What is an IT Consultant?

What is an IT consultant?

An ICT consultant or IT consultant is someone who advises companies in the field of ICT and/or IT. He or she is usually employed by an ICT company and provides advice on, for example, new software, digital infrastructures and system development. The consultant also implements the advice where necessary and desired. In this way, he or she helps the organization to achieve objectives in the field of digital work processes. ICT consultancy is similar to ICT outsourcing, where business processes are outsourced, but this is not exactly the same. Consultancy only concerns one-off advice and its possible implementation.

There are different types of IT consultants, each focusing on a different part of IT. For example, consultants in the field of ICT business deal with complete business operations and business needs. Software consultants provide advice on new software and ICT consultants specialized in security examine whether digital infrastructures and processes are set up in a secure manner. The daily tasks are related to the specialization, although there are also all-round consultants who can advise in all these areas.

Every assignment starts with a conversation with the customer, so that the IT consultant gains insight into the customer's needs. He or she then delves into the company's IT systems and infrastructures to analyze them. Depending on the customer's needs, the consultant looks for security threats, system problems or other weaknesses and provides IT advice based on these. He or she then designs and implements a technological solution. The IT consultant's work is not finished yet, because after implementation he or she monitors how successful the solution is. Based on these analyses, he or she draws up reports on the technology used, which can be of value in a next project.