Consortium consolidates consulting power

e3000 expertise gathers steam in new organization of independent consultants

A new firm has entered the e3000 advisor business with a common concept as its mission: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what Craig Solomon said prompted him to form the IT Consulting Consortium (541.924.0736, www.craigs.com), a venture which helps market and place independent consultants at sites where e3000s continue to serve.

“The customer benefits by the sum of their experience

and their education,” Solomon said of the consultants, a group he’s assembled after managing the consulting practice at Lund Performance. “Our goal is to become the leading provider of pre-screened, experienced independent consultants.”

While independent consultants are masters at technical solutions, many feel their way around marketing themselves and scheduling engagements to maximize their billable time. Solomon hopes his organization will let consultants working in the e3000 market focus on their strongest skills and leave these time-consuming business details to the Consortium.

“The consultants need to be out there working, doing what they do best,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re living off a cell phone. Their sales up to now have been only by word of mouth.

“This provides the ability for consultants who don’t have a sales team to benefit from a supporting sales force and marketing team,” Solomon said. “Consultants who learn of engagements they can’t take because they’re already engaged can send the business back to the Consortium and share in the contract. We are working with our accounts to find a fair method for all members of the consortium to have profit sharing in all contracts. It is important to us to have the family and team environment, while still keeping our independence.”

“We are transforming the way IT executives and managers select and engage IT consultants,” Solomon said. “Our core focus is the e3000. This includes all major applications, hardware, high availability as well as system performance and tuning.”

The Consortium also has working arrangements with experts in platforms other than the e3000. Some of its consultants have broader experience, and most shops in the MPE marketplace are already using other systems alongside e3000s: Unix, Sun’s Solaris, and Microsoft’s NT/Windows 2000.

The benefits of gathering e3000 consultants together in such a coalition will show up at the bottom line for customers, he added.

“The uniqueness of the consortium saves considerable time and money for those in need of IT consultants,” Solomon said. “We know that companies are paying consulting fees which are higher than necessary due to high overhead, considerable salaries, and extensive advertising campaigns. The IT Consulting Consortium has a very low overhead. We believe that the quality of our consultants will be our best marketing tool.”

Consultants participate in Consortium work, but Solomon has arranged things so the consultants can continue to accept independent engagements at the same time. “We’ll sell and book their time for them, and keep them busy.”

While Solomon expects he’ll be available for engagements in e3000 consulting, performance and tuning, he believes much of his time will be spent connecting Consortium consultants with customers.

The venture carries his personal guarantee, he said, which is why its Web address is Solomon’s own site.

“When I started the consortium I decided that instead of coming up with a catchy Web domain to use my own name. I used my personal site so our customers know that I am willing to put my name, my reputation on every contract and project.”

The group has already engaged with TAL Materials, a Michigan manufacturer, and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. “Based on their report we now had a plan and direction for solving our e3000 performance

issues,” said hospital systems manager Paul Mulligan. “If we need consulting again in the future, we would be happy to call on the IT Consulting Consortium.”

The Consortium is also working with Amos & Associates to supply permanent and temporary help to Amos customers. “We are also working in conjunction to supply Amisys sites with solutions and a task force for the upcoming HIPPA compliancy,” Solomon said.