The eConsultant: Guiding Clients to Net Success

by Rick Freedman

Overview

The eConsultant—written by bestselling author of the foundation text in IT consulting, The IT Consultant—is a hands-on guide for enhancing your consulting skills and helping your clients create successful strategies for the Network Economy. Freedman works with consulting companies and clients around the world, helping them prepare their businesses to win on the Web, and The eConsultant brings you the best of this extensive real-world experience. You'll learn lessons from the champions on the Internet, and discover how to help clients avoid the errors of the Internet "gold-rush." You'll read in-depth interviews with thought leaders of the Network Economy, including leading venture capitalists, eConsultants, and IT analysts. The eConsultant provides a complete course in the theory and practice of guiding clients to success in the next phase of the Internet revolution.

"Internet consulting is a broad and complex topic, and Freedman has done a great job of covering the range of strategic issues consultants must deal with. Rick has written another valuable book that belongs on every IT consultant's bookshelf."
—Larry Tanning, president, and CEO, Tanning Technology Corporation

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787956295
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/23/2001
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	7.99(w) x 9.45(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Rick Freedman is the founder of Consulting Strategies, Inc., an information technology (IT) training and consulting firm. He has eighteen years experience as an IT consultant, both as an employee of Fortune 500 firms including Citicorp and Dun & Bradstreet, and as a principal consultant for Cap Gemini America and ENTEX Information Services. Rick presents seminars on IT and consulting skills to organizations world wide. He lives in Lenexa, Kansas with his wife Terri and their two golden retrievers.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgments	xvii
1	The New IT Consulting Model	1
	The Internet Changes Everything!	1
	The Net Changes Business	3
	The Net Changes Consulting	7
	Some Things Never Change: The Constants of IT Consulting	12
	A Conversation with Skip McDonald	15
2	A Methodology for Internet Consulting	17
	Similar Models in Place	17
	Articulate a Strategic Vision	20
	Plan the Engagement	21
	Architect the Strategy	24
	Deliver the Strategy	27
	Improve the Strategy	28
	An Interview with Jim Highsmith	29
3	Basics of Business Strategy	37
	Strategic Thinking	37
	Success by Strategy	38
	Problems with Strategic Planning	43
	Strategic Fundamentals	45
	Competitive Advantage	56
4	Strategies for the New Economy	59
	Industry Transformation	59
	The End of Location	61
	Information Migration	62
	Toward the Perfect Marketplace	65
	Beyond the Basics	68
	Internet Business Models	70
5	Building the Architecture	101
	The Danger of Downtime	101
	An Interview with Chuck Krutsinger	104
	eBusiness Technical Design Process	106
	Develop an Architecture Strategy	112
	Forecast Customer Behavior	114
	Develop Service Expectations	116
	Design Infrastructure Details	119
	Design Application Details	121
	Design Operational Processes	123
	Integrate, Prototype, and Test Architecture	126
	Deploy, Operate, and Maintain Architecture	127
	An Interview with Larry Tanning	130
6	Web Marketing	135
	Experience Marketing	135
	Advertising Is Dead!	138
	eBranding	140
	Who Is the Internet Customer?	148
	New Economy Marketing Models	150
	The Message for Internet Consultants	165
7	The Virtual Meets the Physical	167
	Reconstructing the Chain	167
	Delivering on the Click	168
	Servicing the Surfer	176
8	Change Hurts!	183
	Why Make a Change?	183
	Change Management	185
	An Interview with Tuck Rickards	192
9	The eConsultant's Report Card	199
	What They're Saying	199
	Why Measure eConsulting Results?	202
	Creating Measurable eConsulting Engagements	203
	Communicating the Outcome	206
10	Surfing the Wave: Keeping Ahead of the Changes	209
	Age of Rapid Change	209
	Developing Your Strategic Skills	210
	An Approach to Constant Development	213
11	Tales from the Fall	217
	A Year of Change	217
	Toys Online--No Game	218
	B2B--2B or Not 2B?	220
	Falling Up	222
	Lessons from the Fall	224
12	Where the Internet Is Going	227
	Life-Changing Events	227
	An Interview with Seth Neiman	230
	Bibliography	239
	About the Author	241
	Index	243

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Internet consulting is a broad and complex topic, and Freedman has done a great job of covering the range of strategic issues consultants must deal with. Rick has written another valuable book that belongs on every IT consultant's bookshelf." —Larry Tanning, president, and CEO, Tanning Technology Corporation

"I love this book! Working at Cisco has given me an opportunity to work with many start-ups and companies that are trying to re-engineer themselves. There are very few qualified eConsultants that can guide these companies into the Network Economy. We at Cisco are counting on the readers of Rick's book to show the way." —Mark Beausir, senior sales engineer, Cisco Systems

"By bridging the gap between technology and strategic consulting, Freedman's The eConsultant helps IT advisors advance to the next level." —Jonathan Heng, practice principal - eBMS Compaq Global Services

"Freedman's book is a comprehensive guide to the new economy, and a must-read for any technology consultant who wants to transition to being a strategist and an eConsultant." —Gayle Jones, program director, IT Center for Business and Technology, Johnson County Community College

"IT consulting has changed radically over the past five years, thanks to the Internet. No one knows IT consulting better than Rick Freedman, and no one is better equipped to help consultants navigate the new terrain. For experienced and novice consultants, for corporate employees who do in-house consulting, Rick's new book is an invaluable guide and resource." —Hillary Rettig, former senior technology editor, VARBusiness magazine and president, Technocopia, Inc.

"This book should be required reading for any consultant or IT professional who intends to help companies forward their e-business initiatives. Freedman lays out the steps that will separate the successful firms from the wannabes. His style is straightforward and on the money." —Chuck Krutsinger, COO, Interlink Group

Editorial Reviews

"...I found this book to be exceptionally good in almost every aspect...the style is intelligent and unpretentious..." (Supply Management, 1 November, 2001)

From the Publisher