Project-Based Consulting
There are wide varieties of project-based consultants. Whether they are needed for a one-time project focused on technology assessment, software evaluation/selection or full development of a custom system, there are specialists available to meet your needs. What you're typically buying with a consultant is specialized experience that can help you plan and complete a project with minimal cost and without significant delays, downtime or errors.
Ensuring Project Success
Consultants can help wealth management firms implement technology change for the better. An abandoned project fails to effect change, undermines future efforts for change and has a high financial and organizational cost. What follows are some of the ways to ensure a successful consulting relationship:
Define and communicate the reason you're seeking a consultant.
Find a consulting team with the specialized expertise your firm is lacking.
Surround the consultant with a team that includes internal experts and stakeholders.
Set project goals, timetables and time commitments.
Make sure internal team members have the time to devote to the project.
Match a portion of compensation with results-which can apply equally to the consultants and internal team members.
Be sure the consultants who work with you include those who impressed you during the sales presentation.
The high level of technical expertise required to deal with the systems used by wealth management firms often makes it impractical to keep permanent staff for each application or specialty-especially in today's demanding economic environment.
Consultants can help you leverage your in-house resources and meet your company goals more effectively and efficiently.
Bob Shepro, CPA ([email protected]), is a partner at Windward Advisory Group (www.windwardadvisory.com), a private wealth management operations and technology consultancy with offices in Princeton, N.J., Phoenix and Carlsbad, Calif.