High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice
"Full of practical tips and best practices, as well as ideas to profitably manage an IT consulting practice." --Akhil Bhandari, Vice President IT & CIO, CCL Industries, Inc."Provides excellent insight into the foundation for building a thriving IT consulting practice. A must-read for managers of consulting practices of all sizes." --Chris Jackson, Managing Director, Financial Models Co."Skillfully guides you through the metrics and attributes that make for good IT consulting. Furthermore, it emphasizes those attributes that improve customer satisfaction, the key measure for value and future growth in this business." --George Hart, Director, Braxton/Deloitte Consulting"Provides an insightful structure to consulting services: what to do, in what order, to what degree, and how to measure success." --Wayne Thomas, Vice President, DapaSoft, Inc."Exceptional! This book gives you the smart plays to achieve your client's goals." --Katie Comerford, IT Executive"One of a very few practical reference works that managers of professional IT practices will want to have close at hand." --Ross Roxburgh, Senior Consulting ExecutiveInvigorate your consulting practice with this series of sharply focused, practical chapters designed to deliver measurable results. Assess the health of your organization using Purba and Delaney's 12 Keys methodology--metrics that track the value of a consulting organization's activities and investments--to measure for positive impact on the client, employee, and profitability. Use these, along with ready-to-use forms and checklists, to effectively analyze your practice in terms of:Client Satisfaction  Resource Utilization  Employee Health and Morale  Average Billing Rate  Accounts Receivable  Operational Costs  Average Sales Discounts  Sales Pipeline  Engagement Backlog  Sales Hit Ratio  Resource Leverage  Practice Risk and Exposure  Once you've established a benchmark for your current practice, follow practical, tested recommendations to improve overall business performance. Set measurable marketing and sales goals, then focus on productive client engagements. These engagements are the core of your practice, and this invaluable tool provides a thorough overview of how to plan, implement, run, and close them successfully. You'll also tackle the challenges of juggling multiple client engagements, as well as consider legalities, quality control, risk mitigation, and more.After mastering the details of a sound and profitable client engagement, learn the ins and outs of running a solvent IT consulting practice. Discover internal management techniques designed to increase employee/consultant satisfaction, and learn to efficiently handle business issues such as client A/P and A/R, tax and insurance issues, and more.This wealth of information and practical advice offers a new way of measuring and improving your skills. Whether you're a frontline consultant, established practice manager, or a client dealing with consultants, improve your business agility and maintain the acumen necessary to ensure profitability and long-term success with High-Value IT Consulting.Online supplements include customizable forms, surveys, and checklists to help you manage your practice.