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Like all good business ideas, the basis of consulting firm, Customer Systems, is so simple as to appear glaringly obvious. "I had been working for some of the major players in the software industry for over eighteen years, when I realised that there was a definite gap in the market that a new consultancy could plug." explains the company's founder and managing director, Steve Austen.
"Most software companies are focused on sales and, while they may have implementation arms, this isn't usually their main strength, so a lot of key implementation work is outsourced to third parties. However most of these third parties are generalists, who cover a wide range of software, and consequently cannot provide the sort of service that end-users are looking for. What seemed to be needed was a consulting firm that would specialise in a small range of products that they knew inside out and to which they were totally committed; something that nobody else was doing at the time." And so, in February 1998, Customer Systems was born.
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No staff, no partners, no clients
Although the firm began with neither clients nor software partners, Steve embarked on recruiting a high quality team and quickly struck up a deal with US software house Siebel, who were just beginning to move into Europe. "Not that this was the end of our problems as the alliance with Siebel didn't guarantee us any customers, so I was in the office at 7:30 every morning ringing Siebel sales people on their mobiles to persuade them to recommend us to clients. Just as I was starting to get worried, two contracts came through on the same day, and we haven't looked back since."
A blue-chip client base
From a standing start in 1998, Customer Systems has now established itself as the leading specialist consulting firm for software produced by Siebel Systems and a number of reporting/analytics products and has developed an impressive blue-chip client base which encompasses such names as Merrill Lynch, Axa, JP Morgan, Unilever, Prudential, BT, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Reuters. Headquartered in Chertsey on the outskirts of Greater London, the firm undertakes work in 30 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and North America and is planning to invest futher in its New Jersey office to keep up the momentum of growth.
"Our success has been built on providing a software consultancy service that really is second to none," says Steve, "working with end users, other consultants and even people from the software developers themselves. And it's no exaggeration to say that the only thing that holds us back is being able to recruit enough individuals who match up to the high standard we've set ourselves and that our customers have come to expect."
Developing industry experts
"So what is Customer Systems looking for in new recruits and what has it got to offer in return?"
"First of all we look for good academic ability - either a 2.1 or a first from a major university or, with undergraduates, a reasonable expectation of this, backed up by good 'A' level grades. On top of that you should have done at least some programming and be confident that you have a natural flair for it.
"The work that our consultants do is around 75% technical and 25% communicating with clients over the requirements, which means that about three quarters of your time will be spent dealing with the system rather than with people. However, getting the remaining people-orientated 25% right is absolutely essential, because that's where the real problems in a system can begin. Remedying a technical problem is relatively easy, but if a customer is misunderstood or loses faith in you, the whole relationship can break down. Consequently our people need to be much more than classic 'techies'. They need strong interpersonal and commercial skills as well."
"We might expect a lot, but the training and experience we provide is quite simply unique," continues Steve. "The way we train people is very different from the way other firms operate, but very effective. There is very little 'chalk and talk' - instead we focus on a series of exercises of ascending complexity culminating in real-life case studies of the sort you would face in the workplace. The teacher to pupil ratio is also particularly low - typically one trainer to every two recruits rather than one to ten or even twenty in many other organisations. This sort of intensive preparation means that a new consultant will be on-site and capable of solving complex problems within four to six weeks and within six months will know as much about the software and its commercial application as anyone in the industry - even the people who developed it in the first place!"
Bringing out potential
"We believe that we are providing our people with the best training available and with the most interesting, challenging work. However, what's perhaps most important is the fact that we are providing them with the opportunity to develop fully their potential and to take on as much responsibility as they think they can handle. When I first started out I was constantly frustrated at being told I was too young to run projects, to deal with clients, to manage teams and I swore that I would never hold people of talent back in the same way. That's the key to the way we work. If you are ambitious, determined and committed, we'll bring out potential that you never knew you had."
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