IT consulting: analysis of methods and frameworks

Abstract

Today’s volatile and constantly evolving world of technology forces companies to rely on external experts. Consulting is a huge market from global perspective, but especially IT consulting has significantly grown the last years. However, the importance of IT consulting is not visible in the current literature yet. Particularly the topic of methods and frameworks that can be used in IT consulting is underexplored. Existing studies focus on methodologies or standardized frameworks for different problem areas in the IT management of companies. The perspective of consultants and their methods has not yet been adequately covered. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to provide an overview of possible methods and frameworks that can be used in IT consulting. For this purpose, existing methods and frameworks from literature were collected and described by executing a literature review. To underpin the theory with practical experience, interviews were conducted with experts on this topic. The methods and frameworks found are listed in the discussion section to have an overview. Additionally, the interviews showed that consultant’s often do not use standardized methods and frameworks but individually adapted ones that are tailored to their company processes. This thesis serves primarily as theoretical fundament for future work. Researchers can build upon this thesis to further close the research gap in this area.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Johannes Kepler University Linz
Supervisor	Gerald Petz (Supervisor)