New Consulting Services Offerings from The Gilbane Report
October 14, 2004
I have an expanded role at The Gilbane Report, where I now serve as Senior Editor and Senior Consultant. With the ongoing expansion of the group there, we now offer three kinds of consulting services for end user organizations. These are Content Technology Briefings, Technology Acquisition Advisory Services, and Content Governance Consulting Services. I will be most involved with the second of these, Technology Acquisition Advisory Services. The following describes this service and how we approach the work.
Gilbane Technology Acquisition Advisory Services
Manage the risks of new technology acquisition by working with seasoned analysts who are acknowledged experts in content management, publishing systems, XML, and related content technologies. We offer a variety of services that guide you through the acquisition maze, from requirements definition to final technology selection.
Our Technology Acquisition Advisory Services include:
- Development of requirements analysis based on business needs of the stakeholders.
- Briefings on technology trends that should be taken into consideration and on approaches other companies are taking to address similar business needs.
- Identification of potential suppliers whose offers align with the business requirements. We help you take a first cut at a functional and technical assessment of the capabilities and opportunities presented by commercial software and services on the market today compared with your business needs.
- Development of a Request for Information for the vendors under consideration. An RFI is an under-used but valuable tool for acquisition. It serves several purposes. First, it alerts the vendors that your company is a potential serious prospect looking for detailed information without asking them to commit to a project plan (timeframe) and price. Second, it provides a fair and consistent starting point for evaluating different products and vendor viability and interest. Third, it solicits rough cost estimates that you can use for budgeting. Fourth, it begins the process of writing the requirements section for the RFP.
- Metrics definition. How will you measure success of the new technology? It is important to reach consensus and secure executive approval of these criteria, for at least two reasons. First, communicating these to the vendors in the RFP helps them design a system that will meet your needs and create an accurate RFP. Second, these criteria can be used to make decisions about priorities. For example, how heavily are certain factors weighted in the RFP? As the project progresses, what aspects get tackled first?
- ROI analysis.
- Development of a Request for Proposal with weighted factors. We can also help develop a rating scale for scoring the proposals.
- Evaluation of proposals submitted by the vendors.
- Independent opinion and advice.
Why work with the Gilbane team?
- You can take advantage of the depth of our experience in helping companies acquire technology that has positive and measurable impact. We bring to the table expertise in articulating business, user and technical requirements; in sorting through supplier offers and identifying their strengths and weaknesses from a neutral perspective; and in matching offers to requirements.
- You can leverage this expertise to save time and money during implementation. We will ensure that you gain detailed knowledge of the impact of the new technology on your current environment and understand, at the time of product selection, what will be involved in deploying the chosen system.
- You will have knowledge of and insight into technology trends and best practices that will enable you to build or acquire technology that will keep your company at the forefront of its industry.
- You will gather more and better information by working with a respected third-party analyst and consulting firm than you can collect on your own.
- You can extend your project team to facilitate a business-critical process while focusing on your own business.
For additional information call Mary Laplante, VP Consulting Services at +1 617.497.9443 ext 212, mary@gilbane.com.
Posted by Bill Trippe at October 14, 2004 7:58 PM
