Consulting Services Assessment

This question asks whether human expertise and advisory work are part of what you're selling. Consulting services means your people provide advice, analysis, implementation help, or strategic guidance to customers. This could be anything from initial setup and configuration to ongoing optimization recommendations or custom development work. Even if you primarily sell software, any professional services component - including 'customer success' that goes beyond basic support - might count as consulting.

Offering consulting services adds complexity to your security and compliance posture. You'll need to address personnel security - background checks, training, and access controls for consultants who might see sensitive customer data. Consulting also raises questions about intellectual property, confidentiality, and professional liability that pure software companies avoid. However, consulting services can accelerate customer success, reduce churn, and provide valuable revenue during product development. High-touch services also create stickier customer relationships and provide direct feedback for product improvement. The key is balancing the higher operational costs and security requirements against the strategic benefits.

Companies often underestimate what counts as 'consulting' - implementation services, custom configurations, and strategic advisory all qualify, even if you call them 'customer success' or 'professional services.' Another mistake is not properly securing the knowledge and data that consultants access during engagements. Companies also fail to maintain clear boundaries between consulting and product offerings, leading to scope creep and security gaps where consultants have unnecessary access to product infrastructure or customer data.