SIA Consulting Group LLC has a narrow focus right now, but a larger vision for the future. The timeline for the larger vision is impacted by a lot of things, the economy of course, but part and parcel of that is how the short-term strategy pays off directly. If the short-term strategy does not work, then we need to reboot the effort with new ideas.
We are each leveraging our strengths to find work that relates to the field that we can consult into directly. Monique and I are strong in enterprise software quality and its related disciplines; Monique can also consult in the ITSM/ITIL space, and our third majority partner Jason, is the heart and soul of the SIA model - Strategy Into Action.
Short term, our team is looking at partnerships with larger consulting firms who need our skills to deliver projects. This puts us in the following position:
1. No exposure corporately to the end-customer - we are an agent of the firm that took us there.
2. No direct repeat business with the end-customer - we are not poachers
3. 2nd or 3rd tier in the payment stream - which means that we are taking fractions of the actual billing rates that the customer is willing to pay.
4. This does not help us build our end-user base, but it does help us build out a partnership base and prove ourselves as an organization that will do what is right, working hard at it.
5. As business people, we are also occupied directly in delivering services. If we're not delivering, we're not making money.
6. Wherever possible, we will bring in a sub-contractor to fill roles, which we will pay a huge margin of the rate that they are being billed at; probably better then 90% of the bill rate. This way the sub-contractor sees the benefits of working with us, and the small overhead that we take will help us work toward the long-term strategy.
By doing this, we are able to survive in the economy of Q1/Q2 2009. In all likelihood we will stay in this mode through Q4 of this year, as it is an okay place to be.
Long term, we want to work with medium/small companies (<$200M) to help them align their business practices with their stated corporate objectives. This is the ultimate SIA model. Each of the primary parters will drive their practice areas for those projects, staffing, managing, and working the projects from much higher levels than the Short-Term strategy would allow.
When this phase is manifested is unknown right now. Perhaps a year? Maybe 2? Beyond that I can't say when it might launch, but it is always in the back of our minds that this is what we are ultimately working for.
There is an interim strategy as well, a Mid-Term goal, and that is functionally somewhere in the middle; moving a step up the billing food-chain, carrying paper on some projects, and being in a position to augment the project with our own consultants. The partners would be pulling multiple-role jobs in this phase, delivering services, spinning up/down projects, seeking new customers and partnerships, and continuing to deliver IT services with the SIA spin - always looking to help our clients enact their stated strategies.
At this moment, the state of our boutique consulting union is good.
