Therefore, you set out to hire an Internet Consulting firm to bring your project’s objectives to fruition. Where do you start to find the right organization for your specific project? Talk to your peers; find out if anyone else in your company has worked with an Internet Consulting company lately and how satisfied they were with them. Search the Internet for consulting companies using very specific search terms that match your specific situation, goals and objectives. (i.e. “Strategic Internet Consulting”, “Internet project planning”, “high-quality Internet project management”,“strategic internet project management”, “strategic web project management”, “time-sensitive internet project development”, “strategic internet project planning”, “high-quality Internet project management”, “cost-effective web planning”, “strategic web design and development”, “high-quality cost effective web development”, “strategic search engine optimization”) You get the idea, be as specific as possible.
Remember, the Internet is global, and your solution doesn’t need to be created in your own backyard. It seems a lot of Internet consultants are trying to differentiate themselves by geographic location – which is meaningless and actually goes against the profile of the Internet. The Internet is borderless and global – you can connect to someone in China or Australia just as easily as you can with someone across the street. If you’re not adept at searching beyond a few words or phrases, try looking at the ‘Advanced Search’ options in your chosen search engine. Be wary of those paid advertisements that show up either at the top or side of your search results pages. Those companies pay to be there, where the ones in the middle of the page are ones whose actual web pages contain the search strings you are looking for.
Ok, you’ve identified a handful of Internet consulting companies and are in the process of reviewing them. You’re uncertain about how to accurately evaluate them. What questions should you ask? What criteria should you use to evaluate the companies? Which credentials are important? Which issues should raise concern?
Whether your company is looking for a “Consultancy of Record” for a long-term business relationship, or a vendor for specific short-term project work, several basic guidelines will help you make a sound business decision for selecting the right web design and development company to fulfill your project and your company's Internet needs.
The best course of action is to assess firms based on the following criteria: Methodology, ROI (Return on Investment), Experience, Portfolio, Team Qualifications, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, and References – although not necessarily in that order. There is also much more to the client-consultant relationship than the simple substance of the problem or project the consultant is being considered for. Feelings are the affective side of the discussion and an important source of data for the manager – data about the consultant’s ability to deal with real problems and what the possibilities are for establishing a good relationship.
Another important element of the client-consultant relationship is the matter of trust. Many managers go into a situation of hiring a consultant and bring with us the prevailing image of the consultant as the expert and someone to watch out for. It is often useful to ask the consultant whether they trust your level of confidentiality, whether they trust you to be open and honest with them. By doing so, you’re working to build trust. The more distrust is put into words; the more likely you are to build trust.
Each consulting project, whether it lasts two days, two months or two years, goes through five phases. The steps in each phase are sequential; if you skip one or assume it has been taken care of, you are headed for trouble.
This phase deals with the initial contact with a consultant about the project. It includes setting up the first meeting as well as exploring what the problems is, whether the consultant is the right person to work on this issue, what your expectations are, what the consultant’s expectations are, and how to get started. When companies talk about their disasters, their conclusion is usually that the project was faulty in the initial contracting stage.
Company managers need to come up with their own sense of the problem to be solved. This may be the most useful thing you do. You also need skill in helping the consultant to do the same. The questions here for the company manager are: Who is going to be involved in defining the problem? What methods will be used? What kind of data should be collected? And how long will it take?
The data collection and analysis must be reported in some fashion. The consultant is always in the position of reducing a large amount of data to a manageable number if issues. There are also choices for the consultant on how to involve you, the client in the process of analyzing the information. In giving feedback to you and your organization, there is always some resistance to the data (if it deals with important issues). You as the client need to be aware of your own resistance before an appropriate decision can be made about how to proceed. This phase is really what most people call planning: It includes setting ultimate goals for the project and selecting the best course of action. The best consultants realize responsibility for what is planned and takes place must be balanced 50/50 with you and your organization.
This stage involves the execution of the planning of the previous phase. In many cases the implementation may fall entirely on the line organization. For larger projects, the consultant may be deeply involved. Some projects start implementation with an educational or awareness event. This could consist of a series of meetings to introduce some change. It may require a single meeting to get different parts of the organization together to address a problem. It may be a training session. In these cases, the consultant is usually involved in rather complicated design work and running the meeting or training session.
This section begins with an evaluation of what went on during the engagement and implementation. Following this is the decision whether to extend the process to a larger segment of the organization. Sometimes it is not until after some implementation occurs that a clear picture of the real problem emerges. In this case the process restarts and a new contract needs to be discussed. If the implementation was either a huge success or a moderate to high failure, termination of further involvement on this project may be in the offing.
There are many options for ending the relationship, and termination should be considered a legitimate and important part of the consultation. If done well, it can provide an important learning experience for the client and consultant and also keep the door open for future work with the organization.
Perhaps on of the most fundamental and overlooked criteria is the methodology an Internet consulting company adheres to in the planning, design and development of a project. These steps are the backbone of the company's project management process, commonly referred to as its methodology. Methodology is a set of methods, principles, and rules a company utilizes to develop and manage a project from inception to completion.
The company should have a documented Methodology and be able to communicate and illustrate steps from the first meeting to the final deliverable. This should not just include the major phases of the overall process but the intermediary steps and workflow utilized both internally and externally to accomplish each phase within the overall process.
A good interactive development company will clearly communicate its methodology, provide documentation for each phase or major milestone, and will tailor their process to the deliverable. Additionally, it is important to understand that every project is different and methodologies need to be adapted to individual project needs. Also, the methodology for a simple private website or intranet will be very different from a project that involves the design, development and delivery of a dynamic or database-driven website or one that implements web services for extended functionality.
Of great importance and too frequently overlooked, are return on investment ("ROI") considerations associated with the project or solution being considered. There are a wide variety of ROI models and calculations. It’s best to stick to the basics, and look for a consulting company that can document both tangible and intangible benefits, and any risks associated with implementing a given solution.
"The consulting company's recommendation should include the tangible benefits of implementing solutions. Tangible benefits are quantifiable measurements such as labor savings, capital expense reductions, productivity benefits, increased sales, increased customer acquisition, higher conversion and retention ratios.
The intangible benefits should also be clearly outlined. Intangible benefits are difficult to quantify and measure in financial terms and should include such things as building brand awareness, developing intellectual capital, improving market perception, reinforcing corporate culture, and identifying the risk of not implementing a solution, or project failure.
As you evaluate the next category on your list of criteria, you may realize the consulting company does not have experience in developing websites within your specific industry. Many clients conclude the interactive company should be removed from consideration based on a lack of their specific industry experience. To eliminate a company from contention solely for this reason may be short-sighted.
Websites are generally very similar from an organizational perspective. Sections typically included in a website are:
- An "About Us" section, containing the mission statement/overview of the company, and executive bios.
- A "Products" or "Services" section, containing specific information on what the company sells.
- A "News" section, containing press releases, and links to industry publications.
- An "Investor Relations" section for public companies, containing key financial information.
- A "Contact Us" section, providing driving directions and image map (when applicable), and appropriate phone, fax, address, email, and contact information.
- A "Privacy Policy" and "Terms of Use" pages, which usually contain standard legal verbiage.
While these examples are simplified, the point holds true. Each section of the site may have its own functionality, but typically isn’t anything that hasn't been done before (e.g. internal/external links, marquee messages, newsletter registration signup, etc.).
Of course, there are engagements requiring specific industry expertise for a sophisticated product or custom application. Companies requiring specific industry experience for their websites are the exception, not the norm. Chances are your company’s website needs and objectives probably won’t be too complex, or out of the norm.
However, there is a lot more to Internet and web technology than simple external websites. There are three other major functional solutions that involve specialized knowledge and experience: Intranets and Extranets, Content Management Systems and Web Portals. Although none of these necessarily require specific industry experience, they do require specific Internet technology experience.
Let’s say the company you’re evaluating provides several examples of previous work within the Internet channel you’re interested in. You might be impressed by their sample work, demonstrating vibrant, cutting edge designs, utilizing rendering technologies such as Flash, or 3-D animation.
Before you elect to use a vendor based on splashy creative design, you should dig a little deeper and review some fundamental questions. Ask yourself if the designs vary for each project? Assess whether the “look and feel” is appropriate for the company/industry. Does the site organization and navigation element make the site or application easy to use? Does the use of “flashy” technology make the user experience dramatically better, or are they using technology for technology’s sake? Do the examples function properly across multiple platforms (PC, Mac, Linux, etc.), on different browsers (IE, Netscape, AOL, etc.), using a variety of connection methods (dial-up, broadband, wireless – depending on their target market)?
Many Internet consulting companies claim to be experts in design and development. Take a further step to review their website or promotional CD-ROM. Do you find they fall short creatively, organizationally, or functionally? Do they use buzz-words and techno-babble? Do they emphasize technology over sound business strategy?
If you’re at all uncomfortable with the answers to these questions, the organization you are reviewing may not be the best choice for your company.
Maybe you're impressed with the team of individuals you meet, and the lengthy list of awards attributed to the Internet consulting company you're reviewing. The team you meet with seems pleasant, competent, experienced, and you're looking forward to working with them on your project. Realize however, this team may not end up being your team. For many companies it is common practice to send their best and brightest to new business meetings, while using less experienced or less talented employees on the project. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just something you need to be aware of.
If you're interested and somewhat certain the company has the qualifications you require, ask who will be specifically working on the project. Make sure you meet the project manager or designated point of contact that will be managing day-to-day operations. It’s generally wise to be most concerned about competency, aptitude, and attitude.
It’s good practice to request references from 2-3 clients the consultants have worked with. A good Internet consulting company won’t have reservations about providing names of clients with whom you can speak candidly. Find out what their experience was like working with the specific individuals on the team, and the company as a whole.
Often the list of awards received by an interactive design firm that seems astounding can be misleading. Awards tend to be based more on finding time to submit work for review, rather than about a particular site providing any significant qualitative or quantitative value (e.g. return on investment). Many large, and now departed Internet consulting companies boasted pages of awards. Unfortunately, awards didn’t deliver value to their clients or help them stay in business.
After you've received proposals from several web design and development companies for designing your company’s Internet solution, now it's simply a matter of selecting the least expensive proposal, right? Wrong. Selecting one consulting company over another based solely on price could be a disastrous decision. Look at all of the criteria we have covered in this article – and this is only an overview of the evaluation process. Your project, your reputation, your company and corporate image is worth more than a cheap cookie-cutter solution. In these cost-conscious times, choosing the lowest cost provider unfortunately is not uncommon. However, it should be.
The most reputable firms don't advertise on television or come knocking on your door, and the lowest cost solution nearly always doesn't provide the best solution, and could actually wind up costing you money in the long run. There are very real and tangible differences in the value of services one firm provides versus another. The bottom line is, in most cases, you get exactly what you pay for.
This rationale applies to you, your project and your organization. The lowest cost provider probably isn’t going to be able to deliver a viable solution you’ll be happy with in the long or short term. It’s important to make a sensible and far-sighted decision, because your project or Internet solution is likely to be a highly visible source of information about the services or products you provide. The Internet solution will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year, and must reflect the professionalism and quality that is central to and reflective of your company.
It's also not as simple as going with the highest cost solution, which are most typically delivered by large interactive development or consulting companies. In many cases, these companies cannot afford to accept engagements under $100,000. They have substantial staffs, fancy offices, and in too many cases, insist on reinventing your business in their image. Make no mistake about it, the offices and staffs are all very nice, but it’s reflected in their cost, far more than the quality of work they provide.
All projects are constrained by four factors: Scope, Time, Cost and Quality – each have an inverse relationship to at least one of the others. So you can’t have it all. Often managers will have budgets and a deadline for completion of the project. It is the job of the consultant to define a scope that can accomplish your desired objectives within your budget and schedule constraints at an acceptable level of quality. I will discuss the science of project management and how it fits with Strategic Internet consulting in a future article. The bottom-line is that there are many variables that go into calculating the cost of a project. If you are willing and able to take the time to invest in a good plan, you can expect to receive formal bids on the completion of your project. However, if you can’t or won’t take the time to clearly define your scope up front, you can count on billable hours up front or scope creep after implementation begins – which will add to the overall cost of the project.
Not all Internet consulting companies are right for all clients and not all clients are right for all web design and development companies. You can be sure to make the right decision for your project and your company, and maximize the likelihood of the success of your project by using these fundamental criteria as a basis to evaluate and select an Internet consulting company.
Shea Ellison is the President and founder of Strategic Internet – a strategic Internet design and development company in Atlanta, Georgia. He can be reached at shea@strategic-internet.com
