The project management consultant: when and why should you use his services?

When deploying complex IT projects requiring the intervention of several actors, it is essential to succeed in accurately translating the needs expressed and responding to them accurately. This is the central role of the AMOA consultant.

When exactly should you seek the expertise of this professional? And what will be the added value of his intervention for your company? Here is an overview of the missions and assets of the AMOA consultant.

 

What is a project management consultant?

The Project Management Assistance (AMOA) consultant is an external professional who supports organizations in the implementation of an IT project. He is responsible for make the link between the project owner (the project sponsor, i.e. the customer or the end user) and the project manager or project manager (the technical service provider or IT team responsible for implementing the solution).

Indeed, during a large-scale digital project, one of the major challenges is related to the complexity of the exchanges between the stakeholders and the understanding of mutual needs.

The role of the project management consultant is to help the project owner identify its needs, formalize them and translate them with the project manager. Thanks to this position of intermediary between the two players and his crossed perspective, he will be able to convey expectations in a language intelligible to IT service providers.

In this way, he ensures that the solution implemented meets the requirements defined upstream. His missions also include the coordination of the various stakeholders, the management of the budget and the schedule, the identification of functional specifications, the drafting of the specifications, the supervision of acceptance tests and the processing of anomalies…

 

When to call on an AMOA consultant?

The project management assistance consultant can intervene for all types of digital transformation projects, of which here are some examples:

• Installation or update of an HRIS (Human Resources Information System);
• Implementation of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning);
• Implementation of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management);
• Cloud migration;
• Creation or redesign of a website, mobile application or software;
• Digitalization and optimization of business processes ;
• …

It is advisable to seek the expertise of the project management consultant as early as possible, but the latter is able to intervene regardless of the level of maturity of the IT project.

 

Calling on a project management consultant: what are the advantages?

Here are the main advantages of seeking the expertise of the project management consultant:

• Ensure the success of the IT project

The AMOA consultant has the particularity of being endowed with multidisciplinary skills, both technical and business: understanding of the functioning of an information system, IT knowledge, project management, agile management, understanding of the targeted business, etc. He or she is also equipped with a wide range of managerial skills: listening, adaptability, leadership skills, organization, etc. These allow him to ensure the success of the project and the perfect alignment between the solution deployed and the needs expressed.

In addition, with its proven project management methodologies, it ensures the delivery of the solution on time and within budget constraints.

 

• A neutral and external player

Thanks to his neutral posture and his external vision, the AMOA consultant will also be able to identify more easily the flaws as well as the areas for improvement that would be more difficult to perceive internally. Its impartiality also allows it to play a role of mediator between the project owner and the project manager and to facilitate exchanges between these two actors.

 

• An ability to drive change

Beyond the operational success of the project, the project management consultant has the ability to offer real change support. It can thus identify the Resistance to change, train and prepare users for the new solution and put in place strategies to facilitate the adoption of the new tools and processes deployed. Aware of the latest digital developments, he will also be able to deliver in-depth strategic advice to help the company identify the solution and functionalities tailored to their needs and the specific nature of their businesses.