Advice and projects
Automation, projects and a second opinion
Beside my two main services I help with three kinds of question: recurring manual work that should become a reliable process, a project that needs structure or a restart, and a choice or a quote you want reviewed. The same approach throughout: I listen first, then say plainly what fits and what does not.
Automation
Manual steps and shadow spreadsheets that cost time and eventually fail. I turn recurring work into a dependable process. Where loose scripts fall short, I build the web or mobile application around it: analysed, scripted, documented, and handed back without dependency on me.
Read more about Automation
- Custom web application development
A custom web application built for one process that now runs on spreadsheets and email. When bespoke beats off-the-shelf, and what belongs in version one.
- Business app development, iOS & Android
Business apps for iOS and Android: the app versus web decision, native or cross-platform, offline working, store publication and a clean handover.
- Process and workflow automation
Automating manual work without cementing a bad process. Process automation that starts with an honest map of how the work runs today, not with tooling.
- Connecting systems: APIs and integrations
Connect two systems so nobody retypes data: API, file exchange or message queue, with error handling and monitoring you can see for yourself.
- Automating recurring admin tasks
Automating recurring admin tasks with small, documented scripts: exports, reports and checks. A short engagement of one or two days, source code included.
Programme & project support
Interim project or programme management, or recovery of an engagement that is at risk. I bring structure without re-engineering the organisation.
Read more about Programme & project support
- Hiring an interim IT project manager
An interim IT project manager for a project or programme that needs running now: the mandate agreed up front, a fixed reporting rhythm, a handover that holds.
- Recovery of a stalled IT project
Your IT project has stalled. I take the wheel: stabilise first, replan second, repair the relationship with your supplier, and say when stopping is wiser.
- PMO design and steering-group reporting
PMO design right-sized for an SME: one plan, a decision log, a risk log and a steering-group pack that follows from the source, not from a manual round-up.
- Risk and stakeholder analysis
Risk and stakeholder analysis for an IT project: risks with a named owner, a risk log that stays alive, and a clear view of who can stop the project.
Advisory review
Sometimes what you need isn't a full engagement, but someone to think along for an hour to a few days. Validate a choice, review a proposal, walk through an approach. Shorter and cheaper than a full engagement.
Read more about Advisory review
- Second opinion on a running IT project
An independent second opinion on a running IT project: what is really going on, which options are left and what each one costs. No stake in the outcome.
- Review a supplier proposal before you sign
Have an IT proposal reviewed before you sign: assumptions, exclusions, pricing model, the five-year cost and the exit clause. Independently assessed.
- Architecture review of a technical design
An independent architecture review: your technical design assessed against your real constraints, your budget and the people who have to run it later.
- Sparring session with an IT adviser
One paid conversation of an hour to an hour and a half about an IT question. What fits into it, how to prepare, and why it may lead nowhere.
A question that fits here?
A short introductory call is free of obligation. I listen first and tell you honestly whether your question fits.