See Part One here. These deadly sins are not limited to IT Consulting in Cincinnati, but everywhere. I wish that someone would have shared the list below with me earlier in my career. It might have saved me a few grey hairs and sleepless nights. I have to admit, I have been guilty of a couple of these in the past, but that’s why it’s called experience.
5. Blame it on Rio. And I am not talking about the movie, I am talking about pushing the mistake/error onto something else like, the Operating System, another consultant or worse, one of the client’s employees. While the problem could very well be any of those things, your job as a professional consultant is to find solutions and to set an example in leadership and even diplomacy. While you may see glaring errors or mistakes and perhaps your way would have been the better way to do something it is best to keep the criticism and commentary to yourself. (See #3 in Part One)
6. Bubble gum and baling wire. Many times consultants are brought in to fix something. The last thing you want to do is to take a shortcut that you aren't sure will last. Band-Aids are fine if you know you are coming back to make a more permanent fix. But eventually, those shortcuts will fail and will need further attention and the time to failure is an unknown. It could be the minute you drive away or months later. This is not the type of chance you want to take. It frustrates the client, and it makes you look bad. You also don’t want to make the client totally dependent on you. A client told me once that Peter (not the real name) is very talented; the problem is he is the only one that knows how it works and can manage it.
7. Showing up, Gotta Go. (AKA I gotta hangnail). Once you’re on a gig, most clients want to see you on some sort of regular basis and some might have a “core hours” expectation. It’s important for both the client and the consultant to know what each should expect. I once heard a client make a comment about another consultant that went something like this: “Larry(not the real name) runs out of here all the time and uses sickleave for a hang nail!”
Here is another list that has some similar ideas here. I’m sure there are others. So go forth and sin no more!
Seems like it has been a while since I have had a chance to do a post. For the last 3 weeks things have been absolutely crazy in our IT consulting world, but in a good way. We had a chance to go to the 


What do those 3 words have in common? They are certainly 3 words that you usually don’t use in a single conversation, let alone a single sentence. But in this day and age, maybe we should. Let me ask the question this way: 
If you're looking for a way to save some money in the tough economy, you may want to look for some help from an IT staffing firm. Beyond typical staffing assistance, most IT staffing companies also employ IT consultants and software designers who can all combine to save you money, increase productivity, and increase your efficiency.
I’m on the advisory board of Xavier University’s IT section. At our meeting yesterday, I had an opportunity to meet with several of the students that are in the MIS program. One of the things that came up several times was the condition of Cincinnati IT jobs. The students are looking for either internships or jobs when they graduate this May.
I read today that unemployment has risen to 7.6%. Yes, its official – we are in a recession. However, that does not mean there isn’t opportunity because there is. If everyone believed everything the press is saying our economy does not have a chance and the United States is going to cease to exist.