The Practice of Professional Consulting

Risk Assessment Factors

Clients as well as consultants face many risks when they engage each other. Risk can arise unexpectedly and have dire consequences. In one example, where risks were not adequately considered, a client hired a major IT consulting firm to produce a system that would centralize the company’s international insurance broking. The consultants buried themselves so deeply in the client’s technology department that it became in the consulting company’s best interest to slow things down, keep information to themselves, and maintain their handsome cash flow. After years of not seeing the final deliverable, the client became so frustrated with the consultants that they decided to get rid of them. In the end, the client ended up having ...