Building the IT Consulting Practice

Building the IT Practice is a clear and practical guide organized to help design, build, and manage lucrative consulting practices. Building on the advisory methodologies described in the author′s previous book, The IT Consultant, this book goes beond the personal practices and behaviors presented in that work to offer a roadmap to the creation of an IT Professional Services business. This book focuses on the basics of building a consulting business, dicussing such core issues as the creation of a unique marketing message, the design of a firm–wide delivery methodology, and the recruitment and retention of world–class sales and talent.

Spis treści:
Acknowledgments.
Preface.
ONE: What Is the IT Consulting Business?
The Size and Shape of the Business.
The Range of Service Possibilities.
Common Elements.
TWO: The Structure of the Practice.
Sole Proprietor.
Partnership.
Corporation.
Elements in Common.
Putting It All Together.
Interview with Ken Taormina.
THREE: The Basic Financial Model.
Utilization.
Rate.
Fee Capacity.
Measuring Performance.
FOUR: Vision and Mission.
Broad or Deep?
Strategic Planning.
The Planning Process.
The Vision Thing.
From Products to Services.
The Lessons of Migration.
FIVE: Process and Methodology.
A Sales Planning Process.
A Proposal Process.
A Scope of Work Standard.
A Stakeholder Participation Process.
A Risk Analysis Process.
A Project Planning Process.
A Status Reporting Process.
A Set of Solution–Specific Toolkits.
A Change Management Process.
An Issues Management Process.
A Post–Project Review to Assess Customer Satisfaction and Gather Lessons.
Interview with Malcolm Frank.
SIX: Sales and Marketing.
Challenges.
The Four R′s of Service Marketing.
Selling the Intangible.
Interview with Andrew Bibby.
SEVEN: Organizational Culture.
Recruiting for Attitu de and Motivation.
Ethics and Professional Responsibility.
Accountability.
Open Book Management.
Coaching and Mentoring.
Atmosphere.
EIGHT: Consultant Development.
Technical Training.
Project Skills Development.
Communication and Advisory Skills Development.
Business Skills Development.
Project Assignments.
Mentoring.
NINE: Growing and Improving the Firm.
Growing the Firm.
Improving the Firm.
TEN: Conclusion.
Bibliography.
About the Author.
Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Rick Freedman is an author, journalist, consultant, and trainer. His previous books The IT Consultant and The eConsultant have achieved worldwide readership. Rick writes the "Consultant Master Class" column for TechRepublic.com, the IT professional web community. He teaches IT project management, IT consulting, and information technology courses at the college level at various institutions in the United States. Rick is the founder and CEO of Consulting Strategies, Inc., dedicated to helping IT service firms develop world–class consulting practices, and in the last year has trained and consulted for global IT firms across the United States and in the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Japan, and China.
Visit Rick′s website at www.consulting–strategies.com or contact him at rick@consulting–strategies.com.