Discussion on:

Consultants meld unique tradesmen-professional services blend

Based on its rate of change the field of Information Technology is an ongoing master-apprentice trade incorporating critical thinking, problem solving, high value knowledge and specialized skills. I don't see that as being solely the domain of consultants.

I liked your point that it's a damn shame we don't have more respect for apprentice-master trades. I hope you are right about the uptick in "value" with regards to skilled tradespeople.

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I wrestled with the "consultants only" aspect of the argument. Ultimately, I leaned more toward this being an issue for consultants, specifically, as consultants typically wear the most hats by definition. Many support desk pros, for example, will never have to run cable, terminate jacks, label a punch down block and certify 300 new drops. Most CIOs will never have to diagnose and replace a failed motherboard. Most project managers will never have to replace a failed disk in an enterprise-class Exchange server. A consultant might knock out all those tasks before lunch.

Erik, I have not done any hands on technical work for decades. I am a consultant, but in a totally different realm than the technical space you refer to. I have not seen a lot of consultants doing all these types of activities, to be honest, or do them well. I would not task a BA who has completed the requirements, to write the functional specifications. For the same reason I would not ask the the architect who designed my house, to actually pour the concrete or project manage the building process or plug in the plumbing. They are different trades, with very different skill sets. How do you avoid perpetuating your blind spots, and how do you project manage your own solution?

How interesting that we have such a different translation of consultancy and consultants.

I have to agree with one of the responses though, there is sometimes very little respect for our trade.

Nice information ...

Thanks
Grace
Checkatrade