IT Consulting: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Today information technology has become integral part of every kind of business. Organizations often need experts who have great insights in solving their business problems through information technology. This has led to development of a new field: information technology consulting (or IT consulting). This field has matured quite well in last 20 years. This study is an attempt to identify major focus of IT consulting practices and the challenges associated with them. 123 peer-reviewed academic research papers in field of IT consulting were considered for this systematic literature review. After filtering these papers, eventually 36 papers were selected. A number of major focus of IT consulting in last 20 years and challenges associated with them were identified (Education/IT Training, Auditing, Project Management, Knowledge Transfer, IT Economics, Security, Competitiveness, Applications). This review paper provides valuable information for business executives who are seeking to use IT practices for their business problems. It also provides directions for future research in IT consulting.

Characterising the digital transformation of IT consulting services–Results from a systematic mapping study

“…They need to discover new areas for future business, define new targets for growth, and develop innovative services [17]. Furthermore, knowledge management is an organisation related topic, which has been identified as an important competitive advantage in the consulting sector [22]. As the digital technologies are volatile, consulting firms need to conscientiously and permanently, collect and update their knowledge as well as the skills of their consultants [17].…”

“…In the fields of Information Systems Research and Consulting Research, there are four literature reviews [2,[20][21][22] that form the related work for our study. As part of preparing this paper, we compared them based on their authors' research goals and scope (Table 1).…”

“…Focus/Purpose of the literature study Type of study Is there emphasis on digitalisation of IT consulting? [22] To find IT practices adopted by IT firms for consulting with their clients and issues associated with them. To identify 'major focus of IT consulting practices', the challenges associated with them and the solutions to deal with the challenges, by various firms and researchers, both in industry and academia SLR, guidelines are not explicitly mentioned.…”

“…This can be supported by knowledge management systems, such as problem databases [2]. Hence, digital and hybrid learning approaches are becoming more relevant for the consultants [17,22]. Between consultants, departments, and projects, the transfer of knowledge becomes more important [22], especially from the perspective of agile methodologies [31].…”

“…Hence, digital and hybrid learning approaches are becoming more relevant for the consultants [17,22]. Between consultants, departments, and projects, the transfer of knowledge becomes more important [22], especially from the perspective of agile methodologies [31]. One of the selected papers emphasises the digital maturity of the consulting market, the consulting firms and the client companies including their respective staff [34].…”