On Thursday November 17, 2005, I wrote a blog entry about going solo. Today, I am writing this entry to announce that I have actually gone solo. In a search engine friendly language, "I have become an independent consultant providing problem definition, analysis, architecture, design, development and knowledge services in the Information Technology area."

The first draft of this entry contained details about my prior consulting experience, my wide experience in solving IT problems in pretty much all the industries and my specialty in SOA/web services and J2EE/WebSphere. But all that self promotion was overshadowing this enthusiastic "going solo" announcement; so, I am going to save those things for the future.

The new life

Am I doing something totally different than what I was doing before? No. Life doesn't change much as an independent consultant - especially when I have pretty much always worked for consulting companies! I still go to the client location every day, I still work on IT projects, I still move from one project to another, I still work with clients and go through the daily dynamics of the client-consultant relationship and above all, I still have family, mortgage and car. A number of things have changed however. I can now do consulting within the framework of my core values and beliefs. I can truly shape my career by focusing on areas of my interest and by choosing my projects. I don't have to worry about my utilization and that next promotion. I get paid for all the hours I work and I am accountable for all the hours I don't work.

The details

I have formed a Limited Liability Company named Taraba Consulting LLC. As part of this company, I will help clients identify, analyze and solve IT problems. For now, I will only accept contract positions in Chicago land area. These days I am working for a healthcare client in downtown Chicago re-architecting and redesigning a web services based messaging application.

The influences

While working at two of the big five consulting companies, I had always wanted to cut the crap and focus on the consulting aspects I really loved. Working for a corporation for a very short period of time made me realize that I had to be a consultant or a teacher (ideally both) to keep my sanity. My wife helped me see my potential and encouraged me to work hard to realize that potential. And finally, two of my team members on a project at my last employer provided me with the environment that helped me make this happen sooner than later.

I have much more to share on this topic. In fact, starting today, visitors will see a new category named 'Consulting' in my blog but more on that later.