The 2023 Women Leaders in Consulting: Heather Fransen

Heather Fransen helps facilitate the fulfillment of the cloud and managed services offering for over 600 clients globally. With the scope of clients stretching coast to coast and varying industries served, Heather focuses on overall client service and management. Her primary focus lies in the day-to-day operations of the managed IT Client Service Desk, ensuring her team has the available and proper resources to serve the client efficiently and effectively.

In her current role, Heather focuses on continuous process improvement and security focused procedures to best provide managed services. Staying up to date with industry standards and best practices, she can help her team provide both proactive and reactive help to their clients' IT landscape. Her professional affiliations and credentials include: ITIL Foundations v4. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, history and philosophy from Cornell College and a Master of Science, Information Technology Management from Regis University.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

My greatest achievement would be the successful merge of multiple Help Desks into one, standardized national service desk for our Managed Services clients. At one point, our Managed Services team was serving our clients out of seven smaller, support desks assigned by region. Varying in size from anywhere from five to 15 people, there was a lack of consistency in delivery and goals. Working with our leadership and feedback from our clients across the country, we reorganized to make our support delivery more consistent with a fundamental foundation of ITIL methodology and best practices. In total, we combined those smaller support groups into one Service Desk totaling 120 technicians and analysts. This was a strategic goal for the firm as it allowed the Managed Services team to standardize their process and procedures, allowing for quick response and scalability to our client needs. Our staff were able to focus on a specific set of clients and our clients enjoy the consistency of working with a business partner and not just a tech on the phone.

What's the best advice—consulting or otherwise—you've ever received?

Growing up, my dad would always tell me, typically when I was about to or had recently made a poor decision, "Heather, in life there are choices and consequences." Not all consequences are bad but every decision you make is going to produce an outcome and you need you to be prepared to accept or battle that outcome. What I thought was an annoying catch phrase really applies to every part of life and particularly the consulting world. In consulting, we're helping clients succeed in running their business. Whether it's solving client's problems, providing industry recommendations, or helping a client to execute a strategic change, we foundationally, help clients make decisions. Ultimately, the client must deal with the outcomes of those decisions so it's imperative that we educate and communicate what the consequences of those choices are.

What advice would you give to a female consultant just beginning her career?

Don't get in your own way. When I first transitioned into consulting, I would too often spend time second-guessing myself or wondering what I could possibly offer on a project or initiative that was new or innovative instead of focusing on understanding the challenges at hand and collaborating with the team to deliver a solution. Sometimes, it's as simple as getting the right people in a room together. Your inclusion in projects, committees, and teams isn't due to random chance or luck–show your skills. What does this recognition mean to you?

This recognition is nothing short of amazing. Coming from a nontraditional background into the consulting world and spending many long nights and weekends becoming knowledgeable in technology, industry and business, this award is incredibly fulfilling to my career. RSM has provided me with a great path filled with options to truly hone my skillset and add value to our clients' businesses. I genuinely enjoy working with my team, learning, and growing from our daily interactions. We work together to find solutions and I hope they share my feelings and sense of pride as well.