Communication lessons from IT consultancies

In the corporate world, IT consultancies are unique. They provide professional services to clients, like most consultants. But unlike many consultant fields, IT consultants also commonly develop the technological tools their clients need to improve their business operations. This business model allows IT consultants to flexibly redesign business processes that achieve client objectives, because these business processes can evolve hand-in-hand with the IT tools. However, these two workloads - developing the tools and providing the professional services - often conflict within the inner workings of the IT consultancy.