So, I’m Starting a Database Consulting Program
In June, I was hired at my present company to start up a database consulting program. The organization has been doing different types of consulting for 10 years and is really good at what it does. Over the years, they’ve also been really good at staying away from database work. You see, we work with nonprofits, and there haven’t been good tools for meeting the database needs of nonprofits. There have been plenty of tools, but none that we felt comfortable building our expertise in. Plus, if you don’t know, database projects can suck the life out of the most stalwart of individuals. They are complex, high risk, and overall quite a drag.
So if I feel that way, why in the world would I take a job starting a database consulting program?
First, this is a great team. They are smart, innovative, and really getting some great things done with clients. They crank out great work, have their eyes out a few years down the road, are loved by all, and are great dancers. I haven’t seen many openings over my years of knowing these guys, so when a job opened up, I had to go for it.
Second, it’s actually what I’m good at. I’ve been working with databases for a long time, from developing them to managing them, to coming up with requirements for them. When the job description came out, it was an eerily good fit for me.
Third, I like a challenge, especially when the pieces are in place for me to be successful. The team and their method of working, my past experience, and the goals they saw for the program all worked together to make a lot of sense. So, I jumped.
And it’s been a great 4 months (has it really only been four months???) So now I’m starting up a consulting program, which is actually a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I’ll be writing some about the process over the next few weeks. Stay tuned…
October 26th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
Gosh, so who could these amazing colleagues of yours be?
October 27th, 2005 at 8:50 am
Who is your favorite colleague? You can tell me.
October 27th, 2005 at 11:38 am
The nonprofit that I work for has a similar challenge, so it would be good to trade notes. Some of the questions that we’re trying to address are (in no particular order):
* What are the real needs of our customers that have to be addressed? What are theproblems that we don’t need to solve? How do we best determine this?
* For our line of work, is there a programatic difference between the ideas of “CRM” and “database”?
* Is it always critical to develop with OSS, or are there market-based alternatives that are available at an appropriate price?
October 27th, 2005 at 11:42 am
Those are great points, anonymous sir who is previously unknown to me. I have plans to address each of them in future posts!
October 27th, 2005 at 1:15 pm
Thank you Steve for documenting your process! You have SO MUCH good stuff to share… This will be a huge benefit to all of us trying to figure this stuff out…