I have been involved in consulting for about 20 years now, and I think one of the biggest challenges (in the long term) for consulting firms is building a sense of ownership and fairness within the company. One of the biggest problems with people, in general, is that they overvalue what they do and undervalue […]
A Professional Services tool enabling users to – Create and Plan tasks – Log hours against these tasks – Track what deliverables got produced from these tasks – What skills were used/are required against tasks – Developing a user skill profile – Develop an accurate company skill profile and track its change over time – […]
With the advent of the cloud and many shifting paradigms, many of the services typically associated with consulting firm will start to become commoditized and productized at an ever increasing pace. Customer will begin to expect their IT partners to stop telling them everything is a unique, custom problem very particular to their specific scenario. […]
Calgary, Alberta is among the cities worst hit by the plummeting oil prices. “Home prices are down, unemployment is up, food bank usage is climbing, and no one knows when things might turn around with oil below $35 (U.S.) a barrel on Thursday, from highs of well over $100 less than two years ago”, reports […]
SQL Server is Microsoft’s flagship database product and has been in use for more than a decade. Microsoft recently announced to release SQL Server 2016 next year and has already released the preview version. The new 2016 release will have significant improvements in security features, in-memory OLTP, analytics and Stretch Database. Here is a list of […]
Idea in brief Making products out of projects is always a point of discussion in the software services firms. I have identified 8 major challenges and proposed their solutions. It is generally after 5-10 years of starting a consulting career that we feel this need. Initially passion attracts the IT consultants into the field; you […]
Companies are increasingly trying to get the most out of their information technology dollars. Project managers can strategically support their companies by acquainting yourself with the various aspects of offshoring. This will prepare you for what to expect and help you be more effective in your interactions with an offshore team. 1. Assess competence First, […]
“We are a lean company. Our organizational structure and culture does not allow us to manage work through obsolete methods. We have to be tough on the cost side and perform brilliantly on the customer side. Google Cloud Printing allowed us to make our work printers available to us and anyone we choose. It works […]
“Using the Microsoft technologies allowed us to obtain insightful information from the data that was already residing within our system. We didn’t have to do something out-of-the-box; it just required putting the pieces together within our budgetary constraints. Whether it was sales, customer services or claim processing, we were able to pull reports within minutes that previously took […]
This is the second post in our IT Vendor Management Series. The first was “3 Step Guide to Selecting B2B IT Vendors“. Once selected, the next step is to shortlist the vendors with whom you will want to set up a lasting relationship for acquiring development, maintenance, and support services. Stick to the following four steps […]