™Technology
What is technical consulting?
Technical consulting is help deciding what to build, how the pieces should fit, and whether a proposed approach will hold up.
By Tomryn ·
The term is used loosely, so it is worth being specific. Technical consulting is the work of understanding a problem well enough to describe a workable technical approach to it, architecture, integration points, sequencing, risks, and what has to be true for the plan to succeed.
It is distinct from building, though the two often run together. It is also distinct from strategy: a strategy document that cannot be implemented is not technical consulting.
What it typically covers
- Technical architecture: how the parts of a system relate, and where the boundaries are.
- Systems integration: how existing tools exchange information, and what has to change for that to work.
- Requirements analysis: turning what people say they want into something specific enough to build.
- Implementation planning: order of work, dependencies, and what can be deferred.
- Technology evaluation: whether a proposed product or approach actually fits the problem.
- Technical documentation: writing down the decisions so they survive staff turnover.
What it does not include
Tomryn provides consulting and technical guidance. We do not provide regulated professional sign-off where that sign-off requires a licensed professional, engineering stamps, certification, regulatory validation or equivalent approvals stay with the appropriately licensed party.
Being clear about that boundary early avoids a great deal of difficulty later.
Signs you need it
- Two vendors have proposed very different approaches and you cannot tell which is right.
- An integration keeps almost working.
- A project has been running longer than planned and nobody can say precisely what is blocking it.
- Requirements exist as a list of features rather than a description of the problem.
- You are about to commit to a platform that will be hard to leave.
What a good engagement produces
Something written down and specific: an architecture that someone else could build from, a decision record explaining why an option was rejected, or a plan with a real sequence. If the output is only a conversation, the value tends to evaporate within a month.