What I Know It’s About Experience

The differences between client and consultant

Hi and Salam to All,

I sometimes get asked by people at conferences when I tell them that I'm a consultant what I do. Some usually pass the comment(s) 'Do as I say, not as I do', 'Give me the money' or the latest, 'do you go to a company, get the information, deliver a report with recommendations that will not work?'. Well, there is a sense of truth in all the comments and observations, Consultants bring to a company their knowledge and experience which has been 'gained' from numerous clients or from a knowledgebase (see wiki as an example).  They also try to fit their knowledge to what they know about the client and what the client expects. The consultant also knows (or should) that every client is different even if they offer the same service to their customers.

The client on the other hand, knows (?) what his buisness is, mainly, making money. The main question is, the IT consultant usually only sees the IT management and staff and never the business. In an IT Risk Management consultation exercise, the consultant may meet business people but only related to the use of IT systems and solutions.

A business consultant on the other hand, usually sees the buisness andhardly ever IT unless it is for a new system that business has asked for a business person as the project manager. The Auditor on the other hand will meet with IT and business and (usually) has the ear of the Financial Director and the Board.

So, back to the comments the people made to me, The role of the consultant is based on what type of engagement it is; Business, Technical and/or Audit. Yes, a consultant can also be an auditor especially with regards to compliance to International Standards.

In my previous posts I mentioned the role of a professional consultant, where they had the best interest of the client at heart but would also like to make some money. I also mentioned the role of a client where they had to find a solution at the best possible price. Based on this, the consultant may require more time to get in-depth knowledge of the client, which is not usually accepted by the client as it costs money. The in-depth knowledge may be gained by interviews, questionnaires and/or Workshops after all, who knows the business better, the consultant or the client and how may the consultant make meaningful or valid implementable recommendations if there is no knowledge?

This is where the diffence is, the client must understand that in order for the consultant to deliver a meaningful document, they need to know the client (Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) this could be solved in one workshop (the cheapest?) from a consultancy cost point of view or through multiple interviews (more expensive?).

These requirements could be resolved in the Project Scoping meeting which unfortunately only occurs after the client has accepted the initial cost based on their 'expectations'.

In essence, there should be no difference between an employee of the client and the consultant, they should both have the 'interest' of the company at heart (?) and understand the business. Unfortunately, in todays world, this is often not true as the requirement for 'profit' exceeds the requirement for 'governance' which certain individuals in a certain country across the waters showed the rest of the world and in my honest opinion started the global recession.

Comments are as always, appreciated.

Cheers and Wa Alaikum As-Salam until next time,

Enjoy the rest of the week and may you travel safely.

1. The primary function of a supplier,
2. The primary function of a consultant,
3. The differences between client and supplier,
4. The differences between supplier and consultant,
   
5. The differences between client and consultant,
6. Ethics as a consultant,
7. Ethics as an employee and
8. Is there ethics in business.