They're my heroes

They're my heroes

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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!