Why an Independent Consultant?

Consultants should be used for short term projects where expertise does not exist in-house or a more global, experienced view is required.  The consultant should have significant working experience in their industry, not only as a consultant, but also as an employee, so that solutions are cognizant of real life user environments.

Independent consultants, such as Berger Management Services, offer many distinct advantages over large firm consulting teams.  Among them are:

• They Cost Less
  A lot less.  Usually their overhead is minimal and they don't overload the project team,  minimizing overall cost to the client. In some cases they may more than recover client costs through experienced vendor negotiations and through the implementation of insightful procedural changes.
  

• They Have Significant Real Work Experience Within the Industry
  Independent consultants generally have worked for one or more firms in their client industries where they have gathered operational knowledge.  This is not always the case with larger consulting organizations where career paths are from universities directly to consulting.
  

•  Independents Are Fast
  As they are unencumbered by a large company's bureaucracy, they can escalate decisions quickly and have only the client as a constituent.  The more rapidly changes are agreed upon and implemented, the less disruption to the company's operations and the faster overall savings can be achieved.
  

• They Are Excellent Liaisons Between Functional Departments and Senior Management
  Having worked for similar firms allows for better bonding with employees at all levels and provides an additional communications channel to top management.
  

• They Are Affiliated With Other Specialized Experts
  Independent consultants are free to pick from best of breed people when a segment of an engagement calls for an unusual specialty rather than having to use an available in-house person who may not be most suited.