The Jerry Maguire data and technology consulting model

The situation

The world of consulting in Data, Technology and Information Management is suffering from a perplexity of too little choice that is actually holding back this whole section of industry. What has driven me to write this article is a Jerry Maguire moment that I’ve just decided to check with the LinkedIn masses.

My first meeting today was with a global giant in the Big Data Processing space and who shall remain anonymous unless they tell me otherwise. This giant has asked me what so many others dare not ask, namely “What is holding back the market from kicking out legacy technology and doing something new”.

My response to them was: “I can give you my two cents worth for the moment, but I am going to do one better, I will be writing an article on LinkedIn on the very subject as I would like to gauge the markets opinion”.

So here’s my Jerry Maguire view that I covered with them…

Any business wanting to undertake any meaningful change will hire a consultant to rubber stamp either what the business was already thinking, or suggest the way forward. Against this context as many projects now have a certain degree of technology change, the consultancy companies who are brought in must fall into one of two following skillsets:

Consulting Model #1 - A technology company who does consulting across their own proprietary technologies core service lines. E.g. CRM, Cloud, Analytics, Payments, etc.

Consulting Model #2 - A management consultancy with a Data and Technology proposition for specific services and sectors.

So what is holding the wider market back?

I no longer buy the excuse that the market is still looking for RoI and User Cases. There are plenty out there, but the really good ones are locked away. Who in their right mind would disclose such competitive detail. If a business requires support in finding such killer concepts then the Consulting Model #1 is not going to provide the right answer. With this model, the vendor’s best available usercase and RoI position will be provided. However, these views are quite silo’ed and never at a business level as the answers tend to be fragmented. The term “consulting fatigue” is therefore often overheard in this area where budgets have a tendency to be blown and many projects deliver after the opportunity has passed.

Now looking at the second model: Consulting Model #2. Here the market is full of small, medium, large and the 'big' players. The most obvious Achilles Heel is that the vast majority have little/ no technology experience and the lead time in getting the rubber stamp can make many companies take pause prior to undertaking any transformational investment. This may lead the company to embark on Consulting Model #1 which then results in the needed business outcome not being fully achieved.

So onto my Jerry Maguire view. Is there a good medium where a FAST consulting model exists where a technology company does great end-to-end business consulting and who is technology independent (i.e. they are not proprietary or partnered)? With this model they parachute in and then quickly exit having handed over the end solution or outcome to the technology department or business.

I have thus far observed a number of start-ups that play broadly in this area, but many unfortunately fail as they tend to be overpowered by the marketing and relationships of the larger (technology) consultancies. So let me talk about the FAST consulting model.

 The FAST Consulting Model:

Flexible

All engineered and delivered customer technology solutions need to be flexible to support the customer with other areas outside of the core functionality - e.g. Rather than deliver Business Intelligence tools separate to CRM, offer an integration of Business Intelligence and Self-Service Analytics within a CRM platform. Good examples of these solutions would be companies such as Salesforce and Dynamics.

Agile

The great thing about being an independent technology firm that consults is that it already will have access to competent staff who are fluent in all things data and technology. With this expertise available to support all business outcomes across a programme of work, the time to implement savings should be substantial versus the above consulting models #1 and #2.

Secure

The FAST consulting company must be credible in its ability to deliver technology for organisations within the right data/ technology governance, risk & control (GRC) framework(s). Furthermore its understanding of customer security and auditor control needs should be impeccable. The FAST firm should ideally have experience in implementing GRC solutions.

All solutions, whether in the area of GRC or not, must make use of the latest and most industry trusted levels of data protection. By being independent they will be able to identify and notify any observed flaws to customers with any technology solution.

Transformational

Technology’s goal is to simplify and accelerate processes while making them more secure. All solutions a FAST consultancy delivers should be designed with all these elements in mind. Not some, but all. Any customer investment must achieve an agreed Return On Investment and do so as soon as possible. RoI is not an afterthought, it is how the FAST firm will build it’s reputation and win the next customer proposal.

Please feel free to drop me a line to discuss or add your own Jerry Maguire view or points. I’m contactable on [email protected]

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