Choosing the Right Consultant

With all the horror stories about software projects, you will certainly want to take special care to ensure yours is a success. The right formula – working with a consultant who is focused on the needs of your business – is no secret. The trouble is that while most consultants have good technical skills, few have the business skills to discover and fully understand your needs. That is why we train our consultants with the skills they need to recommend the right solution for every customer.

Keep reading to discover what kind of consultant you should avoid, and how to identify a consultant who will help ensure your project succeeds.

Avoiding Disappointment
First, let us stress that the dangers of choosing wrong are quite real. According to the Standish Group, an IT research company, only 28% of customers regard their project as a success. In other words, three out of four projects fall short of customer expectations. How can you avoid that situation?

Success or failure is actually determined long before implementation starts. In fact, your very first meeting with a consultant will give you a good indication of the way things will go.

Minimizing Risk
If at the very first meeting the consultant starts by focusing on product functionality, it will most likely lead to an unsatisfactory result for you. Unfortunately, this is the most common approach to planning. All consultants find it easy. After all, they are the experts who will implement the product and train your users.

When you work with this type of consultant, you will typically decide on the scope of your project by viewing the functionality that is available. The consultant will simply demonstrate features and you will identify the ones you think you need.

Eliminating Unpleasant Surprises
The next step is for the consultant to implement the functionality and start the training. But because your real needs were never identified, users start to identify critical tasks that the system will not let them perform. These surprises cause the project scope to expand, and budgets and deadlines need to be recalculated.

The Standish Group says that functionality requirements alter by an average of 74%. Budgets balloon by 214% and time allocation by 202%.

Business interruption and plummeting morale also take their toll. If the project now proceeds in a very focused manner, there is a good chance it will meet your needs, albeit at a much higher cost than originally expected. Without strong commitment from you and your consultant, however, the project is likely to be shelved with only half the requirements met.

The following sections provide more information:

	The Right Methodology
	The Right Solution

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