How to Choose the Best Project-Based Management System for Your Consulting Firm

Use this checklist to keep you thinking holistically about what the “right” solution will look like.?Start with a documented understanding of your firm’s current processes (beyond basic accounting) to factor in steps from business development all the way through to project delivery.

? Define the primary and secondary business and project challenges you want to address with your system.

? Describe the metrics you need to capture for individual projects. Define where that detail is captured from and what kind of additional data is needed.

? Decide how you’ll need your project-based system to deliver information. Determine how easily it will serve your typical and recurring reporting needs (i.e., % utilization, % completion, % budget, etc.).

? Determine if the system allows you to consolidate and review multiple projects for a single client, or across multiple clients.

? Decide how far into the future you need to be able to plug and forecast client, engagement and firm data, and make sure your system and processes support it.

? Make sure the system has capacity to meet immediate needs and expand as needs grow in the future. Is it flexible enough to support an evolving firm?

? Check to make sure your technology provider has a track record of innovation and improvements, to user interface and other functions.

? Find out the upgrade cycle, and how quickly bugs are addressed.

? Define what additional features are in the works that would support your processes.

? Catalog what features and functions are plug- and-play, and which ones require customization on your dollar.

? Make sure the provider has a generous and reliable support offering.

? Find out how much support you will want/need to customize and implement the platform you choose.

? Define with your provider how the support function will work – including stated standards for responses.

? Of course, be sure to check references whose experience most closely resembles yours.