Experience and Examples

Strategy Consulting

A natural partner to our research services, strategy consulting is one of our most requested services. These examples show a small portion of the large number of strategic assignments we've performed for our clients.

• Keane, Dextrys, Netpro, Apriva, and Viasoft - provided CEO advisory services covering a multitude of executive needs
• Multiple software and consulting services firms – identified and evaluated potential product, service and company acquisition candidates, performed due diligence and assisted in post-merger integration
• Multiple software and network technology start-up companies - advised on product positioning, marketing strategies, business development and partnership opportunities
• Large services firm - wrote a business plan for the conversion of a software product division to a software-as-a-service delivery model in preparation for a possible spin-off
• Progress Software - worked with CIO to improve alignment between the internal IT organization and business management
• Large supermarket chain, several insurance companies - advised and developed application management strategies to streamline business application portfolios
• Multiple clients - reviewed and provided recommendations for streamlining project portfolios to reduce costs and better utilize project resources. "Managing the Project Portfolio" provides an overview of recommended methods

Marketing and Sales Programs

We also serve the marketing and sales needs of our clients through our white paper and research services. The examples below illustrate examples of consulting-specific projects.

• Reasoning Systems - developed and delivered a sales training program for their software quality assessment service which included training modules covering their market, testing practices, positioning, prospect qualification and proposal generation
• Large Canadian Telecom - develop and delivered a sales training program for supporting the sales of wireless data services to enterprise buyers
• NetPro - developed company marketing plans and strategies; also developed an automated lead nurturing process using Eloqua
• Several software companies - functioned as interim VP Marketing
• Multiple software and consulting companies - developed lead development and nurturing campaigns
• Dextrys - led website redesign effort including the selection and management of web design firm, positioning of the company's services for the web and the creation of website content

Product/Service Offering Development

Over the years we've worked with many product/service management organizations at software, hardware, and services firms to develop, package and market their offerings.

• Keane – developed the original version of their highly successful Application Outsourcing service including its methodology, training, and marketing and sales materials; participated in its marketing and evolution for many subsequent years
• Keane – played key roles in the development of many additional service offerings including application reengineering, program management, Year 2000, HIPPA and software testing
• IIS, Knowledgeware, Sterling Software – developed product and service offering packages for application reengineering
• Dextrys – created methodologies and assisted in the packaging and launch of application and product engineering outsourcing services
• Viasoft – developed testing methodology and associated packaging to support their software testing product suite

Process and Organizational Improvement

The projects below encompass our Process Redesign, Program/Project Management and Organizational Performance consulting services.

• Large insurance company – analyzed and developed organizational Improvement strategies for the company's IT sourcing and Conference Services organizations
• NetPro – analyzed existing company processes to produce a process model for the entire company to support process simplification and better communication and alignment of the company's organizations
• Large Canadian telecom, major US automaker, large Swiss bank – analyzed and developed improvement plans for their IT application maintenance organizations
• Large services firm – developed employee satisfaction assessment survey process, conducted surveys and presented recommendations to senior executives and the board of directors
• Multiple clients – advised PMOs on the governance and execution of massive global projects
• Multiple clients – performed assessments and developed turnaround strategies for failing software development projects
• Multiple law firms – provided expert consulting and testimony on legal cases resulting from large project failures. "Lessons Learned from Being an Expert Witness" presents recommendations on how technology project managers can reduce the risk and expense of project failure litigation.

Outsourcing Advisory

Our outsourcing experience encompasses assignments performed for companies buying and managing outsourcing services, outsourcing service providers and software firms offering solutions for governing outsourcing engagements. We have worked with outsourcing engagements delivered domestically, nearshore (Canada) and offshore from India and China.

• Multiple clients (buyer and provider) – assess the performance of an existing outsourcing engagement and develop recommendations for correcting issues and improving performance. Our paper, "Objectively Measuring Outsourcing Vendor Performance" offers ideas on how to better assess and compare software development outsourcer performance
• Large Midwestern bank – developed outsourcing screen to determine which applications would best meet corporate objectives if outsourced
• Large Canadian bank – developed recommendations and action plan for formulating accurate SLAs and SOWs during the negotiation of a major outsourcing contract
• Large BCBS – reviewed service level agreements and vendor service level reporting prior to contract renegotiation to identify actions to correct misalignment between performance expectations and delivery, improve the relevance of the metrics used to assess performance and enhance reporting
• Keane – led the acquisition and implementation of an outsourcing governance platform to handle the management of global outsourcing engagements