An IT consultant is a specialist who works at the intersection of several areas – IT, economics and management. Its main task is to understand what information technologies can give business: to understand what needs to be automated, what the effect will be as a result, to choose a suitable IT solution and implement it. An IT consultant acts as an intermediary between the business and IT professionals. His tasks include the analysis of business processes, their optimization, the development of technical specifications for the automation of business processes, the selection of appropriate ready-made solutions or participation in the development of technical specifications for a unique IT solution for a specific business, as well as the implementation and debugging of information systems.
An IT consultant must understand what the core of an information system is, be able to choose from it what is needed for a particular business. Then he adjusts these selected elements for the tasks and business processes. The configuration does not require the use of languages and special programming tools.
An IT consultant must also be able to negotiate with the customer, to achieve mutual understanding. The customer usually has the most general idea of what he would like, say, which operations should be done faster. The consultant must understand how he can solve the customer’s problems. At first, the customer and the contractor have a rather vague idea of what needs to be done.
The requirements for the system, which will meet the needs of the customer, are constantly being refined: first, a prototype is created, an unfinished version of the system – the customer evaluates it, says what else he would like, – the requirements are clarified, then this cycle repeats.
The interaction of the customer and the contractor is carried out throughout the entire project. And one of the main problems is the management of system requirements: the changes that appear must be constantly streamlined, otherwise they will destroy the system itself.
An IT consultant can work in consulting companies and in the IT department of a company – production, trade, service. Regardless of the place of work, the tasks of an IT consultant are to convey to the company’s management information about what can be obtained from IT technologies, how to implement them, how much it will cost, what result it makes sense to expect. In the case of a consultant working within the company, additional tasks arise – to organize the operation of the installed solutions.
Such a direction of activity as IT consultants in Vaughan began to develop relatively recently, but has already managed to establish itself as the optimal one in the field of consulting for companies in various fields of activity. Its key tasks include cost optimization for the implementation of information technologies, increasing business efficiency and the degree of company manageability through the formation and implementation of a unified IT specialist must meet, and the tasks with which he must be able to cope.
Key competencies of an IT specialist
- Focus on results
- Customer focus
- Ethics
- Attention to detail
- Systematic thinking
- High degree of responsibility
- Diligence
- Initiative
List of tasks implemented by an IT specialist
- Developing new software and information products
- Supporting those already involved or leading the development of internal corporate technologies
- Involved in IT project management
- Implementing the launch and maintenance of ERP systems
Among the basic tasks performed by consultants in this area are the design, development and implementation of new software tools and related software for a specific line of business and information security. As for a narrower classification of responsibilities, it depends on the specific area of activity of the IT specialist. There are 4 main groups, including specialists:
As for the representatives of the 2nd group, they, in turn, can be divided into two categories. The first includes system software that creates system software, and the second includes applied software. They are engaged in the development and adjustment of application software.
Final words
Thus, an IT consultant is a specialist who implements a whole range of tasks in order to optimize business processes, develop an enterprise and, as a result, increase profits.
