When you are a security consultant, you can’t let your clients cut corners on PC purchases, particularly when they are running high-end software.  A lot of the employees of your small businesses will depend on software with fairly low-end requirements such as basic word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail and Web browsing software, etc.  But who uses more resources?

Security Consultant:  Your High-End Users Need Advanced Products

Clients that depend upon advanced software – graphic design packages, computer assisted design (CAD) or financial modeling – need your expertise as a security consultant to advise them to buy what they need to support them.  Though it may seem counter-intuitive to you, with processor and memory-intensive software, employee productivity will gain at a rate that outweighs the high cost of buying cutting-edge PC hardware in the first year of its release.  

What is the User’s Salary?

You should keep in mind the salary demanded by very technical professionals capable of running advanced software applications.  As a security consultant specialist, this type of salary shouldn’t be at all surprising.

If a client of yours has a very experienced graphic designer or engineer with a $60,000 base salary, an extra $1,000 annually on PC expenses for this person could be completely within reason.   

Who Are Your Users?

You need to know who amidst your security consultant clients uses high-end software.  This type of influencer is also someone to watch because he/she will become an important vote when making decisions about hiring and firing technology professionals.

Think about Second-Hand PCs

Many small businesses replace PCs every year or two when they have employees that use high-end software.  The old PCs then get passed onto users that use less intensive resources.  As a security consultant, you can recommend this concept as a way to make expensive resources last longer and also decrease the out-of-pocket support expenses of totally replenishing PCs.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit