About
A builder’s consulting practice in Rochester, New York.
Civic Dialog is Erik Oehler’s practice. He has a computer science degree, an MBA, twenty years across technology, data strategy, and organizational development, and a habit of measuring what he builds. He works with manufacturers, professional firms, nonprofits, and the owners of small companies who want automation done and proven.
01How Erik works
Four habits that show up in every engagement.
Build in the client’s tools first
Most automation belongs where the data already lives: the CRM, the inbox, the spreadsheet, the ERP. A new platform is built only when the work outgrows those, and then on infrastructure the client owns.
Baseline before building
A result needs a before. Every engagement starts by timing the process as it runs today and agreeing on what an hour of it costs. That number is what the ledger is measured against.
Leave capability behind
Whether the client builds (Cohort), builds with us (CoBuild), or keeps us on month to month (Fractional CAIO), the documentation, the accounts, and the knowledge file stay with them. No hostage code.
Say it plainly
Scopes have numbers in them. Ledgers have arithmetic you can check. If a lane does not fit, Erik will say so on the first call.
Background
- B.S. in Computer Science and an MBA
- Twenty years across technology, data strategy, and organizational development
- Former Salesforce administrator who built and led enterprise automations and integrations
- Builds and runs production applications for clients today
- Based in Rochester, New York
02 · Three ways to work together
Pick by who does the building.
Every lane ends with automations running in your real work and a ledger of what they returned. The difference is whose hands are on the keyboard.
03 · For nonprofits
If you are a nonprofit, most of what you need is free.
501 Labs is the 501(c)(3) our founder started to save or generate $1,000,000,000 for nonprofits. Its software is free, funded by donors.
Blocks covers the back office. The Funding Hub covers the money. The Lab builds what does not exist yet. Civic Dialog is the paid door, for when a nonprofit needs a build on a deadline; the measured savings still land on the 501 Labs scoreboard.
Start with a conversation.
Thirty minutes. Bring the process that is eating your week, or the idea you have been meaning to test.
Prefer email? erik@civic-dialog.com