IS Consulting Process (IS 6005) Masters in Business Information Systems 2006 / 2007 Programme in Professional Information System Practices Fergal Carton Business Information Systems

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Last week Demo EBSCO access What is unique to the business? –Business model (cost, products, design, customer satisfaction, …) –Unique feature (products, production methods, IS, supply chain, …) Leading questions –Revenue, headcount, … –Current successes, recent announcements, … IS consulting profession –Consultant, project manager, analyst Consultant skills –Analytic abilities Analysis tools (IT audit example) Checklists, presentation matrices, … Adding value in reporting findings in a way that prioritises actions to be taken –Technical abilities –Project management abilities –Example from Accenture

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process This week Key roles in ERP project –Handout (UCC example) –ERP project team example (PCB case study) ERP project proposal –High level phases and deliverables (not tied to dates) –Project timeline Consultant skills (cont.) –Relationship building abilities Proposal writing SIB Industries handout BPM: Future of IT (Peter Keen article)

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Project team composition Example of ERP project team from consultant –Client engagement level –Project management –Process leads (for each process affected) a process lead will have sub-process leads –Technology leads –Change Management leads At least 5 years experience Analysts below this not shown (at proposal stage)

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Project team composition: UCC Skills –Mix of technical and business skills –Representatives from every functional area –Data clean-up and migration –Application knowledge –IT implications Team members –Full-time availability –Power users –Skill transfer

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Project team composition: PCB

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Key roles in ERP project Mix of technical and business skills Team members seniority and competence Include all functions in team Catch-22: the right person is busy!

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Our proposed approach segments the program delivery into four components supported by a focused Enterprise Planning Team Global Prototype Build & TestDeployRun Model “to be” processes Create baseline configuration Assess organizational impact Generate functional designs Develop and build development architecture Develop technical infrastructure requirements Plan for build, test and deploy Finalize detailed configuration Complete technical designs Build reports, conversions, extensions and interfaces Build execution architecture Conduct integrated system test Develop training Prepare conversion plan Define on-going support organization Plan system migration and data cleanup Conduct test fires Train users Implement help desk support Conduct business simulation Develop detailed conversion plan Convert site Stabilize site Manage and maintain production environment Prioritize enhancement requests Perform break/fix Establish and manage to SLAs Manage data center & network operations Provide help desk support Enterprise Planning Phase 1Phase 2 & 3

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process In our standalone design build model, we deliver the ERP program within 18 months, delivering the new capabilities in 2 releases 18 Month Program Window Mobilization Global Prototype Build and Unit Test Integrated System Test U.S. Site Preparation U.S. Launch and Stabilize Ireland and Sales Site Preparation Ireland Sales Launch and Stabilize JunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan U.S. Launch Ireland and Sales Launch

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Quality Assurance Mike Ruettgers Paul Noble Dave Donatell Bob Heise Steering Committee Steve Reilly Bob Dutkowsky Colin Patteson Phil Dolen Gary Bloom Ron Veith Advisory Committee Oracle Solution Delivery Chris Bowers Marty Ferguson Program Office Mike Langois John Drake Value Delivery Management Enterprise Planning Team Janet Simons Oracle Representative Develop New Products Mark McGloughlin AC/Oracle - TBD Product Delivery EMC - TBD Ravi Vuppala John Tolmachoff Demand Management Kathy Lyons Justin Kennedy Enterprise Management EMC -TBD Vladimir Teofilovic Technical Franck Cincotta Basil Yunan Change Management Carol Neville Dan Lopolito The right combination of skills from EMC, Andersen Consulting and Oracle positions us to successfully deliver this large, complex program Global Prototype Organization Stephen Kampe Michael Rissi Terri Strauss

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Relationship Building Abilities Build rapport and trust with the client –Difficult to define –Feature of all communication (not just face-to-face) –Not just what is said, but how things are said Question effectively –Way to build rapport and control the direction of the conversation –Open questions, closed questions –Ask the right questions (preparation) –Ask them the right way (practice) E.g. avoid interrogating, vary styles, positive open questions, closed to confirm, statement with a quizzical look/rising tone, etc..

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Relationship Building Abilities Communicate ideas succinctly and precisely –Different areas use different language (e.g. finance, marketing) –The Key is not the consultant’s knowledge of the area, but how the consultant uses that knowledge to create value for the business –Most impact when he/she talks the same language as the client –May need to translate technical jargon into plain language Negotiate objectives and outcomes –Client may not have a clear idea of what is wanted for the business or may have unrealistic ideas which are not achievable within the project –Disappointment for both the client and consultant results more from unclear expectations than poor outcomes

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Relationship Building Abilities Convince others through verbal, written and visual mediums –Having good ideas is not enough –Conviction results if ideas are communicated in a manner that is appropriate to the audience –Ideas must have substance - Use information to make a case for a particular course of action –Some information included in the initial communication and some held back as a response to questions and/or objections

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Relationship Building Abilities Develop selling strategies –Consultants must sell ideas, sell themselves and their organizations –Consultancy does not respond well to a ‘hard-sell’ approach –Focus on what you can offer the client with a view to building a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship Work effectively as a member of a team –Consultancy team and extended client team –Requires careful definition of individual roles and responsibilities –Requires interpersonal, motivation and conflict resolution skills –Align interests of the team individuals with the overall task that the team faces – sometimes necessary to compromise individual concerns in the interest of the group, as a whole

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Relationship Building Abilities Demonstrate Leadership –Ability to focus and direct individuals to act in a certain way –Draws together many relationship skills (e.g. articulate vision, motivation, communication) into one behavioural strategy –Leadership is not a fixed property, but is situational – may shift between members of a project as the project evolves and the situation changes –Leadership Core Competencies Project Management Institute (2005) Vol. 6, Issue 1.