35.3 IT support and outsourcing

Management consultants who do not use the best available technology are not likely to inspire their clients and are losing an opportunity to learn and to gain IT efficiencies for themselves. Consultants are expensive knowledge workers and investment in IT is relatively easy to justify if it saves their time or improves their effectiveness. Consultants, like the managers of any other business, should ask themselves the fundamental questions outlined in Chapter 13: why? what? which? how? The answers will depend on the individual business and will change as technology develops, but there are certain characteristics of all consulting firms that give some clues to IT needs.

A consulting firm needs IT applications and equipment that suit the sector of professional services in general and of its own business in particular. It should therefore not hesitate to seek the advice of an IT consultant or software supplier who is familiar with the field. The choices made should reflect the critical characteristics of a consulting business.