When I first became an IT consultant, I was apprehensive because I felt that I didn't know a great deal about IT. I was right about that, but wrong to worry about it. I had sufficient knowledge. I had a mentor, a cynical old cove who fixed me with a baleful gaze like that of an aging parrot. He then told me that the only thing I had to remember was to keep a straight face when I got to look at the client's IT system. It really doesn't enhance the relationship with the client to burst into giggles, or to exclaim 'What idiot wrote this stuff?' 'Silence', he told me, 'is usually the best option. Also, try to avoid making a low whistle through your teeth'. You might think that we lived in simpler, less complicated times, and such advice is no longer sufficient to launch a career as a consultant, but all fresh technology is bewilderingly complicated at first.

What I learned then was that, in analyzing and fixing a problem with any application, there was usually a good reason for every technical decision. It took some dogged research to determine this, but it was unwise to wade in with a solution until you could be confident about why things were the way you'd found them. Once the client had the confidence that you were wise enough not to come to snap judgements, they would open up frankly about the source of the problems, knowing you wouldn't laugh. The surprising thing about any technical problem, even with databases, is that someone, somewhere, already knows the correct fix: the problems lie far more frequently with the failure of human groups to function cooperatively, and decide to do something about it.

Consultants, therefore have to play a role, and must look the part. In my day, that meant a charcoal suit, a vaguely academic tie, black shoes (not brown, whatever else you get wrong) and gold-rimmed specs, even if your sight is perfect. Their real value is to apply patient, forensic analysis to the problem, to gain the trust of all the participants, and thereby to uncover the solution, despite the tenacity with which some members of the group may wish to conceal it. It is more like being an arbitrator than a 'Google on legs'. A firm grasp of the technology is important, I grant you, but it isn't everything.

Phil Factor.