
- Focused management workshops where necessary
- The analysis, done by DCT Advisory
- Short weekly check-ins with the chief executive
- A readout to the CXOs or the board
What you receive
- The DCT Executive Diagnostic Report
- The Transformation Readiness Profile
- The constraint, coupling and risk maps
- Value at stake, as a range
- The Priority Decision Agenda
Who takes part
- The chief executive
- Selected CXOs
- Dr. Samir Asaf, with specialists where the scope requires
The decision it supports
What the transformation must address first, and whether to design it.
Fee
Typically begins at USD 25,000
Helix gates
- G1 · Baseline certifiedThe state is declared, owned and measured; maturity is assessed; the transformation inventory is complete.
- G2 · Diagnosis certifiedA causal account of value, tested against evidence and stakeholder feedback, with scenarios declared and couplings mapped.
What comes next
The CXO or board readout.
CXO / Board Readout
Purpose
To put the diagnosis in front of the people who must decide, and to agree the decision agenda.
Duration
A 90-minute session at the end of the Diagnostic
Your time
90 minutes
What happens
- The findings, with the evidence behind each
- The binding constraints and the weakest critical capability
- Two or three first-step options, each with its gate criteria
- Discussion and decisions
What you receive
- The readout pack
- The decision agenda, as agreed
Who takes part
- The chief executive and the leadership team, or the board
- Dr. Samir Asaf
The decision it supports
Which first step to take, and whether to commission the Blueprint.
Fee
Part of the Diagnostic
Helix gates
- G2 · Diagnosis certifiedA causal account of value, tested against evidence and stakeholder feedback, with scenarios declared and couplings mapped.
What comes next
The DCT Transformation Blueprint.
DCT Transformation Blueprint
Purpose
To turn the diagnosis into a transformation architecture: what to do, in what order, why, and with what resources.
Duration
Six to ten weeks
Your time
About ten hours of the chief executive's time: a kickoff, two design sessions, short fortnightly check-ins and the board session; more for the executives who own the main initiatives
What happens
- The desired future state and the strategic objectives
- The initiatives, their dependencies and the order that respects them
- Transformation operators: what each initiative changes, at what cost, over what time
- Capital allocation and financing implications, against organizational capacity
- Technology and operating-model implications
- Governance, decision rights and gate criteria
- Milestones, KPIs and risk controls
- Scenario tests of the plan
What you receive
- The transformation roadmap
- A first step sized as a range, with a floor
- The capital and capacity plan
- The governance model, with decision rights and gate criteria
- The value-realization model: the design of the benefits ledger
- The board paper
Who takes part
- The chief executive and the leadership team
- The owners of the main initiatives
- Dr. Samir Asaf, with specialists where needed
The decision it supports
The board approves the transformation path and the first tranche of funding.
Where it leaves you
A leadership team that knows what to do, in what order, why, and with what resources.
Fee
Fixed fee, scoped to the enterprise and the transformation
Helix gates
- G3 · Step certifiedValue at stake (P10, P50, P90), risk appetite, readiness and first-tranche funding signed off by the board.
- G4 · Design certifiedThe portfolio fits budget and change capacity, dependencies are scheduled, and every initiative has an owner, a benefit case and a KPI.
What comes next
Execution, with the DCT Transformation Office.
DCT Transformation Office
Purpose
To orchestrate execution: keep the portfolio sequenced, the benefits counted and the plan current. Management continues to own execution; DCT Advisory provides the transformation architecture and the senior advisory layer.
Duration
Monthly; three months minimum, six recommended
Your time
A monthly transformation review of about two hours; steering decisions as they arise
What happens
- Portfolio governance and initiative sequencing
- Dependency management and issue escalation
- Milestone, value and initiative-health tracking
- Capital deployment and risk monitoring
- Change-capacity and strategic-assumption monitoring
- Decision preparation for management and the board
- Management and board reporting, on a set cadence
- Re-optimization when conditions change
What you receive
- A benefits ledger reconciled with finance
- Monthly transformation reviews
- Board reporting
- Gate certificates for each new level
Who takes part
- The chief executive and the executive committee
- The company's own transformation office or PMO
- Dr. Samir Asaf
The decision it supports
Whether each wave has delivered: benefits banked, and the new level holding.
Fee
Monthly, scoped to the portfolio
Helix gates
- G5 · Benefits bankedValue that shows in the income statement, balance sheet or cash flow, not in plans; each wave closed with its interfaces intact.
- G6 · New equilibrium certifiedThe step holds under measurement and the new KPIs run in business as usual.
What comes next
Board & CXO Advisory, as the work moves from orchestration to renewal.
Board & CXO Transformation Advisory
Purpose
Ongoing access to DCT expertise for the decisions that matter most, rather than consulting hours.
Duration
Monthly; six months minimum
Your time
A fortnightly call with the chief executive, a monthly transformation review and a quarterly board or CXO review
What happens
- CEO advisory calls
- Board transformation reviews
- Analysis of major strategic decisions
- Transformation health reviews
- Capital-allocation advice and scenario analysis
- Challenges to strategic assumptions
- Executive decision preparation
- Priority resets and re-optimization guidance
- Special situations, and access for major decisions as they arise
What you receive
- Quarterly board or CXO reviews
- Written decision notes for major decisions
Who takes part
- The chief executive
- The chair and the board
- Dr. Samir Asaf
The decision it supports
Hold, extend or start the next turn of the loop, decided before a crisis decides it.
Fee
Monthly retainer, scoped to the access required
Helix gates
- G7 · Renewal decisionHold, extend or start the next turn of the loop, decided before a crisis decides it.
What comes next
Continuous monitoring, adaptation and re-optimization.
Continuous monitoring, adaptation and re-optimization
Purpose
To keep the plan true to a moving world. It is not a separate engagement: it is how the Transformation Office and Board & CXO Advisory work.
Duration
Continuous
Your time
Included in the reviews above
What happens
- The conditions that would void the plan, watched
- Triggers for re-planning, declared in advance
- The plan re-solved when a trigger fires, with fresh certificates
What you receive
- A trigger register
- Re-optimized plans when conditions change
Who takes part
- The chief executive and the leadership team
- Dr. Samir Asaf
The decision it supports
When the plan must change, and how.
Fee
Within the retainer
Helix gates
- G6 · New equilibrium certifiedThe step holds under measurement and the new KPIs run in business as usual.
- G7 · Renewal decisionHold, extend or start the next turn of the loop, decided before a crisis decides it.
What comes next
The next turn of the loop: a new baseline and the next step.
When the question starts with systems
Some engagements begin with the ERP rather than the strategy. They pass the same gates; only the first door is different. When systems and strategy are both in scope, the ERP Blueprint becomes part of the Transformation Blueprint.
- Executive Discovery Conversation
- ERP and Transformation Opportunity Brief
- DCT ERP Effectiveness Review
- CXO Readout
- DCT ERP Transformation Blueprint
- Implementation or optimization roadmap
- ERP Transformation Oversight
- Value Realization Review
- Board & CXO Advisory
When a broader transformation reaches the systems
High analytical depth. Low executive burden.
| Stage | The chief executive | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Discovery Conversation | 45–60 minutes | None |
| Transformation Opportunity Brief | Twenty minutes to read; an optional 30-minute call | None |
| DCT Helix Diagnostic | About six hours over two to four weeks | An hour each for selected executives; documents and data from finance and strategy staff |
| DCT Transformation Blueprint | About ten hours over six to ten weeks | Design sessions for the owners of the main initiatives |
| DCT Transformation Office | About two hours a month | The company's transformation office works with DCT Advisory week to week |
| Board & CXO Advisory | A fortnightly call and a monthly review | A quarterly board or CXO review |
