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Case Study #1ThailandGuru.com > Computer consulting > Case study #1Since I never name clients when I mention case studies (and it's unnecessary), I'll call this company Acme and its manager Joe. Acme Co., Ltd., has a Bangkok branch whereby Joe is Managing Director. It is staffed almost entirely with Thais. Acme is an architecture and interior design company, and their end product is CAD drawings. I got tipped off from one of Joe's clients, John, who is a regular client of mine, and is high class. Joe sometimes misses deadlines with John and John's associates, and sometimes when they deliver updated drawings, the latest updates are there but information from previous revisions is mysteriously missing. I've seen this countless times in the engineering and construction business, and similar things in other companies using other software. Their data is not properly organized and coordinated. Further, they have frequent Internet problems, which they blame on their Internet service provider, though it's kind've funny that other users of the same ISP don't have those problems... So I call Joe to see if he needs some help with his computer system. His reply is that the computer system is running fine, and he has a computer guy already. One of his draftsmen has a computer at home, and he's a real wizard in Joe's eyes. I mention the problems I'm aware of, and Joe says that they had a problem but they cleared it up. Joe's not a veteran of Thailand, and his attitude is that sometimes it takes longer, but it eventually gets done, and he makes more profit using cheap labor than using efficient and productive labor. Joe also thinks that all computer consultants would sell him a lot of expensive stuff that he doesn't need (which is sometimes true with some computer consultants, but a gross overgeneralization, and I'm not sure he's ever even tried the professional expert alternative) and Joe asserts that his needs are really basic. Though in a technical field, Joe seems a technophobe about computers, but goes against the advice of his better colleagues regarding a referral to me. After all that, there comes a day where there is another disaster. Joe informs his client that they are experiencing technical difficulties and the job will be late. Joe's client, John, offers to pay me to go in and help them fix the problem. Joe reluctantly agrees in the pressure of the moment to allow me into their office. Here's what I find: Joe appears that he hasn't had much sleep lately and is overworked. One of Joe's computers has a hard disk that failed. The data was supposed to be backed up to floppy diskettes(!). They are busy copying floppy diskettes to another computer, looking at the dates of the files, and looking at the drawings to see what features are in them. Many of the floppy disks have data errors and thus files cannot be retrieved. Many files are missing and apparently were not backed up to floppy diskettes. Many files exist but are an earlier revision. There are other inconsistencies and oversights they're finding as they actually inspect their data. Joe has eight computers. They are not on a network! They move data between computers by floppy diskettes in their day to day operations, for the purpose of different people working on the same data file on different computers, and for printing on the printer attached to a particular computer. Believe it or not, this is common in Thailand. It's an understandable situation in a new office. However, many clients start to fix up their operation only when it's too late, i.e., when there's a crisis. To deal with this particular crisis, they are trying to consolidate data files from the project onto one computer now to see what they have and what they don't. They are comparing to printouts and records of client requests, too, to see if all revisions are in the latest version of the drawing. The older problem, before the hard disk crash, also becomes apparent. The reason the latest revisions of drawings are often missing earlier revision items is because the same drawing exists on many computers, but as different revisions. When they get a request for a revision, sometimes they don't revise the latest version, but revise a previous version. There are many other problems the staff has which Joe is unaware of. They don't tell Joe, because they want Joe to think they are all doing their job properly and without their imperfections. Besides, Joe couldn't help them, and would need to call in someone from the outside. But Joe is always trying to save money. Joe's also a hothead sometimes, and the staff are afraid of upsetting Joe. So many problems are swept under. In the end, I recommend to Joe that he network his computers, keep all the files organized on the server so that there are no earlier revisions that could be erroneously used as the latest, set up a data backup system, and verify the integrity of the backups. Joe agrees and wants a quotation. I supply a quote with a price and a list of things I will accomplish. Joe wants me to itemize the costs of all the items, including all specifications, brands and models, and to be very precise. Joe doesn't know anything about computers, and it is obvious to me that he wants me to provide a quotation to him for free with exhaustive specifications, which he will then turn around and try to get someone cheap to do, not give the business to me. Joe surely wouldn't understand the specs, so I tell him that I will only give him the objectives in language he will understand, at no charge. If he wants precise specifications which he could hand to someone else (I'm talking straight to him about this), yes, I can table this, but he will have to pay me to write up these specifications. Joe says he'll get back to me, but never does. Much later, I get a phone call with an urgent request for help fixing a problem. Getting an update, I find out that Joe went with a staffmember's referral (and the staffmember might have gotten a commission). This solved some of their problems, but Joe continues to have problems and crises. Joe has a staff member and their friend try to sort out the LAN crashes and Internet problems. They're living with inkjet printer LAN problems. "Productivity takes longer", but Joe thinks he's still turning out a bigger profit by using cheaper labor, even after the cheaper labor tallies up so many hours. Joe doesn't want to admit he's been a bad manager. But the fact of the matter is that I get called only when the pain becomes unbearable and they need assistance urgently, and I'm not going to give Joe medicine which would make him spit me back out. I charge hourly for my consulting, which takes time because I have to explain technical things to a Thai who doesn't speak good enough English to understand, and who doesn't understand the technical documents I give him. The system is set up poorly, and so I also offer to come in and set it up right, which will take less than a day. Joe doesn't agree. He wants to continue with his new guy's ways, as things are working better, and he thinks that everything will work itself out in time. Joe is sometimes frustrated that problems take time to sort out, and my consulting bills of a few thousand baht here and there (usually less than $100) are something that he considers to be a high price for what he sees as imperfect longterm results, but I remind him that as long as he relies on "a computer guy" who has very limited experience and limited ability to comprehend technical English documents, the kind of system this guy set up, and desires to keep my occasional consulting visits as brief and minimal as possible, then Joe will continue to have problems. I cannot sort out all his problems in a couple of hours, much less set up the system to work perfectly from that time onward in my absence. It's Joe's decision. But the only time Joe is able to make a decision to use a qualified person is during a crisis and when Joe can't tolerate the pains any longer, and is being a hothead out of frustration. Joe is extremely dependent upon his computer system for providing services and products to clients, and Joe will continue to have problems. What Joe doesn't realize is that he is losing significant amounts of productivity in the long run. I don't know, but he might also be losing more money by paying for inefficient computer consulting services than he would for my up front services. The impacts on client satisfaction, repeat business, and the value of his services and products is something I can't assess, but I suspect it's considerable, based on my experiences in general. When others speak of Joe and his company, it's in the tone of a sweatshop or knock-up operation, not one of professional respect. Joe is a hustler, living life with a lot of problems and crises. This is not a way to do good business anywhere, including in Thailand, much less how to have quality of worklife. Because Joe won't go for hourly rates, Joe has a standing offer for a monthly fixed-fee "maintenance contract" at a very reasonable rate. However, he refuses to hire an expat, not a single one in his office, and not a single subcontractor, as if it's his dogma. He works only for expats, but doesn't hire expats in any capacity. He chooses the toughest life in Thailand with a typical native Asian sweatshop factory attitude: "Don't spend money, full stop. Cheap, cheaper, cheapest. It'll do." I can't see Joe as having a nice life in Thailand, and Joe might be blaming his life's miseries on Thailand and computers. Over time, Joe's appearance doesn't improve from that first crisis day in which I appeared at his door. It always appears that he hasn't had much sleep lately and is overworked. Works assertively, by brute force.
See also: General computer needs assessment Computer hardware purchasing Computer software setup Local area network (LAN) setup
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