All software vendors form professional service divisions because at the outset they are the only ones selling and implementing the software. Of course, as the software gains traction in the marketplace other firms hop on board, and soon you have a very large contingent of companies and individuals in the marketplace supporting your product. But software vendors never leave the professional services market. It's lucrative and, well it's bringing in the cash, so why walk away? Software Vendors, consider these two reasons: First, your professional services division becomes a living extension of your development and services group. Relationships are created, resumes start to move back and forth and pretty soon the consultant is running interference for the development manager. A consultant cannot run interference for development and serve the client(s) simultaneously. They need to bring objective advice to the engagement table, not excuses and long winded BS explanations about product direction that always end up with a salute to "how hard the development team is working." Second, the development team needs to hear the client's side of the story from consultants on the ground before its filtered by ambition, at worse, or collegiality, at best. The consultant is where software hits the client's bumpy, pot-holed road and they need to hear what's happening in the ugly details. Shading the truth of the carnage doesn't do anyone any good. These two problems were true in Oracle's Consulting Division and many other firms, in the 90s and early 00s. OC grew enormous at one time and it was not an odd circumstance that Release 11i (which had a ton of issues and left a legacy that Oracle has never really overcome) came out just after OC reached its zenith. There was a huge gap between where consulting knew the product was and where HQ thought the product was. This gap could have been substantially decreased or eliminated by honest communications between consulting and development, but we were all too busy raising the same flag. Later, in the consulting division of a third party firm, I was amazed and delighted by the honesty and forthrightness of my fellow consultants with both the client and with Oracle support and development. More of this might have been the right medicine for 11i. Customer interaction is an important goal in CRM systems, especially online, on-demand CRM. But just as important is partner interaction. OC started to run the table in consulting for Oracle implementations and other voices were not as loud or prominent as they should have been. NetSuite solution providers have the responsibility to provide the flagship with the hard facts that Oracle never heard. | 
