Transcript Professional Business Analyst Skills (IS 6008)

IS Consulting Process
(IS 6005)
Masters in Business Information Systems
2009 / 2010
Fergal Carton
Business Information Systems
Lecturer contact details
Name:
Phone:
Office:
E-mail:
Web:
University College Cork
Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh
Fergal Carton
021-490 3734
Room 2.113, ORB
[email protected]
http://afis.ucc.ie/fcarton/default.htm
Consulting process
• Process of consulting
– Understand the requirement
• Why is client using a consultant?
– What is the value you can bring to project?
– Writing a proposal
– Estimating FTE’s
• Project management
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Project phases and tasks
Project resources
Deliverables
Profitability of contract
Communication with client
2 basic questions
• How to plan and prioritise ICT investments?
= IT strategy
• How to manage ICT operations?
= IT organisation
Transition from project to operations
• Investments in IT take the form of projects
• Projects are often run jointly with
consultants
• Once live, project is transitioned to
operations
• The quality of that transition is key to
customer value
• The relationship between consultant and
client is a long term one
Case studies in first term
• Identify relevant framework to analyse case
– Porter, SWOT, …
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Evaluate case using theoretical framework
Identify key issues / positions / challenges
Recommendations
Lessons learned
Do we understand the use of
frameworks?
• Help to talk about a subject
• They usually simplify to enable understanding
• Practice: your own career aspirations
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What are the priorities you might have?
Can they be categorised into dimensions?
How could you visually present your aims?
Would the same representation work for others?
• No framework is perfect, as they lack detail
• However, communication can be enhanced
Marking scheme (draft)
• Continuous assessment completed (40%)
• Written exam, May (60%)
Sample questions (2007)
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IS consulting sector in Ireland
PPARS failure and lessons for consulting
Frameworks, value and limitations
Gap analysis for evaluating vendor
proposals
• In-house versus packaged approach
• Roll out strategy for ERP system
IS: the symptoms
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Overspending : need to rationalise
Control: need to centralise
Efficiency: need to standardise
Unable to see return on investment
Outage risk: too reliant on IT?
IS organisation not performing
Opposing views of IT function
• Business Executives
view of IT
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Apprehensive
Technocracy
New feature focus
Little relevance to real
world
• IT executives view of
Business
– Short-sighted
– Lacking in vision
– Unwilling to exploit IT
Increasingly complex IT, rapidly changing economy
CEO view of IT function
• “Black hole of Calcutta”
• “What’s all the fuss about”?
• IT = operations
Why is planning important?
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IT tends to evolve, not follow a plan
Difficult to align IT to corporate goals
Perception of poor “value” from IT
IT considered “too operational”
IT can constrain as well as enable
IT considered a major driver of cost
Why look to consultants?
• Experience lacking internally
• Unable to resolve an issue
• Haven’t got the resources
• Need an unbiased opinion
• Organisational gridlock
Do you know more than the client?
• No, you’re not in their business
• Organisations are large and complex
• In discovery phase, you are unique
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Cross functional focus
Up to date
Neutral
Actual process (not Head Office version)
• “Internalise” what you are hearing
• Dealing with the “What do you think” trap
What do consultants do?
• Tell you what you already know?
• Guarantee project completion?
• Take ownership of issues?
• Energise an existing project team?
• Cost you a lot of money?
What do consultants not do?
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Give the answer up front
Give their services for free
Make a client look bad
Replace client’s own staff
Get involved in politics
Know-how that you bring to the table
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Frameworks to prioritise requirements
Trading off requirements: you can’t do it all
Awareness of best practice
Project management skills
Communication skills
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Sample consulting assignments
• Advice on cost reduction for IT function
• IT strategy, improve IT planning
• Develop requirements for new system
• Select and justify investment in new s/w
• Green IT audit
• System implementation
– HR IS upgrade for UCC
– ERP system for UCC
– CRM strategy and system implementation
Other samples
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PostCode system for Ireland
Strategy for emergency services in Ireland
eLearning strategy for UCC
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