The latest Standish Report (CHAOS Summary 2009) says project success has fallen dramatically – only 32% of projects are on time, on budget and deliver all required features and functions.

Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group says “44% were challenged, which are late, over budget and/or with less than the required features and functions, and 24% failed, which are cancelled prior to completion or delivered and never used”

This Information highlights the importance of engaging the right consultants when starting a new project. Engaging a company that says all the right things, but can’t deliver, can lead to the failure of the project, or lead to delays, cost over-runs, or quality issues.

This is relevant to not only the Project Managers engaged, but also to other experts brought in for different stages of the project. Selecting the wrong engineering or legal firms, training providers, IT Consultants etc… can lead to bad advice and mistakes, which often results in rework or delays. So the engagement of the right providers throughout the project is essential for getting the best outcome.

Currently, due to the time poor nature of staff, organisations will generally only speak with 4 or 5 companies before selecting who they go with, as they don’t have the time to search for and contact 10+ companies. The alternative was to go to tender, but this is both time consuming and costly. In speaking with only 4-5 companies, they can only compare between those few, and while the best may be good, there could be many other companies that are better, that they haven’t spoken to.

Over the last decade the web has increased the ability to find information, but even with all the search engines and directories, the onus has still been on the buyer to do the searching.

But recently, business-to-business sites have popped up that are more buyer centric, and that allow the buyers to simply canvas the market to find the best company for their requirements. One of these sites is ExpertMagnet.com. This site saves the buyer time and effort by allowing them to post a request/project, and receive tailored responses from companies that want to do the work. They can then review the responses, shortlist the best to speak with, and select who to use from there.

The big advantages of sites like this (Trade Connect is another) is that the initial posting is sent to all the companies that match your requirements, both in terms of expertise and geographical service area. So instead of only 4 or 5 companies, you canvas the whole market, and get in front of companies you’ve never heard of, but that might be a perfect match.

Relevant Links:

The Standish Group – http://www.standishgroup.com/
Expert Magnet – http://www.expertmagnet.com/
Service Central – http://www.tradeconnect.com.au