---

The first part of this article explored the management of resources, costs, and space involved in planning for work to be done by an external resource, whether on or off the customer's site. This second part covers the impact of the type of work to be done, company culture, and current market factors.

Type of Work
This is one of the major factors in deciding whether work is best done on a customer's site or remotely. Some tasks are best done in person. Others are best done far, far away.

For example, gathering requirements by interviewing people is best done in person. It can be done by telephone or videoconference to some extent, but the bigger this task is, the more difficult it becomes to do remotely. It's useful to see people's expressions as questions are asked and answered, because sometimes puzzled expressions or other reactions aren't picked up if you can't clearly see faces.

Opposite examples are programming or documentation. These two tasks typically require quiet and concentration and are best done without distractions. Making a phone call or sending an e-mail with the occasional question should be sufficient contact with the outside world if the requirements and supporting information are properly gathered.

Company Culture
Another major factor is the culture of the company for which the work is being done. Some companies have a culture of people working independently. Others have a work culture where people sit next to each other and cannot function unless they can turn to another person to ask questions directly.

Let me give an example of what I mean by this. I had two large corporate customers with whom I was splitting my time 50-50. Both teams in the two companies were doing similar work--requirement gathering, documentation, that sort of thing.

At Customer A's site, each team member worked in either a different building or on different floors if they worked in the same building. They were used to calling or e-mailing each other if they needed something. To have a meeting, they would have conference calls, even though they were in the same city. They saw little need in having an outside consultant work on-site, except for occasional visits.

At Customer B's site, team members worked in close proximity to one another. As employees changed teams, they were moved to the physical location of their new team. If there were gaps in the cubicles left between team members that were needed by another team, they would be moved so that teams would have adjoining offices. Outside consultants would occasionally work off-site on specific projects that didn't require any team interaction, but if the team needed to work at all with the outside consultant, such interaction was successful only if the consultant sat among them.

Both teams seemed equally efficient. Which was the best system, then? Each team found a way to work that best suited them and got the job done.

The Market
The job market will affect whether consultants are available to come to a customer's site. In the LIMS world, there are few circumstances where the external consultant is local. So, this can be a significant factor in the decision.

Put another way, few people really want to travel for business, if given a choice. In fact, there are some consultants in the LIMS industry that absolutely will not travel for projects. When the market is good, there are more opportunities to find work that doesn't require travel. When the market is not as good, there are fewer opportunities of any type, which means that consultants are more likely to take whatever projects are offered; i.e., they are more likely to be willing to travel and work on a customer's site, if that is required.

The difficulty, then, is understanding the current market. It's not as easy as picking up an IT report, because the LIMS market doesn't necessarily follow the same cycles. Nor can you ask people in the industry because we always say something to the effect of "things are great."

So, how can you find out current market conditions, then? Well, you can't. If you're just not finding outside resources easily or if you're finding only low quality resources, you might consider that the market is "good," and on-site consultants are less available. Of course, in a really hot market, the travel issue may not be the only factor preventing you from finding the resource(s) you need.

Conclusion
The point is that, after considering all the issues, including culture, cost, type of task, and any other factor important to the project, in the end, it's all about getting the work done and done well within the appropriate time frame. As long as that is the end product, the right choice was made.

---

---