Digital consulting without a sales interest
The most expensive software is the one nobody uses. Before you invest, requirements are derived from your real workflows, the market is reviewed neutrally, and the rollout is planned so that it actually lands in daily operations.
What digital consulting delivers
Digital consulting settles the order of things: which workflows get digitalised first, with which tools, over what period and at what effort. It creates the basis for decisions that are otherwise made on instinct or on the strength of a good sales presentation.
The core of the work is unspectacular and effective for exactly that reason: understand the actual workflows, split requirements cleanly into must-have and nice-to-have, review the market without a stake in the outcome, and make offers comparable — including the costs that only become visible in year three.
Where it makes sense, the work does not stop at the recommendation but accompanies migration, testing and training through to production use.
- No commissions. No partner agreement, no referral fee, no conflict of interest.
- Requirements first. Know what is needed — then look at vendors.
- Total cost over licence price. Rollout, migration, training and operation across five years.
- Exit considered. Data export and contract terms are checked before you sign.
- Decision-ready. A recommendation you can defend internally.
When consulting pays for itself
Three constellations in which an outside view saves more than it costs.
Before a large investment
ERP, CRM or industry software is due for replacement. A structured selection costs a fraction of what a wrong decision costs over the contract term.
After a failed rollout
The software is there but gets bypassed. Usually the cause is configuration, ownership and training — not the product. That can be verified before buying again.
Growth outpaces structures
What worked with twelve employees breaks at forty. What is needed is an order of change that does not halt daily business.
From starting point to decision made
A process that holds up even when opinions inside the company differ.
Current-state review
Conversations with management and with the people who work with the processes daily. Captured are workflows, system landscape, data quality, interfaces, licence situation and the places where people improvise.
Requirements & roadmap
Requirements are documented and split into must-have and nice-to-have criteria. From that comes a roadmap with stages, effort estimates and an order matched to what your business can absorb alongside daily work.
Market review & selection
A shortlist of three to five vendors, structured demos against your own cases, comparison of offers including five-year total cost, contract terms and data export. The outcome is a reasoned recommendation.
Rollout support
Migration planning, data cleansing, test design, training material — and a neutral party between you and the vendor when the project gets stuck.
What you hold in your hands
Documents you can decide on — and that still make sense a year from now.
- A documented picture of your processes and system landscape.
- A requirements catalogue that puts vendor negotiations on a factual footing.
- A vendor comparison based on total cost rather than licence price.
- A roadmap with stages that fit daily operations.
- Reviewed contract and exit terms before you sign.
- A decision you can justify internally and to third parties.
What does digital consulting cost?
Scope determines price, and scope can be steered. Focused support for selecting a single system is manageable; a digitalisation roadmap for a company with several sites and a grown system landscape is not.
What applies in every case: you receive a written quote with a fixed ceiling and defined deliverables before the project starts. If the work reveals that a smaller scope will do, you will hear that — even when it shortens the engagement.
- Number of processes, locations and systems examined
- Depth of the requirements analysis and number of people involved
- Whether a full market review or a targeted check is wanted
- Scope of rollout support after the decision
- Whether migration and data cleansing are part of the mandate
- Whether training material and documentation are to be produced
Frequently asked questions
What does digital consulting do for an SME?
Digital consulting brings order to the undertaking before money is spent: which workflows should run digitally, which software qualifies, in what order the change happens, and what that means for people, processes and budget. The difference to a vendor demo is the perspective — the search is for the best solution for your business, not the best deployment for a particular product.
Are you genuinely independent?
Yes. Nikolevski Consulting receives no commissions, kickbacks, referral fees or partner discounts from software vendors. The fee comes exclusively from you, which is why the recommendation can also be that your existing software stays and simply needs proper configuration and training. If you wish, independence is stated explicitly in the contract.
How does a software selection work?
In four steps. First, requirements are derived from your actual workflows and split into must-have and nice-to-have criteria — the step most often skipped and the one that saves the most money. Second, the market is reviewed and a shortlist of three to five vendors compiled. Third, structured demos are run against your own cases, not the sales script. Fourth, offers, five-year total cost, contract terms and exit scenarios are compared. The result is a reasoned recommendation you can also present to your board.
What does the consulting cost?
The price is driven by the number of processes and locations examined, the depth of the requirements analysis, whether a full market review with tender is wanted, and whether the rollout is supported as well. Focused support for selecting a single system is far leaner than a digitalisation roadmap for a multi-site company. You receive a written quote with a fixed ceiling before the project starts — no open-ended hourly lists.
Is there public funding for digitalisation in Switzerland?
There are federal and cantonal offerings as well as Innosuisse, particularly for innovation projects with a research partner. Programmes, conditions and deadlines change regularly, so blanket promises would be misleading. As part of the consulting we check whether your project fits a current programme and point you to the responsible office in your canton. For most SME digitalisation projects, though, the business case rests on time saved, not on subsidies.
We already bought software nobody uses. What now?
That is one of the most common starting points — and rarely a reason to buy again. First we establish the cause: missing rollout, unsuitable configuration, mismatched workflows, unclear ownership, or genuinely the wrong product. In many cases targeted configuration, data cleansing and training rescue what has already been paid for. Only when the software structurally does not fit does replacement enter the conversation.
Do you also support the rollout, or does it end with the concept?
Support goes as far as you need it. In practice that covers contract review, migration planning, data cleansing, test design, training material, and the role of neutral party between you and the vendor when the project gets stuck. A concept nobody implements is more expensive than no concept at all.
An outside view before the next invoice arrives.
In a free 30-minute intro call you describe your situation. You get an honest assessment of whether consulting is worthwhile for you — and if not, why not.