Why use an independent consultancy when the vendors will give  free technical advice ?

What are the most common problems with vendor designed solutions.

How can I justify the cost of an independent consultant ?

What should I known before I hire a consultant ?

How should I present a consultant to the technical staff in the Company ?
 

Why use an independent consultancy when the vendor will give  free technical advice ?

Vendors are sales focused, any 'free' technical advice will only be offered if the outcome favours a sale of new equipment, and the selection of that equipment will be baised.

It is not uncommon to sell a less suitable solution based on products which the company wants to boost sales of a new product or reduce stock levels of equipment which is about to be superseded.

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What are the most common problems with vendor designed solutions.

Both Vendors and resellers use a two tear model based on the sales force. So your first contact is with the sales force who decide what product to sell you.

The pre sales SE or Consultant will then 'design' the solution based on the equipment that the sales guy wants to sell. In reality the 'design' will be a schematic at best or worst case little more than a 'fag packet' sketch, but it will include an equipment list !!

No company, including our own, will produce a detailed technical solution without a guarantied order. Designing a solution takes time and a lot of effort. It also requires a considerable amount of  input from the customer, something to bear in mind if you are offered a solution after one or two brief meetings.

Once the sale is agreed the equipment list is passed to the installation engineer, who then has the job of creating a solution out of what ever equipment and information has been given to him by the pre sales team. This is where the design starts, so already  the solution has been compromised by restricting the outcome to the equipment list supplied, unless of course extra equipment can be justified.

If this solution is an upgrade to an existing one, specifying the next generation of product or substantial amounts of extra equipment is often not the answer. If the current solution has a problem then this needs to be quantified before a redesign can take place. Few problems can be solved by using a ' Bigger version' in reality using bigger faster and stronger means that any  problems occur in the same manner, faster larger and more dramatic than before.

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How Can I justify the cost of an independent consultant ?

It may well cost £5,000.00 to employ a consultant, and the outcome may only be a document containing recommendation's for change to the existing solution. But is it not better to spend £5000.00 to establish that the problem of the current solution than spending  £50,000.00  for a new solution with the same problems as the old one.

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What should I known before I hire a consultant ?

A good consultant will tell you the truth not what you want to here. The outcome may be that what you require is not possible given the particular situation. Be prepared for this and use it to your advantage, if you have proposed a solution internally and the consultant tells you it will not work take this as a positive, you just saved the company vast sums of money and possible your job.

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How should I present a Consultant to the Technical staff in the Company ?

Outside consultants are often sean as both a threat and an insult to the technical staff within a company, you should always brief the staff about what it is they are here to do and assure them that this is extra resource for them. When ever possible assign one or two people to work with the consultant, this ensures continuity after the consultant has finished and can  provided valuable training to the staff in question.

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