Building the IT Practice is a clear and practical guide organized to help design, build, and manage lucrative consulting practices. Building on the advisory methodologies described in the author's previous book, The IT Consultant, this book goes beond the personal practices and behaviors presented in that work to offer a roadmap to the creation of an IT Professional Services business. This book focuses on the basics of building a consulting business, dicussing such core issues as the creation of a unique marketing message, the design of a firm-wide delivery methodology, and the recruitment and retention of world-class sales and talent.

Rick Freedman is an author, journalist, consultant, and trainer. His previous books The IT Consultant and The eConsultant have achieved worldwide readership. Rick writes the "Consultant Master Class" column for TechRepublic.com, the IT professional web community. He teaches IT project management, IT consulting, and information technology courses at the college level at various institutions in the United States. Rick is the founder and CEO of Consulting Strategies, Inc., dedicated to helping IT service firms develop world-class consulting practices, and in the last year has trained and consulted for global IT firms across the United States and in the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Japan, and China.

Visit Rick's website at www.consulting-strategies.com or contact him at rick@consulting-strategies.com.