Chapter 8

Life as a Consultant

In This Chapter

arrow Considering the career progression in consulting

arrow Breaking into the consulting field

arrow Looking at a typical day in the consultant’s life

Consultants. You see them in the airports, speeding through security lines like George Clooney in Up in the Air, jetting around the globe, and advising leaders of the most important organizations on the planet. They seem to have all the answers and hold the secrets that will make your business a huge success. If you happen to be seated next to a consultant on the plane, you’ll hear stories of long hours spent in nameless towns with weeks on the road and no glory.

The truth is that life as a consultant can be all these things and more. In terms of big data career paths, the life of a consultant can take many different turns. If you’re interested in pursuing this path, make sure you understand how consultants fit into an organization’s strategy from both top-down planning to bottom-up execution. Consulting careers have the potential to be rewarding, both financially and intellectually. But that high reward comes with high demands. For example, you’re expected to spend 80 percent of your time conducting billable hours. You can charge billable time when you’re actively working on something related to your customer.

What Is a Consultant Anyway?

The word consultant means different things to different people. To some, it’s an exalted position from which you dispense much needed wisdom. To others, it’s a charlatan’s trade that finds you telling people what they already know. In actuality, it’s neither. As a consultant, you need to be a problem solver. You need to recognize what needs to be done to help businesses overcome pressing issues.

Types of consultants

There are two main categories within the consulting community that pretty much any consultant will fit into: management consultant and systems integrator.

The best way to look at the difference is to follow the money. Although there is some overlap between a systems integrator and a management consultant, you can usually categorize them based on where the bulk of billing revenue is derived. The systems integrator focuses on implementing an IT solution and is paid for a successful outcome. The consultant can advise about a variety of problems and can be paid for more than just one project.

Another way to look at the difference between the two is that management consultants are focused on business or the business of technology and strategy, whereas systems integrators are focused on the implantation of technology.

Management consultants

Management consultants focus on strategy and planning. They tend to operate at the executive level and address issues that have an impact on the balance sheet. Consultants who work for these firms are typically drawn from the top MBA programs globally.

Here are some common questions that management consultants are hired to answer:

  • “I’ve heard a lot about big data, but what does it mean to my business?” As a management consultant, you help set the strategy and build a road map for the business leaders to capitalize on big data. You help them translate technology into business value by driving out costs or increasing revenues from the application of big data.
  • “What does big data mean for my business and how are we going to react as an organization?” Competitors are getting big data, and as a result, the market conditions are changing. How will companies react? As a management consultant, you help companies adjust to changing market conditions.
  • “My marketing executives say they can use third-party social media data feeds to make product pricing decisions. Can we do that in our firm? What about privacy?” Management consultants also help drive corporate policy and how companies will use customer data. Sometimes it is legal to use customer information for business purposes, but will it erode trust? Management consultants can help answer these questions.
  • “We need to use big data here at our company, but we have no idea where to start and what this will mean for our operational model.” Management consultants provide a strategic road map for clients to implement new initiatives. With those plans, clients can employ their people, or hire systems integrators to implement the work.
  • “I have an idea to start a new business unit, but I need help to operationalize the data and understand the impact it will have on the balance sheet. I need to build the business case for my executive committee.” Executives often need the help of consultants to build the business case to justify the needed investment in big data.
  • “We’re changing how we procure and use technology for data — from hardware, software, to implementation resources and even our chargeback model. We need help to look at how we procure and finance our data strategy for the future.” Management consultants provide advice about what technology to purchase and how to finance that purchase.

Systems integrators

Systems integrators are responsible for the actual implementation work or the delivery of projects. Here are some common questions that systems integrators are hired to answer:

  • “We’re building a big data team and need business analytics experts to help us execute.” Systems integrators can come in and shore up gaps in skills for companies.
  • “The CIO is supporting the marketing department on big data this year. We need help to establish best practices around data management.” Systems integrators not only provide discrete tech talent, but also can manage large projects, provide best practices, and teach their clients how to execute after they’ve left.
  • “Our IT department has no skills in Hadoop. We need a consultant for six months.” Systems integrators can provide entire project teams with skills for a fixed amount of time.
  • “Our firm has 60 petabytes of customer data, and we need help getting our big data team up and running.” A systems integrator can help augment the existing in-house talent.
  • “Our firm has released a request for proposal for a big data Center of Excellence within the company. We need a consulting firm to help us start and run that project.” Management consultants help companies write requests for proposals. These requests are sent to systems integrators to bid and are usually for very large and complex projects. Systems integrators bid on the projects with their solutions, prices, and schedules to provide solutions for clients.

Who’s who in the consulting industry

Just like in any profession, some companies stand head and shoulders above the others. These are the companies that have stood the test of time and have a long trail of successes to point to. In this section, we look at companies in the consulting industry that fit that description.

Management consultants

Management consulting is great place for you to work if you want a dynamic career in big data. These jobs are highly sought after and provide access to some of the most exciting projects in the world. Within that world, technology consulting has grown more than 10 percent. This community is dominated by two groups of companies: the Big Three and the Big Four.

The Big Three includes

  • McKinsey & Company (www.mckinsey.com): McKinsey & Company is one of the world’s most trusted advisory firms. Its influence reaches across private, public, and social sectors with more than 17,000 employees in 90 offices worldwide.
  • The Boston Consulting Group (www.bcg.com): In 2014, BCG was ranked as one of the best 100 companies to work for. It has more than 80 offices in 45 countries.
  • Bain & Company (www.bain.com): Bain has more than 6,000 employees in 50 offices spanning 32 countries.

The Big Four includes

  • PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com): PwC boasts more than 184,000 employees with more than $32 billion in revenue. Like all the Big Four, tax and audit are their core business. Consulting and advisory, where big data lives, generated more than $9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2013.
  • Deloitte (www.deloitte.com): The largest of the Big Four with more than 200,000 professional employees, Deloitte is similar in revenue to PwC: Deloitte generated $32 billion in revenue. It has a strong consulting practice with a specialty in technology.
  • Ernst & Young (www.ey.com): EY maintains headquarters in London. It had more than 190,000 employees worldwide and revenues of $25.8 billon in fiscal year 2013.
  • KPMG (www.kpmg.com): KPMG, while still very large, is the smallest of the Big Four. KPMG is based in the Netherlands and had $23.4 billion in revenue fiscal year 2013.

Big data is a growing trend within all these organizations and they’re building focused big data practices, which means they need more consultants at both introductory and experienced levels. In Chapter 5, we examine the types of degree programs you can pursue for a career in big data, but it’s important to note that for many positions within the Big Three, consultants have undergraduate or graduate degrees in every discipline imaginable. These firms put a high priority on intellectual prowess and problem solving in their hiring methods.

tip.eps Aptitude in statistics, math, and analytics is critical when working within the consulting firms that have big data practices, but your chances of landing and succeeding at interviews depends on

  • Your educational background: Many of these firms, the Big Three in particular, are looking for candidates from prestigious schools. Consulting firms want not only great grades, but also evidence of other leadership and service outside the classroom.
  • Grade point average (GPA): For management consulting firms, you’ll be hard pressed to be considered for a first-round interview with less than a 3.6 GPA. The Big Four may not be quite as hard, but if you’re in the low 3.0 range, you may be tossed out early. Good grades help to keep your options open.
  • Performance on case interviews: How you do on case interviews is a huge part of landing jobs. Case interviews reveal how you think, solve problems, react under pressure, and display your analytical abilities. You must prepare in order perform well here. Check out Chapter 13 for more on case interviews.

Systems integrators

Years ago, there was a funny commercial advertising IBM services. The ad showed three consultants in suits with a 300-page plan for implementing new technology. The business sponsor asked when they were going to do it. The consultants looked at each other and, with a snobby laugh, replied, “We actually don’t do anything.” I’m certainly not saying that management consultants don’t do anything, but when it comes to marshaling people to go about the work of implementation, companies look to systems integrators.

The systems integrator community is dominated by firms like the following:

  • Accenture (www.accenture.com): Accenture is a worldwide consulting firm that has its roots as the technology consulting business of the now-defunct accounting firm, Arthur Andersen. Today, Accenture has more than $31 billion in revenue and more than 300,000 employees.
  • CapGemini (www.capgemini.com): Headquartered in France, CapGemini is a multinational consulting and outsourcing company and has been in business since 1967.
  • Cognizant (www.cognizant.com): Cognizant started as an in-house technology division of Dun & Bradstreet. It branched out and began to work for outside clients in 1994. Based in New Jersey, Cognizant has more than 170,000 employees.
  • CSC (www.csc.com): CSC has been conducting technology consulting since 1959. It has almost $13 billion in revenue, with a significant footprint in serving the public sector.
  • Infosys (www.infosys.com): Infosys is an India-based consulting firm serving clients worldwide.
  • TCS (www.tcs.com): TCS has more than $14 billion in revenue, with customers in more than 40 countries. It has more than 300,000 employees worldwide.
  • Wipro (www.wipro.com): Wipro is a publicly traded technology and outsourcing business with headquarters in India. It has more than 140,000 employees worldwide. The firm was started in 1945 as a foods company. Wipro began technology consulting in 1980 and has grown to a $7 billion business.

This is not a complete list by anyone’s standards, but these consulting firms are experts in running projects that have specific technology needs. For a current list and description of the top 20 systems integrator firms worldwide, check out Big Data For Dummies, by Judith Hurwitz, Alan Nugent, Dr. Fern Halper, and Marcia Kaufman (Wiley).

In addition to these systems integrators, each region has smaller firms that are attached to a group of cities or states more locally centered. This makes for less travel for the consultant and lower prices for the client.

The Career Path of a Consultant, from Associate to Partner

Career paths within consulting firms may differ from company to company, but they generally follow a prescribed path of growth based on experience, contribution, and the ability to generate fees for the firm. Consulting firms are typically organized as a partnership. The following list of titles can vary from firm to firm but they tend to follow this general pattern:

  • Associate: Associate is the entry-level position right out of school. Associates have high analytical and business aptitude but limited experience. These people are generally hired straight out of undergrad.
  • Consultant: Consultants have been with the firm for a few years and have grown in experience, industry knowledge, and skill. As a consultant, you gain more delivery responsibility and are in line for a leadership position. You can come on as a consultant if you come in with a master’s degree in general or an MBA in particular.
  • Project leader: This role can be multilevel. Some firms break this job out into manager and senior manager. Here, you must serve as a player-coach. You’re expected to plan, deliver the work product, and lead the team. More senior-level leaders are also responsible for identifying and winning new business.
  • Principal/partner: The top rung of the ladder is reserved for the partner. The partner shares in the profits of the practice and is often personally responsible for key clients.

As a consultant, you’re there to produce fee income while building value for your client. Fee income is how consulting firms make money. When you work, you produce for the consulting firm. You also need to provide value for your clients, or your firm won’t get hired to do more work and thus generate more fee income. The more experienced you are, the more you can bill.

What is experience? It’s a combination of showing a successful track record and happy clients over time. Most professionals enter a consulting firm as an associate and follow the partner/principal model. The associate makes up the bulk of the workforce and often does the real work in the firm, be it as a management consultant or a systems integrator.

As an associate, you can expect that your life will be filled with a high volume of client work and career development training. People generally spend a few years as an associate and gain competencies in their area of specialty. As those skills grow, so do the areas of responsibility. Associates move to levels like senior associate, manager, and senior manager. In most firms, a senior manager (or the equivalent like a project leader) is expected to generate new revenue for the practice. This is a critical step toward gaining the coveted partner or principal position.

A Typical Day in the Life of a Big Data Consultant

What’s a typical day in the life of a big data consultant? The official answer to this question (and any consulting question) is, “It depends.” The following is a great snapshot taken from my experience and the life of others in the consulting world every day.

6:30 a.m.

The alarm on your smartphone goes off signaling a new day. You instinctively reach for the phone to check emails and your daily schedule. You promise yourself you’ll squeeze in a workout before breakfast with the team in the hotel restaurant. You worked 65 hours last week — pretty normal — but you still struggle to find time to exercise. The good news is that it’s Thursday, travel home day. You and your team usually are out of town on a client project every week, Monday through Thursday.

7:30 a.m.

You jump in the shower and think about what’s coming up. You run through the highlights — team breakfast, internal meetings within your consulting firm, proposal work, and an executive client presentation. You need to make sure you get out of the office in time to catch your flight home. Why can’t you get a project in your hometown? You remind yourself that it’s just the way it goes. It’ll be another full day, and somewhere in all that, you need to find time to catch up on emails, write another proposal, and contribute to a thought leadership paper your partner is writing. Your partner leads the team here at the client. You don’t get to see her very often, but you know you need to perform well for her.

7:45 a.m.

Quick breakfast with your fellow consultants at the hotel. You all head over to the client’s office.

8:30 a.m.

You settle into the space that you’ve been working out of for the past three weeks. It’s an unused conference room that you and your team affectionately call the “bullpen.” It can be hard to focus on writing or making calls with five people jammed into the room, but you work with what you have and you’ve always enjoyed a challenge. Last week you were on the 60th floor of the Willis Tower (formerly called the Sears Tower) in Chicago with a great view.

9:45 a.m.

You’ve reviewed the proposal, presentation, and demo that you and your team have put together. You’re pitching a large big data project, which will enable a new cross-selling strategy. Though you aren’t personally presenting the results to the CIO, your job is to make sure all the materials are organized. You do spot one area that you feel needs more refinement, but you can bring that up at the team meetings at 10 a.m.

10 a.m.

The five of you huddle around a phone to call the partner. You have an associate, three consultants, and the project leader (that’s you). You review the materials and run through the technology demo, which showcases some emerging buying patterns based on sample data you’ve mined from the client’s databases.

11:30 a.m.

The team meeting is over, and the team runs through the presentation.

1 p.m.

You take a late lunch with one of the direct reports of the CIO, the vice president of database platform. He is a major influencer and a supporter of your project. You’ve spent time over the past few months building that relationship to make sure you won’t hit any unforeseen political issues in your meeting like the funding status for next year’s budgets or any organization change that may be coming. Executing a big data strategy means a lot of change for your client, and the organizational impact will be large. You need to make sure you’re sensitive to that and incorporate change management into your plan. Your team is recommending some changes to the staff, so you have to walk lightly.

2 p.m.

Your team is escorted into the CIO’s office for the big presentation. You won’t be doing the speaking, but you’re there as a part of the team and to answer any questions that may come up that the partner can’t answer.

4 p.m.

The proposal meeting was successful, and the client is ready to proceed to a bigger engagement and gave you a verbal agreement to move forward and start the contract process. You now have to begin building a new project team to implement the solution. You spend time with your team to discuss next steps. Some of them will move on to new projects at other clients and some will stay. You figure out who on your team may want to stay for the next phase.

4:30 p.m.

It’s late in the afternoon, and you can now focus on your email inbox, which has continued to fill throughout the day. You address the emails that couldn’t be handled with quick answers throughout the day from your smartphone.

6:30 p.m.

You leave the client’s office to grab a cab to the airport for your 8:15 p.m. flight. Everyone flies off to their own towns. You’ll work on the plane and then take late-night calls from India when you arrive at your next destination.

This snapshot is typical of life in consulting. The project specifics will vary depending on the needs of the client, however, you’ll also be required to present findings, interface with executives, and keep tabs on the pulse of the client and his political adversaries.

Pros and Cons of the Consultant’s Life

Consulting, whether you’re a management consultant or a systems integrator, has many advantages. Consultants are always facing new challenges from different client companies, industries, and even locations. That kind of life can offer a lot of change, learning, and even high earning potential. If you pursue this life, you’ll have the following advantages:

  • Exposure to many different companies and industries
  • The opportunity to operate at a strategic level
  • High earning potential
  • Experience in dealing with challenging problems
  • Extensive travel

Every choice in life has trade-offs. Although you’ll likely get many of the wonderful benefits of this career, there is a price. That price comes in the form of demanding hours, travel, and tight deadlines, to name a few. Check out this short list of possible downsides. Consider them carefully as you weigh you career path.

  • Extensive travel
  • Demanding hours
  • Difficult schedules, work priorities, and deliverables
  • Demanding customers
  • High expectations for delivery
  • A competitive work environment