What's the difference.....

[ChimpMaster]

A consultant goes in and advises (or consults) with the client suggesting that the moon should be put on a stick and that it will only take a few weeks. They leave with either a half arsed attempt at it (which failed but was fudged to look like it part works and will do later "with a bit of tweaking") or the leave before the implementation point after writing a lengthy document containing exactly zero useful input but sounding like the moon/stick idea is very possible under time and onbudget, said "Consultant" then advises the sales dept exactly wht the client is missing from their product suite and it goes around again in circles. As RC says above, these "consultants" usually come from companies such as "@ss sent ya" or other similarly sh!te large org's where they have got to "consultant" level by bending over for their boss or photocopying a certificate from their friend Bob Shawadiwadi and getting on a plane.

A contractor i sthen brought in (at a much cheaper rate being billed to the client), takes the above mess, advises the client what is realistically possible, tries to re-arrange the deadline dates to something more realistic (ideally plus a few weeks to allow some CUK "research") and gets on with getting the job done.

OMG have you been reading my CV?! This is exactly the kind of thing I had to do at a big previous client. "@ss sent ya" were in there for years creating a half-baked can of sh1te that never actually went Live. I tore it to shreds when I went in (as the SME contractor), with help from my own Powerpoint slides Convinced management about "@ss sent ya's" lack of technical ability in this area and won myself a 6 month project to start the whole thing from scratch again. Job done.

[mace]

A consultant tells the client what to do. A client tells a contractor what to do.

Obviously, the vast majority of "consultants" working for the large consultancies are nothing of the kind. It's only the top techies and management team who deserve the title.

[ChimpMaster]

A well known saying:

A consultant is someone who takes the watch off your hand and tells you the time.

[d000hg]

This thread is funny. Contractors bitching about 'overpaid useless consultants'.

Now replace 'Contractors' with 'Permies', 'consultants' with 'contractors'.

You're acting like a bunch of bitter permies the lot of you.

[RichardCranium]

This thread is funny. Contractors bitching about 'overpaid useless consultants'.

But it's true! Much of my work has been to follow the big name consultancies and clear up their mess on my own for 0.1% to 1% of what they were paid. Or work alongside them and teach them how to do what is needed.

[d000hg]

Well there are lots of stories on TheDailyWTF.com about contractors who were brought in, took the money and left a mess behind.

Permies, Contractors, Consultants... there are good ones and bad ones. Some might argue contractors can more easily get away with dossing as they move around, and consultants even more so... but that's about it I reckon.