What a Real IT Consultant Must Know: A Checklist for Companies and Professionals

Today, every developer with a LinkedIn profile calls themselves an “IT consultant.” But a true consultant isn’t defined by how many frameworks they know. They’re defined by their ability to turn IT from a cost center into a strategic lever.

I’m an independent IT architect with 20+ years of experience. I don’t sell solutions. I help businesses ask the right questions. Below is the honest checklist I use myself when engaging with clients.

🔍 What a Real IT Consultant Does NOT Do

• Won’t praise the latest AI framework without first understanding your workflows;
• Won’t suggest “rewriting everything from scratch” without analyzing TCO and risk;
• Won’t say “it’s impossible”—they’ll say “here are three ways, with trade-offs”;
• Won’t hide complexity—they’ll explain it in business terms.

✅ Checklist: 7 Core Competencies of a Strategic IT Consultant

1. Strategic Thinking

They connect every technical decision to business outcomes: LTV, time-to-market, support cost per customer. They ask: “How will this impact your profitability in 18 months?”

2. Vendor Independence

They have no stake in whether you choose Azure, Oracle, or Salesforce. They pick the right tool—even if it’s legacy .NET 4.8 and MS SQL.

3. Deep Legacy Understanding

They know 80% of your value lives in systems over 10 years old. They modernize—not just replace. They handle databases in the hundreds of gigabytes, not just “clean” startup stacks.

4. The Ability to Listen—and Ask Uncomfortable Questions

They don’t start with architecture. They start with: “Who’s afraid of this project—and why?”, “Where does your process break most often?”, “What do you hide from investors?”

5. Transparent Estimation & Pricing

They clearly separate hourly vs. fixed-scope work. They don’t hide dependencies, risks, or alternatives. They say: “This will take 3 months and 450 hours. Here’s why—your system X.”

6. Multilingual & Localization Awareness

They understand that Hebrew requires RTL layout, that Russian users read differently, and that trilingual PDFs aren’t “just translation”—they’re an architectural challenge.

7. Accountability for Outcomes—not Deliverables

They don’t hand over an “architecture document” and disappear. They stay until the system runs in production, shows real metrics, and is understood by your team.

💡 For Companies: How to Vet a Consultant Before Hiring

1. Ask them to critique your current tech stack. A good consultant will spot weaknesses—without flattery or ego.
2. Ask: “What’s your biggest failed project—and what did it teach you?” Those who haven’t failed haven’t worked on hard problems.
3. Check if they’ve worked in regulated industries. If they haven’t touched HIPAA, GDPR, or Israel’s Privacy Law—they’re not ready for real enterprise work.

📬 Why I Wrote This Checklist

I’m Emil Slavin, an independent IT architect and strategic advisor. I work with organizations that value:

• Reliability over hype;
• Transparency over slick decks;
• Long-term resilience over “fast MVPs.”

My clients include startups building scalable MVPs, mid-sized businesses modernizing legacy systems, and regulated sectors (healthtech, fintech, government) where a single flaw means fines or shutdowns.

I don’t fit templates. And that’s my advantage.

📬 Ask Yourself: Do You Need This Kind of Consultant?

If you:

• Pay for IT but see no ROI;
• Fear touching your legacy system—but can’t live without it;
• Want AI, but aren’t sure where it actually saves money;
• Operate in Israel, Russia, or handle cross-border data

then you don’t need “another DevOps.” You need a strategic IT partner.