The ITeam is a technology company that has been running on EOS® for over seven years. After being acquired by Lyra in November 2024, they transitioned from Ninety.io to Strety, expanding their EOS implementation from 6 leadership team members to 38 total employees company-wide.
We spoke with James Wagner, CEO and Harry O’Reilly, Professional Services Manager, about their long EOS® journey, their experience with different platforms, and how moving to Strety enabled them to scale their implementation across the entire organization.
How did your EOS® journey begin?
James: We started about seven years ago with self-implementation. I had read the book Traction and we began our EOS® implementation using spreadsheets and PDFs, sometimes even writing things by hand. We did that for about five years.
After the first year or two, we engaged a business coach who helped facilitate our meetings and the process, but we were still using the manual tools. Then about two and a half years ago, we started working with a certified EOS Implementer, and he wanted us to use an online tool. That’s how we got started with Ninety.io.
What made you decide to move from self-implementation to working with an implementer?
James: When you’re self-implementing and it’s just you and your leadership team, one of those people has to facilitate. Participating on the management team, and being a facilitator for EOS, are two very distinct roles. It’s really difficult to facilitate and participate at the same time. It wasn’t long and I realized we would have far more effective EOS planning sessions if we had someone outside the management team to facilitate. .
That’s when I asked the business coach I was using about his familiarity with Traction. He had experience with the general concepts, and it was appealing to me to not have to worry about facilitating those sessions anymore.
But the longer we worked with him, the more I realized there were tools from the book that we weren’t using. I’d suggest we look at something from the framework, and he might suggest a completely different process. He wasn’t EOS® certified and had a different style. Eventually I got to a point where I wanted to be as close to 100% implementation of Traction and EOS® as possible. That’s when we decided to find someone who would hold us accountable against all of the Traction principles as they’re laid out in the book.
What was your experience implementing EOS® on Ninety.io?
James: At first, I was reluctant because I didn’t want to pay for another tool. But it was attractive to move away from spreadsheets and PDFs and have everything centralized. Our implementer set up our accounts and put in the initial information like our V/TO™.
The functionality was there, but it needed some sprucing up. The aesthetics needed some work and some things weren’t as intuitive to me as I thought they should be. But it was nice that the management team all had access to the documents in a centralized location where we could make changes, and our facilitator could go in and see our weekly L10 meeting™ ratings to decide if he wanted to check in with us.
Harry: We had very limited subscriptions for the rest of the team – just basic functionality where they could see some things but couldn’t put in tasks, check things off, or use task lists. They were more disengaged with the whole process because they couldn’t really affect change within the program.
How did the transition to Strety for your EOS implementation come about?
Harry: When we became part of Lyra in November, we were wanting to roll out EOS company-wide and do employee reviews in the platform. With Ninety.io, we would have had to pay a lot more for all these extra account upgrades. When I was talking to Lyra about rolling it out company-wide, they said Strety was more cost-effective, so why not try it?
James: Price was the initial driver, but price aside, it’s been a much better experience overall.
What stood out to you about Strety during your evaluation?
Harry: I did the due diligence and had conversations with Derek Weaver, Strety’s Head of Customer Success. We did several demos, and I was looking for functionality — I wanted it to be at least as good as Ninety.io or better.
What I really liked about Strety was that it integrated into Teams right away. It was a little more fun — not as dry as Ninety.io. And the ongoing support has been fantastic. The new development coming through with HR tools has been very popular.
James: The overall experience is better. It’s more colorful, more fun, more aesthetically pleasing, and more effective. It’s like someone who was very knowledgeable with EOS built it.
How was the migration process from Ninety.io to Strety?
Harry: Austin Sutherland (our president) and I transferred most of the data ourselves. We moved over our scorecard information and our rocks. By doing it ourselves, it also gave us the chance to have a good look at what was going on and how to work within the program. The transition was fairly smooth.
What changed when you expanded from 6 leadership team members to 38 total employees on the platform?
Harry: That was a game changer. Now we could get all our staff onboard and they’re all participating in the same process. Before, they weren’t as engaged because they couldn’t really use the system effectively.
James: When we were on Ninety.io, we had very limited functionality for our team members. They could see some things but couldn’t really participate. Now everyone can put in to-dos, check things off, and be fully engaged with the process.
How did your team adapt to using Strety?
Harry: From the tool perspective, it was fairly intuitive. I had people doing to-dos and entering information. I’ve actually had every one of my direct reports run an L10 meeting just so they get a feeling for what it is.
James: For someone who knew EOS, it was super user-friendly. Any uncertainty from our staff was more about lack of understanding of EOS concepts rather than the tool itself.
What features in Strety do you find most valuable?
Harry: The Microsoft Teams integration is huge for us. The support is spectacular — I can go on the chat and have someone talking to me within about a minute.
I’ve been exploring the HR tools and reviews. The surveys feature looks interesting for our annual employee surveys. The tangent alert adds a bit of fun to our meetings.
James: The fact that we can use it directly in Teams is great. It mirrors the same look and feel of Teams because it’s an app within Teams. It’s just more engaging and easier to use. The meeting summaries I received when meetings are finished give me a high level overview of how each business unit is progressing.
What advice would you give to other businesses considering EOS®?
James: If you want to supercharge your business and are having difficulty getting everyone on the same page from a leadership perspective, implementing EOS® is the process for you.
Harry: EOS® takes away biases and assumptions. You’re dealing more with data points, dealing with right people in right seats. It literally transformed our business.
James: Everyone’s talking the same language. Communication, goals, rocks — everything is consistent and we’re all on the same page. Speaking the same language is huge.
Thanks for sharing your story, Harry and James! If you’re a Calgary business with IT needs, check out the ITeam website. To learn more about how Strety can help scale your EOS implementation across your entire organization, start your free trial here or book time with our team for a product tour.
