--- title: "Business MRI: The Method" description: "Business MRI is the diagnostic method Mike Sommer built across 75+ enterprise engagements. It reads how a program really runs, puts a dollar figure on each bottleneck, and sets the order of fixes." url: https://www.thekadencegroup.com/business-mri site: Kadence Group --- # The method behind every engagement. Business MRI is how we read a stalled program. Mike built it over twenty years and more than 75 engagements. It uses the same inputs, the same questions, and the same outputs every time. It ends with a dollar figure on each problem and the order to fix them. - **75+**: Enterprise engagements behind the method - **4 to 6 weeks**: From kickoff to a verdict leadership can defend - **3 to 5**: Fixes in the Fix-First Sequence. Not a 200 page roadmap. *Why a method* ## A method is something you can check. A method has set inputs, set questions, and set outputs. You can see how every finding was reached, and you can argue with the evidence instead of the opinion. Business MRI came out of the work. At IBM, Mike built the operating models behind eight figure Salesforce programs. He led a telecom center of excellence from stage 1 to stage 4 maturity. The same questions kept deciding whether a program went green: how the work really runs, who is pulling which way, and what the platform can carry. Business MRI writes those questions down and puts a number on the answers. The name comes from medicine for a reason. A good physician doesn't treat a symptom before reading the cause. Neither do we. *How it thinks* ## It reads a program the way a physician reads a patient. ### What hurts? (Symptoms) Slow releases, broken automations, data nobody trusts, integrations held together with workarounds. ### Why does it hurt? (Causes) Technical debt, permission sprawl, undocumented dependencies, and governance gaps that compound quietly. ### What are the options? (Treatment) Prioritized fixes, with the tradeoffs and timelines made explicit. ### What happens next? (Prognosis) The expected results if you act, and the documented cost if you don't. *What it reads* ## Four platform dimensions. Three bottlenecks. Every read covers the same four dimensions of the platform, and looks at each through three lenses: operational, political, and technology. ### Data quality and trust (Dimension 1) Whether people trust the data enough to run the business on it, and where teams keep their own copy instead. ### Integration health (Dimension 2) What connects to what, what breaks when one side changes, and which dependencies nobody wrote down. ### Security and access model (Dimension 3) Who can see and change what. Permission sprawl, and the controls an auditor would ask about. ### Change velocity (Dimension 4) How fast the team can ship safely. Release pace, failed deployments, and the rework that eats the calendar. *How a read runs* ## Four phases. A fixed time box. 1. **Discovery and evidence**: Metadata extraction, document collection, integration mapping, and interviews with the people closest to the work. What the system shows, and what the people know. **You get:** a written picture of how things really work today. 2. **Analysis and dollarization**: Each finding gets a name, an owner, and a dollar figure. The findings are ranked by what they cost and what they block. **You get:** the cost of the status quo, and the value of fixing it. 3. **Draft findings, with you first**: We walk the person who brought us in through the draft before anything reaches the CIO. You see it first and shape how it lands. **You get:** no surprises in the executive room. 4. **Verdict and executive readout**: The final report and a readout in leadership language, with a plain verdict and the evidence behind it. **You get:** a decision your leadership can defend. *What you get* ## Named outputs. The same every time. ### Cleared, or Not Cleared (The verdict) One of three answers: **Cleared**, **Not Cleared: Targeted Gaps**, or **Not Cleared: Foundational**. A plain answer, with the evidence behind it. ### Every finding, dollarized (The findings) Each problem with a name, an owner, and an estimated annual cost. Numbers leadership can decide with, instead of opinions. ### The Fix-First Sequence (The order of fixes) Three to five moves, in order, with owners and expected results. The first move is the one that unblocks the rest. ### An AI readiness determination (The AI question) What the platform can support now, what it can't, and what must be true before each capability goes to production. *What it usually finds* > Usual frame: We have a data quality problem. > > You don't have a data problem. You have a decision problem that data quality is hiding. *Why it's pragmatic* ## Built to be used, not admired. ### Weeks, not quarters. A read runs four to eight weeks, sized to the decision in front of you. ### It starts from what's there. Your org's metadata, your documents, and the people closest to the work. Nothing gets rebuilt to be examined. ### The first fix unblocks the rest. Three to five moves, in order. A long list of equal priorities is a list of nothing. ### Your champion sees it first. Draft findings go to the person who brought us in before they go anywhere else. ### Your team can run it. Every fix has an owner and an expected result. Your team, your integrator, or Kadence Group runs the work. ### Backed by a guarantee. If we don't find something worth 10 times the fee, we keep working at no charge until we do. *Ways in* ## Start small. Go as deep as the decision needs. 1. **Clearance Debrief** (90 minutes): A structured session across the four dimensions. A detailed brief for you and a one page CIO brief within 48 hours. The fee credits in full toward a Vitals read. 2. **Vitals** (4 to 6 weeks): The full read: the verdict, dollarized findings, the Fix-First Sequence, and the AI readiness determination. 3. **Full Business MRI** (6 to 8 weeks): The deep scan. End to end process mechanics: flows, repeat failure loops, integration dependencies, and control gaps. 4. **Build and assurance** (After the read): We run the fixes with your team, or hand the sequence to your integrator. Ongoing assurance keeps the platform green as change picks up. *In practice* ## One read, with the numbers. A MedTech company ran quoting, sales, and service on Salesforce. Leadership wanted to know what the platform was really costing them before investing further. Business MRI traced **$1.6M to $2.4M a year in drag** to three places. About 60% came from quoting and pricing. About 25% came from how cases were routed. About 15% came from governance rework. The read also found **244 paid seats nobody used**, worth more than $200K a year. The first move in the Fix-First Sequence was intake and routing, the fix that unblocks the rest. [Read the full story](/work#medtech) *Questions* ## About the method ### Is Business MRI a product or a service? It's a method, and Mike Sommer delivers it. The method sets what gets read, how each finding gets a dollar figure, and what you receive at the end. ### Is it only for Salesforce? Most reads so far have been on Salesforce, and the four dimensions are written with it in mind. The method is the same on any platform: the same lenses, the same dollarization, and the same outputs. ### Who does the work? Mike does. The person who scopes the read runs the read. ### What happens after the read? You own the Fix-First Sequence. Your team, your integrator, or Kadence Group runs the fixes. Ongoing assurance is available if you want the gains checked as change picks up. ### How is it priced? On the decision at stake, not on hours. You know the number before we start. The Clearance Debrief fee credits in full toward a Vitals read. ### What is the 10x guarantee? If we don't find something worth 10 times the fee, we keep working at no charge until we do. It's a commitment, not a refund. ## See what's real. Build what's next. If a program is stuck, start with one conversation. [Book a conversation](https://calendly.com/mike-sommer/1-hr-meeting-block) ยท [See the work](https://www.thekadencegroup.com/work)