E.G. A typical section of an I.T. consultant plan might look like:
Short term: Next Month:
- Phone 100 prospective new clients
- Commence work on the User Guide for the new accounts system for Prezzy Ltd
- Complete the unix scripts to safely shutdown the solaris server
- Deliver 1 day training course on Microsoft Office Word at Jackson Ltd
- Resolve the "file locking" problem at Integration Corp (2 days estimated)
- Continue current contract at Technologize Ltd
Medium term: 6 Months:
- Negotiate new contracts at Jackson Limited
- Complete payroll system design and recommendations for Hull Hospital
- Fixed term contract at Sudoku Ltd (3 months). Design Entity relationship model and build database in conjunction with their I.T. staff.
- Negotiate with contract programmers to fulfill ongoing contract work (B.T.).
- Take on 10 new contract agreements with new prospects
- Learn perl programming skills, to add to portfolio
- Set up website to market services
Long term: 7 Months to 3 Years:
- Look at gaining Microsoft certification
- Complete payroll system design and recommendations for Hull Hospital
- Look at employing programmer to fulfill some of the longer term programming contracts
- Need secretary!
- Compete for the B.T. contract. Tenders deadline by end December, 2008.
- Learn Java, take Software Configuration Management course, and arrange to take Project Management certification
- Find new office premises in the next 18 months
- Go on that American holiday and buy a new car, as a reward for establishing your business, and having at least 4 employees in 3 years time!
Pricing
Where pricing is concerned you will need to do some research. You will need to find out what other I.T. consultants are charging. If you decide to undercut the competition, you may find that you are working long hours for very little reward. It is always best to aim for the middle ground. For example, if the range of hourly rates is £20.00 to £40.00 per hour for specialist skills, such as designing a database, you should aim for the middle ground, say £30.00 per hour. If you do decide to charge more than average you should always be in a position to justify this to your potential clients if they challenge you on your costs. To some extent this will rely on your own confidence in the services you are offering.
Partnerships
You may also be considering working in a partnership. This is fine as long as it is clearly specified and understood what the roles of each individual partner is. Some partnerships start on the basis of a friendship. However, these kinds of partnerships are prone to break-ups, sometimes due to the different approaches to performing tasks.
Partnering with another consultant is fine, but it is always recommended that you work with someone you know well, and can work with on a regular basis. Once again, you should clearly define the roles of each consultant, so that the "professional rivalry" which sometimes happens will not surface. Partners should work towards the common goal and end result, not be in competition with each other. Sometimes it is better to work in a partnership as you learn skills from each other.
How do you gain experience prior to I.T. consultancy?
As a general rule, the decision to become an I.T. Consultant is based upon several years experience in industry. However, even those with limited experience may have specialist skills and knowledge which would be useful in consultancy work.
In the past you may have gained experienced as a programmer or as a helpdesk analyst. It may be that you have worked for several companies gaining different perspectives in industry which could be in the private and/or the public sector. If you see yourself as an aspiring I.T. consultant but you are not ready to make the big leap yet it is recommended that is you try and gain some experience in the working with consultants, programmers and/or business I.T. specialists. Another way to gain experience of providing advise and support to others in I.T. is to work on a helpdesk. If you are still at college it would be a good idea to gain experience on a work placement. Seeing how other consultants in I.T. work will give you some idea as to what is involved. Unlike programmers and Web designers consultants usually have a better understanding of the overall objective i.e. the bigger picture and where I.T. fits in with the business.
A very useful way of gaining free knowledge and expertise is to join online forums and newsgroups where other professionals can assist you with I.T. problems. You can also gain insights into approaches that other I.T. professionals use. There are many such newsgroups available and if you wish you can also pay a small fee to join web sites which provide expertise on various I.T. matters. There are many websites offering expertise in I.T. matters. If you have a problem you wouldn't normally be able to resolve and do you know where to look on the Internet finding a solution isn't usually too difficult.
Another useful strategy is to study courses and take certification in aspects of I.T. consultancy which are used in the real world. It may be that your employer will sponsor you on courses which will take you down the consultancy route. Most learning schemes have several compulsory modules and optional modules which combine to provide certification.
Certification on its own will not provide you with experience but it should open doors to provide you with more opportunities to gain some. Examples of the types of courses you may take in I.T. consultancy are, project management, software engineering, programming languages, database design, business studies, service management.
Reminder
Have you completed the following exercises?
- Completed the I.T.consultants challenge quiz
- Completed the I.T.consultants skills matrix, and tailored it for your own reference.
- Looked up various newsgroups, and websites as recommended in this introduction
Tick each box when you have completed the exercises. Then you can move on to the assignment that follows.
Summary
- In this introduction we have looked at the advantages and disadvantages of it in consultancy, your lifestyle and earning goals and the various factors that go into freelance work. We have also looked at how you can gain experience prior to becoming an I.T. consultant.
- We have looked at who your prospective clients are, what kind of skills and knowledge you will need your motivations for going down this route and how you are going to go about it
- In either to clarify your skills and knowledge you took part in an I.T. consultants challenge and filled in a skills matrix for you to keep updated. This enables you to identify at any time, the skills and knowledge, you can offer as an I.T. consultants and identify areas were, you can improve your knowledge.
- We also looked at identifying your target market, and what you will need to initially approach this career
- We also took account of various risks of I.T. consultancy, and the type of qualities required to survive in a competitive career.
- Finally, we looked at planning your consultancy, and your goals for this in terms of short medium and long-term plans. We provided an example of a typical diary/plan for an I.T. consultant.
