MITPS PGP23 Meeting 9

Agenda:
1. Tech Startup consultancy and Digitalization consultancy
2. Sample Engagements, what is IT Consulting and how to classify it ?
3. Tech Consulting vis-à-vis Management Consulting
Can you solve this PSU-related problem ?
• Kerala’s PSU behemoth KSRTC is in losses:
• Among other things, it runs many loss-making bus routes
• Route rationalization not possible for political/public-service reasons
• No major organizational changes or big-bang investments possible
• What can you as an ‘MITPS-ready manager’ do ?
• You’ll likely play the role of an IT Consultant
• You’ll need to design a strategy-aligned reasonably-priced solution
• Clue: could it be useful to reduce an individual route’s loss ?
• Mumbai’s BEST saw ridership rise 30% after a 50% cut in fares
Launchpad: Cognizant’s Livingston interview
• IT Services have been like selling rate cards: $60/hr wins over $60.25
• Consulting Work is given to the person with most innovative answer
• The Evolution/Retreat of Consulting:
• Defining a problem, putting the organization’s context is now done internally
• Generic Program Management has also been subsumed by stub IT groups
• So, ‘business problem solutions’ have to be sold: e.g. integrating banks’ IT
• Concept Selling
• IT Consulting relies on client/partners for good reputation in market
• What trends has IT Consulting seen over the years:
• Re-engineering, Mainframe to Mid/Mini-Frame, ERPs and now analytics
Consultancy Vs ‘Company’ work
Different Shades of IT Consulting
• Tech Strategy Consulting Vs Tech Implementation Consulting
• Tech Strategy Consulting isn’t the same as Strategy Consulting
• Each consulting assignment is called an ‘engagement’
• Strategy or Operations Consulting:
• isn’t the same as Tech Implementation Consulting
• There are shades of Implementation Consulting (ie other than Tech)
• Capgemini, E&Y, IBM, Accenture are mostly Tech Implementation Gps
• McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Roland Berger, Booz, AT-Kearney are S/O Consult
What type of IT Consulting Firms there are ?
• Large, diversified IT Consulting firms with multiple lines of practice
• Specialized Consulting Firms that focus on a few technologies/sectors
• Technology Product Companies seeking to migrate to Services
• Wish to consult for solutions that involve their own products
• Tech arm of S/O Consultancies (eg Implementation Gp of McKinsey)
• IT Consultants come with strong education and backgrounds in:
• Technology, whether implementation, product development or services
• Business, whether product design, accounting, economics or MBAs
• IT Consultants get to work with multiple Technologies, many clients
• But have to tackle new or recurring problems and grapple with new environs
What else is basic about IT Consulting ?
• Ability to Bridge the Gap between technology staff and salespeople
• Case Interviews, 2x2s –based hiring – many lateral, mid-career hires
• Tech Certifications, Mentors, Internships and Externships
• Strong problem-solvers, good team players, eager to help (the clients)

• Can identify and articulate the strategic implications of IT

• Should combine strategic advice with implementation know-how
• Effectiveness (Strategy) and Efficiency (Business Processes, workflow)
• Able to conceive-and-build reasonably priced end-to-end solution
Some peculiarities of IT Consulting
• Consulting tends to become like ‘glorified pre-sales’
• Essentially, Concept Selling or Capability Push exercise
• IT skillsets at non-IT consultancies: whether Strategy or Specialized
• Consultants are the Apex Predators in the IT Consulting foodchain:
• Strategy->Architecture->Implementation->Integration->Management (S&M)
• Strategy Consulting firms take up the upstream part of this chain
• Tech Implementation Consultants take up the middle
• BPOs, S&M groups take up the latter
• As the fountainhead, the Strategy Consultant may be able to ‘bundle’
• IT Consultancies can specialize: e.g. customization of 1 type of SW
Peculiarities (Contd.)
• Large-Scale implementations of Enterprise SW are gone for good
• But there are large, less specific (i.e. vague) consulting engagements
• Capitalizing on this vagueness is why ‘most innovative answer in room’ is key
• Just as Y2K, Internet, e-commerce drove IT Consulting:
• It is likely that peer-to-peer, POS-to-HQ, IoT, BDA, AI projects will lead now
• Need for actionable intelligence in all these cases means Analytic Consulting
• The consulting engagement, in many cases, has its own sense of vagueness
• The flavor of the technology changes, but a good architecture can help
• This architecture helps a solution’s modules change, or re-built, easily
• The Cloud is changing consulting engagements substantially
Emerging Services (2010- )
Example e-commerce consulting problem
• The direct marketing division of a leading global retailer was facing
rapid growth and a possible expansion into e-commerce.
• The division realized its existing technology and processes would not
support the future business - the company needed help:
• What was additionally taken care of by the IT Consultant:
• Existing warehouse infrastructure was integrated with
• Transitioning to new system was planned for earlier, and made easier
• A seamless switchover took place during the holiday season
Other such vague requests
• “National Specialty retailer of womens clothing: Its product tracking and
decision-making information was housed across multiple software
packages, custom applications, and standardized spreadsheets that were
manually updated and exchanged among functions and offices.”
• “A Major US bank wanted to introduce an information distribution and
delivery infrastructure that would enhance its competitive position in the
financial services industry. To achieve this goal, it needed to strengthen
customer ties weakened by a decade of consolidation and cost-cutting. In
addition, it needed to consolidate the customer data, which was currently
housed in more than 33 nonintegrated systems.”
IT Consulting Outlook
• When time are booming or gloomy, there is need for IT Consultants
• Why Is This So ?
• Then there’s the behavior of product firms
• And the economics and politics of full-time internal consultants
• There are areas of IT Consulting bought about by mere regulations:
• GRC
• Security
• Green IT
• Newer hardware/technology to deal with: Data Centres, BYOD
• BPO’s rise and the IT Consultants offering non-IT Services (IBM, HP)
Properties of Consulting Engagements
• Average size is now just 1-3 months
• However, there are follow-up engagements (esp. implementation)
• Gradation in billable hours between Sr./Jr. Associates/Consultants
• Of course, Client Must Always be Happy
• But what about the troika of Champion-Patron-Hero ?
• Analytics and People-Management components of an Engagement
• Eventually, Business Development (Selling) will be a responsibility
• SMEs or even big clients expect all the troubleshooting needed
• Billing slightly unfavourable: results wanted now, cash only in 90 days
Important postscripts of IT Consulting
• People Power, Thought Leadership and Knowledge Mgmt
• like never before
• Missing Piece of Agile: The why of working on SWD Projects
• Suitable Launchpad to either start an enterprise, or be poached
• Either by client, or by the sector, or by another consultancy
• Big Risk:
• PowerPoint may soon be the only computing skill you’ll need
• Question for MBAs: ‘Bringing In’ $1M IT Jobs Vs. $10M M&A Jobs
• The link of Tech Implementation Consultancy with Big-4 Audit Firms
Buzzword of the Day….
• MECE
• Mutually Exclusive but Collectively Exhaustive
• A principle usually applied in information architecture
• But also part of consultant frameworks for billing, work assignment