Consulting

Long-Term Greedy

Posted on 19. Jun, 2010
Categories: Consulting

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Are you long-term greedy? How do you balance the long-term development of your business and reputation with short-term needs?

The World of No

Posted on 10. Jun, 2010
Categories: Consulting, IT Projects, Project Management

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Without question, my least favorite word in the English language is usually “no.” In this post, I’ll tell you why not all “no’s” are created equal.

Extremes in Risk Tolerance

Posted on 28. Jan, 2010
Categories: Consulting, Culture, IT Project Failures, Project Management

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I have been giving quite a bit of thought lately to the topic of enterprise risk management. In large part, this stems from the fact that I recently completed a project in which my client’s risk tolerance was off the charts. I mean crazy. In this post, I discuss three types of organizations with respect to risk tolerance.

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Mark McGwire, Project Management, and Coming Clean

Posted on 13. Jan, 2010
Categories: Consulting, Culture, IT Projects, Project Management

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Why don’t people just fess up when caught? I like to think that we live in a forgiving society. While coming clean is laudable, it’s hard for me to get over apologies laden with disclaimers and excuses. I understand the need to save face, but providing excuses only rubs salt in the wound and minimizes any benefit of the doubt that others will grant you.

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Disposable Workers, Newton’s Third Law, and The Lock Down

Posted on 11. Jan, 2010
Categories: Consulting, IT Project Failures, IT Projects, Recession

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What are the often overlooked risks facing organizations that rely on non-employees? If an organization’s goal is to minimize short-term cost savings, then it’s hard for me to argue against using consultants. Cost aside, contractors and temps have no employment contracts and we’re generally not covered by US labor laws.

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Can Consultants Lead? Three Viewpoints

Posted on 04. Dec, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Culture, Project Management

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I’ve been thinking (perhaps struggling) quite a bit about leadership as I finish a, er, challenging project. Can consultants actually lead on IT projects or is this reserved for management?

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The Practice Mentality

Posted on 30. Nov, 2009
Categories: Consulting, IT Projects

3

I’ll never understand how people can be remotely comfortable not knowing how essential features, reports, and the like work when they will be responsible for them in one month’s time. Perhaps Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree says it best: “Denial is a better way of getting through another day.”

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When Consultants Attack….Other Consultants

Posted on 27. Nov, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Project Management

4

It’s unfortunate when consultants bicker. More important, nobody wins. Certain situations are untenable and it’s only a matter of time before someone is offended. Even consultants who routinely defer to others sometimes find themselves in very precarious situations on dice.

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In Defense of Consultants: A Punch-Out Based Rant

Posted on 16. Nov, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Project Management

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One of the first things that I learned as a newbie consultant in 2000 is that (insert name of problem) is always my fault. I can document my concerns, write status reports until my fingers bleed, and copy the world on an email. However, after I leave a client site, I won’t be there to defend myself against the invariable quips that “he never told us that.”

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Doing Things Right and Doing the Right Things

Posted on 17. Aug, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Enterprise Systems, Technology

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Rare is it that I encounter an organization that uses its systems wisely. I recently came across one that offers us four valuable lessons about using technology.

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Five reasons to fire your system integrator

Posted on 07. Aug, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Enterprise Systems, Guest Posts, IT Project Failures, Project Management

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While it’s tempting to blame the system integrator for all project hassles and differences of opinion, introspection is also worthwhile. Before pulling the plug, evaluate your own role in creating the problems you experience. The more accurately you understand each party’s contribution to the negative situation, the better you can solve the problem.

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Changing System Integrators: A Baseball Analogy

Posted on 06. Aug, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Enterprise Systems, IT Project Failures

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For a variety of reasons, organizations in the midst of a project often consider replacing their system integrator (SIs). The project may be the implementation of a new system, an upgrade, or an “add on” type of engagement in which new functionality is enabled. (The latter typically takes place after initial system activation.)

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Is a Consultant Project Manager Truly Necessary?

Posted on 07. Jul, 2009
Categories: Consulting

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On almost all projects, clients look for ways to minimize costs. They might question the need for a full-time consultant Project Manager. This is often a mistake. This short posts explores the pros and cons of having a dedicated PM on the consulting side.

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Data Correction and Cleansing Mechanisms

Posted on 04. Jun, 2009
Categories: Consulting, Data Issues, Enterprise Systems

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Sometimes on IT projects vendors during the sales cycle (and project managers during the engagement) underestimate the amount of time required to clean up key enterprise information. Technology helps in conducting this imperative exercise but is no panacea for sloppy data that needs to be cleansed.