Hi Bernhard,
To answer your question, my consulting experience started (and continued) in different periods of my career.
After spending 5-7 years in programming, I've worked for a consulting company where I was an Analyst/Developer making OO designs using UML (no Agile yet).
When web services and Agile came, I went hands-on again. At the same time, I focused on architecture and went on to certify for
Java Enterprise Architect.
For the last 2-3 years, I've been doing architecting/consulting/coding. I never left coding -- it's my way of keeping my feet on the ground
Thanks for your question.