How IT Consulting Can Drive Your Business Growth

How Information Technology Consulting Can Drive Your Business Growth

In this article, we will be looking at the following:

1. How Technical Consulting Saves Time and Money?
2. The Matchless Expertise of Technical Consulting Services
3. How Information Technology Consulting Firms Enhance Productivity?
4. Focusing on Core Business Functions
5. Choosing an Information Technology Consultant
6. What the Best Return of Technology Investment is?

Background

About three decades back, the idea of hiring consultants in networking and information technology was practically unheard of. Nowadays, most business organizations have little choice in the matter. Continuous progress in the field of technology is something that companies cannot afford to marginalize.

The average employee lacks the knowledge required to successfully manage the information technology infrastructure of a company. Businesses have the option to hire full-time experts for the purpose of the development and management of information technology systems. However, many companies simply do not need a full-time professional or they do not have the resources to hire one.

Instead of hiring full-time in-house staff, companies can look for external companies to solve critical issues related to technology. In addition, there are several benefits with which information technology technical consulting services can drive business growth

How Technical Consulting Saves Time and Money?

A recent survey conducted by the BMC Software revealed that issues related to information technology across different sectors cost more than $100 billion yearly. 

1. 1. A recent survey conducted by the BMC Software revealed that issues related to information technology across different sectors cost more than $100 billion yearly.
   2. When you hire an expert information technology consulting team, you save on taxes and benefits that you would have incurred if you have hired an in-house team.
   3. Plus, you also save money on lost downtime, which is prevented when you have a group of specialists focused on a problem.
   4. Information technology consultants can be paid on a project basis or on an hourly basis. This flexibility is important for budding businesses who have to focus their financial resources for maximum benefit.
   5. Information technology consultants can train staff on all levels, including management, on how to counteract cyber threats in the changing world of cybersecurity. Staff can be successfully equipped to identify and appropriately deal with such cyber threats as:
      • Spam
      • Identity theft
      • Malware
      • Phishing
      • Spoofing

This offensive strategy is geared to save the time and money, and the prevention of a further loss in productivity.

6. According to an article by Michel Cuckier of the A James Clark School of Engineering, hackers attack every 39 seconds. Hiscox reports that cyber breaches cost the average company $200 000 per year.

7. Sensitive data leaks, such as Home Depot’s data breach, led to at least 44 civil lawsuits, along with the $43 million, it cost to repair the breach, according to an article on Fighting Identity Crimes. Not only does a business lose clients, but its stocks can go into a downward spiral that can take years to repair.

8. The same article states that nearly 30 percent of the money spent on rebuilding after a breach, is spent on repairing your business or brand’s name and reputation.

9. No company can afford to be without safety policies with dedicated processes to protect network security, and this kind of specialized focus is what information technology consultants can provide.

10. Information technology consulting teams, facilitate the standardization of a company’s information technology framework, leading to a cut down on information technology support costs. An article by IT Lead, states that research has shown that the company’s standardizing their information technology systems can save 7% or more in baseline costs.

11. IT consultants can be invaluable assets in making the switch to the ‘cloud technology’. Virtualization and ‘cloud’ technology, the usage of software and data storage founded on the web, offers great money-saving breaks to businesses. Businesses can enlarge and make use of the latest information technology, without having the massive initial investment in their infrastructure. For example – when companies create online servers, they can increase their data storage capacity without procuring hardware servers that lose value as they become outdated.

The Matchless Expertise of Technical Consulting Services

• When you use information technology consultants, you do not get the expertise of a single person but a team of highly skilled individuals who have in-depth expertise to handle the diverse requirements of your business.
• An information technology consultant can have a specialized skill set that might be needed to complete a certain task or set of tasks. This does away with businesses needing to pay top dollar to have a specialist on staff or to acquire specialized equipment to complete the project.
• A skilled information technology consulting team will ensure that you take all the necessary measures to streamline your business operations by using the best available technology and expediting the alignment of information technology infrastructure with industry best practices.
• When businesses make the transition to virtualization and cloud technology, it takes an expert to guarantee data security and compatibility, across all boards.
• Information technology consultants have the proficiency and industry regulation expertise that can timeously and effectively prevent a breach. The legal liability of ignoring the client confidentiality factor can lead to expensive fines; penalties and even law-suits.

How Information technology Consulting Firms Enhance Productivity

1. Technology enhances business productivity by proliferating collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing within your organization. However, the knowledge to select the best technology for your business can only be provided by a specialist.
2. Information technology consultants plan, implement and maintain the right set of tools and technologies required to enhance the productivity of your business. For example, they can help you speed up your customer response times by integrating inventory information with your organization’s purchasing, accounting and e-business systems.
3. Processes are reorganized by information technology consultant, which refines the staff productivity, minimizing risks of mistakes.
4. Information technology consultants can spot ineffectiveness in productivity and make suggestions to automate tasks that can free up staff resources, for innovation and tweaking the competitive edge of the business or brand.
5. According to Vault, information technology consultants offer a varied array of services to businesses –
   • Planning and designing integrated hardware, software and communication infrastructure
   • Writing, testing and supporting custom software
   • Help with network security
   • Optimize Search Engine Marketing
   • Provide strategic advice around social media issue
   • Management and maintenance of on-site computer systems and data processing facilities

This frees up staff resources so that in-house personnel can focus on improving business and marketing strategies and operations.

Focusing on Core Business Functions

1. An important benefit of hiring a good Information Technology consulting firm is that it allows you to emphasize the most important functions of your business. During periods of rapid growth, various essential back-end operations of your company can greatly increase, which will require a high expenditure of resources.
2. When you have to allocate resources on improving your information technology infrastructure or implement new security policies, you have less time and resources to provide top-quality front-end services. Outsourcing your IT operations to an efficient team of consultants, you can free up your important resources so they can be most effectively used where they are required.
3. Staff can be utilized more efficiently to enhance company profits, when the day-to-day necessary but repetitive tasks, such as software updates, data backups and network cybersecurity, are delegated to information technology consultants.

Choosing an Information Technology Consultant

1. According to Vault, research done by market research group IBISWorld, shows that the U.S. information technology consulting industry is a $376 billion business. There are nearly 433,000 information technology consulting businesses in the United States, employing more than 2 million people. And this is only in the United States.
2. With so many consultants to choose from, how do you know who is best for your business? In a blog post by Svitla, the following pointers were offered –

• • Request samples of previous work or ask to see their portfolio of completed work. This will give a glimpse into the ethics, performance metrics and overall quality levels delivered.
  • Verify credentials such as experience and certifications, that contribute to the offered expertise.
  • Soft skills that need to feature prominently are communication, reliability, and a collaborative attitude. A strong measure of problem-solving and accuracy can go a long way to achieving positive results.
  • Lastly discuss the technologies, approaches and tools that have been acquired, as well as a comprehensive list of their procedures they use to measure success and areas of opportunity.

What the Best Return of Technology Investment is

1. According to a new research report from Accenture, only 1 in 7 companies are able to harness the full capability of technology-enabled innovations. Return on investments have declined considerably over the past few years, and the main reason has been the gap between what technology can achieve and the ability of organizations to implement and manage new systems.
2. The businesses of today need an information technology division, that is a connection for innovation.

Bibliography

Burcham, J. (2015, February 17). https://www.fightingidentitycrimes.com/rebuilding-breach/. Retrieved from Fighting Identity Crimes: https://www.fightingidentitycrimes.com/rebuilding-breach/

Cukier, M. (2007, February 9). Study: Hackers Attack Every 39 Seconds. Retrieved from A James Clark School of Engineering University of Maryland: https://eng.umd.edu/news/story/study-hackers-attack-every-39-seconds

Information Technology Consulting. (2020). Retrieved from Vault: https://www.vault.com/industries-professions/industries/information-technology-consulting

IT, I. (2020). 6 Ways IT Consulting Can Save Your Small Business Serious Capital. Retrieved from Iconic IT: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/6%20Ways%20IT%20Consulting%20Can%20Save%20Your%20Small%20Business%20Serious%20Capital.html

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