Instead of large firms spending absurd money on external parties to implement a system, or provide ‘consultancy’, against a fixed hourly rate and materials; it might be more relevant to have a shared-responsibility model. The current model of what are in essence, waterfall-milestone payments and hourly rates are insensible in a world of digital and fungible tech. The model must be more creative and self-supporting.
- Instead of ‘billing hours’, firms should force consultancies to share the risk and rewards of a project.
- Hourly billing can be changed to a model where the client pays 50% of the usual hourly fee during the project and pays the rest at the end.
- During the project, there are monthly and quarterly reviews on the bottom line ROI and IP value being created by the project.
- The goal is that within the budget year, the project is self-financing. In other words, the tangible, physical benefits of the project are equal to the amount of money paid out in consultancy and new spend for the spend.
- To do this, a better model of alignment, cooperation and commitment is needed, including a real understanding of ‘Agile’, lean business cases, ROI calculations and satisfying real IT and Business drivers and requirements.
