The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine 10 Best IT Services Companies 2019 | Page 9

how to code those functionalities.
However, consulting is much more
than just providing suggestions
on technologies. As per The Five
Fundamentals of IT consulting, it is
assisting companies to achieve the
goals and preparing them to face
real-world issues of implementation
and system operation. These days,
customers not only want opinions,
but also clear strategies from an
IT consultant that would help
them implement various solutions.
However, this is where the confusion
occurs if expectations are not
described clearly.
IT Services: IT Services are the
work done to run the IT applications
and manage IT infrastructure.
IT Services Management can be
defined as activities performed
by an organization to design,
plan, deliver, operate, and control
information technology services
offered to customers.
An IT consultant is paid to find
the best solution as per clients’
expectations. However, the best
solution doesn’t necessarily work
every time. Hence, an IT services
expert provides a solution that is
feasible based on what they have
in their tool chest. The difference
becomes clearer when one
considers the role of the consultant
as an expert strategic guide and the
IT services as an expert solution
provider.
Well, this isn’t it! The terminologies
IT Services
are far more muddled than we
think. Today, the market also has
software consultants coming up.
While IT, technology, software etc.,
they all sound similar, each type of
consultant has some distinction as
per their specialties. For instance,
software consulting is focused
on software and applications
development. But responsibilities
of the software consultant and an
IT consultant are quite similar.
“Software consultant is an expert
who typically leads an initiative and
counsels on how the application
should be implemented using current
industry approaches,” describes
Ananya Chandra, an assistant
operations manager. She further
adds that in large enterprises,
consultants are often entitled to
provide technical advice on how to
configure and maintain applications.
Hence, even these definitions and
expert comments throwing light
on the subject fail to explain these
concepts to the core. And, it is
understandable as it is complex and
far more interrelated.
However, short-sighted
“spin” on these terms can be
counterproductive as it is prone
to make customers confused and
less-informed. Vagueness in the role
specification can be detrimental as
it is leaving them to read between
the lines. If the general consensus is
considered, there aren’t any definite
boundaries among IT services, IT
consulting, or Software consulting.
The biggest difference exists
probably in the mentality of the
service provider as in how he wants
to get involved in the business. It is
getting complicated considering the
fact that in any roles, the idea is to
achieve goals. Therefore, every field
is taking up multiple tasks and it is
not about specialization anymore.
SR