Perfect harmony – Consultancy is like a marriage!
by Marc Davies

Do you think about consultants and get that heavy sinking feeling? You know, the one that says ‘do I have to?’ No matter where you go in business this peculiarity of the client/consultant relationship seems to crop up – a kind of Love/Hate relationship. You know you need them sometimes ... you need that top-level view that a neutral third-party can give, but at what guarantee? After all it’s hard to shak the feeling that Consultant is getting money for, well nothing.

The microcosms of client/consultant relationships are amusingly similar to the kind of compromise found in a marriage – sometimes neither side feel that their exact message or requirements are fully understood. Mutual respect enables both parties to discuss issues to reach an agreed plan of action. There are ‘harmonious’ marriages, where both sides are frank with each other and ‘difficult’ marriages where compromise is hard to come by.

Is it idealistic to draw comparisons between the positive relationships that exist between mutually trusting people in a marriage, and relationships that can be created between a consultant and their customers? Of course not, the success of such a relationship does not and should not depend on contractual agreements – all these do is engender mistrust and can create deep rifts in relationships.

In the same way, it should not be unrealistic to expect both parties to acknowledge that they have a responsibility to behave in a certain way. If both consultants and customers are ready to participate in dialogue and are willing to resolve problems, a relationship that is characterised by mutual respect can be achieved.

Generally, the larger the business you work for, the more likely it is that you gain satisfaction from your Consultant partners. Large Corporate groups have a tendency to opt for large, established Consulting firms – a safe bet perhaps in an ever-changing world? The Consultancies can work on economies of scale and have thus developed quite sophisticated relationships, over time that helps to generate satisfaction. However, do those relationships generate real and quantifiable value? Or do they just become old and stale like so many marriages?

Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME’s) frequently do not have the time or budget to generate the same level of partnership. They tend to be very value-driven. This is a problem for larger consultancies whose overheads and ‘structured’ solution paths are unlikely to match the budgets of a Company with 200 staff. Does this matter? Given that 80% of all business throughout the European Union is in the ‘official’ SME category of 1-250 staff it seems quite clear that it matters hugely. [Source: EuroStat]

Lets take the ‘marriage’ view from the perspective of business requirements and IT strategy. Understanding the latest business techniques is no longer enough to ensure growth and increased market share. Any business plan that does not include an IT strategy will fail whether a large or small organisation. Market pressures change constantly and IT changes faster than any of these. This is why consultants provide such a useful additional tool in developing business strategy. They bring a wide range of industry knowledge of problems and solutions, as well as providing strong technical skills and an understanding of what IT can offer the business world.

The problem is that because we have reached a stage where IT is a core activity, its intrinsic nature has developed a culture where failure is commercially unacceptable. No one can any longer afford to have IT systems fail – it just costs too much.

This is where new approaches toward innovation and delivery have begun to enter the business model. The largest consultancies have understood this and invested vast amounts of resource into delivering on innovation – be prepared for discussions regarding the business merits of wearable computing and ‘wired’ meetings, where you can be in touch with your entire team, while making an office presentation. Good stuff, but how relevant for 80% of all Companies working within the EU?

Innovation is required but it must be focussed. Small consultancies need to take a leaf out of the ‘Blue Chip’ book and invest time and money in Research & Development. Customers are looking for value and competitive advantage. What does this mean? In practice it means being innovative – conducting Research & Development, examining trends to pre-empt customer requirements.

Failure to provide value based on absolute deliverables to the customer, as opposed to absolute consultancy-time input into a project, will signal the decline of many consultancies based on more ‘traditional’, reactive methodologies of ‘text-book’ delivery. Customers in the 21st century expect fast response times, detailed and short delivery plans and most importantly, the ability to deliver on time.

So, SME’s need innovation, small consultants need to be able to deliver – large consultancies have the ability to deliver, but their cost-base makes it difficult to enter the SME market without crippling customers. Clearly there are two-way advantages for nimble, innovative, focussed consultancies. As an example, lets briefly look at the way Socrates delivers services.

A Case in Point: 21st Century Security

A Customer contacted us to discuss their requirement for a Penetration test of the Company Website. From that moment, it’s our job and responsibility to ensure our [prospective] customer obtains everything relevant to gain an unbiased view of requirements. A senior member of the Security team took up the initial contact. Basic information regarding the size and infrastructure of the customer operation was obtained via telephone and email contact, public information queried via the Internet and a profile created. Remember, we had no contract with the customer at this point – this is 21st-century selling, delivering immediate value.

Within 2 working days of enquiry the customer received a document outlining perceived requirements, along with at least two Work Packages, detailing different levels of provision, personalised and customised. This illustrated detailed understanding of not just the technical solution, but the business impact (you may have to change the way you work – but the benefits are quantifiable), cost-of-deployment (the bottom-line), profit-from-deployment and timescale-limitations (we know you want it quickly).

Speed and quality of delivery gave us the edge to beat off competition and win the contract. Only then did we begin the detailed process. Our four stages of delivering prompt, cost-effective, working solutions are Information gathering, Gap Analysis, Roadmap/Strategy, Deployment. Time and focus were the watchwords for this solution. We developed new, web-based methods to improve monitoring and auditing and we didn’t just look at the Website from the outside – a detailed analysis covering such areas as “who did what?” and “where is the Disaster Recovery Plan?” ensured an holistic approach.

The Socrates view is that the key element to delivering is not a ‘simple’ solution, but rather to encourage the customer to evaluate working practices and methodologies, ensuring a safe, secure and efficient environment continues into the future. As such, all Socrates approaches are based on common standards and methodologies such as ISO-17799 and PRINCE2 and our own unique method of delivering a technical and business-relevant solution, based on cost-effectiveness.

Just like marriage through dialogue and mutual responsibility the consultant can assist the customer towards their goal of achieving best value. Commitment and trust on both sides will ultimately lead to a harmonious, profitable relationship.