IS Consulting Process

(

IS 6005

) Masters in Business Information Systems 2006 / 2007

Programme in Professional Information System Practices

Fergal Carton Business Information Systems

Topics covered

The IS Consulting Business:

• What does the IS Consultant do?

• Why do organizations engage consultants?

Managing Client Engagements:

• Making the sales pitch, writing a good proposal • Requirements analysis and understanding the client goals • Task definition and project resources • Preparing and presenting the solution options

Making the most of Client Relationships:

• Communication and selling on • Building long-term client relationships • Working your client base MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Topics covered

•

The IS Consulting Business:

What does the IS Consultant do?

•

Segmenting consulting practice (eg. Vision)

•

Role of consultants on PPARS

•

Typical asssigments

•

PCB example

•

GAP analysis (eg. UCC)

•

ERP Projects: scope, resources, timescales, phasing

•

Consultant skills (analytic, technical, project)

•

Consultant tools

•

Identifying unique features of business

• • •

Managing Client Engagements:

Requirements analysis and understanding the client goals •

Handouts

Task definition and project resources •

SIB

Preparing and presenting the solution options •

In-house vs custom

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Last week

• Recap on Graham Healy’s points on ERP projects and SIB Industries • Feedback from SIB case study MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

This week

• Power users • Consultant skills (cont.) – Relationship building abilities MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

What is interface with client?

• Steering committee • Core team • Process leads • Functional co-ordinators • Extended core team • Power users • Trainers • …

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Business Readiness plan: ensuring key activities take place before, during and after implementation to move organization from the current steady state to the future steady state Productivity Go-live

Future state Current state

•People •Process •Data •Infrastructure •Conversion •Post-Support Network •Break/fix process •Demand priority process •Follow up training •Help Desk •Issue escalation process

Readiness Transition Sustain & Achieve

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Time

What’s an ideal power user?

• Experienced • Authoritative • Technically minded • Committed • Capabale of working with a “solution in progress” • Good communicator / motivator • A “go to” person • Available

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Power users: local hands and feet

Core team

Functional

Power Users Site contact Site contact Site contact Site contact

Geographic

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process “As needed” resources

Power Users Principle Duties •Participate in data clean-up activities (Vendor / Customer / GL) •Local language data collection (invoice template, …) •Verification of data conversion process •Review Chart of Accounts •Test Oracle in sandbox environment with local data •Participate in local performance testing (WAN, …) •Help identify PC upgrade requirements •Participate in training pilots •Help identify list of users per country •Participate in role change analysis work •“Preach the Gospel” to end-users MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Power users will be deployed using a network approach. Countries will rely on hubs and hubs will rely on Centers of Excellence. Therefore, Power user knowledge must be higher in Centers of Excellence and Hubs.

Cork Hopkinton/Milford/Franklin Center of Excellence UK France Germany Japan Seeded with Certified Power Users Hub North EMEA Denmark Chicago South EMEA Switzerland Asia Singapore Country Contact All Other Countries Italy…..Austria……HongKong…..Korea…..

Will network with Certified Power Users in Hubs and Centers of Excellence MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Process Name

General Accounting Product Costing Approve and Pay Bill and Collect Management Reporting Planning Forecasting Fixed Assets Purchasing (indirect)

Core Team Fran Moran Certified Power Users Hopkinton Sheri Hayes Cork Janet Duane Power Users Hopkinton / Cork Hopkinton Cork Sile Lordan Germany Peter Zey Power Users EMEA - Big 3 UK Mark Lowles France Marie-Rose Duquerroix Christine O'Brien Coleen Thomson Ger Corkery Larry Ordway Sue Roy Fiona O'Donovan Eilen Avery Sinead O'Driscoll Ella Coghlan Peter Zey TBH Jackie Sullivan Elisabeth Leparc Amber Dawkins Alain Baarir Wendy Page Mike Duffy Mike Duffy

Receive & Process Orders

Alan Kump Joe McIntyre Janet Tarlin ???

Jeff Whitten Brian Gleeson Bridget O'Sullivan Bridget O'Sullivan Lucy Lamb Jörg Riedl Steve Aubut Kathy Gagnon Cathy O'Callaghan Susan Foemmel Christina Belli Bridget O'Sullivan MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process Holger Dratwa Mark Lowles Igor Busson Marie-Rose Duquerroix Geraldine Murphy

Linda Todd-Gilbert

Elisabeth Musart

Certified Power User and Power User Approach

Original Core Team (26) Supplemental Core Team (17) Trainers (20)

End Result Certified Power Users

• higher level of exposure to the solution • deeper base of knowledge Testers (tbd) Data Conversion (40)

Ways to Develop Skill

• Developed the solution • Participated in test • Participated in training • Participated in data conversion Could be either Certified Power User or Power User dependant upon level of involvement End Users with additional training (80 - 100)

Power Users

• end users that have solid understanding of the solution • understand escalation procedures • “Extra” training • Business Simulation • Other MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process

Incremental Resource Requirements

Catalyst Project Driven

Core Team Supplement (a) Trainers(b)

Product Delivery 5 8 Develop New Products Enterprise Management Demand Management BRM and Reporting Total 5 1 17 3 3 3 4 4 1 20

Functional Coordinators(c)

Organization Driven

Power Users (d) Data Clean-up (e)

3 20 14 2 5 5 20 6 8 5 1 16 34 3 82 10 2 40 (a) Full time back-fills to the Catalyst group as soon as possible (b) Close to 100% participation June through October (c) Agreed to by Advisory committee - still waiting for outstanding names (d) Represents net (of core team, supplemental core team, and trainers) power users across all geographies. Note: 63 core team, supplemental core team and trainers will become “certified power users” having higher skill level than 82 power users

Management Consultant Competencies

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.

MBS (BIS) / 6005 / IS Consulting Process