Table Of ContentBusiness/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind folio1
“These best practices provide the road map that is key to running a
world-classconsultingpractice.”
—DavidSmart,VP,SystemandTechnologyServices,TheCITGroup,Inc.
“Practical,actionable,and full of insight.If you are starting your
ownconsultancy,lookingtoadvanceinyourcareerasaconsultant,or
looking to take your consultancy to the next level, you will find the
hands-oninformationyou need in this book.”
—John Wyzalek,Principal,White Paper Group
“Thisbookprovidesaninvaluableroadmapforenterprisesthatfind
themselvescrossingoverintotheconsultingarena,butthatlackformal
consultingexperiencetodrawupon.”
—Charles Dow,Vice-President,SLMSoft
“Adigestablesummaryof theconsultingindustryandpowerfulkey
factorstoconsiderinbuilding,managing,andmeasuringasuccessful
practice.”
—James Fehrenbach,HR Director
“This is a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to helping IT
consultants get a solid perspective on how to establish or improve
their consulting practice.”
—John Davies,Independent IT Consultant
“Thisbookprovidestheinformationatechnicalpractitionerneedsto
knowinordertosucceedinaconsultingorganization.Italsonailsthe
business ofconsulting.”
—Nancy Stonelake,System Architect,Sprint
“This book should be required reading for experienced practice
managersinordertohelpavoidthegapsinprocessesthatcreepinto
existingoperations.”
—Paul Saunders,Vice President Consulting Services,
QUEUE Systems,Inc.
“Thisisahow-toguidetobuildingasuccessfulconsultingorganization
with key anecdotes as well as useful management and measurement
philosophiesgearedspecificallytowardtheconsultingenvironment.”
—Tanvir Mangat,Senior Consulting Executive
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:02 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind folio2
“Frompre-engagementtopost-engagementactivities,thisbookprovides
keymetrics,practicalapproaches,andreal-worldexamplesforsuccess-
fullyrunninganITconsultingpracticeandensuringclientsatisfaction.”
—Silvy Picciano,FLMI/M,ACS,Industry Executive
“A comprehensive guide for any IT consultant looking to effectively
build,manage,or grow their practice.”
—Andrew Chow,MBA,Director ofTechnology,ninedots
“AnexcellentreferenceforITconsultanciestoremindthemofthetrue
value consultants provide to the market—something that is critical
with the economic climate we endure today.”
—Steve Engel,Business Integration Consulting Lead,EDS
“Consultingworkcanbefrustratingbecauseofthechallengesinvolved
inmanagingclientexpectations.Thisbookprovidessolidmaterialto
understand the intricacies of the consulting process and ways to suc-
cessfullydeliverconsultingprojects.Amust-readbookforconsulting
practitionersandbusinessusers.”
—Bharat Shah,Principal,McCann Computer Systems,Ltd.
“Thisisaveryusefulguideforconsultantstoprovidethemwithacom-
prehensiveandpracticalunderstandingofwhatconsultingisallabout.”
—Adel Melek,Partner,Deloitte & Touche
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:02 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind folioiii
High-Value IT Consulting:
12 Keys to a Thriving Practice
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:02 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind folioiv
About the Authors
SanjivPurbaisaninformationtechnologyexecutivewithover15years
of industryandconsultingexperience.Hehasworkedforthe“Big5”
consultancies,boutiqueconsultingfirms,andhasrunasuccessfulinde-
pendentcontractingbusiness.SomeofhisclientsincludeIBM,Deloitte
Consulting,ISM,GoldmanSachs,Perrier,CIT,Microsoft,SunLife,and
theRoyalBank.Hehasbuiltsuccessfulconsultingpracticesatavariety
offirmsincludingDeloitteConsultingandBlastRadius.Hehaswritten
over 10 books and hundreds of articles for such publications as The
Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star and is a frequent lecturer at
universitiesandcolleges.
Bob Delaney, MBA, has more than 25 years of experience as a
consultantandmanagerinmarketing,communications,andinfor-
mation technology. He manages a web development consulting
practiceandteachesInternetMarketingatRyersonUniversity.Bob
isaMicrosoftDesktopSystemsMVP.
About the Technical Reviewer
Marian Cook is a futurist,strategist,entrepreneur,and professional
speaker.SheisthefounderandpresidentofAgeosEnterprises,abusiness
andtechnologyconsultingfirmheadquarteredinChicagowithanoffice
inDenver.ShehasreceivedtheInfluentialWomaninBusinessAward
presentedbyTheNationalAssociationof WomenBusinessOwners,
andisamemberoftheAdvisoryBoardforLoyolaUniversity’sCenter
for Information Management and Technology.
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:03 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind foliov
High-Value IT Consulting:
12 Keys to a Thriving Practice
Sanjiv Purba and Bob Delaney
McGraw-Hill/Osborne
New York / Chicago / San Francisco / Lisbon / London / Madrid / Mexico City
Milan / New Delhi / San Juan / Seoul / Singapore / Sydney / Toronto
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:03 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind foliovi
McGraw-Hill/Osborne
2600 Tenth Street
Berkeley,California 94710
U.S.A.
Toarrangebulkpurchasediscountsforsalespromotions,premiums,orfund-raisers,please
contactMcGraw-Hill/Osborne at the above address.For information on translations or
bookdistributorsoutsidetheU.S.A.,pleaseseetheInternationalContactInformationpage
immediatelyfollowingtheindexofthisbook.
High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies.All rights reserved.Printed in the
United States ofAmerica.Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of1976,no part
ofthis publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means,or
stored in a database or retrieval system,without the prior written permission ofpublisher,
with the exception that the program listings may be entered,stored,and executed in a
computer system,but they may not be reproduced for publication.
Legal disclaimer:This book is not intended to provide legal advice and should not be used
for this purpose.Please consult a practicing lawyer when dealing with legal matters.
1234567890 DOC DOC 019876543
ISBN 0-07-222625-0
Publisher Proofreaders
Brandon A.Nordin Susie Elkind,Mike McGee
Vice President & Associate Publisher Indexer
Scott Rogers Claire Splan
Editorial Director Computer Designers
Gareth Hancock Carie Abrew,Melinda Moore Lytle
Project Editor Illustrators
Katie Conley MelindaMooreLytle,MichaelMueller,
LyssaWald
Acquisitions Coordinator
Jessica Wilson Series Designer
Peter Hancik
Technical Editor
Marion Cook Cover Design
Tree Hines
Copy Editors
Judith Brown,Peggy Gannon
This book was composed with Corel VENTURA™ Publisher.
InformationhasbeenobtainedbyMcGraw-Hill/Osbornefromsourcesbelievedtobereliable.However,becauseofthe
possibilityofhumanormechanicalerrorbyoursources,McGraw-Hill/Osborne,orothers,McGraw-Hill/Osborne
doesnotguaranteetheaccuracy,adequacy,orcompletenessofanyinformationandisnotresponsibleforanyerrorsor
omissionsortheresultsobtainedfromtheuseofsuchinformation.
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:03 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind foliovii
To my wife Kulwinder,my children Naveen,Neil,
and Nikhita,and my mother Inderjit.
—Sanjiv Purba
To Frank C.Walden ofBritish Columbia:friend,
mentor,inspiration,and all-time favourite employer.
—Bob Delaney
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:03 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen blind folioviii
This page intentionally left blank
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:03 AM
Business/ High-Value IT Consulting: 12 Keys to a Thriving Practice / Purba & Delaney / 222625-0 /
Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile
Composite Default screen
Contents at a Glance
Part I IT Consulting Best Practices
Chapter 1 Evaluate the Current Health ofYour
Consulting Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 Road Map for Building a High-Performance
IT Consulting Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Part II Selling Client Businesses and Engagements
Chapter 3 ImplementingaMarketingStrategy . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 4 Account Development Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 5 The Client Account Pipeline and
the Decision-Making Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Chapter 6 The Client Decision-Making Process . . . . . . . 117
Part III Delivering Client Engagements Successfully
Chapter 7 Pre-Engagement Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 8 Starting an Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Chapter 9 Maintaining Engagement Controls . . . . . . . . . 187
Chapter 10 Running an Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Chapter 11 Testing,Deploying,and Closing
an Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Chapter 12 WorkingMultipleEngagements
foraClient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Chapter 13 Risk Mitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Chapter 14 Legal Considerations in IT Consulting . . . . . 297
Chapter 15 Quality Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Chapter 16 Celebration,Communication,and Other
Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
ix
P:\010Comp\Business\625-0\FM.vp
Friday, January 17, 2003 10:10:04 AM
