Professional ethics of consultants in the process

Professional ethics of "consultants" in the process of informatization

what is the professional ethics of "consultants" and "implementation consultants"

with the whirlwind of informatization blowing harder and harder in China, more and more people are engaged in the informatization industry. "Consulting" and "implementation consulting" have become a new profession, attracting a large number of compound talents who understand it technology and have relevant professional knowledge to join them

however, can "consultant" and "implementation consultant" be called a "profession"? Today, there seems to be a lot of controversy in the construction of ERP, CRM, e-government and other information projects. Most of the time, "consultant" only represents a job and a post. It does not represent the professional impression of professional standards and standards like lawyers, certified public accountants and other professions. For example, when referring to lawyers, people think of the image of "honesty and trustworthiness, diligence and responsibility", "based on facts and based on law"; When it comes to certified public accountants, people think of the image of "prudence", professionalism, "independence, objectivity and impartiality"

What's more, describe our "consultant" "Implementation consultant":

* a set of solutions (no matter the size of the enterprise or the depth of the application, I am all a product portfolio)

* two faces (DOC version printing and packaging, PPT version demonstration and explanation, just replace the enterprise name)

* phase III plan (the easy to do is in phase I, the difficult to do is in phase II, and the third phase is basically invisible)

* four point analysis (industry analysis, enterprise analysis, mostly confused SWOT analysis)

* 50% off the starting price (unable to reflect the value of products and services, the shot is "ultra-low")

* six weeks of completion (only success will not fail, chest thumping, absolutely fast completion)

* seven days of full attendance (there is no way to work, there is no way to solve problems, overtime is quite professional)

* attack on eight sides (the ass is not hot, the bell rings, there are too many customers, consultants are really busy)

* it is difficult to deliver for a long time (after implementation, there is no plan, less communication, and the product cannot run down and cannot be accepted)

* it's really out of spectrum (how can such consultants be reliable in the hearts of customers for informatization projects?)

why is this? Because the profession of information consulting is indeed not as professional as lawyers and certified public accountants

generally, when we say that a job is a "profession", it has several meanings: first, it contains an existing relatively independent and complete knowledge system; Second, it contains an existing relatively mature and recognized code of ethics; China Zhongwang has continuously launched high value-added aluminum processing products. Third, it includes an existing evaluation and certification agency for the above two. Such as lawyers, certified public accountants, internal auditors and other professions are respected, in addition to their complete knowledge system and mature examination and certification system, what is more important is that they all have a mature and recognized professional ethics system. Therefore, in order for "consultants" to play a greater and better role in the process of informatization, they must establish their professional image of integrity and professionalism; To create a professional image of honesty and professionalism, we must start with the professional ethics of "consultants"

then, what is the professional ethics of "consulting" and "implementation consulting"? In the process of providing customers with Jinan experimental machine factory Jinan new era Gold Testing Instrument Co., Ltd. wishes users a happy new year. Information technology consulting, implementation and other services will directly or indirectly affect the interests of some stakeholders. How to maintain a balance among these stakeholders, and how to maximize their respective interests without affecting the interests of other stakeholders, It is the "professional ethics" that information consultants should follow. It should include the basic requirements, or general principles, for information consultants; Requirements for professional competence and technology of information technology consultants; Information consultant's to customers; For the company in which he works; For peers, etc. The specific analysis is as follows:

basic principles, or general principles

1. Integrity, honesty, and impartial treatment of relevant stakeholders

these are the basic elements for the profession of information consulting to be respected. Only by treating clients, companies and peers fairly (usually referred to as competitors in our highly competitive industry) and ensuring independent personality can the profession of consultants become a respected "profession". Cheating customers in order to win contracts, harming the interests of the company for personal interests, and maliciously slandering peers in order to win in the competition are all taboos for professionals engaged in information technology consulting

2. Do not support customers' requirements for fraud (in most cases, individual personnel of the customer unit)

customers may require information technology consultants to provide them with "fraud" services for various reasons, such as requiring information technology consultants to assist them in adjusting sales data for the purpose of tax evasion; Adjust income, profit and efficiency indicators to meet the requirements of performance appraisal; Adjust or forge quality records or operation records in order to meet the regulatory requirements of the industry. Information consultants must not be forced to provide such services under temporary pressure, let alone actively recommend such services in order to attract customers

professional competence and technical requirements

1. Constantly enrich your professional knowledge and skills, maintain and improve professional competence

the scope of informatization work is very wide, which may involve knowledge in many fields such as it technology, management methods, project control, etc. These fields are precisely the fastest-growing and disruptive knowledge fields in our era. No matter what the background and ability, information consultants cannot stop learning new knowledge and improving their knowledge structure. When we can't keep up with the pace of knowledge development, it is the day to quit the profession of "information consultant". Seeing those consultants who still stay in the era of local area and MIS system, it's no wonder that customers say that our profession is not professional enough

2. Don't make commitments beyond your ability

the ability of every company and everyone is limited. It's not terrible to admit that you can't do anything. What can be photographed is "over commitment" or "being fat". Before accepting the entrustment of customers or the task of the company, you must fully evaluate your ability to avoid harming others and yourself. This doesn't mean that you can't accept a task as a challenge, but that when you meet the challenge, you must have full preparation and strong backing. At the same time, don't overestimate the probability of success, and don't be too optimistic about describing uncertain things to customers

3. Be dutiful, fully plan, and solve problems by professional means rather than taking the place of others

some work needs to be done by consultants themselves, and more work requires consultants to pass on knowledge to users through training, guidance and other means, which can be operated and completed by them. Everything is not professional, nor can it be said to be responsible for customers. Distinguishing responsibilities, making plans, fully communicating, and focusing on process and key technical issues to ensure the successful operation of the project and generate benefits are the professional means for consultants to solve problems

to the customer

1. Tell the customer the facts completely and objectively, trust the customer's judgment ability

tell the customer the truth of the matter, and don't filter out the information because you are worried that the customer's choice is inconsistent with your judgment. On the premise of a clear description of the current situation, introduce the feasibility, advantages and disadvantages of the scheme, and leave the decision-making power to the customer. When introducing information solutions, we should not only inform the investment income of each scheme, but also inform the risk of each scheme; In the specific implementation of the system, we should not only inform the advantages of deepening and refining management, but also inform the customers of the corresponding operation complexity and workload growth

in order to be responsible for the client's unit, as well as the members of the client's project team and specific users, the consultant should also objectively inform the enterprise of their attitude towards informatization, the degree of support for informatization work, and the impact of informatization projects, so that the client's managers can know well

2. Treat the data and name of the client correctly

first, the consultant has the obligation to keep the client's data confidential and shall not disclose the trade secrets obtained in the work; Let alone use the trade secrets obtained from work to obtain illegal benefits

secondly, clearly define industry knowledge and customer proprietary data. For the content common to the industry, it can be used in product introduction, demonstration and publicity, which also causes a part of waste transmission materials, but it needs to be adjusted accordingly

finally, the use of customer names in promotional materials or other materials should be approved by customers and be realistic. The description of customers' application and service satisfaction should be objective

for the employees of the company,

1. Be sure that the information-based projects undertaken match the company's products and services.

every company providing information-based products and services has its established target customer groups, as well as the limitations of its solutions and service capabilities. Sometimes, sparing no effort to strive for the project is not necessarily in line with the overall interests of the company. Therefore, when undertaking the project, it is necessary to objectively analyze the conformity of the company's products and services and the profitability of the project. When unable to grasp this problem, the consultant has the obligation to inform his superiors and even the company managers of his own analysis

2. Be sure that the services provided to customers are in line with the interests of the company

in many cases, the service needs of customers, the service ability of consultants, and the service scope of the company are not completely consistent. Then, when providing services to clients, consultants must consider the question: is this project a free project promised by the company? Is it a paid service provided by the company? If the company has not provided it before, but the customer needs it and the consultant is able to provide it, does the company allow the consultant to carry out new service projects? If the company does not provide it, does the company's policy allow consultants to trade with clients to provide this service

3. Clearly define what is your own knowledge and what is the knowledge of the company

as a knowledge intensive industry, practitioners have a lot of relevant knowledge, which is of great value to the company, customers, consultants and peers. We must clearly distinguish the ownership of knowledge. Generally, the knowledge achievements produced in the implementation of the company's tasks should belong to the company. For example, the behavior of submitting the "XX enterprise informatization solution" to the public station is debatable, even if the solution has been used; For some derivative knowledge based on the company's products and services, the attribution of its results should be used with the consent of the company. For example, the "tips for using XX Software" or "core technology analysis of XX system" should be carefully published; Those work experience summary, thinking about an objective problem and amateur research may be inspired and thought from work, but because they are not closely related to the company's products and services, they can be used independently as their own knowledge achievements

for peers,

1. Never support piracy

do not support piracy includes three aspects: first