It consulting what is it

IT Consulting

Information Technology in businesses

Regardless of size or industry type, the rate at which Information Technology influences business operations is rapidly expanding. In today’s modern landscape, IT plays a massive role in the way we do business, from tangible to not so tangible applications that enable companies to thrive and innovate within a technological infrastructure.

In simple words, Information Technology in businesses helps organizations become more efficient by streamlining and facilitating processes that help reduce costs, improve communication, boost performance, gain competitive advantages, build innovative products and/or services, and more, all in a technological framework that is geared to design and deploy solutions to achieve business success.

Why are IT consulting services important?

The IT industry offers a sea of options, from platforms, programming languages, methodologies, technologies, tools, and more. All this diversity in IT offerings can be overwhelming, and without proper knowledge, near downright impossible to navigate.

To shortcut your way into the world of IT, it is very advisable to hire IT consulting companies that offer a robust portfolio of IT consulting services, as well as knowledge and expertise.

When you hire a tech consulting firm, you hire experience, knowledge, and a portfolio of services at your fingertips to leverage IT in your business environment.

IT consulting services are important because they play a vital role in businesses by covering the management, implementation, deployment, and maintenance of an IT infrastructure. Oftentimes, an Information Technology consultant takes on the role of advising and assisting companies to optimize their IT infrastructure and reach their goals and business objectives with determination.

Among the key advantages of leveraging IT consulting services, we can mention the ability to gain a competitive advantage to maximize technologies, create a cost-efficient environment where IT tools help save time and resources, and boost productivity through the effective practice of communication, collaboration, and knowledge transfer within an IT infrastructure.

In an upcoming section, we will tap deeper into the benefits associated with partnering with IT consulting companies and the IT consultant services they expertly provide.

How to select the best strategy and information technology consultants

A lot of people understandably believe that information technology consulting is all about giving/receiving advice. But in reality, it is so much more complex than just that. Effective and successful consulting entails a number of practices and services that span numerous purposes such as estimates, competitive analysis, development of an IT corporate strategy, implementation of IT systems, system management, and more.

With the growing necessity to require more from your IT consultants, it is only natural that these advisers have expanded their skills to satisfy these extended expectations.

Now, you probably wonder what is the best approach to select the best strategy and information technology consultants? Here, we give you a few pointers on what to consider when searching for the right partner.

These considerations should be tailored to your business, making sure that you do what works best for you. Another important factor when selecting the best strategy and information technology consultants involves the understanding of what type of IT consulting you actually need. There are different kinds that tailor to different needs, which is why you should quickly identify which works best for your model.

IT consultant’s expertise can range from technology consulting, strategic IT planning, cloud consulting, IT security consulting, VoIP services, and more. As you clearly define what you need and are looking for, it will be easier to pinpoint and select the right information technology consultants for your projects.

Importance of system integration

We acknowledge system integration as the coalescing of components or sub-systems into a unified system that operates collectively as a whole. In the realm of Information Technology in businesses, system integration entails the grouping of computing systems and software applications, whether physically or functionally, as an interconnected unit.

IT consulting companies place great importance in system integration as it can be the rise or downfall of a successful IT endeavor. If your organization’s systems aren’t synchronized to operate as a whole in a pain-free method, they can bring about significant increases in costs and resource consumption. Thus, it is critical to evaluate the entire strategy around system integration to approach it assertively.

Building an effective digital transformation

Digital transformation is a phrase that is constantly thrown around in the IT industry. But what exactly does it mean? A digital transformation entails many more complex details than a traditional change effort. For starters, digital transformation revolves around the notion of a massive, multi-layered shift in culture and business operations that affect an entire organization. Typically, companies search within to identify areas of opportunity when applying a digital transformation model, such as bringing all systems into a digital operating model.

These sorts of engagements are typically wide in scope and require a comprehensive evaluation of the necessary change efforts involved, either in an iterative fashion or as a full-fledged deployment approach.

It is through a digital transformation that we have experienced large-scale changes in the way we experience technology day-to-day, which is why organizations of all shapes and sizes want to strategize to build an effective digital transformation to evolve, stay up-to-date, and navigate new digital landscapes that are shaping the future.

For businesses, digital transformation is imminent and necessary. Here are a few tips and tricks to build an effective digital transformation:

According to McKinsey & Company, there are five categories that improve the chance of a successful digital transformation. These include:

While there are no shortcuts to digital transformation, you can journey along at a steady and safe pace rather than going through a hasty and ambiguous road. Remember, when it comes to digital transformation, your goal should be centered around the best strategy to adapt and respond to an ever-changing digital atmosphere.

Typical lifecycle of IT solution

Responsiveness and the ability to adapt to ever-changing environment settings of the IT market are crucial when you are designing an IT strategy geared for digital transformation. These two elements benefit greatly from standardized lifecycle support of IT solutions that provide a systematic framework for every IT project. Here, we describe the stages of the lifecycle support of IT solutions.

Solution planning with IT consultants

Design and implementation stage

Support and maintenance stage

Experience in consulting digital customers

We live in a world where the customer holds all the power. Their satisfaction, loyalty, and engagement is the focal point of attention in most business strategies that seek revenue and positive outcomes. And it’s no different with IT consulting, where being customer-centric is monumental.

Through IT solutions and consulting, companies attempt to navigate the saturated road of harnessing and attracting digital customers who constantly become more present online. Consumers don’t only want to be online, they want to access digital experiences that are near-perfect and satisfy their every whim. Here is where the digital customer experience lives and breathes.

A digital customer experience requires a full-scale mapping of the customer journey, which includes pinpointing brand interactions, gaining value from data to turn it into insights, providing customers a way to offer feedback and be in control, and tracking of relevant metrics to measure the success of a digital experience, to name the most relevant.

Through IT consulting and with digital customers in mind, companies can design strategies for scalability, develop superior User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) elements, and adapt quickly to new forms of digital content.

Benefits of a partnership with IT consulting companies

Here are some of the most prominent benefits of partnering with IT consulting companies:

What Do IT Consultants Do? Responsibilities and Hiring Process Explained

Updated 09 Jan 2022

Table of contents

Having a startup company or medium business, you may feel a lack of tech expertise at some point. IT consultants can help you find the best tech solutions to improve your workflow or automate your business processes.

But first, you need to understand what IT consultants do and how they can be useful for your company.

You can find the explanation of IT consultant responsibilities in this post. I’ve also covered how to hire IT consultants and what are the ways to cooperate with them.

What Do IT Consultants Do?

The right IT consultant can save you thousands of dollars. But it can be a struggle to find a qualified specialist with the required expertise. Moreover, you should trust the IT consultant you work with as you share access to your servers and internal business process.

To understand how important the choice of the right consultant is, you have to be aware of the IT consultant’s responsibilities and when you need to hire one.

IT Consultant Responsibilities

Gather requirements and business data

IT consultants collect and analyze every piece of information about your business: industry, company’s workflow, work scope, and so on.

Based on the collected information, IT consultants offer solutions to improve your business processes. They tend to pick the solutions according to the company’s resources and deadlines.

Manage the development team

In case you need to build software from scratch, the IT consultant cooperates with the development team. They manage the development processes and offer tech improvements. IT consultants also transfer all the technical and non-technical requirements to the developers.

Check the software

IT consultants have to make sure that the freshly built software meets all the requirements and works as intended. Together with Quality Assurance engineers, they test the final product to deliver a bug-free solution.

What do IT consultants do?

Of course, IT consultants have more responsibilities. I’ve covered only the most wide-spread ones. Among other responsibilities are:

Discover what software consulting is and when you need to hire a software development consultant.

Where to Find IT Consultants?

You understand that you have a lack of tech expertise and want to cooperate with an IT consultant. Where to find IT consultants?

There are several options:

Need an IT consultant?

Contact us to get your free initial tech consultation.

What to Choose: Freelancer or Software Development Company?

The most popular options of hiring IT consultants remain software development companies and freelancers. Especially if you want to save some money and have an option for offshore outsourcing.

Freelance IT consultants

Freelance is becoming more popular these days. However, it’s not the best option for an IT consultant. The IT consulting position requires long-term cooperation, while freelancers often quit the project without finishing it.

Besides, it can be quite complicated to check the quality of work unless you’re a tech guru.

If you decide to use this model, then make sure that the freelancer is reliable. You can look through feedback on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.

Where to look for:

Software development company

Apart from software development services, IT firms often provide IT consulting. Cooperating with a software company, you can reduce the time required for interviewing candidates and end up paying less.

Where to look for:

Where to hire IT consultants

Why Pick a Software Development Company

Access to broad knowledge and expertise

You can interview several candidates from a software development company. In outsourcing IT companies, there are more candidates with the necessary experience, so you can hire an IT consultant faster.

Ability to focus on primary tasks

You as a business owner have many things to focus on. An urgent tech update can take a lot of time, so it’s better to have a reliable specialist to conquer these tasks.

You can reduce costs on IT consultants since they provide you with a plan that fits your budget. Working with a freelancer, you don’t usually know the final cost. IT consultants from software development companies provides you with a plan that you should approve. This plan consists of all the required steps to integrate improvements.

Boost productivity and performance

There’s no need to deny — technology increases productivity. They make communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing faster. As a result, your employees show better results.

Technologies change fast, so IT consultants follow trends and offer modern solutions. Software development consultants assist businesses in technology selection and implementation to help them save money in the long-term.

Why Your Business Needs an IT Consultant

There can be a lot of reasons to hire an IT consultant.

However, the most wide-spread reasons to cooperate with an IT consultant are:

IT consultants analyze all your requirements and business goals. Based on this data, they create a tech plan and describe the strategy to implement improvements. An IT consultant prioritizes tasks not to interrupt the business operations but to integrate new solutions as fast as possible.

Technologies change fast. Developers introduce new frameworks and libraries every day. IT consultants monitor these changes and decide what technologies can be beneficial for your business.

Trends to follow

To speed up the company’s growth, an IT consultant has to keep an eye on the modern trends and decide whether to follow them or not. On top of that, they monitor the competitors’ solutions to be aware of the latest changes.

Steps to Hire an IT Consultant in 2021

It can be a struggle to hire a qualified and experienced IT consultant, especially if you don’t have tech expertise.

There are several primary steps for you to follow while hiring an IT consultant.

Process of hiring IT consultant

Step #1. Define Your Requirements

You need to clearly understand why you need an IT consultant. Otherwise, you’ll just waste time and money.It’s better to have a list of your expectations from a specialist and tasks for an IT consultant to do.

Based on these requirements, you can consult with a software development company. They’ll offer you a specialist that meets your requirements.

Step #2. Select Several Vendors

I’ve already mentioned platforms like Clutch and GoodFirms where you can find the clients’ reviews. You can contact several vendors and pick the right partner.Ratings and review platforms tend to verify customers’ feedback, so you can be sure that all the comments are valid.

Every reliable vendor has a portfolio with previous works. You can look through the released tech products on the company’s website. For example, here’s Cleveroad’s portfolio.

Studying the company’s portfolio, you can find if it worked on similar projects before. It approves the vendors’ expertise in the required field.

Need an IT consultant?

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Step #3. Protect Your Data

Don’t forget to protect your data.

You need to choose a partner who guarantees the safety of your data and is ready to sign the appropriate documents.

It’s better to sign an NDA agreement before discussing the project.

NDA agreement covers such aspects as the procedure of data collection, transfer, access, and more.

Also, software development companies should follow the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Step #4. First Interview

You need to prepare for the IT consultant interview. It’s better to consider the communication channel beforehand (if you have different time zones). It’s common to have the first contact with the company’s representative via phone call.

Phone call

The first meeting lets you share expectations, business goals, and requirements. You can also check the IT consultant’s CVs, skill set, and more.

It’s better to arrange the video interview during the phone call to test the candidates’ hard and soft skills. It’s required to have a tech specialist from your side or independent expert unless you’re a tech guru. The first phone call takes 20-30 minutes. This time is enough to draw up the first impression of the candidate.

Video interview

During this interview, you need to check if the IT consultant has the required expertise and experience to improve your business processes. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to test the developers’ hard skills without a technical background. You should interview candidats with your in-house developer (if you have one). Otherwise, you can cooperate with a tech consultant like a startup CTO.

IT consultants should also have soft skills to manage the team effectively. There’s a PDF file with interview questions to ask an IT consultant during the interview.

You need to check the following soft skills:

Step #5. Sign a Contract

Unlike other hiring opritions (like a freelancer), you can draw up a contract with the company and be protected in accordance with the law.

A valid contract should contain the following data: full name of the services, price, payment, and delivery procedure. You also need to sign an NDA agreement (if you haven’t yet) to protect your project idea.

Common IT Life Cycle

The IT life cycle can differ depending on your project requirements and business goals. If you need to develop a project from scratch, it’s better to follow the software development process.

I’ve already talked about all phases of the software development life cycle. You can find the stages and tasks of each phase.

In most cases, companies stick to the following workflow:

1. Collecting requirements

During this stage, you need to discuss the project requirements with a chosen IT consultant. You define the required features and technologies to implement them.

An IT consultant defines all the requirements and creates a tech plan. Also, during this stage, you get the estimate and learn timeframes a vendor needs to fulfill the required scope of work.

The development starts with the design phase. UI/UX specialists create all the necessary screens and their conditions.

It tends to be the longest stage of the software development life cycle. During this stage, the development team implements the required features.

An IT consultant and QA engineers test a product to ensure that everything works as expected.

The development team works on the project release. They deliver the software to the end-users.

To offer a great user experience, you need to support and improve the app constantly. So, it’s better to continue cooperation with the development team.

Software development life cycle

Summing Up

As you can see, IT consultants can bring many benefits to your business. To reach better results and reduce expenses, you can cooperate with a software development company.

Cleveroad is a software development company offering IT consulting services and located in Ukraine, Eastern Europe. We’ve 6+ years of experience working with software of all complexity levels: from modernizing CRM and ERP systems to creating iOS and Android apps from scratch.

We’ve developed solutions from scratch for startups and mid-sized businesses. We have expertise in eight industries including healthcare, education, and logistics.

Software outsourcing – why to Ukraine? We’re outlining seven reasons why Ukraine is an outsourcing destination worth mentioning.

Take a look at the projects we’ve helped to deliver in our portfolio.

Having a startup company or medium business, you may feel a lack of tech expertise at some point. IT consultants can help you find the best tech solutions to improve your workflow or automate your business processes.

What Do IT Consulting Companies Really Do?

Many decision-makers at companies find themselves questioning the value of IT consulting companies.

For a lot of them, it really comes down to a lack of knowledge of what consultants do.

It doesn’t help that there are so many kinds of consultants, all with varying levels of expertise and value.

Use this guide to learn the basics of IT consulting and how to determine if your business can benefit from it.

What Are IT Consulting Companies?

An IT consulting company works with clients to help them solve IT problems. The field includes everything from basic network analytics assistance all the way up to managed IT solutions.

Most consulting firms will specialize in a fairly narrow field of IT. These can include:

Consultants from these companies will review your business needs and current operations. They then make recommendations and suggest new equipment and software.

What Do IT Consultants Do?

At their core, IT consultants are experts in a particular field. They are able to take a high-level view of an organization’s problems and make recommendations.

Many consultants are brought in specifically for advice. They study the flow of a business and identify areas that can be improved. In IT, this takes the form of recommending types of software and systems to use.

Many software companies will offer consulting services as part of a software sale. This allows a company to customize newly purchased software for their needs.

There are also IT consultants who specialize in the day to day maintenance of a company’s systems. You can hire them to provide managed IT services and completely replace your in-house IT department with outside contractors.

Benefits of Using an IT Consulting Company

There are several major benefits to hiring IT consultants. These include the specialized knowledge they bring to bear on a problem and cost savings over employees.

IT consultants usually have a deep but narrow knowledgebase. They’re experts in their field and have experience implementing and working with the software within it. Chances are that a good consultant will have dealt with a situation very similar to your company’s with another client.

This gives them real-world experience and firsthand knowledge they can apply to your needs.

Many companies balk at the high hourly rate consulting companies can charge. This overlooks the significant savings you’ll see from not hiring full-time employees. Consultants are available when you need them, and don’t cost you anything when you don’t.

Their outsider status also provides a major benefit. It’s easy to get tunnel vision when dealing with a major issue. Providing a new set of eyes is a great way to reinvigorate a project.

IT for the Future

The IT field is changing on a daily basis. IT consulting companies provide organizations with a great way to keep abreast of major changes. They also make it easy to upgrade your systems in the most effective ways possible.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits IT consulting can bring your company, check out some of our services.

Technology Consulting: What It Is & How to Succeed in It

Technology is a pillar in today’s economy. There are few things we do without the assistance of software or smart devices, and the same goes for businesses worldwide. It’s unlikely, however, for these businesses and their leaders to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology.

This is where technology consultants come in. These technology specialists provide a unique, objective, and specialized approach to technology and how to leverage it for business success.

In this article, we’ll explore the world of technology consulting and discuss how to get started in a career as a technology consultant.

What is technology consulting?

Technology consulting is the process of advising businesses on how to best use technology and software to benefit their business. It can refer to the design and development, implementation, or management of new technology.

There are many names for technology consultants: IT consultants, computer consultants, software consultants, business and technology advisors, and more. The variety of nomenclature is due to the vast world of the modern technology industry — and just how many things technology consultants specialize in.

Why technology consulting?

Technology has become a critical component of business success. Due to its rapid growth and expansion into virtually every industry, and it’s more important than ever for organizations to understand how to leverage various technology.

Technology consultants can help business clients accelerate growth, cut costs, mitigate risk, attract and develop talent, and streamline important processes.

What does a technology consultant do?

Technology consultants are hired to do many things. These could include custom software development, infrastructure planning, security analysis, and risk assessment. Technology consultants could also advise on the strategic or financial sides of technology and software, such as how to invest in cost-efficient systems or how to integrate new software across multiple departments.

Technology consultants may be asked to solve a variety of business problems with technology, such as security risks, scaling issues, or high employee turnover. Regardless of what problem they are solving or what solution they are proposing, technology consultants often work with a business’s executives, leaders, and senior managers.

How to Become a Technology Consultant

If you’re interested in a career in technology consulting, here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. Earn a degree in IT or computer science.

Employers and clients alike prefer technology consultants with professional education in a relevant field, like IT, computer science, or computer engineering. A degree also gives you a unique experience with software development, coding, data science, and web design — types of expertise that could come in handy for future clients.

Some consultants also opt to obtain a business minor as consulting requires just as many business skills as it does technology know-how. Marketing, business management, and communication classes can help hone these skills.

2. Gain some experience.

Both internships and jobs can help give you the hands-on, out-of-classroom experience it takes to start your technology consulting career. Consider interning with or shadowing a technology consultant to gain relevant field experience. Other internships in IT or software development can help, too.

After (or instead of) working in an internship position, apply for entry-level IT jobs. This step is important as employers and clients prefer technology consultants with experience (either internship or professional). While working in these positions, mix up your projects so you can figure out what parts of technology consulting you like and can specialize in.

In addition to the technology-related skills you’ll gain through these experiences, you’ll also hone your networking, communication, and problem-solving skills.

3. Follow technology trends.

Technology is an ever-changing industry, and the best technology consultants keep up with the latest technology trends. Not only does this keep you informed, but it meets your clients’ expectations of you as the technology “expert”. The most up-to-date expertise will also help you remain competitive in the industry.

Read research reports and subscribe to technology newsletters and publications like TechCrunch and Recode. Watch relevant videos from sites like The Verge and WIRED. It’s also helpful to keep up with the open-source community as they’re the first to test and adopt new technology; visit sites like GitHub to check out trending and starred projects.

4. Grow your network.

Get to know other professionals in the IT and technology consulting industries. This will help you establish relationships that could lead to new clients or colleagues. Attend events in your internship, job, or community to expand your technology network.

Technology consulting is a highly valuable and lucrative industry, and technology consultants are major assets to the clients that hire them. Follow the steps above to start your career in technology consulting.

Originally published Dec 20, 2019 2:31:04 PM, updated July 28 2022

«Providing Freedom of Choice, Rather Than Working along Strict Lines»: How IT Consulting Does (Not) Work

From IT audit to IT consulting

These two concepts are commonly confused. That’s why sometimes business cannot decide, which service it needs at the current stage.

Our colleagues in the financial sector have agreed to clarify these two notions for us as market standards in this sector have been formed quite a while ago in terms of both legal regulations clients’ awareness.

For example, the company is going to have a tax audit. To prepare for it, company invites an auditor who checks if the documents are correct, if the reporting meets the existing standards, if there are no grounds for penalties or presenting administrative (or even criminal) charges and comes up with the relevant changes to eliminate all inconsistencies in a short time. That’s a comprehensive scope of the auditor’s responsibilities.

Consulting is a more advanced activity. It is no longer aimed at correcting the consequences, but at building the right processes. How to avoid any mistakes at work? How to achieve business goals? How to rebuild the system to meet new conditions?

In the IT sector, the situation is exactly the same: IT audit is aimed at finding existing and potential errors, whereas IT consulting is aimed at achieving strategic and tactical goals within the digital transformation framework. With one reservation: in the IT consulting the achievement of business goals is considered from the point of view of information technology.

IT Consulting Levels

The bottom level is the management consulting. An IT consultant assesses processes, identifies the weak points, and offers actual changes. The question they answer is: «How to adjust the existing processes to get a perfect result?» It can be the improvement of processes or systems, or the introduction of new functionality.

At the middle level – within the framework of architectural consulting – the main question is: «How to build or transform the company’s IT architecture to make it most efficient in the context of existing business model and the company’s goals?» The work is no longer at the level of individual processes, but at the level of the system of company’s activities. The IT consultant identifies the owners of each business process in the company and the existing problems, checks how the IT architecture reflects the company’s organizational contour, and makes necessary improvements to the existing architecture.

Strategic consulting is the upper level, the level of strategic changes and digital business transformation. At this level, the IT consulting works with strategic decisions and the restructuring of the business model instead of specific technologies.

The upper levels of consulting are less focused on details: in other words, specific systems that can be implemented in the company’s IT infrastructure. Meanwhile, each decision or proposal has a stronger impact on customer’s results.

It is worth mentioning that even at the strategic level of IT consulting a request like: «We have no idea what to do next, but we want to be the next Tesla, so write a development strategy for us» makes no point. To make the most out of IT consulting, a business must have a vision of its future and a general development strategy. A consultant only helps apply them at the level of information technologies and digitalization, define steps for implementing the strategy, calculate the possible risks of digital transformation and discuss the change of strategy according to the experience gained.

A Fine Line between Sales and Consulting

In most cases, the IT consulting is performed by companies that also work as systems Integrators. This impacts the consultation process itself and its outcome.

Having mastered certain technologies, they often try to apply them to solve clients’ business problems. For example, 6 or 7 years ago, we also tried to handle all clients’ requests using Magento – a product we were proficient in at that point.

With a limited number of technologies in the toolkit, a consultant will be limited to certain solutions. And instead of carrying out an effective digital transformation, they can simply drive customer’s business in a technological dead end.

A much better option is when an IT consultant has experience in using a wide range of technologies. It means they can offer different approaches that are relevant for customers business goals.

Another option is the chase after fashionable technologies. Nowadays, everyone’s talking about block chain, computer vision, machine learning, so they’re perceived as trendy and cool. Both customers and developers are very enthusiastic about them, but the actual number of successful cases is not that huge. Offering such technologies as part of the consulting framework, the IT integrator does not always assess their relevance for customer’s business.