The consultancy options |
It is an extraordinary era in which we live. It is altogether new. The world has seen nothing like it before. I will not pretend, nobody can pretend, to discern the end. But everyone knows that the age is remarkable for scientific research … The ancients saw nothing like it. The moderns have seen nothing like it till the present generation.
Daniel Webster, 1847, cited in The Great Reckoning Davidson, J. and
Rees-Mogg, W. Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1993.
There is a very wide variety of IT consultancy options and opportunities available to you and it is important that you have a clear picture of where you are focusing your attention. There are decisions to be made about areas of IT consulting competencies as well as industry specialization. In addition there is also the question of the orientation of the consulting work.
It is really important not to chop and change too much so you have to think carefully about these issues before you start. Of course this does not mean that you should not be flexible but it is probably quite important not to change frivolously.
4.1 Core competence or expertise
To begin with it is important to remember that an IT consultant is an expert in a specific aspect of how to make optimal use of the organizations’ investment in computer and telecommunications technology. It is important to emphasize that the consultant is someone who is highly competent and has in-depth knowledge and experience that can be brought to the aid of an organization when it has a specific problem. It is therefore essential that you select the specific area in which you want to work and that you focus on being able to offer high quality advice and deliver real value for money when working in this arena. This will be your area of core competence.
Keeping your focus on your core competence or expertise is really quite essential for two main reasons. The first is that it is difficult enough to acquire and maintain a high level of expertise in one specific area. The second reason is that if you attempt to be expert in several areas your credibility may be impacted and you may well be seen as a low-level jack-of-all-trades.1 In the IT consulting world there is no advantage in being a jack-of-all-trades and there is the real danger that no one will perceive you as adequately qualified to do any consulting job.
As IT professionals sometimes have a reasonably wide range of skills it's important to spend some time thinking about the area you will present yourself as expert in. It is important that you are quite confident that you can hold your own in this field. If you are shown not to be competent then you will certainly lose face if not your client as well.
4.2 Flexibility is key
However, you will have noted from Chapter 2 that as well as being focused you also sometimes need to be flexible to the extent of taking work that may not be directly in your field of greatest competence or expertise. You may therefore have a few areas that you can work in kept in reserve2 in case you are not successful in finding the type of work you would really like. When this happens and you need to move into an area of secondary competence you then need to make quite sure that you quickly become expert in this area too.
It is a good idea to identify what exactly your areas of core and secondary competence are. The Consultancy Opportunity Matrix (section 4.4) may be helpful to you in so doing.
As well as the core competency issue itself you may well want to decide into which industries you should market your competency. You may well have a preferred industry and one or two other secondary industries as well.3
With regards to the question of the orientation of the consulting work it is often said that there are many levels of consulting practices. Here are five possible levels which are worth considering:
• Creative or lateral thinking assignments
• Experiences-based assignments
• Procedural assignments
• Hands-on assignments
• Responsibility assignments
4.2.1 Creative or lateral thinking assignments
Creative or lateral thinking assignments are about offering your client advice that is based on your ability to brainstorm and to come up with new and creative ideas for solutions to problems or ways of taking advantage of opportunities. Such assignments may involve a degree of research, but the focal point of this type of work is not so much the research itself, but the creative interpretation of the findings of the research. With this type of work imagination plays as big – if not bigger – role than experience. Examples of this type of work include reformulating IT strategies and developing IT sourcing policies. Assignments where you are invited to facilitate discussion or debate among boards of directors would also fall under this category of consulting work.
4.2.2 Experiences-based assignments
Experiences-based assignments call upon the many years of practical work which the consultant can draw on. These types of assignments are not for the young man or woman, but rather for those who have been working in the field for, say, 10 or 20 years. They do not require such a high degree of creativity, but rather depend on technical competence tempered by previous experiences. Examples of this type of work include setting up security procedures and developing guidelines for staff selection.
4.2.3 Procedural assignments
Procedural assignments rely on the consultant being technically competent. Here the issue is simply knowledge of the subject matter. Consultants working in this area or mode need not be especially creative. In fact creativity might in some circumstances be a drawback. Neither will the consultant require a vast reservoir of experience. The emphasis here is on having the particular skill set required to solve a relatively limited or focused problem. Examples of this type of work include introducing project management techniques and establishing standards for systems documentation.
4.2.4 Hands-on assignments
Hands-on assignments involve the actual doing of work. In this type of assignment the consultant actually undertakes the management of an IT project or contracts to write a piece of software required to solve the problem. It is sometimes argued that hands-on assignments should not really be regarded as consultancy, but that this type of work comes under the heading of contracting. Clearly there is a substantial grey area between consulting and contracting assignments and the language used to describe the work is perhaps irrelevant. Examples of this type of work include designing an IT architecture and writing an invitation to tender.
4.2.5 Responsibility assignments
The responsibility assignment may take two different forms, the first being more positive while the second is really quite negative. IT consultants are sometimes employed to basically hold the organization's hand while it makes an important decision. This can take many forms, for example helping the firm choose a specific vendor or making a senior appointment to a top IT job. IT consultants are also often asked to read and comment on the organization's IT strategy to see if any important elements have been left out or need enhancement. This type of assignment has the subtext that if a mistake is made then the IT consultant will bear some of the responsibility. Or putting it an other way the corporate executive will not be wholly responsible. If things go wrong some of the blame can be placed on the consultant.
… THE IT CONSULTANT WILL BEAR SOME OF THE RESPONSIBILITY
The second type of responsibility assignment occurs when the organization has a very unpopular and difficult decision to take. In such a case consultants are invited to assist with this decision. Sometimes the organization may have already decided what to do and they simply await the consultant's confirmation of the unpopular course of action. Here the management can point to the consultants and say that the unpopular course of action was recommended by the consultants. This rather cynical use of consultants can backfire sometimes when the consultants come to a different conclusion to the management. When such a difference of opinion occurs there can be problems for the consultant and under such circumstances the assignment is not likely to last very long.
Of course these five different orientations of consulting work are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You could find yourself being initially engaged in a creative or lateral thinking assignment, which then develops into a procedural piece of work, or even hands-on work.
The following is a list of 30 areas of IT consulting specialization, which are frequently offered and for which there is a strong need. This is in no way a definitive list as there are literally hundreds of niche areas in IT consulting that you might find yourself considering. It is important that you take time to make a decision and to carefully work out how you will sell yourself in your chosen area. It is also useful to consider what your fallback areas of competence will be in the event that you are not successful in your primary core competency.
4.3 Key areas of IT consulting opportunity
4.3.1 Quality assurance
Quality assurance concerns itself with the delivery of a fully functioning robust application. It attempts to iron out bugs in the systems development life cycle as early as possible on the basis that it is much more cost effective to do this than to repair problems after the software has been commissioned. It is a very demanding control area which is not always seen as being central to the actual production of the application. This type of work requires an especially detailed or picky approach and is therefore not always seen as being a popular area in which to work. Quality assurance is therefore an area in which there is a continual demand for good consulting services as there are still numerous organizations that need help in setting up effective quality assurance programmes.
4.3.2 Project management
Despite the enormous energy and investment that has been committed to project management in terms of software development and of course training, it remains a problematic area for many organizations. Projects, and especially IT projects, are notoriously over budget and behind the original planned schedule. Projects encounter problems from a wide variety of sources many of which have little if anything to do with the technology that is being employed. Extensive opportunities exist to take over projects which have lost their project manger, to teach projects managers and other members how to use software to help plan and control their work and also to understand and control their project risks. This is really a field that can offer good potential for any IT consultant with a new angle on how to improve project performance.
4.3.3 Data warehousing and mining
Although now established for some 10 years or so the field of data warehousing and mining offers considerable opportunities for consulting. Data warehousing and mining is a topic that has by no means reached its peak. The setting up of the application software for this type of work is not trivial. Furthermore there are extensive opportunities associated with helping clients interpret the results of data mining. Some of this work may be fairly statistical and thus it could suit IT consultants who wish to develop a more technical type of consultancy practice. Knowledge of software application products such as SAS and SPSS may well be helpful to individuals wanting to get into this area.
4.3.4 Market intelligence
The area of market intelligence is a very neglected field, which is of considerable importance to any effective IT department. The challenge is to be able to continually monitor major IT products and important IT suppliers. This type of work might suit you if you are an avid reader of journals, newspapers, magazines and websites. You would need to be able to present up-to-date information to your client on a regular basis. One of the many ways to approach this type of consulting is to write a regular column for a relevant industry publication, which would necessitate the collection of regular data and commenting on market changes. To make a success of this end of the IT consulting spectrum you will need to be able to take sales hype and make real practical sense of it.
4.3.5 Client-server applications
The term client-server has been a buzzword for the past 15 years or so. This approach to IT architecture has offered a considerable opportunity to enhance the efficiency and the effectiveness with which computers may be employed. Although considerable progress has been made in the use of this architecture there are still many organizations and vendors that have yet to adopt it. Consulting services are especially needed in regard to the evaluation of where and how to use this architecture and what are the appropriate strategies for optimizing its use.
4.3.6 Customer relationship management (CRM)
The field of customer relationship management is more than a little challenging for many organizations. This is due to a number of reasons not the least of which is that to effectively employ customer relationship management requires significant changes to the mind set of many if not most commercial organizations. This field has enormous potential for the IT consultant. Many organizations are still struggling with the CRM at the conceptual level. Those firms that have come to terms with what it actually means are now trying to make rational decisions about how to apply the technology. Of course some firms have gone further and those that are already down this demanding path frequently need help with training and then assistance in moving to more advanced applications of this management technology
4.3.7 Data administration
Large organizations cannot successfully use computers without there being very clear and well-enforced rules about how data is used. This includes a considerable number of different aspects of systems ranging from data definitions to data access and software availability. This is not necessarily a terribly glamorous end of the IT consultancy spectrum but it is one for which there is and probably always will be a demand. Any attempt to integrate disparate applications packages without giving appropriate attention to data administration is likely to fail.
… WELL-ENFORCED RULES ABOUT HOW DATA IS USED
4.3.8 m-Commerce (or mobile commerce)
The rapid acceptance of e-commerce and e-business suggested that the next step in the evolutionary chain of IT developments which allows business to be conducted both remotely and also on the move, i.e. m-commerce, will become very big business too. It is of course not yet clear exactly how m-commerce will be played out. In order to make this vision a reality there are still technological challenges to be overcome. However, these should not be a major obstacle. The real action in which the IT consultant will be able to play a major role is in help to deliver revenue generating or cost reducing applications. This field is wide open and the only limitation seems to be your imagination.
4.3.9 Database applications
The original database concept in which any data set would be entered into the computer once and only once has turned out to be another holy grail or philosopher's stone. Nonetheless database technologies can make substantial improvement to the way IT departments operate. There is a very important role for skilled database applications consultants in many organizations. The issues of database distribution is a vital one as well as how to integrate disparate databases.
4.3.10 Local and wide area networks
There are a variety of different angles to this area of potential IT consulting work. There are still some firms who have not yet employed either local or wide area networks and need help with the selection and installation processes. There are those firms who need ongoing maintenance and who are not really big enough to have their own local area networks engineers and maintenance people. There is quite a lot of training issue surrounding this area, which IT consultants can help with. Another issue here is the selection of appropriate vendors and the structure of contracts. Both local and wide area networks are notoriously fragile in regard to performance and being able to advise on performance improvements is a very useful consultancy skill. There is also the question of the various housekeeping disciplines which become necessary when computers and telecommunications faculties are shared in a corporation.
4.3.11 Security
This topic will never go out of fashion. In fact there is every prospect that its importance will continue and even grow. Security problems continue to plague the IT industry. With the recent rash of viruses this area of IT management has again come under the spotlight. About once a week there are new scares of even more terrible viruses. There is also the question of hacking and of course the issues of fraud related to this. Ironically fraud has not often been given much prominence. You occasionally read about it in the newspapers or see it on television but it is generally an issue which those who have been defrauded do not want to make visible.
4.3.12 e-Government
Throughout the western world at least, and perhaps in other parts of the globe as well, government is by far the largest user of computers. Although many governments have been slow to start they are now beginning to see the value in computer applications. Both local and national government departments are increasingly adopting electronic applications. This is both in the form of standard information technology and telecommunications applications but now increasingly in the form of ‘e’ applications as well. The initial activity in this respect is to generate portals for the integration of the supply of information but this is being followed by e-government websites through which business can also be transacted such as tax assessing and payment sites. There is considerable demand for consultants to help provide expertise in this area.
… OFFER SERVICES IN PARTICULAR INTERNET MARKET SEGMENTS
4.3.13 Internet
The Internet encompasses such a broad spectrum of activities and services that it is difficult to be simply an Internet consultant. It is therefore important for the IT consultant to offer services in particular Internet market segments. Some examples might be quite technical such as telecommunications, mobile technology, wireless networks, while others could be more strategic, such as developing corporate Internet capabilities. There is also the question of Internet use in such basic areas as e-mail and discussion groups and conferences.
4.3.14 Intranet
More and more organizations are turning to browser-based technology as the key medium of communication and information distribution across the firm. The application list of possible Intranet opportunities is extensive. One of the problems with this area is that setting up and maintaining multiple Intranet applications is an area for which many organizations look to outside help from IT consultants.
4.3.15 Knowledge management
The potential for knowledge management to produce IT consulting opportunities is legion. Knowledge management is an area in which most business firms and other organizations know that there is much to be achieved if they can implement the right applications. However, the knowledge management field of study has innumerable concepts and no consensus of how to best go about defining and managing knowledge. In an attempt to do something many organizations have installed Intranet systems which they see as a route to knowledge management. Many of these Intranet systems are badly in need of advice from competent IT consultants.
4.3.16 Documentation
Many IT systems fail to be used properly by staff because not enough time and attention is paid to the documentation. It is often the case that the programmers and analysts involved in the development of the system are not good at providing readable end user documentation. This is often considered to be a rather boring activity, which is beyond the call of duty of a systems developer, and perhaps this may well be the case. Thus specialists are best able to produce quality software documentation. This type of work would suit you if you are good at writing and if you enjoy learning new skills. IT training can sometimes accompany documentation consulting (see below).
4.3.17 e-Learning
As Intranets become more accepted across organizations, so the possibility of using the computer as an interface for learning is becoming more apparent. As an e-learning consultant you might be asked to develop a training programme on processes specific to the organization, or you might be asked to implement a training programme based on an ‘out-of-the-box’ application.
4.3.18 Product or industry specialist
If you have launched your IT consultancy career after gaining considerable expertise in a specialist product or industry area it is a natural step to offer your skills back to the industry as a consultant. One of the advantages of this when you are getting started is that you should have a number of contacts and prospects to whom you can offer your services.
4.3.19 Website development
This is a very fashionable form of IT consulting today. This type of work can be suitable for consultants who prefer to work from home, as usually most of the development work does not need to be carried out on the client's premises. It is important to have some sample websites to show potential clients as many firms choose their developers based on either word of mouth or on work that they have seen and liked. It is important not to bite off more than you can chew with this type of work, as it is all too simple to take on assignments and then not be able to deliver on time.
4.3.20 e-Business opportunities
Although e-business is not as fashionable as it was recently it is still a vital application area for many organizations in both the business and government arenas. Within the e-business frame-work there are numerous applications areas, which range from setting up entirely new businesses, which are serviced by the Web to using the Web to enhance the current business processes. As this type of development frequently requires new mind sets as well as new skills there are plenty of opportunities for IT and other business consultants.
4.3.21 e-Business model development
It is one thing to set up an attractive website but it is an entirely different matter to make any money out of it. e-Business model development is about understanding the costs and revenues associated with Web enhanced businesses. Here IT consultants can play a major role in helping organizations understand the work involved in setting up a Web.
4.3.22 Helpdesk
As the number of processes run by IT increase, so there is a greater need to provide continuous help for staff. However, the operation of an IT helpdesk is an overhead that many organizations are not prepared to carry with full-time staff and thus it is a job that can be outsourced to one or a team of IT consultants. If you have expertise in a specialist area such as SAP or Oracle, then it is likely that you will be able to find work in organizations that have developed applications in these systems. There is also a need for a more generalized helpdesk supporting staff with productivity tools such as e-mail, PC packages, peripherals, etc.
4.3.23 Desktop publishing
Most organizations have to publish a wide range of material for numerous reasons. There are now many options available as to how to achieve this and to understand the issues in this field is still a complex challenge for some organizations. This is especially the case as the term publishing no longer refers to the paper medium only. With the arrival of the Web and the importance associated with efficient and effective corporate websites, desktop publishing has been given another although slightly different lease of life. There are huge opportunities for those who can combine desktop publishing with Web development skills. In fact much of the growth in Web consultancy has come from this particular arena in the past few years.
…THOSE WHO CAN COMBINE DTP WITH WEB DEVELOPMENT SKILLS
4.3.24 Vendor selection
The problem of vendor selection has become much more demanding in recent years with the arrival of a large number of quite competent vendors of hardware and software and other services. If you have come into IT consultancy from an IT sales or marketing environment, this type of work might suit you well. The work required here is often substantial with the client organization needing to prepare an invitation to tender in the first instance. Then there is often considerable work involved in short listing numerous responses to the invitation to tender before focusing on the final selection of the supplier. Knowledge of computer contracts will also be very useful in this type of work. At the heart of this end of the spectrum of IT consulting is the real ability to see through the sales hype and know what a vendor can really do for you.
4.3.25 Recruitment
Recruitment is a traditional source of work for IT consultants. Of course it is a highly specialized activity and thus requires considerable preparation before taking this on as an additional consulting activity. However, IT consultants frequently encounter requests from client firms for them to help find a suitable individual to fill a particular type of role. One of the issues which arises here is that the remuneration paid for this type of work is usually based on a different method of calculation than traditional IT consulting fees. Furthermore there is sometimes a guarantee that the new incumbent to the job will remain in post for a minimum period. If this does not happen then the recruitment fee is sometimes refundable.
4.3.26 IT training
The training requirement associated with IT is very substantial in many organizations. There is substantial training required for IT professionals as well as for large numbers of application systems users. As an IT consultant you can be involved in either the assessment of training needs, planning or scheduling of training. There are also large projects that focus on the development or the delivery of IT training, or perhaps even both. As the application software is continually changing this is an area in which a consultant's work is hardly ever finished. The delivery method of training within organizations is usually restricted by geography, time, cost and thus e-learning is an area that is becoming more popular.
4.3.27 Computer telephony integration (CTI)
There is currently major interest in the relatively new field of computer telephony integration. Computer telephony integration is the basic technology that you need to master if you intend to operate efficient and effective call centres. As call centres have become a very important issue, especially in larger business firms and other organizations, there is considerable potential here. Here in addition to obtaining help on technical matters of integration, consultancy advice is often needed for decisions involving issues such as deciding whether to outsource or perform the work in-house.
4.3.28 Business process reengineering (BPR)
Business processing reengineering, or business processing redesign as it is sometimes referred to, has been a fruitful area for IT consultants since it was first launched some 10 years ago. Although not many organizations obtained the improvements in their business performance they sought through this approach, it has nonetheless remained a popular field for IT consultants to pursue.
4.3.29 Strategic IS planning (SISP)
Strategic IS planning is an area in which there is substantial potential for IT consultants. Not many organizations have successfully resolved how to match their IT activities with their corporate planning requirements. As a result there are plenty of opportunities for IT consultants in this field.
4.3.30 Business continuity planning (BCP)
The field of BCP has developed from the set of issues related to ensuring adequate backup in the case of a catastrophic loss of your IT facilities. This field of interest used to focus on how an organization could cope if all its data were lost or stolen, or if a computer were to be destroyed as a result of a major incident, such as flood or fire.
A standard strategy was to ensure that all the organization's hardware and software was duplicated and stored in another location, some distance from the computer site. In addition arrangements were often made with vendors to have backup computers available in the event of such incidents.
BCP, due to current international tensions and uncertainties, is an expanding area for IT consultants.
Figure 4.1 Consultancy Opportunity Matrix showing initial evaluation ratings
Figure 4.2 Consultancy Opportunity Matrix sorted by competence rating
4.4 The Consultancy Opportunity Matrix
The following Consultancy Opportunity Matrix (COM) is a useful tool to perceptually map the consultancy opportunities available to you.
The matrix is initially constructed by putting down the areas of competence you feel you have acquired over the last five or so years.
Figure 4.1 shows a selection of 10 different consultancy opportunities. In this example the consultant considers the main area of competence as being e-government and thus has rated this 100%. Each of the other consulting areas on the list has then been evaluated in terms of his or her competencies in a similar fashion. In Figure 4.2 the matrix has been sorted by competence rating.
As has already been suggested, it is not a good idea to proclaim expertise in too many areas – even if you have such expertise,4 a cut-off line point needs to be established. It is probably useful to establish an 80% rating as a cut-off point. Thus anything you don't feel at least 80% confident in you would not consider selling.
This means, in the above example, that the consultant could market his or herself in the areas of e-Government, Internet Usage and Project Management.
Although it could be argued that it is not really necessary to include on your matrix areas of consulting that would rate relatively low, you might decide to draw up a matrix of all the areas you feel that you could work in and then be realistic about those that you are in a position to undertake work in now.5 These high rated areas will then form the basis of your marketing plan.
4.5 Consultancy Opportunities by Industry Matrix
As well as considering your competence in specific areas of consulting, there is also the question of which industry sectors you feel you are competent to work in. Figure 4.3 is a Consultancy Opportunities by Industry Matrix (COIM), which looks at the same 10 areas of consulting used in the previous example in conjunction with seven different industry sectors.
The COIM matrix has been created by taking the 10 areas of competence, sorted by competence rating, used in the previous example. These are then ranked or mapped by the consultant's personal preferences to different industry sectors.
Figure 4.3 Consultancy Opportunities by Industry Matrix
From the above matrix you can see that the consultant is really most competent in Government, but could undertake e-Government assignments that were linked to education, financial services or IT suppliers. If the work that is actually obtained is focused on the Internet, the industry sector is not so relevant to this consultant, and thus an equal ranking has been put across the industry sectors of banking, education, financial services, government and IT suppliers.
Depending on the area of consulting you are intending to work in, it might be appropriate to produce a more detailed matrix that considered sub-sections of a particular industry. For example, if you felt that you are qualified to work only in government or the public sector related areas, industry options in the matrix might be Local Government, National Government, Public Corporations, etc.
4.6 Summary and conclusion
There are so many different options within the field of IT consultancy that a chapter like this can only scratch the surface.
It is important that you be really quite honest, if possible absolutely honest, with yourself about exactly where your competencies lie. Once you have identified them then you should focus on selling these skills to your prospective clients. But don't expect instant results. It can take a bit of time before you achieve a breakthrough. Quitting too early can be a problem. However, if you are not successful within a few months you may have to expand the range of competencies that you are offering. Beware of straying too far from where your real skills are. If it becomes clear that you are taking a chance then you may well find yourself in difficulties.
4.7 Checklist
Things to think about when considering the consultancy options
1 What is your personal core competency?
2 Are you satisfied that you are highly competent and have an in-depth knowledge and are thoroughly experienced in this field?
3 What sort of assignments will you first look for:
(a) Creative or lateral thinking assignments
(b) Experiences-based assignments
(c) Procedural assignments
(d) Hands-on assignments
(e) Responsibility assignments.
4 In what industry would you most like to work?
5 If your core competency isn't selling (and it probably won't be) how do you intend to sell the skills that you have?
6 Are you planning to add to your set of core competencies and how do you intend to do this?
1 There is an old joke sometimes told about consultants and the ranges of assignments they are often prepared to undertake. The story goes that a consultant is a person who can read a book and who is prepared to travel. The inference is that the consultant will become an expert in the field required by the client by reading the book on the way to the job.
2 What type of work you might be able to keep in reserve will obviously depend upon your background. A number of prospective IT consultants may well have project management skills which they don't especially want to offer but on which they could fall back on, for example. Some prospective IT consultants may actually be able to develop code in some sort after language which might be another source of income if the original plan does not work out as expected.
3 Although IT skills often transcend industry boundaries you may have spent a lot of time in the travel industry, for example, and want to continue working in that sort of environment.
4 This is simply a question of the fact that a jack-of-all-trades is so often perceived as a master of none. Of course some people are actually able to deliver in multiple areas but you need to be careful if you take this approach.
5 Effective consultants continue to learn throughout their careers and so your skills will evolve and you will become confident to expand or change your horizons. This learning often comes from doing the work for the client which some clients have been known to resent – they can sometimes unfairly say ‘the only thing the consultant did here was to learn how to do the job’.