Services
Ad-hoc consultancy, scoped to what you actually need.
Some engagements take an hour or a few days, others run for months.
Most of my clients have stayed with me well beyond the first piece
of work, and I've been helping some of them since 2014.
Data migration
Platform changes · Mergers and acquisitions support
Migrations go wrong in the gap between what the old system stored and what the new one expects. I map that gap before anything moves, so you find out about the problems in a test run rather than on go-live day.
May include:
- Extraction and cleansing of the source data
- Integration management and database configuration changes
- Trial loads, reconciliation and testing
- Full project management, including areas I'm not personally working on
Data cleansing & tidy up
"Unmanageable" screens fixed · "Broken" reports functioning.
Duplicate customers, 1000s of open purchase orders and sales orders, meter readings not importing, crazy figures in profit reports, costs not reflecting reality, manual invoices being raised because the contract was never set up correctly, and countless hours of manual admin to fix a problem that could be resolved in a couple of hours if someone had the time to do it this month.
May include:
- System health check and review meeting
- Duplication & stale record detection and merge & remove strategy
- Automation options discussed and ongoing data problems fixed on the spot
- Training and internal processes implemented to stop the same mess accumulating again
Reporting and data analysis
Profitability · Service performance · Sales tools
Most of my clients are sitting on more than enough data. The difficulty is trusting it, and then turning it into something a director, service manager, or salesperson can actually make a decision from. I understand the reports inside and out, so I can tell you why one isn't working for you, whether you have a data problem, or whether you need something new that actually gives you what you need. Send me a spec and I'll make it happen.
May include:
- Customer and machine profitability, down to the serial number
- Service performance: call rates, repeat visits and engineer productivity
- Billing and sales: volume minimums, contract charges and lease expiries
- Custom reports and invoice layouts built in your existing system
Software implementation and consultancy
New systems · Existing systems needing improvement
Around a hundred implementations in, I know where these projects usually stall. Sometimes the answer isn't a new system, it's getting the support to use the one you already pay for to its full potential. Alternatively, if new software is right for you, and you're moving either to or from Vantage Online, I'm definitely what you need.
May include:
- Scoping and requirements gathering
- Data work, report planning, config, staff training, template updates
- Integration planning with DCAs, finance packages, supplier links, emails, and more
- Project management through to go-live, by a certified AgilePM® Practitioner
Not sure which of these you need?
Describe the problem and we'll work out the shape of it together. I don't need to know in the first meeting.
Rates and availability
The two questions I'm asked most often.
How I charge
One-off hour | 7-hour blocks
There's a one-off hourly rate, and a discounted rate for a 7-hour block. Everything on this page is charged the same way, so you don't need to decide in advance which category your work falls into. A few data changes, a report, and some general consultancy all come out of the same block.
Blocks stay valid for three months, so you don't have to know everything you want to use me for on day one. Ask and I'll send my agreement form and current rates. I don't charge until work starts, so an initial chat, and even signing my agreement, costs you nothing but preps everything for when you need me.
Availability
Lead times vary week to week
What I can take on depends on what's already running and how much dedicated time your work needs. A meeting or a report edit can often be fitted in the same week. Larger projects typically need two to three weeks' notice, depending on other commitments.
Most of my work isn't time-sensitive, so when something genuinely is, it takes priority. If you're working to a deadline, say so and I'll do my best to make it happen. It's worth asking even when the lead time looks tight.
How I use AI
“Use it where it's useful, but review, review, review, and don't stop sounding human.”
AI is a brilliant tool in the right hands. Too often, though, it's being used to write scoping documents for integrations the author doesn't understand, or LinkedIn posts that barely make sense. That creates more work than it saves, so I'm upfront and honest about when, why and how I use it.
I use Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic, mainly for report work. It helps me troubleshoot errors and build the foundations of new reports efficiently, because I give it the detail it needs: the data tables and how they link, the logic, how the finished report should behave, and countless reports I've written myself over the years. The knowledge comes from me. Claude just helps me get there faster, and I review everything it produces.
AI is useful well beyond reporting. I've built an agent that sits in Teams and answers questions about my project management files, and I've seen first-hand how quickly Power Automate flows can be put together to process data and support integrations, when you have the core skills and the right guidance for the rest.
Getting the same work done in less time means it costs you less.
I may also use Claude for data mapping, but I'll always check you're happy with that before I start. Prefer me not to touch it with a barge pole? Complete respect.
I'm an advocate of AI for efficiency, not AI for the sake of AI. Don't leave the tap running if you're not using what's coming out.