IT consulting, often known as information technology consulting, involves more than just suggesting PCs to a business. Everything pertaining to the business’s information technology division is covered. IT consulting is a rapidly expanding job sector that includes anything from installing new software to developing a plan to recover a broken hard disk.

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IT Consulting: What Is It?

Consulting is the process by which a firm hires an outsider with specialized knowledge to assess its current state objectively and create a strategy that will assist it reach its objectives. What then is IT consulting? That is precisely what an IT consultant does, but with an emphasis on the technological architecture of the company.

A corporation may frequently hire an IT consultant to collaborate with its internal IT team and provide advise and insights from a different angle. They might offer advice on hardware and software purchases, system architecture, and security risk assessment. The consultant could even aid the business in making connections with other experts who can help with the project.

All IT consulting, according to Robert Douglas, president of PlanetMagpie Consulting, is ultimately driven by business needs, which might be “anything and everything” IT-related. The customer and the consultant might collaborate briefly on a decision on which PCs to purchase. or long-term (how can we protect ourselves from ransomware and phishing attacks?).

Market for IT Consulting

The market for IT consulting is expected to be worth $684.6 billion by 2022. Between 2017 and 2022, the IT consulting sector expanded 3.9% overall, with 1.6% growth in 2022 alone. These market trends will probably drive future growth:

Internet of things (IoT): Businesses will need to maintain and manage devices and their connections because there are already over 8 billion linked gadgets.

Big data: Analytics and big data are becoming more and more crucial in helping businesses define goals and make choices.

5G cellular: The next big thing in connection, albeit still in its infancy, is 5G technology.

Blockchain: Although cryptocurrencies are the primary use for blockchain technology, other businesses are beginning to employ it for security-related reasons.

Artificial intelligence (AI): Although it’s still a ways off, an increasing number of businesses are investigating this field daily, so it should become increasingly important in the future.

Virtual reality (VR) is quickly being surpassed by augmented reality (AR), which might soon take the lead in this specialized sector.

IT Consulting Service Types

While everything pertaining to information technology is included in IT consulting, the most of the work in this field may be divided into eight primary categories:

Strategy: formulating a long-range plan outlining how information technology can assist the firm

Architecture: creating the designs and specifications needed to construct IT systems

Implementation: supervising the IT plan’s implementation

Systems integration is the process of joining various IT system components and making sure they cooperate.

Gathering, preparing, and evaluating data to assist in addressing business inquiries is known as data analytics.

Security is making sure systems are compliant and developing a plan to stop illegal access to hardware, networks, and data.

Software management is the process of organizing and supervising software projects, which includes code delivery, tracking, and scheduling.

ERP (enterprise resource planning) services: assistance in selecting the software that the organization needs to carry out its regular operations (such as project management or accountancy)

But even within those wide categories, there are frequently subspecialties among IT consultants. Here are a few instances:

Infrastructure planning is determining the gear, software, and personnel that a business need.

Risk assessment is the process of determining possible security threats and evaluating their effect.

Planning for unforeseen occurrences, such as cyberattacks, power outages, or other calamities, is known as disaster recovery planning.

Migration is the process of transferring software and data across systems.

Network design: how the IT network is organized