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Consultancy
Consultancy is one aspect of the profession of information architect.
ABIO knows the market of the professional information architect like no
other. Why not use this expertise?
Consultancy and feed-back on the information architecture from an
outsider is a necessity for any organization from time to time. They
call in assistance of experienced people whom they employ for a certain
period to put matters in order. Information architects are professionals
who will exert a profound influence on your organization, that can be
felt long after their departure. You will therefore want to go through
this process with all possible care and scrutiny.
There are two possibilities for finding an information architect. You
can choose to hire the expertise of a large well-known supplier or an
independent information architect. Of course, there are advantages and
disadvantages to either possibility. Engaging a supplier can bind you to
the (im)possibilities of the system house in further developments. These
people also have the interests of their own company to consider and you
as their customer know this very well. However, you do expect from these
information architects that they help you with a number of strategic
choices. You are in search of independent advice to your organization.
Although they are well trained and very skilled you will not get
entirely objective advice. By far most knowledge is contained in ones
own methods of further development and, naturally, information
architects working in the broad ' front trajectory ' are trained at
commercial activities.
Choosing for an independently consultancy company active as information
architects can cause other problems. We frequently hear the complaint:
"You don't know what you get for your money when hiring an independent
consultant!" This is a realistic observation as well. Independent
information architects will try to sell themselves (or the consultants
they employ) and you will never exactly be informed concerning the
possibilities and impossibilities of hiring this particular person.
Commercial interests are present in this case as well, and the choice
for such information architects knows a clear risk.
An information architect at a system house gets evaluations regularly,
which encourages development and/or enforces skills. 'Independent
architects', due to this independence, do their own evaluations. A
polished CV and a touch of persuasiveness can produce even larger risks;
so how to deal with this?
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