High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice
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ISBN |
0072226250 |
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Release Date |
10 February 2003 |
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Category |
Miscellaneous |
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Tags |
consulting,
consult,
0072226250,
value,
high,
best practice,
high availability,
practice,
high speed,
delaney,
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This book @Amazon |
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Description
Designed specifically for IT professionals working in any type of consulting organization, here is a practical, real-world guide for delivering successful engagements to clients. Ready-to-use sample forms, tables, checklists, and charts are in the text and available free for download.
Good for who are new in the high-tech IT consulting
I found useful many parts of the book for who are starting an IT consulting business. Obviously it is not a magic recipe. You need to work each point, to custom it for your company, your kind of projects, your culture.
Not a High-Value Reference
Although this book has a great deal of useful information, there are a number of areas where it misses the mark. Often the obvious is stated as important. In many respects the book takes a 35,000 foot view of the IT consulting practice and addresses issues faced primarily on very large projects with large consulting practices. With limited resources to acquire and read books on IT consulting, this is a book to skip - there are so many others that are quicker to read and have more valuable information (for example Alan Weiss general consulting and Janet Ruhl for IT).
There is the suggestion that payment terms should be negotiated after the contract is signed, but before actual work begins.
The pipeline, backlog and sales hit ratio sections don't mention the typical discrete steps in the sales cycle.
At one point, the authors write "It is said with tongue-in-cheek that any consulting firm that cannot operate its photocopier as a profit center probably also cannot do a decent client engagement." A couple paragraphs later in the same section the reader is instructed how to arrive at a price for a given markup using the formula Price = Cost/(1-Markup). Any large IT consulting firm that can't calculate markup without help cannot do a decent job consulting.
Elsewhere, the authors point out that switching from First Class to Coach travel, reducing out of town allowances, and reducing social/entertaing expenses are not good for employee morale but lower costs.
Must Have Consulting Playbook
Purba and Delaney offer a powerful playbook for creating and delivering customer solutions that exceed customer expectations and result in outstanding customer satisfaction.
An excellent resource!
This book is a must for anyone working in IT. Full of practical advice and information, the book is also an engaging read. I plan to apply the valuable information I obtained from "High-Value IT Consulting" to my business.
IT Consulting Excellence
Having worked as an IT consultant and on the other side, frequently purchasing consultant services, I can attest to the difficulty in successfully managing such a complex business. The authors' new book goes a long way to helping create order. It is a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to helping IT Consultants get a solid perspective on how to establish or improve their consulting practice. Excellence in managing a professional services practice requires a systematic approach to achieve balance between the big picture and the minutiae of details. This book provides the reader with both.
I believe the authors are right in their declaration that excellence in this field depends upon focus and determination, and a commitment to continually demonstrate how your consulting organization adds value lest you suffer the fate of obsolescence. I encourage practice managers to read this book. It is an important contribution to best practice and should be a part of their consulting toolkit. |
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