William Noyes Technology Services

OK, the real question is does your Technology Consultant (or IT/IS Manager/Director) know YOU?
Anyone who works with computers or technology knows the question, “Which computer is the best?” We geeks get this question constantly from friends, family, neighbors, , coworkers, and people on the street, etc. They want to know which brand, which video card, which printer, how much memory, how fast a processor, and how much money. How should I know? To make an informed recommendation, I need to know what you want to do with it, and what you might want to do tomorrow. The computer I recommended to my niece who is just starting high school is completely different from the one I recommended to a co-worker whose son is an avid first-person shooter game player, and both are different than the ones I buy at work.

The point is, your technology consultant needs to sit down and learn about your business. I need to know how you run your business, how you use your computer, what features are important to you. Otherwise you’re likely to end up with a solution that would work flawlessly for me, but maybe impossible to use in your business model. I will talk to both the business owners, and the process owners (the ones actually doing the work) to find out what the current challenges are, and what the expectations are of the new solution. Get the process owners to be involved in the requirements phase of the project. I’ve found that if they’ve been involved early and had a chance to voice their concerns, there will be less resistance (the industry term is push-back) when I ultimately implement the project.

So does your technology consultant know who you are? If not, get them to learn, or find a new consultant.

Bill