Sequence of events for a larger consultancy project
1. The Client makes initial contact via email, with a query about a radio system in use, or being planned. The full details may not be completely known, but it is still a good place to start.
‘Requirements’ and ‘Design’ Reviews by email ensure the objectives, and the work required to achieve them are properly scoped.
2. Requirements Review: An email dialogue determines the radio system requirements, and hence the objectives of a consultancy analysis. Once the objectives are finalised, the work packages required to meet them are outlined. The objectives usually determine the scenarios that need to be examined.
3. The Consultant provides an initial schedule and costing Quote, which is usually an upper envelope estimate that can be reduced by a Design Review which more closely scopes the work required.
If the Client wishes to proceed, they now pre-purchase consultancy time at the hourly rate, to complete a Design Review.
**********
4. Design Review: The required system parameters (e.g. antenna gains and heights, Tx powers, Tx-Rx separations etc) will be determined, and how many different values of each parameter are required. The actual parameter values are possibly not yet required.
It is important in this phase that the Clients staff with technical knowledge of the system, engage with the Consultant to supply the relevant information.
The Consultant will prepare a draft Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) of Work Packages (WPs), grouped into Deliverables, with a schedule and costing estimate. The Deliverables are usually reports with recommendations and a supporting summary of the analysis in the WPs.
5. The Client and Consultant determine a final WBS with the exact scope of each WP, and a Schedule of Deliverables. Each Deliverable, and the WPs within it, will have a fixed cost based on the hourly rate and schedule for well defined tasks.
6. A 'Proposal' will be delivered with the Terms of Business (ToB) to the Client. A dialogue may be required to refine these to an agreed version.
7. The Client and Spectrum Skywave agree on the Proposal with final WBS and Terms of Business.
**********
8. The Client sends a Purchase Order (PO) to start each Deliverable as per the Schedule. Any parameter values that were not provided in the Design Review are now sent to the Consultant by the Client.
The initial Deliverable requires a pre-payment of 25%. Subsequent Deliverables do not require a pre-payment, but depend on payment for previous Deliverables.
Once the PO (and any pre-payments) has been received, the Work Packages for that Deliverable commence. The Consultant will usually have enough information from the Reviews to commence analysis for each Deliverable, according to the schedule, without much further Client interaction. The Consultant will send brief weekly progress reports to the Client, before the Deliverable is due.
9. Each Deliverable will be sent via secure email to the Client on schedule, with an Invoice for payment. Once payment is received by Spectrum Skywave, a Receipt will be issued to the Client.
Work on the next Deliverable will commence in good faith before the previous one has been paid for, but delivery of it depends on payment for the previous Deliverables.
10. The Client may direct questions via email regarding the results contained in each Deliverable. The WBS may include a WP for enquiries (e.g. 1-2 hours) for each Deliverable to pre-pay for them, or enquiries can be purchased in hourly blocks.
11. For a large project, the reports and recommendations in each Deliverable, will build towards a final integrated report with full recommendations, and summary presentation slides, if required.
**********
An example of a single WP might be; examining the effect of altering network geometry, or varying system parameters such as transmitter powers or antennas, or introducing interfering factors such as radio noise, terrain or atmospheric disturbance.
A smaller project (~20 hours) may involve a single Deliverable of several analysis WPs and a final report or presentation with recommendations.
A larger project would involve several linked Deliverables, each consisting of several WPs. Each Deliverable may be a report or presentation with some recommendations. The whole package builds to a final report which integrates the results of all the Deliverables to make recommendations across the entire project.