There are, I think, three separate questions at issue here...

1. Is it possible and/or realistic for a non-coder to manage a development project?

2. Is it possible and/or realistic to make money offering (essentially) only business analysis and project management?

3. Is it possible and/or realistic to create a software consultancy that doesn't provide development expertise?


The answers, as I see them, are mostly positive, but with a hint of "realistic" caution.

1. It is emphatically possible and realistic for a non-coder to manage a software development project. It happens all the time in public and private sector organisations. In my 25-odd year IT experience, the larger and more complex the development project, the less likely it is to have a seasoned developer heading it up. Sometimes the project manager will be an ex-tech head, but he may not have programmed since RPG400 or CoBOL days, and indeed frequently, the project leader will not have a clue about current programming practices or languages. The value added to the work by the project manager is measured in planning, facilitation, liaison, unblocking, reporting, managing risk, managing stakeholders, etc. That is, all the things people think are easy, until they fail spectacularly when they try them for themselves.

2. Given that, then it must be possible to sell such services to other organisations. Here in the UK, we have a number of the usual suspects that sell such services (presumably quite profitably) without necessarily selling their development expertise. Names such as Accenture, CSC, CapGemini, PA Consulting and so forth come immediately to mind.

However, even when it is only the role of BA and PM that is sold to the customer by such companies, there is the reassurance that all of these organisations say they can field whatever software developer you require, to any level you want, providing you can pay the going rate.

[I put "say" quite specifically, because promises are one thing, and delivery quite another. A couple of years ago, an organisation that is funded by HM UK Government paid a preferred supplier to provide software experts for a national development project. As it turned out, they had to source these experts from another supplier at additional cost, since they didn't actually have the resources they said they did. ...But that's another story for another time...]

3. Since it sounds like you are talking about a small operation initially, while it may be possible to create a software consultancy that doesn't have a bunch of programming experts to fall back on, you may struggle. If potential clients are either looking for a one-stop shop, or want the reassurance of being able to get additional developer resource or actually hand over everything if necessary, then they will likely stay away from your fledgling consultancy.