Picking the “right” partner can be a confusing exercise.  Cloud consulting services firms position their people as tidy packages of “services offerings,” or “products.”   And clients must decipher how realistic it is to assume that a firms “people” can be packaged into “products.”  As a Principal in a services firm Bluewolf, I have the unique perspective of being both the seller of services and the buyer of services, because our firm uses outside consultants to assist in the growth of our business. In our experience, there are three main things to assess when evaluating services providers:  Independent Objectivity, Delivery Process, and Culture.  In this Blog, I will touch on each of these three topics, and I will provide key questions that should be asked of cloud consulting services firm prior to engaging in a partnership.

Independent Objectivity
The first thing to acknowledge in the selection of a services partner is not so obvious:  no firm will have immediate answers to all of your challenges.  In fact, many cloud consulting services engagements become an exercise in pursuing unknown solutions to sets of problems.  One thing that I have learned over the past 20 years in technology is that no two challenges are alike, which also means that no two solutions are alike.  So before you fall in love with a firm that purports to have pre-packaged solutions to your challenges, take a step back and ask yourself how realistic are their claims?

In a world where your cloud consulting services partner is the catalyst in pursuing the optimal solution to your challenges, and where no two challenges are alike, the notion of independent objectivity becomes a key factor in a successful partnership.  Problem solving requires an independent, objective, approach.  It requires an open mind to new solutions, instead of trying to shoehorn a product or solution that is familiar into a challenge that is not so familiar.

Ask your cloud consulting services firm the following questions:

*  Are you financially aligned with product vendors?
*  Do they own a piece of your company?
*  Do they re-sell their products?
*  What tools do you use to solve problems?  Can you share them with us?
*  How do you objectively help us make decisions?

Delivery Process
I recently sat in a meeting with some executives from a services firm based in St. Louis named Perficient.  We were discussing the  possibility of a partnership.  As they discussed their company, they presented one slide on their “Implementation Methodology.”  And, truthfully, they downplayed its importance and we went on to discuss other topics.  Every service firm has a similar slide.  And, most downplay its importance when presenting to new clients.

This is a mistake.  A cloud consulting services firms ability to articulate its delivery process is a key indicator of its ability to execute successful projects.

A mature delivery process does not mean that there is a cookbook approach to project delivery.  It does mean, however, that the firm has a common language that all of its consultants speak, and it has a proven process for discovery, consensus building, prototyping (working models, we call them), building, testing, deploying, change management, training, on-going support and innovation, and, of course, project management.

Without a mature delivery process, a cloud consulting services firm will merely provide resources that will need to be managed.  Here are some questions to ask to ensure that your cloud consulting services partner brings a mature process to the table:

• Ask a project manager to diagram their process on a whiteboard:  no slides, just a whiteboard.  This will prove whether they actually know it.
• Go deep on a firms change management processes;  both cultural change (i.e. how do we prepare the organization for the change), and the technical change (how do you move a product from development to test to production).
• Go deep on their software development processes:  are they agile?  Waterfall?  How do they maintain code standards?  How do their developers interact?
• Every engagement requires consensus building.  Inquire deeply about tools and approaches that the firm uses to align executives, business users, and IT.
• Explore services offerings “post go-live.”  Any mature delivery process includes a method for supporting a clients on-going support and innovation after things have gone live.

Culture
Ooh.  Culture.  The touchy, feely one.  Who wants to talk about culture?  It’s like asking someone “tell me all of the deepest, darkest secrets of your family.  Tell me why Aunt Glynda doesn’t get along with Uncle Roy.”

But a cloud consulting services firms culture is either its secret sauce, or its death knell.  Why?  Because a cloud consulting services firms assets are its people.  They can’t be manufactured.  They can’t be duplicated.  They go up and down the elevator; they are either happy or disgruntled; they get sick;  they have personal challenges;  they either communicate well, or they communicate poorly.

A cloud consulting services firm’s main asset is it’s ability to get its consultant’s to work well together.  To trust each other. To delegate amongst themselves.  To accentuate their strengths while covering for their weaknesses.  To share the common language that we spoke about in the delivery process section.  All of these things maximize communication cycles and save clients time while delivering value.

For a cloud consulting services firm to have a positive culture, that encourages knowledge sharing and produces teams of consultants who will have a positive impact on your business, it must continually invest in its people.  It must have promotion paths, it must encourage its consultant’s to explore new solutions while advancing their careers, and it must invest in on-boarding and mentoring.  These are not trivial investments and they are a constant challenge for every services organization.  Here are some questions to ask your prospective cloud consulting services firm:

• What is the average tenure of a consultant?
• How do consultants share knowledge?  Show me your knowledge management system.
• Share your firms professional development and internal training plan
• How often does your team get together?  Share the agenda from your last offsite.
• How are your consultant’s compensated and measured?

Conclusion
Picking the right cloud consulting services partner is critical for organizations that are looking to transform their businesses.  The right choice will assure that your partner aligns and contributes to your business vision and goals.  When evaluating your choices, focus on three things:  Independent objectivity, Delivery Process, and Culture.

These are the things that separate the best cloud consulting services organization.