Guru Spectrum

on Aug 09 by Barry Rabkin
Tags: analysts, consultants
Comments: 6 Comments »

Where does a technology company supporting the insurance industry go for advice? No, this isn’t the GhostBuster refrain.

Technology firms need to know what capabilities insurers need to keep their business running, to make decisions faster, to comply with state, federal and possibly international industry regulations, or report earnings. Insurers may be thinking of enhancing or replacing their existing software capabilities either with solutions from their existing technology providers or from other firms.  Or insurers may be thinking of piloting new technologies such as cloud solutions for business functionality or possibly storage opportunities.

Who does the technology company call?

Spectrum

There is a spectrum of advisers in the marketplace able and willing to help technology companies identify the issues, challenges, and trends insurers face so that the technology company can better position their existing products and services or develop new ones.

The spectrum runs from analysts at one end to consultants at the other end. Specifically the options are:

• Analysts – people who focus on a specific technology or industry. (Industry technology analysts are a hybrid model)
• Consultative analysts – people who are primarily analysts but also do consulting
• Analytical consultants – people who are primarily consultants but approach or combine their work with an analyst’s perspective
• Consultants – people who drill down into a situation (whether strategic, tactical, or operational) and working closely with their client, help to bring about change.

Differences?

There is a basic question that you might be asking yourself as you were skimming the four categories of gurus: what is the difference between an analyst and a consultant?

Some of the differences are sprinkled in the short descriptions. But to me, a consultant – whether an analytical consultant or not – is hired to help a client change from whatever condition the firm was in before the engagement to a condition that enables the client to compete more successfully. I realize there is more to being a consultant than that but to me that is the essence of consulting: enable change.

An analyst, specifically one that does not attempt to also consult, is a person that provides objective, independent insight about a specific issue. The client then uses that insight to make better decisions which themselves could then require change (or not).

What do you think is the difference between analysts and consultants? Or are they really the same animal?