How did the consulting service change in the Dynamics AX world?
Consulting means delivering a consulting service, however since technology is advancing so rapidly, the consulting market changes alongside with it. That means that there will be a huge change in the way the consulting services are delivered. Most of consulting in this day and age can be described as a technical exercise. Consultants for instance, may be very well trained in Dynamics AX, however they may lack the consulting experience needed to do the job right.
Most often, problems arise because of the different expectations clients and consultants have. The clients usually expect to be guided by the consultants into the best ways and methods for using their ERP product. The problems arise when the consultants expect for the client to give directions as to what comes next. So one thing leads to another, leading to the most frequent complaint the clients have – ‘the consultants don’t understand our business.’
This is a bad thing, but can have good consequences, because of the importance of identifying the problems, and the even bigger importance of dealing with them. This leads to the importance of experience, since in most cases, if the team working on a certain project, collectively lacks the experience and skills needed to face and overcome the project challenges and obstacles, a step back to acquire the necessary experience is needed, or matters will only get worse. The success of a project is usually very dependent on the planning phase, however if the implementations is not going according to plan in the first few months, measurements need to be taken in order to revise the plan. Controlling the scope of the implementation is the responsibility of both you and the partner, as the responsibility for the budget mostly falls on the shoulders of the owner.
Here are a few things you must actively manage throughout the project:
OVERALL PLAN
Most of the time the client has absolutely no idea what you are doing as consultants. It is very important you understand the plan as a whole, so you can offer valuable feedback on your short-term performance in order to put your clients mind at ease.
BUDGET
Understanding how your money is being spent is the key to success. Analyzing how much time was budgeted, and how long activities took is the easiest way to find out how effectively work is going, and can sometimes reflect on the quality of the planning.
TEAM
The single most important aspect is of course the client’s involvement which can determine the success or failure of the implementation.
PROCESSING CHANGE REQUESTS
Customizations can lead to huge overruns in cost and in most cases can be the reason for project failure. That is why it truly important to understand what you have and need in a project, and centralize the control over work authorization and review processes. This is mostly due to the fact that these customizations and changes can lead to huge budget changes, and if the client is not involved into running the project it can have disastrous results. So you have to remember that the control of the scope as well as the management of the budget is a shared responsibility.
We, at Axapta, can bring our experience closer to you and assist you in handling your very important strategic business and technological issues with our consulting service. We can provide you with the knowledge and tools to measure your key business performances, improve your business processes, and enable change throughout your entire organization. Find out how consulting services change for the better with us.
