IT services v/s IT consultingJust came to know about thin line diff between IT services and IT consulting at ACN from previous thread that promotions are not time linked in services. So does it mean that in consulting promotions always happen on annual basis (from C1 to C2 to C3 and so on). Is there any other difference in these two streams,How does ACN differentiates people from these two diff streams as soemtimes they might be working on same IT project ?Any expert opinion would be of great help. Thanks !!

Don't know what expert means in this case, but I work at ACN, and have worked on projects with mixed work force. but first, there is promotion and there is progression. Promotion is when you 'letter designation' changes, so from A to C to M to SM or SE. progression is when the number that goes with your letter changes e.g C1 to C2 to C3. Progression is automatic every September provided you have done the necessary time at level (1yr maybe less for new joiners). On a project you get rated against your peers. So if you are a C1 you will get rated against/with other C levels not services, or solutions. and thats really how ACN gets to avoid rating across work forces.What i can't tell you is if progression vs promotion also exists in services. Will ask a few friends from services tomorrow if you want to know.

sorry forgot to talk about the promoti0n part, in UK there are 2 promotion points september, which isthe traditional one, and march which is meant to be for top performers. invariably because of different start dates a lot of people end up not necessarily being a top performer, but being time eligible. Oh by top performer i really mean that you are excelling so for example most people get promoted after 2 years but a top performer could be anything less than that. Services on the other hand aren't tied to a specific annual promotion point, it can basically happen anytime.

Thank you 2 Cents !! I am joining ACN consulting next month, and the information provided by you is really very helpful !!So if my join date comes in April/May, will I be eligible for Sept promotion (progression to be precise) even though I would be completeing only 6 months till then ? If it is possible, what things I have to do apart from good performance ? :-)

In all honesty yes do a good job but believe me the most you have to do is suck up to your manager and know the people going in for your laddering session.You can be performing beyound the others in your peer group but if you dont suck and get the strong SE's or managers to push for you. U will end up not only in the lower bracket but some might even poor some oil to make the ladder slippery for you to climb.

generally the cut off for automatic progression is March. however you will still get more £ in September. the thing to look at in my view is promotion. you may not get automatic progression, but when you do come to promotion point next year, your time is pretty much covered, the difference between May and March then doesn't matter so much. and sadly like top sucker has said, a lot of it can be just down to how much behind one kisses. having said that, i am not very good at that, but have done well enough.

Agree with 2 cents 100%Some do well without kissing the back and I have managed to be in the same shoes, but I only raised it because majority of people that progress faster or get promoted do that.I am not good with doing that and have suffered for it some way some how.

In Services at ACN, the promotion/progression process is very different. They don't have the same levels (A1, A2, C1 etc) and instead have levels A-H, with A being roughly equal to the SM grades and H being somewhere below A1. The difference is that you only get promoted from one level to the next when there is a position vacant at that level that you can fill. There is no real concept of 'time at level'. So you might be level X for 6 months, or you might be at that level for years - it all depends on the services unit you are in - and your readiness for promotion, performance etc of course. The crazy thing about this is that in the UK there are a lot of mixed-workforce projects, and a resultant huge overlap in the type of work done. So you get people from Services travelling to the other end of the country to do consulting work, and people from Consulting on the same outsourcing project for years. In short, it's a mess.

Just realised that we have all told you about the promotion timelines, but that's not what you asked about. The main difference between Services and Consulting (and Solutions and Consulting - in the UK at least) is in status, respect and pay. As I stated before, you can find yourself doing exactly the same work as someone from Consulting when you're in Services - it depends on the project you're on, and further down the line, it depends on what happens to that project. For example, a lot of Services people ended up travelling and doing Consulting/Solutions type roles when the NHS got canned, because their roles ceased to exist. The one thing that never seems to change, however, is that in Services or Solutions, you will almost always be paid less than your counterpart in Consulting. And Consulting folks are (wrongly) seen as the top dogs, with Services and Solutions often regarded (again wrongly) as the 'techies' that do the grunt work. Things are changing, but it will take years for ACN management to accept that IT services is the meat and veg of the company's revenue.

twerp,you answered the query to the POINT !! Thanks a lot ....Thank you 2 Cent too !!I am much clear now....even though work might be same, the growth (status, money etc) will be much faster in consulting...thanks indeed.