| Core Concept |
| It would be nice if all consultancy problems came preprocessed, with all facts, figures and analyses packaged like supermarket ready meals into bite-sized mental chunks. Instead, the pertinent issues in the real world are often obscure, ambiguous, buried away or not even known. Time to hunt and gather. |
| research |
| Learn where the berry bushes are:
Who are the domain experts?
Find relevant reports, books, articles on the subject
Consult the online oracles (in-house knowledge management system if there is one, Usenet if there isn't) |
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| questions |
| The questions to ask are derived from your domain knowledge |
| cost |
| The financial constraints.
The project budget.
The shopping list - how much things cost. |
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| time |
| The project timescale.
When should it be implemented?
Lifespan: how long is it intended to last? |
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| risks |
| The risk of change versus the risk of maintaining the status quo |
| disturbances |
| What will be effect of potential technological evolution (and revolution)
Beware of new products, releases, fluctuations of demand. |
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| capability |
| What resources are available?
Human, technical assets, infrastructure etc.
Is what is in-house sufficient or will you have to buy it in? |
| compatibility |
| What will the solution need to work alongside? |
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| complexity |
| Analyse the system, do you understand every part of the system?
Find out the level of knowledge within organisation.
Poorly understood systems may require refactoring.
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| constraints |
| Record legal, social, technical boundaries |
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| needs |
| What are the business needs, now and later?
Identify areas where benefits are possible. |
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| results |
| A hunt and gather expedition should hopefully result in a basket of:
Quantitative Data - facts and figures
Qualitative Data - opinions and assumptions, with degrees of confidence
Constraints - the problem scope (limits set by available knowledge) |
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