Consultant

Throughout my career, I have predominantly worked in consulting roles. While I have occasionally served as a business analyst, my primary focus has been on consulting to assess, sell, and implement IT solutions for business challenges.

During my tenure at Rehau, I was charged with the task of turning a manufacturing facility profitable. The plant, which produced parts for the automotive industry, was rapidly losing money. Sharing the P&L responsibility with the plant manager, we collaborated to unearth solutions. Despite numerous theories about the root issues, it required my presence on-site bi-weekly for nearly a year to observe all personnel and processes directly and to develop a model that pinpointed the reasons for our financial losses and the precise remedies. This comprehensive model accounted for all costs, excluding taxes, such as labor, shifts, materials, and processes across all production programs monthly and over an eight-year span. When juxtaposed with each program's contracts, the model revealed clear solutions, leading to recommendations that were endorsed by both the company and the clients of 7 out of the 8 active programs.

Throughout my career, I have applied the foundational business analyst skills I developed at Rehau in various roles. Whether it involved selling and implementing IT solutions for businesses or working as a sales engineer, the aspect that resonates with people is my core business analyst approach. I assimilate all the details and clarify them for others without resorting to jargon. When the subject is technical, I distill it into terms that make business sense to them.

In my view, proper scoping of the problem and solution is fundamental to the success of any app development or IT project. It's common to be swayed by technologies that offer many appealing features but lack the essentials. Thorough Business Analysis can reveal the true needs and guide us to the appropriate solution. However, accurate estimates of the implementation effort in the real world are still necessary. Professional services are often inaccurately priced and scoped because the actual effort needed for implementation is not thoroughly assessed. Sometimes, technology vendors intentionally distort the scope to sell licenses or subscriptions immediately. To avoid this, I lay out the details in a spreadsheet or, for more complex scenarios, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in MS Project or a similar tool. A WBS allows for the application of different cost levels and provides deep insights into a realistic timeline for implementation. This level of transparency can reassure potential clients enough to commit and offers the delivery manager a plan with a much better chance of success.

Whether it's an IT project or a product sales POC/POV, I adopt a project management approach. I craft a project plan that outlines the stakeholders, deliverables, and intended outcomes. This might include straightforward controls such as lists of people, tasks, dates, and milestones. Alternatively, it could entail more intricate controls like a detailed WBS, which is regularly updated throughout the project's progression. For sales POV/POC, the controls are typically straightforward. However, as I develop custom software or deliver complex services, the control mechanisms become more elaborate. This approach not only instills the sense of competence that I aim to project to prospects and customers but also enables us to identify issues promptly, minimize emergencies, and adhere to the budget.