GOOD business related templates for IT consultants wanted - leads

[thirdlegstump]

Not really looking for cheap or free ones although if it's good enough, I'll take a look at it. I'm looking for professional level templates for a small IT consulting business targeting small to medium sized businesses. A complete "IT consultant" business template "package" is what I'm really looking for.

What's most important is that most of the ones I see are either way too in depth and loses that "personal" touch that small businesses want or are simply too unprofessional. I'm looking for something in-between to cover the bases while still making it easy for non law school grads to understand (including our own staff!)

The idea behind it is to provide an outsourced IT staff for a variety of small businesses. Basically the outsourced staff will cover everything like website management and consultant management, systems planning, design, implementation, maintenance, end user support etc.

The business and clients are actually already there but would like to expand and protect the business assets providing clear and cut policies to the clients.


Templates I'm looking for but not limited to:

Business

IT consulting business models

IT "outsource service plans"

Service contracts

Liability protection


Technical

Network audit procedures

Project proposals

Systems management

Data management

Disaster recovery

Backup

etc.



Any ideas? Pointers?

 

[thirdlegstump]

Not many entrepreneurs around here I take it..

 

[Descartes]

As the owner of a small IT firm for six years now, I can say that you're asking for a tall order. There are no "templates" for much of what you ask, and even if there were they wouldn't be comprehensive enough for any specific use. It takes years to build a solid process, let alone all the necessary artifacts one might need to take on projects. We still revise ours and come up with new documents for almost every project.

Your best bet is to look around for samples or IEEE templates, but the IEEE templates are again rather specific and don't cover everything you're asking. There are also things you're forgetting like RFPs, requisition documents for resources, etc.

If you were thinking it was as easy as just asking for a collection of templates and then running a business you're probably going to be in for a lot of surprises.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Originally posted by: Descartes
As the owner of a small IT firm for six years now, I can say that you're asking for a tall order. There are no "templates" for much of what you ask, and even if there were they wouldn't be comprehensive enough for any specific use. It takes years to build a solid process, let alone all the necessary artifacts one might need to take on projects. We still revise ours and come up with new documents for almost every project.

Your best bet is to look around for samples or IEEE templates, but the IEEE templates are again rather specific and don't cover everything you're asking. There are also things you're forgetting like RFPs, requisition documents for resources, etc.

If you were thinking it was as easy as just asking for a collection of templates and then running a business you're probably going to be in for a lot of surprises.

Well I know that. I've been doing it for just as long and actually quite successful in that I'm 27 and live in a rather expensive townhouse yadayadayada etc. but that's besides the point.

To be a little more precise, the templates I'm looking for are "industry standard" consulting practices used to gain bigger clients and projects to promote growth in the company. In the past I didn't have 'set' sets of rules to manage clients and projects and was more ad hoc in my approach to small business clients. It will still be this way of course but by having official standards compliant policies and procedures familiar to the bigger clients, I'd gain trust and get my feet in to the bigger corporate game.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: deathkoba

Originally posted by: Descartes
As the owner of a small IT firm for six years now, I can say that you're asking for a tall order. There are no "templates" for much of what you ask, and even if there were they wouldn't be comprehensive enough for any specific use. It takes years to build a solid process, let alone all the necessary artifacts one might need to take on projects. We still revise ours and come up with new documents for almost every project.

Your best bet is to look around for samples or IEEE templates, but the IEEE templates are again rather specific and don't cover everything you're asking. There are also things you're forgetting like RFPs, requisition documents for resources, etc.

If you were thinking it was as easy as just asking for a collection of templates and then running a business you're probably going to be in for a lot of surprises.

Well I know that. I've been doing it for just as long and actually quite successful in that I'm 27 and live in a rather expensive townhouse yadayadayada etc. but that's besides the point.

What's an expensive townhouse have to do with anything? It's not an indication of anything other than you live in a [relatively] expensive townhouse.

To be a little more precise, the templates I'm looking for are "industry standard" consulting practices used to gain bigger clients and projects to promote growth in the company. In the past I didn't have 'set' sets of rules to manage clients and projects and was more ad hoc in my approach to small business clients. It will still be this way of course but by having official standards compliant policies and procedures familiar to the bigger clients, I'd gain trust and get my feet in to the bigger corporate game.

I better understand you now, but I still caution you against your thinking. You're essentially asking for an almost prescriptive method by which you can generate, land and support leads. This simply doesn't exist, and if it does it will be so inflexible that, as I said in my first post, it will be absolutely worthless.

Every client is different. I'm sure you know this. I have a different process for every client I have, and in some cases it's so dramatic in its ceremony that I often spend more time conforming to it than actually doing worthwhile business (that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea).

My advice is this: Learn the principles, forget the ceremony. Building a collection of usable documents take time, and you won't find templates to be of much help, especially considering no such thing really exists for everything you've described. If you're looking for a vision document that might be a part of some Unified Process (like RUP in Software) then you can find that easily enough. Technical Specs? Sure. How to negotiate contracts, projects, requirements, proposals, statements of work, RFPs, RFIs, requisition notices, ad infinitum... not so much.

All that said, you might want to look at ITIL, CMM and similar. You'll find IEEE, ISO, etc. references that might be of help. I personally feel that's the wrong path, and you'll find yourself drowning in process and not actually delivering anything of actual value to you or your client, but it might be a start.

Good luck. FWIW, I've read through probably a few hundred proposals in my time, some from competitors, and there's nothing consistent among them. Everyone has their own process until the point of actually delivering the service, and it's usually how well you engage in that process that ultimately determines whether or not you actually get the project. One thing is certain though, encumber the client with too many documents and formality and you'll likely lose their patience... and their business.

My tuppence! PM me if you want to talk further.