Project Management : Project Management is essential to every business. Why ? In today's competitive market companies know that in order to compete they must minimise operational risk and complete projects on time and within budget. What are Project Controls ? Why do we need them? Through proper planning and use of baseline performance measures, we can take control of the project to keep it on track ... Things like productivity and cost can be measured while managing the project scope and schedule. Have you ever been involved in a project that has encountered change? Did you feel in control? Changes on projects are common.  At times, some companies just hope they aren't being taken advantage of  while others know that they have to take someone else's word for it .... But, there are alternatives and we can help show you what they are. Our consultants are experienced in project management methodology (Prince II and IBM MITP) and have delivered both large and small projects throughout the world. Management Controls : Are you managing the IT within your company to the best of your ability? When did you last check that the backup you take (every day) can actually be restored to your computer in times of disaster? It doesn't matter whether you only have a few PC's or if you have mainframes and huge international networks, you have certain tasks that must be run daily, weekly, monthly or yearly to ensure that your operation is running smoothly, with reduced risk, higher performance and availability and that it complies to both internal and external audit requirements. We document the IT processes you have, advise where they should be improved (or where they are lacking), set up a process to ensure that the activities are performed in accordance to your responsibilities to your customers, to your shareholders, to your employees and in accordance to the law. You are left with a IT Management Control binder that contains all your processes and the signatures of those staff who carry out the activities within the processes and when they were performed. It can be handed at any time to an auditor to show best practice is being employed. Strategy : Just as you have a Business Plan for your whole business, an Information Strategy is a plan for the technology within your business. Assess the Project Before embarking on any IT project it is essential to assess that project in the context of your broader Information Strategy. This is crucial to maximise the return on your technology investment, effectively target corporate goals, and ensure cohesion of information systems within your organisation. Successful eBusiness solutions need to consider business goals, marketing and customer service. Development Using our business and IT skills and experience, The Consulting Network can assist in the development of a formal Information Strategy for your organisation. Structured workshops are conducted with staff and management. These are not workshops about technology, but discussions about the information you need to run your business now, and the information that you would like to have to develop your business in the future. The Consulting Network will prepare a consulting report detailing your Information Strategy. Future information and technology decisions can then be made in context with the Strategy, ensuring that you achieve maximum value from your IT budget, and extract the maximum business benefit from your systems. Business Continuity Planning (Disaster Recovery) : There are many risks that may threaten your organisation by disrupting your business processes. These risks include traditional emergencies like fires, floods, earthquakes and storms as well as risks from computer viruses, computer and telecommunications failures, theft or even employee sabotage. Any one of these can be very damaging for your business. Minimising disruptions and the resulting financial loss or loss of reputation during even minor events is the challenge that Business Contingency Planning addresses. Accident prevention, impact analysis, safety & security, contingency planning, disaster recovery and  risk control are all areas that must form part of your business contingency plan. The Consulting Network can analyse your present position, identify the risks, make plans to avoid the dangers you might face and suggest the actions you can undertake to mitigate the losses that a disaster might bring. Document Image Processing : Drowning in paper ? Need documents available at your finger tips at the click of a mouse. Not sure where to start? Our consultants have delivered document imaging solutions for small doctors surgeries with only three workstations up to corporate insurance companies with thousands of workstations on different continents. The success of a document imaging project relies on the quality of the software, the reliability of the computer hardware and most importantly the design and processes that link documents to people. Our services include the evaluation of suppliers, the benefits of their software to you, the underlying computing hardware that will host the software, hold the images securely and allow fast retrieval. The management and integration of all the components, fit of those components within your organisation and the training of your staff to accept and benefit from this technology requires good management, but it has to be good management with a view to what is possible with document imaging technology. Talk us through your ideas and we will help you build a plan to implement them.