book

How to Become a Successful IT Consultant

by Dan Remenyi

June 2013

Beginner

166 pages

4h 54m

English

Routledge

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1.1 Consultancy: the opportunity1.2 Changes brought by the Internet and the Web1.3 Consultants plug a gap1.4 A major career option1.5 Requirements to start1.6 Summary and conclusion
2.1 Must haves for the IT consultant2.1.1 Optimism2.1.2 Flexibility2.1.3 Sense of adventure and bags of energy2.1.4 Ability to persevere2.1.5 Realistic view of your business potential2.2 Summary and conclusion2.3 Self-test on the characteristics necessary for IT consulting
3.1 Three focusing questions3.2 Form of business3.3 To be or not to be a company3.4 The awkward question of capital3.5 A financial forecast3.6 Fixed costs3.7 Variable costs3.8 Cash flow3.9 What can the Internet do for you?3.10 Getting going3.11 Summary and conclusion3.12 Checklist
4.1 Core competence or expertise4.2 Flexibility is key4.2.1 Creative or lateral thinking assignments4.2.2 Experiences-based assignments4.2.3 Procedural assignments4.2.4 Hands-on assignments4.2.5 Responsibility assignments4.3 Key areas of IT consulting opportunity4.3.1 Quality assurance4.3.2 Project management4.3.3 Data warehousing and mining4.3.4 Market intelligence4.3.5 Client-server applications4.3.6 Customer relationship management (CRM)4.3.7 Data administration4.3.8 m-Commerce (or mobile commerce)4.3.9 Database applications4.3.10 Local and wide area networks4.3.11 Security4.3.12 e-Government4.3.13 Internet4.3.14 Intranet4.3.15 Knowledge management4.3.16 Documentation4.3.17 e-Learning4.3.18 Product or industry specialist4.3.19 Website development4.3.20 e-Business opportunities4.3.21 e-Business model development4.3.22 Helpdesk4.3.23 Desktop Publishing4.3.24 Vendor selection4.3.25 Recruitment4.3.26 IT training 484.3.27 Computer telephony integration (CTI)4.3.28 Business process reengineering (BPR)4.3.29 Strategic IS planning (SISP)4.3.30 Business continuity planning (BCP)4.4 The Consultancy Opportunity Matrix4.5 Consultancy Opportunities by Industry Matrix4.6 Summary and conclusion4.7 Checklist
5.1 Generally don’t do the same as everybody else5.2 Even world famous experts get it wrong!5.3 There is no infallible way5.4 Differentiator versus cost leader5.5 Imagination is the key5.6 Summary and conclusion
6.1 Entrepreneurship - the name of the game6.2 Entrepreneurship is not enough6.3 From business strategy to marketing strategy6.4 Marketing strategy6.5 Have a clearly defined IT offering6.6 Express the value of the offering in a marketing document or brochure6.7 Ensure that your message gets into the right hands6.8 Making your competence clear to your prospect clients6.9 What is your target market?6.10 Finding your target clients6.11 The project proposal6.12 Clinching the deal with a contract6.13 What the Internet can do for you6.14 Getting started6.15 Summary and conclusion6.16 Checklist
7.1 IT consultant as a welcome friend7.2 IT consultant as a threat7.3 Cooperation with staff is vital7.4 Covert objectives7.5 Project planning7.6 A work breakdown schedule7.7 A project management network chart7.8 Bar chart diagram7.9 Project work breakdown chart7.10 Making sure resources are available7.11 Project risk assessment7.11.1 The client7.11.2 The work7.11.3 The deliverables7.12 Summary and conclusion7.13 Checklist
8.1 IT consultancy assignments change8.2 Active benefit realization8.3 Formative evaluation8.4 Welcome change suggestions8.5 Financial implications8.6 Complements traditional project management8.7 Summary and conclusion8.8 Checklist
9.1 Making and maintaining personal contact9.2 Joining a group such as the Computer Society9.3 Placing your name on a Web list9.4 Speaking at conferences and seminars9.5 Writing for the press9.6 Writing a book9.7 Playing a role in the community9.8 Looking for more work with an existing client9.9 Have your client recommend you to suppliers and/or clients9.10 Remember what the Internet can do for you9.11 Final note9.12 Summary and conclusion9.13 Checklist
10.1 Making money as an IT consultant10.2 Growing your business10.3 The independent consultant10.4 Develop a product10.5 Summary and conclusion10.6 Checklist
11.1 Business cycles11.2 Fixed priced jobs can be undercosted11.3 Losing control over cash flow11.4 The flavour of the month or of the year11.5 Not understanding the risk facing your organization11.6 The great tax surprise11.7 Summary and conclusion
12.1 Keeping your business going is the real challenge12.2 Remember why you started your own business12.3 Money versus quality of life12.4 Nurturing a sustainable client relationship12.4.1 IT consultants are offered jobs12.5 Internal administration12.5.1 Understanding how your business is doing12.5.2 Income statements12.5.3 Cash flow statements12.5.4 Balance sheets12.5.5 Funds flow statements12.6 Creating a sustainable working regime12.6.1 How many hours per week do you need to work?12.6.2 How many weeks a year vacation will you take?12.6.3 How long do you think your working life will be, i.e. when do you want to retire?12.6.4 What do you expect to do about your pension?12.6.5 How will you handle being ill?12.6.6 When do you engage your first employee and should this be another consultant?12.6.7 When do you need to look for a partner?12.7 Seeing the opportunities12.7.1 Growing from strength to strength12.7.2 What the Internet can do for you12.8 Summary and conclusion12.9 Checklist

Content preview from How to Become a Successful IT Consultant

Keep your eye on the ball

images

An expert is a man who has made all mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.

Niels Henrik David Bohr, 10 November 1972.

To ensure medium to long-term success with your IT consulting business you will need to keep an eye on a number of critical issues that can cause business failure. These issues will persist over the life of your business and if you at any stage forget them you might find that your business will be quite quickly in trouble.

In this chapter I present five important issues. This is not ...