Chapter ten - Delivering the full value

This chapter is very important. With all the competition striving to get a spot in the market, it is imperative not only to perform our job well, but to go even further delivering that extra service. As the text suggests, we as consultants should consider advise our clients on: Operational policies and procedures, support and maintenance services, documentation, asset management, IT human resource planning, IT product procurement, and security.

Chapter nine - Deliver Business results

The most important principle from collaboration is to “Identify roles and responsibilities for the client as well for the consultant in all contracts and project plans.” I am convinced that exercising this principle from the beginning of the relationship will avoid many problems for both parties.

From Communication I’ll select “Clearly define the meaning of success; define the solutions you and the client select based on specific, measurable results and outcomes to be delivered, not on vague objectives.” Having a clear view of the desired outcome and the process to achieve it is a key element in a smooth and productive relationship between client and IT consultant. Communication is a key element in any business/professional relationship. The lack of proper communication can result in disastrous outcomes. Moreover, good communication will save both the client and the consultant time and money. Also, consultants will have better management of their time and will increase productivity when having a good two-way communication channel with the client.

The most important principle from culture is to “Include implementation success factors in your planning from the start. Elements that will be important after the consultant is gone, such as documentation, operational support, policies and procedures, training, maintenance, and contingency plan, should be part of your solution.” I think it is ethically correct to plan for important elements once the job is done. Solutions to these potential issues should be clearly identified by both parties and should be designed so the client will be able to implement them once the consultant is gone.

Project 4 reflection

What is a Proposal?

A proposal is an offer to perform a service or a recommendation that a specific action be taken. An effective proposal fulfills two basic objectives:

Explain: It explains the perceived need in objective and quantifiable terms. This explanation is the most important element of the proposal. Once the prospective client is convinced of the need, he or she will be ready to listen to your solution.

Convince: It convinces the client that the proposed project is sound and worth pursuing. It also convinces the client that you are sufficiently competent to carry out the project.

In business or education, a client may provide a Request For Proposal (RFP) document: this RFP will often provide strict guidelines on the content of the proposal. In other cases, it is up to the author to determine the scope and amount of detail to place in the document.

I am still working on this project, giving it the final touch. This is the ultimate assignment in which we should apply all we learned throughout the course. The recommendations given by Dr. Corbeil after I presented the first draft are very important to me. I think those recommendations will nurture my project tremendously giving it that professional touch. Currently, I am working in adding those features to my project.

Chapter eight - Collaborate to select solutions

When presenting my design proposal to a client, the principles that would guide me through the presentation are: knowing our own work first. Being prepared and in control of our own presentation will prepare the road to arrive to a successful collaboration. Understand to whom the presentation will be delivered to. Knowing the audience is also a key factor to a successful presentation, and finally to respect the client’s decision, having in consideration the author’s recommendation of “We advise, they decide. Visualize success - Being and giving that first impression of a professional who knows what he is talking about and who has his goals well defined sets a good preamble in the client-consultant relationship. Also, we should keep our language simple free of technical jargon. Matching the client’s language to your own is a great idea for talking through the same communication channel.

Project 3 Reflection

Selling yourself as a consultant requires defining exactly what you offer and the approach you use. There are many different ways to define your approach to consulting. This assignment helps you develop an 'elevator speech,' or pitch for potential clients.
This project was so important to me because it was a totally new concept for me. At the beginning of the course, when I was reading through the project titles, project 3 was the only of the four projects I did not have a clue what it was about! I believe this is one more tool a consultant ought to have. I learned a lot out of this activity.
This assignment has helped me develop my "elevator speech" or pitch for potential clients by first analyzing several speeches prepared by other professional consultants, second by thinking about what I would say to a prospective client before he or she got off the elevator at the next floor, and third by keeping it short, concise, and memorable.

Project 2 reflection

Interviewing an Expert: Mario Avendaño

Mario Avendaño is currently senior consultant at Buchanan Associates an international IT professional service, consulting and outsourcing company. Mario's areas of expertise are Oracle 9i, Oracle 9i RAC, Oracle 10g RAC, Clariion SANs, Dell Poweredge Servers, Mercury Load runner, RedHat Enterprise Server 3, RedHat Enterprise Server 4, Microsoft Windows Servers, VMWare, Linux.

You can watch this interview here.

This activity was a great experience. I really learned a lot by having this pleasant conversation with IT consultant Mario Avendaño. It is incredible how we can grasp every concept involved in the interview by having eye contact with the interviewee. Mario was very cooperative and understanding during this project. I have to say this conversation was so interesting that the whole interview was more than an hour long, therefore I had to edit it to fit the project deliverables criteria. Also, I have to admit that I was nervous at the beginning of the interview, but little by little we were having an interesting conversation without even noticing there were cameras recording the interview. In synthesis a great experience!

Chapter seven - Design solution options

GOOD DESIGNS

Reasonable definitions of good design

It solves the problem, it fits the client requirements, it is robust, secure, maintainable, documented, understood, flexible, standards-based, and it is proven.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at its Center for Advanced Engineering Study, teaches that design itself can be treated as a process whereby the input is a problem and the output is a solution.

Ideation refers to the process of creating alternatives based on the objectives and specifications.

Steps of a basic design:

• Analyze needs
• Develop specifications
  
• Perform ideation
  
• Filter for feasibility
  
• Select the solution
  
• Document the solution

Creativity-enhancing techniques

• Ideation techniques: The center of the engineering process
• Brainstorming: Focus on a specific goal, defer judgment during brainstorming, build on the ideas of others, record well and record visually. Brainstorming should be fun and intellectually stimulating activity.
  
• Structured round: Useful to ensure everybody has a chance to voice an opinion on a topic under discussion. It is done using the following approach: Focus on a specific topic or issue, move in order around the room, record this material as in brainstorming, go around as many times as needed, when the flow abates summarize the ideas or issues generated.
  
• Flow charting: When designing a process or functions, a flow chart can assist by displaying key steps and their relationships. It can be used both to ensure that everyone understands an existing process, and to create a new process or functions.
  
• Filtering ideas: Is assessing the material , to structure it into coherent solutions, and to develop the best options for presentation to the client.
  
• Other evaluation techniques

Chapter six - Understand the client's situation

Data collection methods are an important part of this chapter. The following are some basic data gathering methods presented in the textbook.

Review of existing documentation (Infrastructure, Data, Applications, Process, and Business)

Observation (“You can observe a lot by watching” Yogi Berra)

Inventory (Schedule, communication plan, database to collect the information, a collection for, or program, inventory strategy, updated mechanism)

Surveys (Are useful in situations in which: A knowledge holder can respond, knowledge holder are scattered, the time to perform an inventory or interviews is not available, a wide statistical overview is required, opinions and comments are invited)

Facilitated work sessions (It is the ideal forum for exploring the reality behind the organization chart and the procedural manuals. Before they were only meetings where unproductive behaviors showed: poor or late attendance, lack of clear goals, lack of consensus, lack of direction, dominance of strong attendees or of managers, interruptions, hidden agendas, lack of clear resulting items, undocumented results)

Some hints on meeting preparedness: Do your homework, prepare your team, provide pre-reading, adhere to a time contract, set reasonable goals, prepare the meeting space, bring in a subject matter expert, be a gracious host.

Interviews (The most intrusive and intimate encounters of all. They should be used to obtain final clarification from key knowledge holders or final decisions from executives or sponsors. Interview preparation should include the following steps: make a roster and a schedule, assign interviewers, be clear, be prepared, use good meeting etiquette)

Chapter Five - Visualize Success

I found interesting that project vision provides a central communication and motivation factor and that is recommended that consultants help their clients create the “tag line” for the engagement, build project sponsorship teams, create a vision communication plan, and cascade communications throughout the organization.

Create the “tagline” for the engagement.

According to wikipedia “The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product (like a film), or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product. Some taglines are successful enough to warrant inclusion in popular culture, often becoming snowclones.”

The author recommends avoiding creating a compendium of primary and secondary goals with nice-to-have objectives, dreams, and wishes. Instead, the author suggests to simplify, to get the core objective that the client sees.

Chapter Four - Negotiate the Relationship

Consulting is ambiguous: Consultant can be vague depending on the task to be performed. All consultants must grasp this concept. It is the consultant obligation to clarify his roles with the client. The most successful consultants are skilled in helping clients understand how the process will work, making sure that the client knows that together will reach the desired result and at the same time consultant must assure that expectations on both sides are clearly delineated.

Clarify expectations early: It is important to define the boundaries of the relationship between the consultant and the client. For example, the consultant should not be called at 3:00 am if something went wrong if that scenario was not negotiated at the beginning of the engagement.

The six rules of negotiation: Avoid imposing your role, avoid having a role imposed on you, take out the emotions and the ego, negotiate creatively, avoid table disagreements, and document your agreements.

Chapter Three - Approach the Client

IT consultants must have in consideration not to assume that lack of technical knowledge is the only issue. It is commonly assumed that clients would want to buy only technical expertise from a consultant. Consultants need to keep in mind that clients might be looking not only for the technical approach, but also for help in many other areas of improvement.

The initial contact with the client is an assessment of both the technical competence and personal traits. Questioning will be typical in an initial interview, and more than likely the client will be also wondering if he or she can trust the other party.

Using the power of observation is crucial for the success of a consultant as important clues can be gathered from the client's reaction.

According to the author the following are simple rules a consultant can follow to positively influence the client's evaluation:

• Give confidence to receive confidence
• Don't push the river
• Don't prescribe before diagnosing
• Test your understanding

It is critical to use a structured method of profiling the meeting between the client and the consultant during the initial interview.

Chapter Two - The IT Consulting Skill Set

It should not be just technical; instead the consultant should possess certain character traits in order to be successful in his or her endeavors in the consultancy arena.
The author mentions four critical skills a consultant should develop. These skills are:

• Advisory
• Technical
• Business
• Communication

Advisory: Clients rely in the consultant advise in order to be successful in their business. Consultants are professionals like doctors, lawyers, and engineers; and just like they do, consultants spend a great amount of time explaining complicated concepts difficult to understand to others.

Technical: According to the author, technical advice in IT is a lifetime learning experience. These skills are the core of all training, certifications, and diplomas. Technical expertise is a process, not an event.

Business Skills: Currently it is common to find technical experts who lack an understanding of business issues. Sometimes IT consultants have never practiced any business techniques at all, and sometimes managers do not find these skills important to the IT function. Consultants who have some knowledge about the client's industry, business history, etc. create a positive impression of an experienced and competent professional.

Communication: Consulting is COMMUNICATION! Without a clear, open, direct, and effective communication between the consultant and the client, the consultation process cannot take place.

My formal credentials

My formal credentials

Professional Institution: University of Texas at Brownsville (1994-1998)

Document: Bachelor of Science diploma obtained 06/1998

Major: Mathematics

Minor: Spanish

Certification: SBEC (Texas State Board for Educators Certification) Mathematics grades 6 – 12

SBEC (Texas State Board for Educators Certification) Spanish grades 6 – 12

SBEC (Texas State Board for Educators Certification) Technology Education grades 6 – 12

Skills acquired:

Differentiated instruction, instruction through which teachers enhance learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment.

Algebra for students with diverse needs.

Math Instruction for English language learners

Carnegie Cognitive Algebra I Tutor software – Trainer

Algebra I assessment

Algebra reasoning

Connecting Algebra and Geometry

LEP (Limited English Proficiency) instruction

Experience in Algebra I, Mathematical Models, and Geometry Instruction

Statistics Reasoning

Experience in Methods of Technology Education

Modular education

Professional Institution: Matamoros Institute of Technology (1992-1998)

Document: Professional Title obtained 06/1998

Major: Industrial Engineering

Skills acquired:

Witness (Manufacturing Simulation Software)

PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and Effect Analysis)

SPC (Statistical Process Control)

G8D (8 Disciplines)

DOE (Design of Experiments: Orthodox and Dr. Taguchi's technique)

PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) elaboration

APQP (Advance Product Quality Planning)

Process audit

Gage R&R

X-R charts

PFMEA's ( Failure Mode and Effect Analysis)

Control Plan (Control the product characteristics and the associated process variables to ensure capability “around the identified target or nominal” and stability of the product over time)

G8-D (Problem solving methodology)

Lay out interpretation

GD&T (Geometrical Dimensioning and Tolerance)

Area of Hamlin Reed Switches

Elaboration of process charts

Visual aides

Design of production cells

Kan Ban

Handling of in-process problems

Product failure analysis (assemble)

X-R charts on functionality of testing equipment

Preventive and predictive maintenance

Coordinator of the implementation of the tin plating process

General Knowledge:

Microsoft office

Inspection sheets

Cell production system

QS-9000

SPC

Designer

Visio

Group Wise

Seebrez Video System

QC-4000 Software

Profile Projector

Professional Institution: University of Texas at Brownsville (Currently taking online courses. 24 Semester hrs. taken so far)

Program: M.Ed. in Educational Technology

Skills acquired:

Web design

Online instruction

Instructional Design

Web-based multimedia instruction

Other skills/experience

Can plan and oversee projects

Provide training and instruction

Can work with teams

Good communication skills

Use of problem solving strategies

Work well under pressure

Presenter: 12th Bi-national education Conference held on October 28-29, 2005

Topic: Technology Education in a modular classroom setting

Institution: Brownsville ISD, The University of Texas at Brownsville, Instituto Tecnologico de Matamoros, Colegio de Educacion de Matamoros

Place: Rivera High School

I consider myself strong in the following areas:

Communication: I work better addressing small groups and one-on-one

Organizational skills: I like the idea of organizing tasks implementing systematic procedures

Problem solving: I like identifying problems and solving them implementing innovative solutions

Quality: I always try to deliver the best product possible

Planning: I like to plan projects and events

Chapter One - The Business of Advice

I really liked chapter one because is presented in a very organized way. So far I see this book as a coaching manual for the IT consultant. This is a book that you can always go back and re-read no matter how experienced you are in the arena of consulting.

The five basic steps of the foundation for the IT advisory process are very interesting. Specifically, number two: Clearly define your role, and number four: You advise, they decide got my attention. I believe that in the practice of consultancy, there are paradigms that we need to identify and eliminate in order to work objectively and be able to build a successful strong relationship with the client.

One of the first ideas I read, and probably the most important to me, is that the IT consultant should be a well-rounded professional who is capable to serve as an advisor, rather than just concentrate in the technical issues.

By well-rounded professional I mean that a consultant must have or develop certain aptitudes. According to the book, these skills are: communication, collaboration, and human relationships. (p. 2) In other words, clients want a technical expert they can trust to guide and advise them.

Introduction

Hello everyone!

My name is David Medina. I am a teacher at Hanna High School here in Brownsville , Texas . I teach Technology Systems in the Career and Technical Education department. I am in the last year of the master’s program. I am interested in learning more about Informational Technology. My hobbies are music and learning about new electronic gadgets and technologies.