Organizations purchase and implement technology to solve a problem.
Too often, the problem isn’t solved but simply morphs into a new problem. Like squeezing a balloon; it comes into line over here, and protrudes over there. Working with a consulting firm that truly understands the technology provides much higher returns for the IT organization than integrating a “turnkey” product that a smooth talking salesman sold to the IT director. The problem with IT consulting firms today is that they claim to be “best of breed” for a specific technology but they are not best of breed in a specific technology they are “best of breed” in a specific product that implements the technology. There is a critical distinction between understanding product features and understanding the fundamental technology behaviors that the product organizes. It takes critical thinking and true understanding of where the product might solve a point problem, but how its technology can be used by the organization to ensure a successful engagement with a customer. This “new” IT consulting firm is different than the so called “solution providers” we see today. Solution provider is the new word for product pusher or VAR. Solution providers still do not understand the business reasons for a technology, don’t understand the technology itself, and very few work with the customer to ensure the product succeeds. Project success is what the new breed of IT consulting firm is selling. At Savid, to ensure success, we offer all of our customers a rapid-cycle pilot program for all implementations. They try it before they buy it. Essentially, the pilot program becomes a lab-like environment where the testing, education, and production implementation issues are worked out . If the technology just doesn’t work or can’t meet the expectations set at the beginning of the engagement, we pull it all out on our dime. We work with IT to make sure they are successful. By doing so, we are successful because we are thinking beyond success with our customer, the IT department, to our customer’s customer: the business.
Case-in-point — We were implementing a central faxing solution for a financial customer with 5 locations and many fax lines. They wanted automated routing of incoming faxes among multiple sites. After working on a pilot program with two locations, we found out that the methods by which the customer wanted to use the technology wasn’t the way it is traditionally utilized. Because we understood all parts of the underlying technology behaviors, we were able to work with them to provide an additional custom application that modified the product’s capabilities to meet their organization’s need for complex routing. On the strength of the pilot, we expanded the program to all locations and the project was a success. If we had just sold them a product, the engagement would have died right there, with bad feelings all around, because the product didn’t do what they wanted. . Our agility and true understanding of all the pieces of technology affected by the fax product enabled the project’s success. Furthermore, the unique requirements were requirements from outside IT. They were traditionally business and process requirements that the IT department would have had to meet no matter what vendor or product they purchased. By working with IT to ensure their customers were happy we created a long lasting relationship with IT. Many IT consulting firms will argue that the IT departments within these organizations partially to blame for the problems with most consulting firms. Some IT departments are but most are not. The IT department works with a solution provider or VAR and becomes convinced that product X will solve problem Y and they give it their best attempt at success. The problem is that the solution provider shouldn’t have just worked with IT. IT affects all areas of the business. IT is the foundation of every major enterprise today. On top of that foundation every pillar such as operations, sales, etc exists. If IT makes a decision it must consult with and take into account all of the areas it supports otherwise part of the foundation will crumble. In a recent Society for Information Management survey, CIO’s responded that they spend 36% of their time managing relationships internally with the business and IT (See Information Week, Nov 19th 2007) and another survey of CXO’s taken by Information Week last month says 43% of business manager now take more responsibility within IT projects. Your solution provider should be doing the same and think beyond the IT department.
The “new” consulting firm will work with the other areas of the business, ensure that the technology will meet their requirements, and ensure success of the entire engagement. Doing so will ensure that the organization’s IT department, their customer, is successful. IT is not a vertical within an organization, it is the horizontal foundation that with assistance from a proper IT consulting firm will be able to enable the business innovation required for the business to grow. There are other benefits to working with the business along with IT. Working with the IT department to ensure that all of IT’s customers, the other business units, are happy with a technology or implementation elevates the role of the IT consulting firm from implementer to trusted advisor. Our engagements have created lasting relationships with VPs and directors of other business units to the point where we had non-technical directors and manager contacting us asking what we thought about the wireless, and new regulations when they first started to appear in the market. They wanted our valued opinion about a technology they didn’t understand and valued our response. Building a relationship of trust enables our clients to leverage our relationship to become successful in their career, a major goal for all professionals.
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