consultant news · 10 only room for the best 4 mindset matters 8 what clients want 18 website in...

Stacie M. Kartes, Saxo Bank

Only rOOm fOr the best

michael mclaughlin

What clients want

Consultant Morten Fenger

mindset matters

Consultant NewsTHE MAGAZINE FOR EXPERT IT CONSULTANTS NO. 30 2012

Consultants on continuing education

Consultants have to be on the beat

3Consultant News 30 20122 Consultant News 30 2012

How the client explained it

How the project manager understood it

How the analyst designed it

How the programmer wrote it

How the businessconsultant described it

How the projectwas documented What operations installed How the client was billed

How it was supported

What the client actually needed

Consultant News 30 2012

Magazine for IT consultantsISSN no: 1604-878

Legally responsible editor: Søren Rode

Editors: Jeanett Wolff Tina [email protected]

Graphics and design: Tina [email protected]

Photography: Jeanett Wolff Tina Lee Photographer Anders Debel

Publisher: ProData Consult A/S Circulation 3,300

Printing: Chronografisk

ProData Consult CopenhagenStamholmen 1572650 Hvidovre

ProData Consult ÅrhusHasselager Centervej 98260 Viby J

Tel: +45 43 43 11 [email protected]

Welcome to this first International Edition of Consultant News, ProData Consult’s quarterly magazine for affiliated IT consultants about IT consultancy, to a large degree by IT consultants and exclusively for IT consultants.

The magazine has existed as a Danish publication for a decade and as we now have more consult-ants abroad than in Denmark it is only fitting that we publish an English version.

As well as being posted to you quarterly, the magazine will be available online through our consultant sites: www.itconsultants.pl, www.it-konsulenter.no, www.konsulter.net, www.konsulenter.dk and www.it-consultant.com.

ProData Consult has a strong northern European presence and increasing activity in Sweden, Nor-way, Poland and Germany, as well as Denmark.With growth rates this year of +500% for ProData Consult Poland and Norway, the pipeline for the autumn looks very busy and promising. With this

in mind, I urge you to visit our new and greatly improved CV site and update your CV and availability so that your CV will be ready and searchable when we have a job opening. We are constantly working to improve our site – the ambition is nothing short of having the best and most user-friendly CV site in the industry. We think – in all modesty – we have come a long way towards achieving this, as further described on pages 16 and 17 in this magazine.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have input, ideas or opinions about Consultant News. Your input is valuable to us. Thank you for being part of the ProData Consult network – the expert IT consultants.

Søren Rode CEO, ProData Consult Group

Consultant News – new international edition

10Only room for the best

4 Mindset matters

8 What clients want

18Website in Arabic

ContentsPages 4-7 Mindset matters Consultant profile: Morten Fenger

Pages 8-9 What clients want Article by "guerrilla consultant" Michael W. McLaughlin

Pages 10-15 Only room for the best Interview with Stacie M. Kartes, Senior Project Manager, Saxo Bank

Pages 16-17 NEWS: Souped-up CV siteWe've put the pedal to the metal on the CV site

Page 18 My greatest challenge Website in Arabic

Page 19 From malware maker to JavaScript developer Consultant profile: Kamil Trebunia

0 Consultants have to be on the beatConsultants on continuing education

Page 21 Notes and news


Mindset matters

How do consultants advance tHeir careers? Most of tHeM cHoose tHeir jobs based on tHeir interests and available opportunities. project

Manager Morten fenger Has also used tHat recipe for success. but He Has also discovered a secret tHat Has Made HiM a talented consultant witH an

excellent reputation aMong clients.Consultant profile: Morten Fenger


'I've been given tools for something that you don't realise off the bat that you even need tools for' says project manager Morten Fenger. He is referring to the skills he was introduced to when he was offered a job in the consult-ing department of one of the country's lead-ing accountancy and consultancy firms. But that was after he discovered that he was born to be a project manager, which happened at the University of Copenhagen. froM tHe university of copenHagen to KpMg After earning his MSc at the IT University, Morten Fenger landed his first IT-related job at the University of Copen-hagen. He started in user administration and ended up project managing the implementation of a great many projects. This is where Fenger discovered that he is a project person who thrives on responsibil-ity and solving complex problems. After eight years with the University of Copenhagen, Fenger was offered a job in process and project management and financial analysis at KPMG. Going from the public world of the university to KPMG's highly professional and sales-focused reality was quite a change. 'If you are taken on as a consultant at KPMG, it's because you have a high level of profes-sional knowledge and are strong in your area of expertise. I had implemented several major ERP and product systems, so I was on solid ground as a project manager', says Fenger. All new employees at KPMG gain a number of additional skills to differentiate them from the competition: they are sent on courses to learn how to give a professional impression. 'This is something the consultants in the de-partment I joined were really good at. In addi-tion to your professionalism, you have to have what they call a "Consulting Mindset", which is equal parts understanding human nature, managing complex problems and taking a service-minded approach to everything'. tHe consulting Mindset Fenger learned a great deal from the latter component. He sensed that it was here he could make a difference. 'It sounds like a cliché: You have to be ac-commodating and friendly – it's a little like being a shop clerk. That doesn't mean you should lose yourself, of course, but the thing is you have to be solution-oriented and give-and-take with the client'. At KPMG, Fenger was taught how to prepare for and manage an array of fixed elements in

the client relationship. The productive meet-ing, for instance: how to structure, conduct and wrap up a meeting and how to properly initiate a dialogue. Fenger explains: 'These were things I didn't know I needed courses in. But if you use the tools, it gives added value for the clients and that's actually all there is to it'. According to Fenger, IT projects generally lack project managers and consultants who are good at facilitating, managing processes and handling situations that have gone off track for one reason or another. This is some-thing he sees when meetings are a disaster and consultants get sick of unprofessional

clients. 'But that is actually the consultant's bread and butter – helping clients with challenges they cannot overcome on their own. That is why it is vital to be able to read the client and handle opposi-tion. There is a set of tools for that and they really make a difference. You go

into a meeting, acknowledge the challenges and find some tenable solutions'. iMportant tools The tools Morten Fenger acquired at KPMG were not a revelation for the project manager, but they gave him a professional boost. 'I was good at forming relationships even

Good advice from Morten Fenger on The Consulting Mindset• Respect the client.

• Always give more than you are paid for. • It is about the client – not you or your ego. • The human qualities are what set you apart as a consultant compared to other IT staff. Most IT consultants are very independent and dedicated individuals – energy and initiative are incredibly important.

• Quickly get to know and understand the client's business. The client expects you to draw on previous experience, so use your industry-specific input as background knowledge.

• The client will judge your work – not your words. • Listen to the client instead of focusing on your product, your theories and your models.

• Take responsibility for the client. Be one step ahead of the client when necessary and take a step back when asked to.

• And never, ever leave before everything works!

before this, but I gained tools for how to behave psychologically in a work situation – and that is more important than you think', says Fenger, who puts a lot of thought into how he can make a professional impression. As he sees it, consultants should be agreeable, stay one step ahead of the rest and deliver on time. If you do that well, you gain a good reputation – and you will hopefully be engaged for new projects. But the tools from KPMG are not the only reason behind Fenger's good evaluation from the client he is with now. Thought is at least equally important. 'I think a lot in order to be a better project manager. As a consult-ant, you are obliged to continually evaluate yourself and I've made it a habit to take a couple of minutes to evaluate my performance after I have carried out an activity. That way, I adjust my methods, tools and professionalism on an ongoing basis'. tHe juMp to freelancing Actually, Fenger has always believed the freelance life was too uncertain. But over the course of his four years with KPMG, he found out that he wanted to try going it alone as a consultant. On an assignment at Danske Bank, he met several freelance consult-ants whom he quizzed to learn more about the demands of the freelance life. 'It was useful for me to know the level they were at and I believed I could measure up to them. And so I made the jump', says Fenger, who threw himself into the freelance life last year, when he was of-fered an assignment through ProData Consult with a large public-sector client. Here, he is the sub-project manager for an ERP product, responsible for the entire change line, among other things. 'This is a very exciting project: It is expansive and covers a great many people in various ways. You might say that ERP is the DNA for the entire organisation. But it's also a large-volume assignment that demands a great deal of coordination, and I am lucky enough to be working under an old pro who is happy to share his knowledge'.

convergence of coincidences If Fenger had been more structured and had planned his career, he would like to have been a manager before he became a consult-

Enterprise Resource Planning – ERP – is the term for integrated business software that handles most of the enter-prise's functional areas. For instance, ERP helps with order processing for the enter-prise as a whole, rather than using separate software for every department. ERP is usually based on a common database across the entire enterprise.Source: Wikipedia

Morten Fenger's current assignment

The project, which is being

implemented for a large public-sector client, is an ERP system, a finance and HR system, that will impact the everyday lives

of 20,000 people. Fenger is the sub-project manager for the change component, quality

manager for the delivery, and the technical project manager.

He is also responsible for mak-ing sure the infrastructure is

installed and for coordinating and communicating training for

the employees involved.

ant in order to learn how to manage people. But for many years after he began working, Fenger chose his career path based on where he thought it would be fun to be. 'My career is a convergence of coincidences, but still, I have been searching towards where I am now and have always chosen a next step that provided a few more chal-lenges than the last one. That happened in the move from the University of Copenhagen to KPMG – and again from KPMG to my current project, where I am standing on my own two feet'. These days, the project manager makes more conscious career choices. He has made a pact with himself that he wants to take the step up into the commercial project manager's position when the opportunity presents itself.

'But that is actually the consultant's bread and butter – helping clients with challenges they cannot overcome on their own. That is why it is vital to be able to read the client...'Morten Fenger

Name: Morten Fenger Age: 38 Education: MSc in Information Technology, IT University of Copenhagen (MSc) Title: Project Manager, Change Manager Current project: Region Zealand Freelancer since: April 2011

Bluebook


Clients might resist if someone tries to stop production. But they appreciate honest consult-ants and objective reports on the likelihood of success, es-pecially if the forecasts turn out to be accurate. The client will always appreciate the consultant who knows the answer to this question: 'Are we ready?'

Honourable intentions Clients appreciate it when your primary interest lies in meeting their objectives and not in build-ing up your own business. Show them that you have honourable intentions. Keep the focus on how and when you plan to con-clude a project. You might find that this approach will bring in more work than all of your ef-forts to sell follow-up projects. I am not suggesting that you go

into hibernation. One of your roles is to help clients find opportunities that can improve their business. But sometimes it is better to hold back than to push. And the best way to attract a good client is to prepare for how and when you will leave the stage.

Whether or not a project collabo-ration is successful depends upon clear communication – but that is often easier said than done. The idea is illustrated here on a ProData Consult postcard.

over My years as a consult-ant, i Have asKed clients wHat tHey tHinK it taKes to get an effective client/consultant partnersHip up and running. a few Key words coMe up again and again, across industries, project types and tHe client's place in tHe organisational HierarcHy Once a client has hired a consultant, there is a distinct change in attitude. The client's conjectures about what it would be like to work with the consult-ant turn into expectations. One consistent point a lot of clients emphasise is: They want the consultant to understand and meet their ex-pectations. Al-though some consultants strive to exceed expectations, most of the clients I have encountered are overjoyed as long as the project goes as planned. The client's primary expectation is that you finish the work on time, on budget and with minimal interruptions. Most clients also value consultants who believe in the organisation's future and do not surprise them with bad news at the last minute. The client's satisfaction grows when consult-ants use their abilities to solve the problem at hand while help-

ing the client's team improve their own capacity. pass on standard tools Clients express a natural scepti-cism about solutions that are too 'off-the-shelf' and it is not hard to understand why. Consultants often try to differentiate them-selves on the market by selling a mix of their personal expertise and standard tools to implement projects. Clients appreciate the speed and efficiency that stand-ardised advice represents, but they would prefer you to exploit the tools rather than use them

as crutches.

The same prin-ciple applies to the consult-ant's expertise. Clients value consultants with

expertise that liberates – rather than constrains – their thinking. You will find that clients choose consultants who solve problems within the framework of what they have seen before – instead of just slavishly repeating what worked last time.

An example: A consultant devel-oped a performance manage-ment system using a standard model developed for the client's industry. It was only after the programming was done that the project team realised their fatal

error: The program was incapa-ble of gathering a particular type of important data that the man-agers of the business used daily.

It is easy to be blinded by your own expertise and fall into the '95-percent trap': By relying on a solution that matches most challenges, you risk limiting the success of the project – and damaging the relationship with the client. In the client's view, 95 percent right is no better than 100 percent wrong.

So, validate your diagnoses be-fore you propose solutions. And bring the client into the initial phase of the project so that your observations are in line with the client's reality. ready, steady, stop At Toyota, some employees are authorised to shut down pro-duction immediately when they discover a problem. Likewise, clients also want their consult-ants to stop 'production' on the spot when they discover an error. And they value consult-ants who have the guts to talk openly about how the project is going. On the other hand, clients complain about consultants who neglect to inform them when something isn't working. Clients acknowledge that their perspec-tive is muddied by optimistic reports from employees or a

general lack of knowledge about what resources a project re-quires. One of the reasons they hire us is precisely to make sure everyone reports their problems. I was once asked to look at whether a forthcoming project could be implemented at a cli-ent. It soon proved that the client's team were not ready to begin the project – so we recommended that they wait. The client praised our team for recommending a postponement, even though it meant that we did not get the assignment.

Beyond assessing the initial preparations, you also need to regularly re-evaluate the client's situation. Example: A project team neglected to check a group of warehouse workers' knowledge before implementing a new process for shipping. The team justified this by saying that previous training was sufficient to equip the employees for the new process. Unfortunately, that was not the case. When the client started using the new process, the warehouse work-ers' daily routines fell apart. The result was three weeks of wrongly shipped orders and a decline in the level of service. A project team neglected to check a group of warehouse workers' knowledge before implement-ing a new process for shipping orders.

'In the client's view, 95 percent right is no better than 100 per-cent wrong'.Michael McLaughlin

By Michael W. McLaughlin, owner and managing director, MindShare Consulting.

@ write to the editor If you have experiences and thoughts about fulfilling clients' wishes that you would like to share with other consultants, we would love to hear from you. Write to the editor: [email protected]

About Michael McLaughlin Michael has more than twenty years' consulting experience and is a former partner with Deloitte Consulting, one of the world's largest consulting firms, where he spent more than two decades marketing, selling and delivering services to clients. He is the author of several books, including Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants, which deals with marketing, sales, pricing and cus-tomer relationship management (CRM). He is currently managing director of his own business, MindShare Consulting, which spe-cialises in helping service businesses optimise their operations. http://www.mwmclaughlin.com/

How the client explained it

How the project manager understood it

How the analyst designed it

How the programmer wrote it

How the businessconsultant described it

How the projectwas documented What operations installed How the client was billed

How it was supported

What the client actually needed

What clients want


accustomed to extremely competitive and high-performing consultants in the us, stacie M. Kartes, senior project Manager at saxo bank, is a tough boss to please. we asked this tall american what a consultant has to do to get a foot in the door at saxo bank's airy headquarters in Hellerup.

Interview with Senior Project Manager Stacie M. Kartes, Commercial Marketing IT, Saxo Bank

oNly room for the best

Photo series: Photographer: Anders Debel


When it comes to Kartes' focus area – CRM – she demands more from her consultants than the average client.Saxo Bank's Microsoft CRM solution is complex, so her consultants have to be very experienced and highly familiar with .Net and Microsoft. According to the Senior Project Manager, ProData Consult has spent a lot of time helping her department with the detective work, because that combination of skills can be hard to find. But before Kartes phones ProData, she and the involved pro-ject managers and lead developers identify the roles necessary to execute a forthcom-ing project. If the need is for a specific skill, one of the technical experts is also involved. Stacie Kartes says:'In my group, which is technically heavier

than the others, we have an initial talk to get a sense of who the potential consultant is, whether he or she has the motivation we are looking for, and whether they will fit into the team. Sometimes, it just takes a phone con-versation with the lead developer or project manager'.After that, there is an hour or two of techni-cal interviewing on the menu, in which the consultant is subjected to several exercises and hypothetical problems.'Solving problems in front of three other people can be very stressful and some con-sultants cannot perform in that situation. It is really interesting to see how people react, because in my department people have to be able to handle stress', says Kartes.

from a very early age, Stacie

Kartes knew that she

wanted to go the IT route.

While her childhood friends

in North Dakota were play-

ing video games, she sat

at home on the farm and

wrote little programs to

catalogue the family's cows

on spreadsheets. Since

then, her chosen career

has taken her to Denmark,

where she now man-

ages 33 consultants in the

Commercial Marketing IT

department at Saxo Bank.

Consultant News set a date

to meet with Stacie Kartes

one afternoon in July to

hear more about what it

takes to become a consult-

ant at Saxo Bank.

new Model a success The interview process was established last year, when Kartes suddenly had to find 23 new consultants. Until then, her depart-ment had only had one or two consultants at a time. This hiring frenzy meant that Saxo Bank had to be especially stringent in rela-tion to interviewing and selecting candidates. Kartes explains:'The project had a tight deadline. We had to make sure we found the right candidates off the bat, so we chose an interview model that put consultants in a stressful situation'.Even if Kartes were to get a 'nice quiet project', as she calls it, she does not want to hire people based on the former, somewhat lenient approach. The stress test is very revealing and the new model increases the

number of good matches. 'Six years ago, people were hired because they were available and looked OK on paper. But one out of four was a bad match. We've now reduced that to one out of fifteen con-sultants'.

can spot a bad MatcHThe Senior Project Manager cannot tell by looking at a consultant whether he or she is the ideal match. But she can see if they are not.'Sometimes it's the personality. There are people in the technical field – we call them Alpha Developers – who are deeply in love with their own ideas. They're skilled, but they won't be able to fit into our team'.Just by talking to people on the phone, she

can usually tell within ten minutes if they know what they are talking about. CVs packed with education and certifications, which often conceal inadequate experience, are another red flag. 'A lot of consultants of that type think they know more than they do. They are not a good fit with our team, either', says Kartes.But technical expertise is basically what Saxo Bank is on the lookout for. If there is no fault with a consultant's professional know-ledge, the company does not let personality get in the way – barring serious personality disorders.

no sHoutingConsultants at Saxo Bank do not have a bundle of rules to follow – only general

Stacie Kartes on job interviews: 'You have to know what you're talking about, and if you don't, admit it. We dig deep to find out how good you are and we keep pushing until you can't answer any more because we want to know exactly where you are at. If you are unsure of the answer, it is better to tell the truth. If you try to pull something out of the air, you will just look foolish.


guidelines, such as absence notification before the upcoming two-week plan, frame-works for working hours, and so on. But in general, the bank relies on the consultants' professionalism.'I had a consultant upstairs who shouted at someone on another team. That is not acceptable. Naturally, we value the dedica-tion – he is clearly invested in the project – but we want to make sure their behavior is professional', says Kartes.Saxo Bank pays its consultants an hourly rate and expects a certain number of hours per project, so the bank demands persis-tence and speed. Kartes does not want to walk by a consultant's desk and see him checking out what's for sale on eBay. She does understand that everybody needs a

break and for the most part she trusts her consultants. It is when they are not deliver-ing, coming in late, leaving early and still charging her for a full working day, that she starts to wonder. Asked if she has ever experienced this, she answers with a little smile:'Yes, but those consultants are no longer with us'.

tHe bad exaMpleKartes' experience shows that motivation is the key to good consultant performance. At one point, she had hired a very experi-enced – and very expensive – CRM consult-ant. He was not happy with the work Saxo Bank assigned him. And because he was not committed, he took too long to do his

tasks, his solutions were suboptimal and they were not of especially high quality. The project manager met regularly with the con-sultant and his account manager was also involved in solving the problem The latter, naturally, had an interest in seeing that the consultant stayed with the project.'We really needed this guy to perform, but we did not want to keep investing in the consulting firm he came from if their consult-ants were unable to perform', says Kartes.Saxo Bank worked with the CRM consultant for five months, but the collaboration did not work out. 'He tried to please his consulting firm by staying, but he was not happy, and he clearly did not make us happy'.

tHe exceptional consultantThere is one consultant, however, who has made Stacie Kartes happy. ProData consult-ant Thomas Hilbert Madsen. He is techni-cally skilled, but that is not what makes him exceptional in Kartes' eyes:'His personality is just phenomenal. He is willing to learn anything. If I ask him to look at something, he says: "Yes, absolutely". He identifies problems and says: "This is wrong – should I fix it?" He takes responsibility, is very conscientious, very reliable, produces steadily and he has a very stable personality. If people get worked up, he is the calming force – and in the end, everybody's happy. In short, he is truly a fantastic consultant!'

an aggressive ManageMent style But not all consultants perform like Madsen, which Kartes has previously been quick to point out. When she came to Denmark five years ago, she had to adapt her manage-ment style.'I am much more ag-gressive. In the States, we have a tendency to differentiate. If you distinguish yourself, I recognise it; if you do not distinguish your-self, I will tell you what I am not happy with. Not everyone can handle that approach', says Kartes.The cultural differen-ces showed up clearly the first time she was responsible for bonuses in Denmark:'I gave the management my decision: These are high performers, they get higher bonuses. These are the middle performers, they get lower bonuses. These are low per-formers, they get no bonus. Management's decision was that I could not do that – everybody had to get something. I thought: "Really?"' says Kartes with a laugh.

danisH vs aMerican consultantsBut it is not only managers who do things differently in the States. American con-sultants run from job to job and have no problem slamming the doors behind them if a contract has gone wrong. Consultants in Denmark are far more invested in the busi-ness. This is a circumstance Kartes empha-sises when she is asked about differences between American and Danish consultants.'The consultancy industry is relatively small in Denmark, so people here don't burn their bridges when they are finished with a project. Consultants who have been very unhappy in previous contracts do not disparage their employers the way American consultants tend to do. In that sense, Danes

are very loyal'.On the other hand, Danish consultants are far more laid back. In the US, consultants are willing to slave away to midnight every day, get the job done and be on their way. In this respect, according to Kartes, Dan-ish consultants are more like permanent employees.'They have a job, they know what has to be done and they are efficient – but they are not really killing themselves to do it. Which is also a good thing – you have to have bal-ance in your life'.

tHe exit interviewIn Kartes' department, when a consultant contract is winding up, they often have a chat with the person to give and take feed-back about how the project and the contract went. The exit interview is instructive, since the consultants say things when they are on the way out that they would not have said

during the contract. Kartes' mentions an example from last year, when she had to lay off some consult-ants as a large project came to an end.'We had hired a whole bunch of CRM consultants to get new ideas from them, but we already had a clique of develop-ers, all of them from

the same company, and they were used to doing things in a specific way. The feedback from the CRM consultants was: "We had new ideas, but nobody would listen to us".'That feedback led to some reorganisation and to the cancellation of the contract with the consulting firm, which had until then been the primary supplier of CRM consult-ants. Kartes says:'Good feedback contributes to give some overall input into our teams and how we can improve'.

a piece of adviceThe best advice Kartes can give a consultant is that he or she should fully understand their role and make their expectations clear to the employer.'Keep the lines of communication open. It is important to ensure that your expectations are in line with ours. I expect you to speak up if something starts going off the track – especially if it is your engagement. Engagement is by far the most important parameter, if you want to stay motivated and productive'.

'I am much more aggressive. In the States, we have a ten-dency to differentiate. In the States, we have a tendency to differentiate. If you distinguish yourself, I recognise it; if you do not distinguish yourself, I will tell you what I am not happy with'.Stacie M. Kartes

Name: Stacie M. Kartes Age: 37 Company: Saxo Bank Title: Senior Project Manager

Stacie M. Kartes started as a developer at a business that makes accounting software – and which was later bought by Microsoft. She moved on to database administration and project manage-ment. Today, she is a senior project manager at Saxo Bank and works in Client Management and CRM systems.

Bluebook


based on constructive feedback from several consultants, we have put the pedal to the metal on our cv site. the process to update your cv is now clearer and easier – and new cvs become searchable at lightning speed.

By HR Manager Claus Schack, ProData Consult

We have often heard that it takes too long to fill out and update a standardised ProData CV. We have taken that in and have given our CV site a thorough overhaul. We still need precise information so that we can match the right consultant to the right project, but we have made it faster and more user-friendly to up-date and set up profiles.

Should there be a consultant or three who think it still takes too long to fill out a ProData CV, remember that we do this to protect both consultants and clients from misunderstand-ings and miscommunication – and to create the best match quickly. See the changes at your local CV site.

SOuped-up CV Site

The primary changes on the CV site:

clear status bar

MucH faster registration

preview of your prodata cv

siMpler HoMe page

clear status bar A new, always visible status bar provides a much better overview of your status on the CV site. We have also divided the CV process into three distinct steps, each with its own meas-urement. The three-part status bar provides a fast overview of the impact of missing data on your ProData profile. The three sections have the following headings: 1. Profile searchable in the system 2. CV client-ready 3. Additional data (optional) Alongside, stars indicate your progress. Red stars indicate that data are missing and green starts mean that data are complete.

MucH faster registration When new consultants register, they see only the introductory part of the CV process: 'Profile searchable in the system'. The first time round, you only need to fill out this step, which is where the most important informa-tion is found – information that allows our resource department to find your profile in the database. Afterwards, you can either choose to go on to step 2 to submit a complete ProData CV or come back later when you have more time.

siMpler HoMe page We have made the welcome page much simpler. You are now given only the following information:

•Whether we consider you actively looking for freelance work

•Whether your CV is complete

•Whether your CV needs attention

A click on 'Go to Technical CV' will either take you to the page with our update wizard if your CV needs updating, or to the next section of your ProData CV if you have not completed all steps.

preview of tHe prodata cv A lot of consultants have been asking for a preview function. We have now made it possible for you to see a preview of the final ProData CV as well as your own uploaded CV. You can see the preview on the 'CV Status & Updates' page. This is also where you will find our update wizard.

News Improved CV site!


We are used to reading from left to right but in the Arabic-speaking world, people read and write from right to left. So when an organisation wants to internationalise its web presence and provide a right-to-left language version, such as Arabic, He-brew, or Farsi, everything on the pages has to be flipped. A large Asian electronics company took up the challenge – and web designer Matthias H. Risse was hired to assist the process. Risse creates user interfaces and finds himself in the intersection among functionality, design and user friendliness. His job is to give things a good look and feel – and to advise his team.

The project involved creating a new global website for the client. Several languages were included in the internationalisation, but Arabic was the most difficult to work with. Risse replaced another senior front-end designer three months before the project was due to be released, so he had to fit into an already integrated team. Risse says: 'Arabic conversion is not very common, so it was a challenge to keep the team focused'. Such a project is big and hectic and the Arabic version might be set aside now and then because part of the team is eager to develop a new feature'.

As a front-end developer, Risse's job included getting the team to understand the importance of doing things right from the beginning and giving the Arabic site the right feel, because: 'If it feels wrong, it's bad for the brand'.

The team flipped all the pages for the right-to-left language – all details in the design from the arrow keys to video and image galleries. The job demanded great attention in the implemen-tation so it would also look right – so that Arabic users were given the same good experience as western users. Not only on the internet, but also iPhones and tablets. 'I went back and forth between the designers, business people and text writers to get the site to work. Highly skilled front-end consultants who speak Arabic are hard to find, so no one in the team spoke Arabic – which made the conversion even more challenging and time-consuming', says Risse. The team invented a translation tool tailor-made for content management, but it wasn't perfect. They still needed an Arabic partner to proofread the converted pages. 'To top things off, we had a tough deadline. Some days we ended up working for 10 or 11 hours, but project management was good and the conversion turned out just right. That will probably make the next conversion to Hebrew a lot easier'.

The client has extended Risse's contract twice since the Arabic version of the website went live.

@ CoNtaCt If you have dealt with a fascinating problem that you think your colleagues might learn from, please write to the editor: [email protected].

Matthias H. Risse, web developer/ specialist

Website in Arabic

GrEATEsTmy

challenge

Kamil Trebunia was six years old when he saw a computer for the first time, at his father's office. It was around that time he decided he wanted to work with computers when he grew up. An uncle, himself a programmer, gave Trebunia his first program-ming books when he was 12. At the same time, his uncle taught him to write programs. Trebunia says:'By the time I started second-ary school, I already under-stood code and thought like a programmer. At that point, I was most interested in creating vi-ruses and other malware, which was really juvenile – but at the time, I thought it was fun'.At university, Trebunia spent more time programming than studying for exams and he finally gave up his studies entirely to devote himself to remote work with web development and JavaScript assignments. a born freelancerThe remote projects got bigger and bigger and Trebunia happily continued freelancing. Only once has the Pole had a permanent,

on-site position – for Grono.net, then the biggest social network-ing provider in Poland. For nine months in that position, he struggled to keep his spirits up.'But a permanent job just isn't for me. I am addicted to the thrill of new projects', says Trebunia. cHose tHe 'wannabe' languageTrebunia has been a heavy-weight JavaScript developer for eight years. When he started out, back in 2004, JavaScript was considered an inferior 'wan-nabe' language, but Trebunia was carried away by the new technology. In recent years, there has been a boom in Web 2.0, Ajax and HTML5, which have made Open Web tech-nologies the fastest growing and fastest changing industry – and for Trebunia's part, the most exciting field to be in. 'Ruby has a huge community and JavaScript and HTML5-related technologies also have fantastic communities. It is such a kick to meet my contemporar-ies at various conferences. I am really happy I chose HTML5 as "my thing" – especially because

the technology is finally getting some well-deserved recognition'. paid liKe a poleAnd Trebunia is now also getting the recognition he deserves. But it hasn't always been that way. Previous employers, both from Poland and other countries, led him to believe that program-mers from Poland had to expect low pay. But in 2010, Trebunia got to know ProData Consult via a job for Nokia – and in 2011 he bagged his first assignment through the consulting firm. 'For the first time, I was seen – and paid – as a consultant on an equal footing with consultants from other countries. My contact at ProData treats me like a pro-fessional partner, and I feel I can trust him. That's a rare experi-ence for me', Trebunia says.He is also glad ProData doesn't spam him with irrelevant job offers.'ProData only offers me assign-ments that actually fit my skills'.

The former malware maker is currently a consultant with Saxo Bank.

From malware maker to JavaScript developer

Name: Kamil Trebunia Age: 27 Nationality: Polish Professional fields: Web developer, JavaScript expert and Open Web en-thusiast Experienced in: JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Spine, Sencha Ext JS, jQuery, PhoneGap, Adobe AIR, Linux, Java, Groovy on Grails, Python and Django, LAMP

Bluebook

wHen polisH KaMil trebunia started secondary scHool, He was already a talented prograMMer. He Has worKed as a freelance consultant ever since, but it is only now, on assignMent for prodata consult, tHat trebunia's pay pacKets MatcH His sKills. Consultant profile: Kamil Trebunia

we asked several consultants for their views on continuing education. generally, they all believe it is important to keep up to date via sources

including the internet, networks, seminars, articles and independent study. very few believe costly courses during working hours are the way to go, since they entail additional costs in the form of lost income. Here are a

selection of the queried consultants' answers.

Consultants have to be on the beat

How and wHy do you Keep up to date?

'Keeping up to date is a prerequisite for being a good consultant. You have to

be able to talk about a lot of things, so you should preferably have at least a basic under-standing of many technologies. We work in a

fast-moving world and the knowledge you acquired ten years ago is no longer relevant. It's also important to show that your CV and level of education are not standing still, but instead of courses during working

hours, I lean more towards single subjects at the IT University. I am working on an IT diploma programme, but if you need more flexibility,

you can take single subjects'.Thomas Juul, computer specialist

How do you Keep up to date?

'I keep up to date with inde-pendent study, primarily through

a subscription to Books24x7 and to a certain extent through information

on the net. As a tester, I have to keep abreast of development technology in or-der to optimally test the developers – it does no good if I compare their work

to the thinking of the mid 90s'. Morten Thomas, software tester

How do you find tHe tiMe and Money for

courses – and wHat do you get out of tHeM?

'I have chosen to see education as part of the consulting life, so I include the cost of courses in my expenses. Most recently, I have taken PRINCE2 Practitioner and ITIL

Foundation courses. Both were superb, and they have clearly increased my market

value. I enhance my skills at the same time through courses – and it's fun to

gather new fuel for my brain'.Pernille Seeberg Friis,

project manager

is it easier to find worK wHen you regularly

update your training?'I don't believe I am selected for my assign-

ments based on my continuing education, but if two consultants were tied at the top of the profile

heap, I personally would choose the one who is always keen to gain new knowledge. I also feel that it works

in my favour when I am talking to a potential client and right from the get-go can pull new information out of my hat and present a possible solution to their challenge. Generally, I believe consultants have to be on the beat

and updated with the latest information in order to bring novel ideas and creative, feasible and forward-

thinking solutions to the client in a competitive market. These capabilities set us apart from

offshore competitors'.Martin Rieva, software consultant


Time reporting on your smartphone

Try our new mobile website for report-ing your hours on your smartphone: iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and Symbian.

Find the mobile shortcut on your regular web based page for tracking hours. Note: This page can only be seen by ProData consultants who have – or have had – a contract with ProData Consult.

Skills in demand If you have the skills we need or know someone who does, you are invited to phone us on +45 43 43 11 71

ProData Consult is always on the lookout for heavyweight IT consultants in the following areas/skills:

platforMs.NETAS/400CICSJava EEJavaLinuxMVSQtSAPSASSymbian OSTivoliUNIX (AIX, HP, SUN …)Ubuntu VMSWindowsWindows CEWindows NT/2000/XP

MetHodsCMMI GMPITILLEANMulti threadingPRINCE2ScrumSixSigma

languages/toolsASPASP.NETJSPAXAPTAC ++C#CobolCool:GenJava JavaScriptLINQNUnitOracle DeveloperOracle DesignerPHPPL/1PL/SQLPowerBuilder

QMLSAP ABAPSAP R/3TestDirector/HP Quality CenterVisual Basic/VB.NETVisual Studio.NETWeblogicWebSphere WordPress

tecHnologies.NET3-Tier AJAXBizTalk Client/ServerEmbeddedInternet/Intranet (DHTML, FTP, HTML, HTTP, POP3, SMTP, XML, XHTML ...)SharePoint SilverLightSOA SOAPTFSWebServicesWebLogicWAP/WMLWCF

databasesAccessAdabasDB/2Microsoft SQL ServerMySQLOracleProgressSybase

business and office support applicationsMovexPapyrusQTP

Clients satisfied with quality assurance

Clients are expressing satisfaction with ProData Consult's new ongoing quality assurance of consultants.

During the six months the online qual-ity system has been tested at selected clients, feedback has been very favourable. Clients can more quickly and easily review performance and the match between the individual consultant and the project. The process gives them a much higher degree of security and satisfaction.

The new quality system also provides value to the individual consultant, who can more easily live up to the client's needs and wishes, and thus achieve good evaluations – which results in more assignments. The client's final evaluations follow the consultant, which validates his or her skills when assignments must be performed for new clients.

Clients rate their consultants from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. Right now, the average satisfaction score is 3.79.

Client satisfaction

ProData consultant websites If you are an Expert IT Consultant and interested in being part of a strong local and global network, you should get to know the ProData consultant websites.

On these websites you can apply for available projects, you can join the consultant database and you can update your CV.

Find your local website:Denmark: www.konsulenter.dkSweden: www.konsulter.net Norway: www.it-konsulenter.noPoland: www.itconsultants.plGermany: www.berater-it.deOther nationalities: www.it-consultant.com

consultant news · 10 only room for the best 4 mindset matters 8 what clients want 18 website in...

Documents