IT Consulting...My Journey
By:
Dana R. Cobb
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of 1
My experience as an independent consultant has been an interesting journey to say the least. In the late 90s through the beginning of the century, it was an exciting, challenging, lucrative, and later, a very unstable time.
The consulting industry experienced a major influx of smaller IT consulting firms in the 90s. These firms were very successful in competing against several of the larger "traditional" IT consulting firms (i.e., Computer Sciences Corporation, Andersen Consulting, KPMG, and HP). Although, these smaller firms enjoyed their successes, they soon became victims of the economy along with the IT consultant.
In the early 90s, as the demand grew for highly skilled individuals, so did the competition between companies for higher qualified candidates. Hundreds of the smaller consulting firms were not only competing against each other, but against the larger consulting firms as well. An abundance of contracts were available for short and long term projects. Many IT consultants enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of working on short term contracts. In the late 90s when I entered the field of IT consulting, work was plentiful. Multiple projects were always available in various areas of IT. It soon became the norm for an individual to work on multiple contracts with different companies within one or two years.
Y2K was another force that pushed the demand for IT consultants. Corporations and governments feared the possibility of loosing vast amounts of data vital to the success of their businesses. However, after successfully making it through the turn of the century with only a few minor glitches, the fear of the unknown shifted from companies to IT consultants. Instead of developing new applications, companies decided to maintain their current applications. And, as the economy took a turn for the worst after September 11, 2001, smaller IT consulting firms, once so competitive, soon became victims as well.
overwhelming demand for IT consultants has decreased considerably compared to pre Y2K. The thriving world of an IT consultant appears to have changed over night, leading to a very unstable industry. Many consultants have gone from being able to demand and expect a competitive salary/hourly rate, to just hoping that they would be able to keep a job. In order to remain employed, many consultants agreed to take substantial reductions in pay.
The IT consulting industry today is not the same as it was over a decade ago. But the good thing about Information Technology is that the majority of the world cannot live without it. It has woven itself into the fabric of our lives forever. However, with the return of the demand for IT consultants, the issue of global competition arises.
The impact of offshore development and the continuous need to re-invent "you" in order to be successful in IT will be discussed in my next article.
Until the next time.
Dana R. Cobb
Next Article:
Staying Competitive in Today's IT Market
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