Working with an IT consulting partner and using tech-related business consulting services to improve your business is not an optional step anymore – nowadays, it’s actually a must. The IT environment got complicated so much that getting help from an experienced adviser to guide you through it is something companies in every industry simply can’t do without.
Making a decision to establish such cooperation is usually a good idea, as the number of benefits taking this step may bring is truly mind-blowing. In this blog post, we’ll list some of them. This article will also provide tips on how to build a successful partnership with an IT consulting firm.
Table of contents:
- What is IT consulting? Key services
- Benefits of working with IT consulting firms
- A successful partnership with your IT consultant – how to build it?
- IT consulting partnership – wrap up
What is IT consulting? Key services
The main idea behind IT consulting is to help client companies find a customized, optimal tech solution that will let them stay ahead of the curve. Solutions and suggestions tech advisers provide should be aligned with the organization’s current and future needs, its business goals, and the external businesses it competes with.
The cooperation may be short or long-term, cover all aspects of the company’s operations, or just embrace a particular IT project consulting. Some of the key, typically offered services are:
IT assessment
IT consultants’ role is to present their clients with the most recent and modern technologies in the market – and help them make informed decisions on which one to choose to improve IT network efficiency or security posture. But before they do, they need to get information on the organization’s current tech stack, so extensive data collection is crucial at the beginning of the collaboration.
IT strategy consulting
One of the biggest advantages of professional tech advisers – and one of the major benefits of hiring them – is that they see the big picture and the long-term outlook. They know how to achieve the client’s business goals step by step – that can all be boiled down to corporate strategy planning.
IT systems building
Having a consistent software architecture design that follows one business logic is definitely one of the means to get wherever the client’s company wants to be. Replacing many separate tools with coherent systems and technologies – with the little help of a professional IT consultant – increases an organization’s efficiency and helps fight the redundancy that using disjointed tools entails.
Software and systems integration
But IT systems don’t need to be built from scratch – even disjointed tools or legacy systems can form one coherent infrastructure that is cost-effective and highly efficient. Such a modernization and integration with modern tech solutions is something that usually exceeds clients’ possibilities – and that’s where professional IT consulting companies come into play.
Security & compliance assurance
IT consultants know how to make use of the current developments in the tech world to store the client’s assets, data, software, and hardware properly. This is a valued skill, as complying with various security regulations, requirements, and policies is vital these days. Any breach in this area can have detrimental – be it financial, legal, or reputational – consequences for any organization.
Of course, that’s only a fraction of how professional IT consultants can help your business get stronger and go with the flow of digital transformation. Other services provided include transferring an organization’s workloads, applications, or data to the cloud, providing a technology roadmap, project management services and IT management consulting, as well as IT budgeting – allocating money to various IT services, systems, and programs.
Benefits of working with IT consulting firms
There are many ways that your organization can benefit from cooperating with a full-fledged IT consulting company. In brief, when client team members are having difficulties dealing with any tech-related issue, project, or idea, they may turn to such tech consulting companies, which hire top-class IT consultants, for assistance.
Some of the benefits of working with renowned IT consulting firms include the following:
- getting help in creating an optimal tech stack for your organization,
- modernizing the organization's IT infrastructure,
- optimizing IT development processes,
- verifying chances for success of a digital product that you want to launch,
- obtaining recent IT knowledge and important insights into new technologies,
- raising your organization’s cyber security posture and protecting all your digital assets better,
- making more informed decisions concerning the company’s tech area,
- improving and enhancing business procedures,
- getting help in meeting your business objectives,
- aligning the company with the challenges of modernity,
- making your company ahead of the curve tech-wise,
- the possibility of using some state-of-the-art technologies and getting rid of legacy systems and tools,
- getting clarity regarding what to start with to make this process the smoothest and most cost-effective it can be,
- gaining the possibility to take corrective actions in any tech-related area,
- getting access to advanced IT project management expertise and professional vendor management,
- making running your business less risky when it comes to implementing new technologies or launching new tech products,
- getting assistance and valuable tips on how to find and hire the right IT people for your project,
- saving money, as hiring in-house tech consultants is more expensive.
In other words, you can reach out to professional IT consultants if you need any professional advice regarding any IT-related area. This may be just a fair assessment before you make a major IT-related investment or launch a digital product, or just an encouragement to switch to more modern systems and tools – and assistance in doing it right.
A successful partnership with your IT consultant – how to build it?
A successful partnership with your IT consultant starts with selecting the right person – as you probably won’t get much from cooperation with an inexperienced, freelance IT consultant who hasn't had a chance to deal with many diversified cases and can’t provide clients the big picture that they definitely need these days.
What should you pay attention to when picking out an appropriate IT consultant or an IT consulting firm to create a fully satisfying and beneficial partnership with them? Going through the previous and existing customers list and doing online research for track records or references is a good starting point for sure.
This person should know the newest trends in the IT area and be versatile enough, as well as aware of the current and future tech threats and challenges that modern businesses face. If a company is ranked high and has a long client list, this probably means that it respects its customers, and establishing a set of good practices will be smooth and easy.
But how to build it – and what to start with? Well, it’s good to simply check if you suit together. How do the IT consultants work? What is their operating model? What does the communication look like, and can you book a free, no-strings-attached IT consulting session just to check if these people really can help you?
These are some important questions and issues to consider, along with the company’s stability and overall reputation. On top of that, you should be able to assess if its business culture suits you and is compatible with yours – concerning things like work ethic, taking care of employees (and so, respecting people), innovativeness, and so on. Having a look at the company’s website may give you an idea of it.
Of course, even if you feel that you’ve found a perfect match, nothing can be left to chance in terms of securing your interests in case anything goes wrong. Firstly, all arrangements should be written down in detail – clearly stated and enumerated, with timelines and scope of services provided, as well as what happens when terms of the contract aren’t met. The pricing should be transparent, with no hidden fees.
To make the partnership based on trust and collaboration sound, you should prepare to meet those terms, too, e.g., provide the IT project manager with all the necessary information on the systems and tools used within your company, and make the payments on time in accordance with arrangements.
IT consulting partnership – wrap up
There are many areas and challenges of digital transformation that a full-fledged IT consulting partner can help you with. Some of them include providing business consulting services related to improving or rebuilding IT infrastructure, technology solutions needed for successful cloud migration, or keeping your digital assets safe.
Definitely, it’s worth giving a technology consultant a try – as there are many benefits of such a good partnership. These cover getting access to a wider range of tech expertise and resources that may result in significant cost savings, improved efficiency, and meeting business goals.
Of course, to make such a partnership fruitful, you have to prepare yourself for it – and a starting point is choosing the right IT consulting firm. One that hires versatile, competent advisers that are able to use their vast expertise in different contexts and align it to various circumstances and cases.
That kind of IT project management consultancy, strategy or business process consulting simply helps less IT-competent people make the most of the technological revolution we’re all in the middle of. Embracing this change is the best way to stay ahead of the game in the future.
Feeling overwhelmed by the technological issues related to running your business? Would you like to move it to the next level? If you feel dazed and confused and want to see for yourself what the benefits of a successful IT consulting partnership may be, contact Codete now.
