What do you do as a consultant? Is it like what we do here when someone asks if they should use Docker or LXC? What sort of work do you do outside of TS? What qualifications do you need?
I ask because I would like to do that sort of work alongside linux kernel development. Though I am starting in IT. :P
My guess, would be experience.
A LOT of experience.
Consultant is a very broad term. What are you interested in consulting for? Are you talking about consulting in the manner that a systems analyst is hired by clients to visit their facilities and design a system deployment plan to meet their needs? Are you thinking perhaps of the quality assurance side of things, such as being hired by a client to test prototype hardware or software, working with their developers to solve issues and providing them with validation reports? Or are you thinking along the lines of a freelance developer, who's actually creating/debugging things at the software stack level? Or something else?
I dunno! Involving linux systems in a business at least. I like the idea of helping a business work in an opensource environment but the definite area I'm not sure yet.
Hmm. That sounds more like consulting from the systems analyst point of view. I wonder if there are any here on the forums that could chime in. My understanding of that line of work is that usually you are employed by an agency and assigned clients. The clients' characteristics can vary widely based on their needs, but a lot of times, the job entails traveling to the client's offices, meeting with IT and systems staff (if they exist) and working with them to develop a solution for their needs. This can include putting together a list of off-the-shelf business systems and/or helping to select custom-designed solutions that meet their needs at every level of their business (i.e. transaction processing, management info systems, resource control systems, enterprise management systems, etc). I'm sure that there's a lot of agencies that specialize in open source solutions.
Something akin to a Management Information Systems degree or something along the IT track is usually suited for readying folks to move into this career path, but might not be required depending on the agency you work for.
A great place to start would be a job with a local MSP (Managed Service Provider) who primarily supports Linux systems. This would give you a huge range of experience in a very short period of time. You'd have a chance to work with a lot of businesses and a lot of different issues. In addition to making connections with people in the industry you'll also get a huge amount of experience in what businesses need.
There is a podcast that I listen to called Tech-Vets, hosted by Carey Holzman and Mike Smith, who are both IT consultants, and run their own businesses. Although they primarily work with Windows. http://tech-vets.com/
Thanks you two!