Management Consulting vs. IT Consulting

Written by . Posted in Consulting Application, Consulting Industry

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Responsibilities of management and IT consultants may overlap at times but there are unquestionably a few differences between the two. By reading this post, you’ll know what their similarities and differences are. You’ll also be able to assess which type of consulting is fit for you.  

Main Objective

Both management and IT consultants target to help clients improve business growth with their well-thought advice. The only difference is that they work on different aspects of the organization. Management consultants focus on organizational development, cost and benefit analysis and market researches. They use management consulting frameworks to find out and generate solutions for the main business dilemma. Here’s the job description of management consultants for your additional reference.

On the other hand, IT consultants concentrate on advising management on how to efficiently manage information technology to meet their business goals. They also develop, implement and evaluate IT systems that lead to productivity and efficiency in business processes. They also train employees to strengthen their skills.

Job Requirements

Management and IT consulting positions require some of the same skills and abilities. Both teams must be analytic, logical, organized and attentive to details. They must also be able to excellently express their thoughts in written or verbal form. They must have the capability to deal with top management and interact with frontline employees as well. What sets them apart is their technical expertise.

Management consulting staff are expected to be knowledgeable in human resources, strategic planning, finance, marketing, sales and operations. They must have a good grasp of change management tools and techniques. They must also have a good background in technology since in some cases, they need to touch that area during evaluation. Graduates of Management, Marketing, Economics and Business Administration are usually the potential candidates for this field.

On the other hand, IT consultants try to understand the current IT infrastructure of the company and identify the main concern so they must be proficient in all factors affecting it.  These factors include the hardware, the program and the people using them. IT consultants must be adept in IT assessment, computer network, systems integration, security and customer relations management. They also need to keep themselves abreast with the latest software, gadgets and other updates in IT. Graduates of Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering and other related courses are usually hired for this position. Most have CISCO, Microsoft and other technical certifications.

Prominent Management and IT Consulting Companies

Three of the top-tier management consulting firms that are popular around the world are McKinsey, BCG and Bain. Other widely-known firms are Deloitte, Booz and AT Kearney. In the field of IT consulting, Accenture, Deloitte and Capgemini are some of the large ones.

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