LEARNING DIARY

WHAT IS CONSULTING?
The activity of providing a third party with knowledge on a subject in exchange for a fee is
known as consulting. Advisory or implementation services may be provided as part of the
service. Taking an objective and unbiased view on a problem is crucial to the consultant's
function. The scope of the project to be done is agreed upon between the consultant and the
client:
– the purposes (objectives, results) to be achieved;
– the expertise to be provided by the consultant;
– the nature and sequence of tasks to be undertaken by the consultant;
– the client’s participation in the assignment;
– the resources required;
– the timetable;
– the price to be paid;
– other conditions as appropriate.
The phases in the consulting process are as follows-
1. Entry
2. Diagnosis
3. Action planning
4. Implementation
5. Termination
Counseling and coaching are considered tools of consulting.
IT consulting services are advice services that assist companies in evaluating and aligning their
technology plans with their business or process strategies. The greatest information technology
consulting firms employ a team of professionals with a wide range of skills at a reasonable
price. Furthermore, they are equipped with a variety of tools that have been proved to create
innovative solutions for a certain company sector.
A typical IT consulting service typically includes some of the following aspects:
● Calculation and optimization of the financial side of the IT technology implementation
within the company;
● Improvement of business operations and processes within the company;
● Creating a core IT infrastructure for the whole company;
● Implementation of the necessary enterprise-level systems for a smooth run of inner
operations within the company;
● Assessment of the automation level within the company;

Consulting Variables-
The first stage is to identify the market, after which a roadmap must be constructed, and then a
marketing plan must be developed. The second step is to sell engagements, which involves
identifying customer accounts and building a pipeline. Following that, deliverables are created
in which pre-engagement tasks are completed, engagements are managed, and engagements
are run to completion reduce the dangers.
There are both concrete and intangible remedies. Day-to-day operations are handled, and tools
are built to deliver engagements, in order to manage the practise. Following the pre-
engagement phase, the change phase begins, which requires communicating with all parties,
establishing clarity, and setting expectations. Starting an engagement, working on many
engagements, managing and operating them, and maintaining risk and quality awareness are
all part of the engagement lifecycle.
Focus on the primary actions related to providing the engagement while operating it. Client
happiness and other factors will be influenced by engagement metrics. A high-quality process
adds value to the client by delivering cleaner and more consistent results. A quality assurance
policy should give the entire business clarity on how to promote quality in all activities.
Depending on the kind of engagement, completing the engagement comprises implementing
the solution or developing a plan for implementation, terminating the engagement, and then
following up with the customer. Identify what the team did well, what they didn't do well, and
what might have been done better for post-engagement activities.
We also learned how to write a consultation report. Various steps of generating a report were
presented and taught, including developing the content section, declaring the background
section, emphasising the main data, utilising the MSME approach, building a recommendation
list, and working on the executive summary.
Proposal Making
• Background – Start with the client situation
• It includes Format and content
• What client issues we are addressing and why it is important for client business
• Summary of solution
• Scope of work
• Break it into phases/stages
• What we will do
• What are client dependencies
• What will be the outcome of each state
• Outcome for the client - Business
• Measure of success
• Assumptions
• Project Organization – roles and responsibilities including client team
• Project timelines – Tentative to be finalized when in contract
• Pricing and Payment terms
• SLA and Penalties
• Governance model including value governance
There are 2 major tracks in consulting: (1) the traditional consultant and (2) the
supporting tracks
Intern, Junior Consultant / Analyst, Senior Consultant / Associate Project Manager / Project
Leader, and Partner / Director are the four to five stages of the management consulting job
ladder. Consultants are not specialists in all disciplines; instead, they serve as content
ambassadors for customers and true experts from various support centres across the world.
There are two methods to join a supportive centre. Experienced consultants in a certain area
may join some industry- or function-related supporting centres to assist their junior consultants
in mastering the knowledge in their projects, or some supporting centres may go out and seek
top-notch specialists to join their team.
Everybody quits Management Consulting at some point. After gaining a sufficient set of skills,
they look for other challenges.
CBD SESSION 2
This session was based on the traits and qualities of a Consultant. And the topic for the same
is “How Can I Become A Consultant”. There are 2 ways to start a consulting career and those
are to find a job and get hired or start your own consulting business. While starting our own
business in today’s world is very difficult and starting a consulting business was never an easy
task.
Now the main question comes what is consulting?
The provision of independent, professional advice and/or implementation help to companies
across sectors is referred to as consulting or consultation. The practise of consulting include
assisting customers in resolving their most pressing business difficulties or issues. Consultants
are facilitators. In a nutshell, consultants offer companies or people with professional opinions,
analysis, and recommendations based on their experience.
IT consulting services are said to be similar to a BiCycle. Because the seat is considered the
control, the handle strategy is break risk management, the frame is considered technique, spring
client feedback, and the rear-wheel is considered delivery, the paddle is regarded intellectual
capital. The front wheel is regarded company development, whereas the spoke is termed spoke.
Binoculars are used as industry research reports and trends by IT consultants, a magnifying
glass is used for the qualification process, backpacks are used as the intellectual capital of
services and solution offerings by IT consultants, an ice axe is used as the ability to engage and
present, the shovel is an analysis of client requirement and business needs by IT consultants,
and finally, a compass is used by IT consultants to measure the direction.
The consulting service delivery model is:
• Done for you
• Done with you
• Ion1 coaching
• Group coaching
• Online programs

TWO GUEST LECTURES WERE ALSO HELD TO MAKE US UNDERSTAND THE

SUBJECT EVEN DEEPER.
Prof. Arunesh Sharan gave the first lecture, which focused on proposal writing and attempted
to provide us an understanding of the stages involved in offering a firm or its services. All of
the processes involved in presenting a company's services were thoroughly examined and
described in more detail.
Prof. Jyoti Prakash Das gave us a presentation on Executing Deliverables in a Consulting
Engagement as the second event. We learnt about the most important role of a consulting firm
in that class.
DTCBD SESSION 3
Identification of the marketplace is the first step wherein a roadmap has to be created which is
followed by the development of a marketing strategy. The second step is selling engagements
where customer accounts are identified and a pipeline is created. After this, deliverables are
executed in which the pre-engagement activities are conducted, engagements are controlled
and run to mitigate the risks. The solutions can be tangible or intangible. To manage the
practice, day-to-day operations are managed and tools are developed to deliver the
engagements.

• After the pre-engagement phase, preparing for the change phase occurs where it
becomes necessary to communicate to all the participants, establish clarity, and set
expectations. The engagement lifecycle is starting an engagement, working on
multiple and managing and running them followed by keeping an awareness of the
risk and quality.
• While running an engagement, focus on the major activities related to Delivering
the engagement. The engagement metrics will significantly Impact client
satisfaction etc. A good quality process provides value to the client through cleaner
and More consistent delivery Closing of an engagement includes implementation
of the solution or a Roadmap for implementation, depending on the type of
engagement, Closing the engagement, and then following up with the client
• Lastly, not only do consultants need to have strong analytical skills but also Double
as Persuasive public speakers when it comes to communicating The strategy to
clients. On the other hand, consulting work is also tremendously rewarding — the
Recommendation reports and presentations the consultants produce can Change the
Odds for the success of many businesses. The better the consultant can
communicate the value of their consulting Work the More sought-after consultant
they become.
There is also the SCOTSMAN method, an acronym that stands for Solution, Rivalry,
Originality, Timescale, Size, Resources, Authority, Requires. Then we have a technical
proposal part, which is
1. Appreciation of assignment
2. Brief background of the firm highlight
3. Term of reference
4. Approach
5. Methodology
6. Activity/Work schedule
7. Staffing
8. Role and responsibilities
9. CV
10. Client reference list
11. Proposal case studies
Case studies of ideas consist of context, challenge, solution, outcome.
Commercial proposal component: cost of man's power, out of pocket costs. The cost of
manpower comprises wages, social costs, overheads, and profit. Fare, boarding &
accommodation, incident costs, correspondence, drafting and others are included in the out of
pocket bill.