IT Consultant or Computer Tech?

http://www.varjan.com/articles/0912-dec-09-it-consultant-or-computer-technician.shtml

Mr. Varjan says"Most people know the difference between a builder and an architect, a bookkeeper and a chartered accountant and an line cook and an executive chef. But there seems to be some confusion about the difference between computer technicians and IT consultants.

For some reason there is a preponderance of computer technicians who love calling themselves IT consultants.

And probably there are some computer technicians out there who'd like to migrate to the area of IT consulting. And this is what I'd like to discuss this month. This magic migration from being a computer technician to becoming an IT consultant.

And don't get me wrong, one is not better than the other, but they have different mandates, so it's vital that we understand the difference and how companies differentiate, position and package their services accordingly. There is nothing more pitiful than a bunch of computer technicians posing as IT consultants.

The market also perceives them differently."

 

I find this to be very true in the environment we work in.  As consultants to SMBs, many of our clients are unaware of a distinction between the two.  The pitfall is years of lost or declining productivity.  We spend a lot of time retraining our clients to think of IT as a partner, rather than an enemy.  And we have measurable results proving the positive.  Likewise, we choose not to work with clients who treat what we do as a commodity, rather than a partnership.

A mentor of mine is fond of calling the IT Department he oversees "IM" (Information Management).  He tells me that he wants his techs to think in terms of how we manage information rather than what technology we are using today.  It's brilliant.  Why?  Because the average desktop support tech doesn't care about seeing the forest for the trees.  What is on her mind is solving the problem right in front of her.  Now that is great for the problem at hand, but it does nothing to raise the customer to a new level of efficiency, or to bring significantly higher value to the commodity of desktop support.

TRA Consulting, Inc. seeks to align our business goals to those of our clients; to form lasting, long-term partnerships; and to maximize our client's efficiencies.

TRA