ISEB Certificate in IS Consultancy Practice

Prerequisites:

Candidates for the examination must have at least 4 years experience in the IT/IS industry.

Course Description:

Throughout industry, managers rely upon the support of specialist IS consultants to help in all aspects of their business. Help may be obtained from external consultancies or from internal specialist staff. Regardless of the source, it is essential that the customer can differentiate between professionals who have achieved (and continue to achieve) a recognised standard and those who have not. This course is designed for staff who need to build on their technical or commercial skills so that they can provide a quality consultancy service either to their own organisation or on a commercial basis.

This course follows the ISEB syllabus and will prepare delegates for both the written and oral examinations required to attain the ISEB Certificate in IS Consultancy Practice. The course includes techniques that can be applied to almost any consultancy assignment although the emphasis is mainly on IS issues. Delegates wishing to take the ISEB examination (CCSX) should book for the date required and provide at least 4 weeks notice to the ISEB. - see list of examination dates. Delegates may also wish to benefit by booking a revision day (CCSR) held the day before the written exam.

This provides an intensive revision of the syllabus, examination technique, practice on sample questions and discussion of model answers. An oral examination follows after successfully passing the written paper Delegates who are successful in passing the ISEB examinations may be eligible to be registered as a BCS Consultant.

This course will enable delegates to:

• Understand the role of the IS consultant in the IT/IS industry.
• Gain awareness of IT issues in the business context and the business design aspect of consultancy.
• Plan and manage client relationships over the consultancy lifecycle.
• Scope, propose and contract for consultancy assignments.
• Structure, plan and control consultancy assignments.
• Deal with difficult client issues.
• Understand human personality and behaviour issues.
• Develop problem solving, communications and interpersonal skills to IS consultants.
• Control and measure quality within IS consultancy assignments.

This course includes the following modules:

Structure of the IT/IS industry and the roles of IS consulting

• Types of organisations involved, how they have evolved and where they operate
• The role of the internal consultant

Introduction, Scoping and Planning

• Gaining entry
• Contracting
• Stating a consultancy assignment
• Strategic analysis tools
• Meeting the client and qualifying opportunities

Business Environment Analysis

• Identifying problems and clarifying requirements
• Managing the customer's needs
• Business activity modelling and process modelling
• Stakeholder analysis
• The soft systems methodology in consulting
• Solution identification

Solution Definition

• 'As is'-'To be' gap analysis
• Diagnosis and generation of options
• Creative thinking
• Critical success factors and key performance indicators

Proposals and Contracts

• Bid management
• Invitations to tender, requests for information and requests for proposals
• Proposals
• Best and final offers
• Proposal evaluation
• Contracts and agreements
• Work packages
• Intellectual property rights

Solution Appraisal

• Financial planning
• Charging
• Investment appraisal
• Evaluation and measurement of solutions

Programme and Project Management

• The Project Initiation Document
• Programme/project governance and PRINCE2
• Quality management
• Change control

Understanding Teams

• Working in consultancy teams
• Negotiation and influencing skills
• Motivation
• Written communication and report writing
• Effective presentations

Disengagement and Expansion

• Termination and withdrawal from an assignment
• Benefits confirmation
• Evaluation and follow-up

Managing the Customer/Consultant Relationship

• The effective use of consultants
• Issues for sole practitioners
• Dealing with conflict
• The effective use of time