Methods of Product IT consulting

There are several methods of product IT consulting, by applying which the consul­tants will collect and analyze data on your company’s operation, and advice on the best ways to improve your business performance.

1. Benchmarking

This is a method where IT consul­tants will compare the metrics of your company with the metrics of your competitors. This will equip the consul­tants with necessary infor­mation on why your competitor is doing well in certain aspects. Based on the collected data, it will be easy for the consul­tants to advice you on areas where you need to improve, so that your company will succeed. Common metrics which can be used in bench­marking include: production costs, process cycle time, revenues and employee turnover.

2. Balanced scorecard

This implies tracking important aspects in a company as a way of facil­i­tating organi­za­tional improvement. The indicators measured are beyond financial metrics. After assessing the important metrics in a company, consul­tants are able to come up with recom­men­da­tions which are aimed at improving the perfor­mance of a company. Some of the compo­nents tracked include: earnings, revenues, market share, employee morale, quality and customer satis­faction metrics.

3. Porter’s five forces

This is an IT consulting method developed by Michael E Porter. The method uses five forces in an industry to come up with effective solutions. The five forces include:
• Competitor rivalry
• The threat of substitute offerings
• The bargaining power of suppliers
• The bargaining power of buyers
• The threat of new entrants

The five forces are assessed to identify ways in which they affect an organi­zation. Adjust­ments can be made in the organi­zation setup to come up with an action plan, which will make it easy to improve business operation.

4. The GE-McKinsey Nine-Box Matrix

This is a method which was developed by McKinsey and Company in the 1970s. It is a matrix which is used to prior­itize investment in different business units. It can be used to assess different types of companies. In the matrix, oppor­tu­nities are catego­rized in different categories, such as high, medium or low.

5. The BCG Growth-Share Matrix

The matrix was developed by Boston Consulting Group. It is a method which is used to assess relative strength of product lines in different portfolios. In this method, product lines can be assigned in quadrants, such as cash cows, stars, question marks and dogs. The quadrants make it easy for the company to work on different areas of weakness which prevent them from performing better.

6. Core Compe­tencies

The method focuses on identi­fying the company’s compe­tency. This is very helpful in positioning the compet­itive advantage of the company. A core compe­tency refers to compe­tency in an area not dominated by competitors. It helps companies deliver unique value to consumers. This helps the company to achieve great advantage over the competitors.