THINKING OF A CAREER IN IT CONSULTANCY? Paul Stevens Jason Buckley

B OTH Jason Buckley Physics Degree 15 Years IT Career Roles included team management, project management and technical writing Currently Internal Consultant in multinational utility Paul Stevens Computer Studies Degree 20+ Years IT Career Roles included team management, database administration and software development Currently Internal Consultant in multinational utility

JB Objectives What does a consultant do? What skills are needed? When are they used? The consultancy lifecycle Real-world example How do you gain ISEB certification? Pros and cons of a consultancy role Questions

JB What does a Consultant do? Fundamentally, to save the business time and money Understand the business – people, technology, processes, drivers, politics Take a holistic view of a problem Help them understand what options they have – manage expectations, manage conflict Consultancy is advising, not delivering. As soon as you start to implement anything, you are no longer a consultant, you are a practitioner

JB What skills are needed? Written and verbal skills at appropriate level for audience Soft skills – expectation setting, workshop facilitation, understand the customer and their business, persuasion/negotiation skills Ability to learn new concepts quickly, often avoiding the detail Technical translator

JB When are they used? To make a strategic decision When detailed technical knowledge is required When broad business knowledge is required To advise on possible improvements Political pawns, to back-up someone’s position Facilitators between internal stakeholders Facing off to vendors, cutting through the sales speak

JB The Consultancy Lifecycle Entry. First contact and early problem diagnosis. Expectation setting and building trust. Diagnosis. Understanding the problem, digging for facts, analysing the “as is” world. Action Planning. Developing solutions and options. Helping the client to select the most appropriate solution. The “to be” world. Implementation. Assisting but not building the solution. Termination. Evaluation and withdrawal.

PS Project: Delivering IT infrastructure in the desert

PS 1. Entry Internal sales lead through a protracted route. Disgruntled customer. Required a complete infrastructure to support the company’s operations. Proposal to develop a high level architecture based on standard infrastructure components; to be delivered by a project manager. Request for interview. The stakeholder was based in Germany. MANDACT. Risks …

PS What is MANDACT This is a technique to size and assess the viability of the request. Money:Is there a budget? Authority:Who has the money and authority to spend it? Need:How serious are they? Decision Criteria:Do we want to follow through with this assignment? Ability:To we have the capability? Competition:Is there any? Timing:Timescales to solve a problem?

PS Risks Network Communications. Staffing. Equipment Failure. Sourcing Spares. Governmental Factors; advice from FCO.

PS 2. Diagnosis Knowledgeable Customer, with a solution in mind. Time Limited. Some components in place. Locally Employed Personnel (LEP) hired. Initial risk list confirmed, plus: Import restrictions. Commodity hardware was difficult to obtain. A non-standard solution would be a likely outcome. Interim HLA issued.

PS 3. Action Planning Iterative Process

PS 4. Implementation The high level architecture was passed to a project manager for implementation. Support provided by me in terms of developing plans and briefing technicians. Participation in progress meetings up to and including the testing phase. Refinement of the design as required.

PS 5. Termination My decision was to withdraw from the assignment when testing of the solution proved positive. This was agreed with the customer. A follow up session when the solution became operational. We had had other business based on this assignment …

JB No consultancy? What goes wrong... People buy equipment, then it doesn’t fit together No holistic view taken, for example, support model missing Trust between business and IT breaks down Scope creep Money and time is lost as the project goes around in circles Missing documentation

JB ISEB Certificate in IS Consultancy Practice – the Examinations Minimal entry: 24 years old and 4 years experience in IT Optional 5 day course, hands-on, role play, real-world scenarios Written 2 hour exam, closed book, 3 questions – one lead question If passed, follow-up oral examination, 45 min total: Panel of two BCS examiners 10 minute presentation on a recent or current assignment Answer questions on presentation Answer questions on ISEB syllabus Resulting certifications: Pass written exam: ISEB Certificate in IS Consultancy Essentials Pass oral exam: ISEB Certificate in IS Consultancy Practice BCS website for more information:

B OTH Pros and Cons of Consultancy Role Good StuffBad Stuff Diverse tasks and peopleCan be on your own Influential roleSteep learning curve Develops skills and talentExpectations can be hard to manage Often good remunerationYou can’t know everything! Independence and autonomyTravel often a necessity

B OTH Questions Please! ?