Small Business Information Technology

Can your small business get both affordable professional-class IT service and peace of mind? The secret lies in having a technology services provider handle your technical solutions.
To stay competitive, small businesses must make the most of current technology. But it’s expensive, time consuming, and inefficient to maintain a full-time IT department like larger companies. A true Professional Technology Services Provider offers on-demand talent, depth of experience, deep resources and huge economies of scale. Here are the top 10 benefits you’ll see.

Benefit #1: Stay Focused On Core Business Functions
People are happiest doing what they do best. And they get frustrated by tasks that distract them from it. Researching solutions, implementing new technology and fixing IT-related problems are extremely inefficient for non-IT professionals. Free up internal staff for revenue-generating functions and the business of business.

Benefit #2: Tap Economies Of Scale And Purchasing Power
Due to a single focus on IT, sechnology services providers achieve greater efficiencies and economies of scale. They consolidate purchasing power and have access to deep and broad knowledge bases. Using developed best practices, tasks are completed more efficiently than small businesses can do on their own. The means real cost savings– both in time and money.

Benefit #3: Reduce Cost and Control Operating Expenses
The business value of technology services providers results in very hard dollar savings. In almost all cases, small businesses will spend 25% to 50% less than the cost of even one mid-level IT professional. Then take recruiting, training, vacation, sick days, turnover and other management issues out of the equation to see even more savings. Costs are budgeted, predictable and controlled.

Benefit #4: Access Highly Specialized Talent
Small businesses cannot cost effectively achieve the scale and flexibility to properly support their technology environments. Even a very experienced and dedicated IT employee has limits to skills and avenues for help. Professional technology services providers offer access to teams of IT specialists that deliver the cross-sectional IT knowledge needed to provide both on-going and critical support for small business networks.

Benefit #5: Get Services On-Demand
Many small businesses face the challenges of growth and the burden of scaling back. Both cases present a genuine HR problem when relying on in-house IT resources. Small businesses need the agility of just-in-time resources for emergencies and the flexibility to adjust technology support levels. With a professional technology services provider, sudden changes won’t affect the livelihood or morale of employees.

Benefit #6: Help Employees Innovate and Stay Productive
Communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing allows employees to innovate. These capabilities are delivered through a multitude of technologies including file servers, central databases, broadband connectivity, mobile platforms, email communications, and many others. However, true productivity and business benefit can only be realized when this complex technology is properly planned, implemented and maintained. The best practices and comprehensive experiences around planning, implementing and maintaining such systems allow technology services providers to successfully deliver these productivity improvements.

Benefit #7: Reduce Downtime
Even a few minutes of systems downtime carry enormous business costs. Maximizing uptime must be a high priority. Small businesses can longer afford issues with internet connectivity, email communications, corrupt data or systems failure-the cost of reacting to these events is just too high. Professional technology services providers offer planned, measured approaches to pro-active systems maintenance, security, backup and disaster recovery.Benefit #8: Get A Technology Edge Over Competitors
Don’t just level the playing field: take advantage of new technologies for a competitive advantage. Technology services providers keep up with the latest solutions through ongoing training and real-world experience. They know how to implement the latest hardware, software, and network applications available. Just as important: they know which technologies are not worth the investment.

Benefit #9: Attract and Retain Employees
Employees want to work in an environment where their computers are up and running. Employees want to be competitive with their rivals and they want the technology tools that really help them deliver. Potential new talent will weigh your company’s technology prowess. Utilizing a professional technology services provider allows small businesses to meet these expectations and increases the ability to attract and retain employees.

Benefit #10: Access Otherwise Unavailable Vendor Support
Access to manufacturers is crucial in effectively supporting complex technology. When available, technology manufacturers traditionally provide basic or unreliable direct end-user support. With a well-established professional technology services provider, small businesses enjoy the benefits of priority access to Microsoft, Cisco and thousands of other technology vendors.

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Can your business use a consultant?

Why use a Consultant?

Before making the decision to approach a Consultant of any type you should have a clear idea of exactly what you want to achieve. Consultants provide a wide range of services, here are some of the main reasons for calling in a Consultant: External skills required Widening of your experience Independent advice Impartial or professional judgement The work could not be done in house An experienced Consultant possesses specialist knowledge, skills and a variety of personal attributes. Although success cannot be guaranteed for every engagement, a suitably qualified and experienced Consultant should have the greatest probability of providing a satisfactory result. It is essential for a successful working relationship that as much information as possible is shared with the Consultant, this will ensure the Consultant can make the correct decisions and ultimately ensure a good long term working relationship.

Benefits of using a Consultant

Consultants provide a wide range of services including information, a professional opinion, technical expertise, facilitating skills, training, advocacy and much more. Below are some of the main benefits of using a Consultant: Gets the job done! Goals are widened or altered Advice and guidance is gained on dealing with issues or problems New expertise is introduced New intelligence gained Weight is lent to strategies Plans are sharpened Objectives/Policies are clarified There are many benefits that you will get out of using a Consultant and these may be determined more specifically by the reason you have used them, so it is essential that you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and that you impart this information to the Consultant to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding. Choosing a Consultant If the consultancy is going to be very short it is unlikely that a Consultant will be prepared to attend an interview. However, if it is going to be a longer term relationship you should arrange to meet with the Consultant before making a financial decision. Some Consultants may produce a proposal that doesn't meet your time scale or budget, but most Consultants are willing to negotiate, so if you are happy with their proposal you shouldn't rule them out on this basis. In selecting a Consultant you should be confident that you have the best person/people for the job. You must be confident that you can have a successful working partnership. There are a number of questions you should ask the Consultant, these could include: What similar work have you done before? What experience and skills do you have? What are your fees and do you charge VAT? Are there likely to be any additional costs involved? Do you charge for an initial consultation? Are you available on the dates required? Can you provide references? Why are you interested in doing this work? It is important that the Consultant is interested in the project and should ask questions about the organisation and the brief.