Tech Consulting Career Conversation XLRI

Tech Consulting Career Conversation XLRI

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  Technology Consulting CareerConversation An IIMB NSRCEL & Goldman Sachs Supported Firm
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  About me 17+ yearsof professional experience in providing IT services ranging from advisory to implementation for fortune 500 clients Joined Cognizant Client Facing at onsite Delivery Responsibility EPGP - IIMB Consultant @ Deloitte Independent Consultant 2002 2011 2012 2016Both client facing and offshore Testing / Development Tech Lead / Solution Design Professional Journey Analytics Head @Agilisium 2018 2020 Director – Data Mgmt @Securra. I like to….Under Graduation BE, Mechanical Engineer NIT Trichy Home Town: Trichy, Tamil Nadu Currently: Bangalore
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  Agenda  What isConsulting  Types of Consulting  What is Tech Consulting  Skillsets Required  Critical Success Factors  Career Growth as a Consultant  Other Activities Expected of a Consultant  How can MBA Help  Preparing for Consulting Interviews
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  What is Consulting DictionaryDefinition: Business of giving expert advice to other professionals. Examples: • Leadership / team building • Advertising (Brand) • Marketing • Business management • Environmental • Financial planning • Risk management • Employee stress management
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  Types of Consulting ‘Management’ Determine buildingblocks towards achieving strategy Setting the ‘Strategic’ Direction Validation or support during execution ‘Business Operations’ ‘Technology’ Exit Strategy from a Country Technology Strategy (E.g. Digital) Corporate Planning and Budgeting Achieving 30% Cost Reduction in 3 years Competitive advantage through Efficiency and Effectiveness ‘Build vs. Buy’ ‘Rationalization’ ROI / Results Management Supply Chain, PMO, Audit, Biz Tech Rollout Tech PMO, Technology Solution, Tech Review
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  Tech Consulting Objective: Inform /help clients on building their IT practices to achieve their business objectives. Strategic Assessment and Roadmap M&A / Tech Due Diligence Business – IT Management New ideas and trends (Digital Transformation) Develop business case for a specific investment Setup offshore Center New capability (Workforce Transformation) Product (Solution) – Business Fit Risk Assessment Analysis (existing system) Business / IT Portfolio Cost Restructuring / Prioritizing Operating Model Transformation Tech Consulting Areas Planning and building a new IT System PMO (Showing progress reports to the sponsors) Staff Augmentation Generalist Focused
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  Skillsets Required • Technicalskills − Direct or indirect experience in technology solutioning / implementation • Look at things holistically to get a better understanding of the current state and business needs − Not supposed to solve the problem of JAVA vs. .NET • Ability to understand and talk the language of business • Ability to talk the language of executives / SVPs / Directors • Lots and lots of listening and information processing • Ability to get on to good conversations with any one • Ability to look at a problem objectively, analytically and not arrive at a solution immediately − Hypothesis driven problem solving | 80:20 rule | Data driven decision making
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  Skillsets Required  WordDocuments, Power points and Excel Files  Technology Trends (What’s trending)
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  Critical Success Factors Develop ‘Trust’ or ‘Belief’ to customers  Gear up for a life style change – Lunch / Dinner / Travel  Extremely Reactive – Fire drills  More and more time before the customers
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  Career Growth asa Consultant  Many Consulting Firms are Partner Firms (LLC) • Designations and positions may vary, but the usual path is towards a Partner or Director • Partners and Directors are principal sales people  Other growth possibilities are: • P&L ownership for an account and towards regional ownership • Technology Leader (Ability to handle complex technical situations)  Core Responsibilities: • Building customer relationship and trust. Especially advisory is very subjective. • Important to align to industry. Remember technology assists to support business. • Consultant’s responsibility is to make his / her principal customer successful
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  Other Responsibilities fora Tech Consultant  Publishing Thought Leadership • Business Wired, Books, Trends, Articles, Interviews, Points of Views  Learning / Knowledge Enhancements • Certifications, Attending Events and Summits, Research / Reading about Industry Trends  Business Development / Pre-Sales • Pre-sales Response Structuring (documents, presentations) • Competitive research about customer and industry, presenting thoughts to leadership  Practice Support • Mentoring, Training, Hiring
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  How can MBAHelp?  Spreadsheet Model – highly recommended for aspiring consultants  Strategy – understand and define it in your own words  Finance and Accounting – annual statements, NPV, ROI, Cash Flow Analysis, etc.  Operations – achieving efficiency and effectiveness  OB and HRM – understand organizational inertia, value system, people resistance to change  Marketing – understand the needs of clients  Connect all these courses together to solve a specific problem for a customer
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  Preparing for ConsultingInterview  Case in point  Sample case questions in the company’s website  Prepare based on role offered (Job Descriptions)  Talk to some one who is currently employed in the company (to understand culture, style)  Focus on approach, not on solution. E.g. If the case is cost reduction, the approach will be:  Note: Consulting (Advisory) Roles are usually small sized teams, less of people management and more of client stakeholder relationship  Identify cost reduction levers: Offshoring, Rationalization, Automation, Process Efficiency  Assess current state cost structure for above levers  Understand business and technology objectives  Determine savings opportunities on current cost baseline through the application of levers  Asking more facts on current spend (cost)  What is the current IT spend?  How much is Cap-Ex and Op-Ex?  How many people are there in the IT department