May 21
Think twice before choosing the big name
IBM is a force in the world of technology consulting. While they work primarily in the rarefied air of Fortune 100 companies, we’ve encountered them as competition on smaller, local projects. Some companies prefer the name recognition and glitz of a big consulting firm. It’s the safe choice. Sometimes it works out great, other times it doesn’t. But one thing is for sure, you’ll pay a premium for choosing the big name – with no guarantee on the results. And, as Robert Cringely reports, you might end up paying a little extra.
As part of the cost cutting, IBM cut some of its billable rates to help get business. The problem is, consultants are expected to bill more and more hours to make up for the lower rates. For some (including myself), we’re expected to bill 93.5% of 2080 hours yearly. The problem is, when you factor in vacation, a sick day or two, etc, that leaves almost no spare time. What’s happening is that IBM is no longer providing training to their consultants, expecting us to pick things up on our own. This is leading to a much lower quality of work on projects. In addition, the demand for more billable hours is resulting in some ethically questionable actions. Starting four weeks before the end of each quarter, we start get emails asking us to try and bill more hours. They always include statements saying “to help improve customer satisfaction and meet deadlines”, but with a wink-wink it’s implied that you add on an extra hour or two. The resulting billable hour crunch has also led to less people exceeding or meeting their goals, leading to an overall lower yearly bonus (called variable pay). Many people are quitting IBM, and IBM is now in a hiring crunch because it can’t fill projects. The result is that they’re stuffing anyone available onto projects (regardless of skill level), again lowering the quality of our deliverables.
Filed by matt under business