Our Approach
Almost all of our consulting business comes via referrals from existing customers. When working with customers we try to manage by high-level milestones that correspond with concrete deliverables. We have no hesitation to a fixed-fee-by-milestone contracts where the milestones can be understood and we and our customers understand the risks and the objectives.
- Requirements. We work carefully to identify requirements so that our customers understand costs and risks. This process minimizes risks and unexpected project costs.
- Education. We want our customers to understand solutions, alternatives, and the range of costs and risks. As a result, we can communicate effectively, and our customers can make intelligent management decisions and tradeoffs, and are prepared to manage a program once the technology is implemented.
- Milstone Deliverables and Payments. When working on a requirements document or project proposal we identify key concrete milestones with payments upon delivery or demonstration. These milestones have several benefits: they serve to keep a project on track; they force the customer to assess the cost of mission creep; they distribute cost fairly across the life of the project; and they can be used to mitigate risk on behalf of the customer.