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.