Oh Dear (TM) - Turned down my extension

[MarillionFan]

After a little deliberating, I decided not to take my six month extension for a large Outsourcing consultancy.

What a shambles. There is an addage that says contractors should just do the job and take the money - kerching. But what happens when the work you are doing is all 'do it now, do it now' - not 'lets do it properly'

After writing management reports that produce about 150 different tables, I was told to stop the automatic production of the reports, wait for management to send back a spreadsheet of amendments on a daily basis and then manually change all 150 reports by typing the new figures directly into the spreadsheets (Even though I tried to explain that they were not Excel)

I had explained that the amendments should be done to the database and then we would just rerun the suite - obvious - but no! senior management reckoned it was a doddle just to type over the numbers manually involving another 2-3hours of manual work a day and didnt want to wait for the amendments to the system. And as I was the only one who knows how it works - I was going to land up doing it.

Nah. I think not. By the way was my answer, you didnt get the paperwork to me on time and so Im off.

Its I.T not Shhhhhhh I.T.

Knobs.

[WageSlave]

The mistake that most people make is to believe that consultancies are interested in doing a good job for their clients and solving their problems. Unfortunately this is rarely true.

The primary goal of a consultancy is to bill out as many consultants as possible - that means creating lots of long-term projects involving as many consultants as possible for as long as possible.

If the consultancy has a choice between an efficient, automated process with no profit to be made, or a labour-intensive exercise that can be added to the invoice, guess which one they will choose.

[DimPrawn]

Ha!

Back to your Chavtastic shop MF

Pathetic.


Milan

[DodgyAgent]

The mistake that most people make is to believe that consultancies are interested in doing a good job for their clients and solving their problems. Unfortunately this is rarely true.

The primary goal of a consultancy is to bill out as many consultants as possible - that means creating lots of long-term projects involving as many consultants as possible for as long as possible.

If the consultancy has a choice between an efficient, automated process with no profit to be made, or a labour-intensive exercise that can be added to the invoice, guess which one they will choose.

I thought one was paid to do a job rather than decide what is good for the client.
Call me old fashioned but if I am paid to decide what is best for the client then that is what I should do. If I am paid to fill out forms all day, whilst an awareness of the dynamics of the business may help, it is really none of my business.

Too many contractors fall into this prima donna attitude, without having any grasp of the realities of the business and the politics that surround the project. Sometimes a few post it stickers are better than an all singing and dancing IT system.. Live with it.

I will accept that MF may be being asked to do a tulipty job and has exercised his right to not extend, but surely it is between the consultancy and client as to what the best solution should be.

[WageSlave]

I thought one was paid to do a job rather than decide what is good for the client.

Dodgy, surely that depends on what exactly you are paid to do. I agree with you when it comes to a pure programmer; they are given a spec and paid to translate it into reality. They can advise on whether the spec is feasible or not, but theirs is not to reason why.

However, if you work as a consultant, this is a far more complicated issue. Clients rarely know what they want. They think they know; they believe they understand their problem and the potential solution, but from my experience this is rarely the case. Normally, the solution is simply a very expensive attempt to treat a symptom, not the underlying cause.

In theory, a good consultant should advise the client what the real problem is and what the real solution is. In 99% of cases that revised solution will save the client a lot of money and actually ameliorate the real problem.
If a fat man went to his doctor complaining of breathing difficulties and suggested the ideal cure would be to carry an oxygen tank, should the doctor meekly agree and prescribe an oxygen tank at considerable expense? Or should a good doctor identify that the real problem is the man’s weight and the best solution is to diet and exercise (a cheaper solution than the oxygen)?
Note that I said 'in theory', because it is a rare client indeed who wants to listen to the truth and accept the ugly reality. Usually, such professionalism is a short cut to being shown the door.

[wendigo100]

Re: lets do it properly

MF, could you clarify a couple of things?

1. About your original task. Were you asked to:

* produce and update reports, or

* produce and update reports in whatever way that the management decide?

2. You say it takes 2 to 3 hours to edit the figures in the reports. Does it take a lot longer to update the database and rerun the reports?

[Chico]

Wage you are truly a man of integrity and intellect. If the public sector had more of your ilk working on major IT projects I am sure the success rate would shoot up. Keep up the work man - your labours are not in vain.

[BoredBloke]

Extension

Does that mean that there is a 6 month contract on the go to do a noddy admin role? How much is it paying and where is it. I'll hapilly sit and fill in forms if the price is right.

[DodgyAgent]

Dodgy, surely that depends on what exactly you are paid to do. I agree with you when it comes to a pure programmer; they are given a spec and paid to translate it into reality. They can advise on whether the spec is feasible or not, but theirs is not to reason why.

However, if you work as a consultant, this is a far more complicated issue. Clients rarely know what they want. They think they know; they believe they understand their problem and the potential solution, but from my experience this is rarely the case. Normally, the solution is simply a very expensive attempt to treat a symptom, not the underlying cause.

In theory, a good consultant should advise the client what the real problem is and what the real solution is. In 99% of cases that revised solution will save the client a lot of money and actually ameliorate the real problem.
If a fat man went to his doctor complaining of breathing difficulties and suggested the ideal cure would be to carry an oxygen tank, should the doctor meekly agree and prescribe an oxygen tank at considerable expense? Or should a good doctor identify that the real problem is the man’s weight and the best solution is to diet and exercise (a cheaper solution than the oxygen)?
Note that I said 'in theory', because it is a rare client indeed who wants to listen to the truth and accept the ugly reality. Usually, such professionalism is a short cut to being shown the door.

I cannot disagree with you Wageslave

[zathras]

I will accept that MF may be being asked to do a tulipty job and has exercised his right to not extend, but surely it is between the consultancy and client as to what the best solution should be.

Very true however in many consultancy situations the client retains no IT knowledge so in reality it is the consultancy that makes the decision, the client just signing the cheque. (although in the long term the client may question the VFM in their IT Systems but by then IT is so ingrained into the company extraction becomes an expensive and risky option).

In this particular instance however the consultancy is the client so if they want you to code with one hand tied behind your back while standing in a VAT of strawberry jam that is precisly what you do ( as long as they pay the invoice ).

It may be worth recording ones suggestion in an email so when the brown stuff hits the fan one can point to an audit trail later (as a butt covering excercise). This has the advantage that should the client actually take the plunge and give the consultancy the boot they may want to retain your services with the new outsourcing/internal company.