An IT Consultant is someone who gives an expert or professional opinion about matters regarding software development life cycle. IT industry has grown exponentially and that means an increase in number of developers, demands and clients. IT consultants play a role in understanding and trying to meet the needs of business in most efficient manner possible. IT consultancies often, manage, deploy, implement, estimate and administer IT systems on businesses’ behalf, known as Outsourcing.
IT Consultants mainly perform the following roles: Design Engineering, Product Management and Project Management. The five main principles of IT consultants are as follows:
- Focus on the relationship
- Visualize Success
- You Advice, they Decide
- Clearly Defined Roles
- Be Oriented Towards Results
These principles sum up considerably the objectives of consultants. An IT Consultant attempts adding or deleting features from the specification as per target client, goal, market study and ROI. They also help in code review and refactoring. Software is seen from view of scalability, maintainability, security, ease of use, etc. The type of database and schemas are selected. Testing is also one of the most important functions of an IT consultant. Traffic simulations are created to measure the amount of client/server latency. A separate record of timeline, resources, schedule and project scope is maintained to provide summary of the development of software product. Development Lifecycles are also implemented.
An IT Consultant cannot just be a good programmer; he also has to be a business analyst and a good manager. He must have the skills to deal with the clients and ensure their satisfaction once the quality of software is assured. Today, IT Consultants work in diverse small local companies to huge multinational companies. Like every other function in IT, they are like a bead in the string that connects IT together. As long as there is IT industry, consultants are here to stay.
