As a consultant, I’m often called in when things have gone horribly wrong. There are lots of examples; a critical server that won’t stay running, a construction project falling behind due to endless IT change orders but no IT project management, or a client who executed a contract to make an acquisition but the acquiring IT team isn’t up to the task. Almost all emergency consulting jobs can be broken down into three phases. Sometimes a project iterates through these phases only once, larger projects can iterate through these phases repeatedly.
Phase I: Fireman
The consultant comes into a project and needs to put out fires quickly. Hopefully things haven’t gone to far south. This is the adrenalin part of consulting. You have to be quick on your feet, smart, and not panic. The most important thing for the consultant to do is get their arms around the problem and fully understand the business objectives. The quicker you can put this phase behind you the better for the client and the consultant. If the consultant is called in early enough this phase is short. Often consultants can save companies money if they are brought in during the planning stages for a project. Once the project is well along and fires start burning, the amount of money a consultant can save starts diminishing.
Phase II: Garbageman
During this phase the consultant has to evaluate systems, networks, processes, goals, and people. If it doesn’t work it should be removed. This is the design/project management portion of most jobs. Many solutions are evaluated and everything that doesn’t work needs to go. Risks, costs, and benefits all have to be fully analyzed. Any thing that remains within an environment needs to be fully utilized/integrated. Even if you have to phase out legacy systems, it’s better to do it in a planned, calm fashion, not rip it out in an attempt to put out a fire.
Phase III: Maytag Repairman
This is the ultimate goal of the IT professional, a system that runs so smoothly that the client no longer requires the consultant on a daily basis. If a consultant does their job right, they can seem to put themselves out of work. The truth is that by providing the best service a consultant proves their worth. This often leads to the consultant being put on retainer. A consultant on retainer looking over the shoulder of your IT staff can help help provide oversight and strategic vision for your company. As one IT professional put it “I pay my consultants a retainer because he fights entropy and that keeps my systems running smoothly”.
