Computer Consultants Secrets ™

Part of understanding how you will provide IT support for businesses is knowing where you are when it comes to the competition.  Making expensive mistakes will take up too much precious time and effort.  

Micro Small Businesses and IT Support

Those businesses with 1-10 PCs that make anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million per year get their IT support mainly from internal gurus.  They also use independent hotlines, software vendors, ISPs and independent vendors.  They are typically used to spending $1.99 or $2.99 per minute to talk to people about their IT issues.  They also scan websites and forums looking for free answers.   

Micro Small Businesses and Volunteers

Micro small businesses usually depend on volunteers – a PC-aware friend or family member – to provide free IT support.  They might be annoyed by the quality of service, but at least the service is free.   

Can You Compete with Free?

You can compete with free IT support, but the going is tough.  You can use micro small businesses as touchstones.  They get their IT support sometimes from system builders too, including white box system assemblers that put together systems from brand name parts.  

Sometimes IT support will come from retail store clerks that make $6 - $10 per hour.  You can compete by highlighting the value of your IT support for micro small businesses.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

The latest news for solution providers working with server installation is PFU Systems’ latest line of COM Express modules.  These devices have server level performance and features in an embedded form that uses cutting-edge Intel technology.  The features of these new tools for solution providers offer more reliable data protection among other features.  

PFU is a leading provider of embedded solutions for professionals across industries.  The solution providers are members of the Intel Product Alliance.

According to spokespeople from PFU, there is currently a wide range of embedded applications that need more sophisticated servers and require large amounts of data input.  The new products from PFU allow data handling to be simpler and more safeguarded.  

The new product by and for solution providers is called the Plug-N-Run E1 and presents Core 2 Duo processors at 2.16 and 1.5 GHz.  Other server components provide dual channel access, better memory than before and other exciting features.  In addition to major features, the E1 also offers Gigabit Ethernet, 8 USB ports and more.  

For more information on these high performance servers for solution providers, visit the attached link.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

When computer consultants work with subcontractors, many worry how they can prevent them from taking clients.

Contracts Don’t Solve All Problems

You should definitely put into place a non-compete agreement at the beginning of the relationship, but you shouldn’t let this take the place of instincts.  A relationship with subcontractors and others is more complicated than just having clients sign service agreements and subcontractors sign independent contractor agreements.  

What are Subcontractors’ Plans?

Sometimes people sign contracts when they have doubts and sometimes they sign them because they have none.  Part of your job when working with subcontractors is gauging the relationship and appropriately judging a person’s character.  Have service contracts reviewed by attorneys to make sure they are truly enforceable.  But even sound legal advice cannot protect you from subcontractors with bad intentions.  

Don’t Let Subcontractors Steal Clients and Vice Versa

Put something in your clients’ service agreements that states your clients are not allowed to steal your employees and subcontractors.  This practice might discourage clients and subcontractors from behaving badly, but those intent to make you miserable will get around contracts no matter what.    

Make Yourself Known to Clients

You need to really get to know your clients.  You should have a good balance between people on your staff and those on payroll so you keep consistency with client relationships.  Don’t let subcontractors know your clients better than you do to keep control over your business.  

Keep in Touch with Clients

If you take on a client that is working a lot with your subcontractors, make sure you are keeping in close contact with the client in another way.  Go with subcontractors to oversee some of the site visits ad act as a project manager.  You can follow up with clients between visits with subcontractors to make sure you stay close.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Solution provider ChannelWinds, leading provider of Windows-based network management, network monitoring and network discovery software, based in Austin, Texas announced it recently won the “Best of IT ChannelVision” award at a ceremony in Hollywood, Florida held between May 6th and 9th.  The solution provider was chosen as the winner for Best XSP Product/Solution related to software.  These awards are the only solution provider awards voted on entirely by peers within the channel.

SolarWinds stated it was honored to be chosen by its peers for such a prestigious solution provider award and that the award was a confirmation of its channel program and resellers that have chosen the solution provider again and again to provide services.

Because IT ChannelVision attendes are typically decision-makers influencing customer technology purchasing decisions, a win means a lot fo worldwide recognition.

For more information on this solution provider and other winners of awards given by ChannelVision, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Clients of your firm may think about giving their top managers and producers the latest PC hardware believing these gadgets will help them stay on top of performance and productivity.  But your job is to tell clients how they should really spend their money.

PC Hardware:  What Do Clients Need?

You need to examine clients’ software application requirements before you let them choose to make extravagant PC hardware purchases.  If the CFO of a company sits all day doing math with Excel spreadsheets and sending e-mails in Microsoft Outlook, he/she will not need high-tech PC hardware.  

PC Hardware:  Where Else Could Money Be Spent?

You are the virtual CIO for your clients, and thus you might find ten or more financial software projects you could work on that would help a CFO and get better results than ego-based PC hardware purchases.  You need to stress how much more profitable to your own clients’ companies these projects will be than purchasing commodities in the form of PC hardware.  Also, these types of projects will benefit your computer consulting firm more than PC hardware purchases as well.

PC Hardware:  Notebook PCs?

Clients need to be realistic about notebook purchases.  Your clients can get great multimedia features with high-end notebooks that cost $4,000 to $5,000; but if the CEO of a main client just wants to get remote e-mail, expensive notebooks are unnecessary.  A more affordable brand-name notebook for $1,500 - $2,000 should suffice.   

PC Hardware:  Use Your Expertise

You have a lot of responsibility as a virtual CIO and technology expert, and you can’t let clients be tempted by high-tech PC hardware they don’t need.  Technology funds spent on consulting projects are better spent than those blown on PC hardware.  

The Bottom Line About PC Hardware

If you’re not sure about the necessity of PC hardware items, ask yourself a basic question:  “If my client took $5,000 that could have been spent on a great piece of PC hardware and spent it on computer consulting services instead, what would be the impact on their business?”

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

IT consultants know that 90 percent of the personal computer market uses the Microsoft platform.  Thus, many are saying that the recent introduction of the new Widows Vista system will impact the industry greatly.  IT consultants are split on whether or not the impact will be good or bad, but its effects will not go unnoticed.  

During the first month after its release, Microsoft sold 20 million consumer copies of Windows Vista and doubled the sales of its last Windows XP launch in 2001.  Eleven weeks after its launch, popular interest has slowed.  

According to a market research study conducted by Harris Interactive, most Americans know about Vista; 87 percent are familiar with the product.  However, those aware of it do not necessarily intend to upgrade – 88 percent of those surveyed.  

IT consultants asked in Michigan stated that they believed less than 10 percent of Michigan-based businesses would move to Vista before 2008 and beyond.  Many larger companies are looking at the new system for upgraded security features, but are waiting for improvements to be made before buying.

According to IT consultants, nearly all businesses have spent a lot of time in the past few years patching issues and working on virus protection, wasting valuable time and money.  Still, they are skeptical that the new Vista, which has already cited many issues is ready for them to fully integrate into their businesses.  

IT consultants agree that other launches of Microsoft products expected this year will have more immediate effects than Vista, such as the release of Office 2007 and the SharePoint ad Exchange server upgrades.  The move to a new operating system for most companies will depend on the overall cost of the product and also its security fixes.  Many IT consultants feel that security with Vista is vastly improved and that the overall system performance in regards to system architecture, search functions, speed, reliability and visual appearance is also a huge step up from earlier operating systems.

While negative opinions of Vista have abounded, they are essentially not important, as Vista will be adopted no matter what in time.  By January, computer manufacturers will stop shipping products related to XP or earlier operating systems completely on Microsoft’s orders.  

For more information on this story for IT consultants and other Microsoft users, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

A Canadian duo of companies are set to provide a new workshop, “Hacking Demonstration” to computer resellers and other organizations in Ottawa.  CRYPTOCard, a leading authentication technology developer is partnering with Simple Technology, Inc., a value added distributor of security products.  

This workshop for computer resellers will be presented at the Novotel Ottawa Hotel on May 15, 2007 and will offer live examples of different strategies hackers use to break security.  The workshop for computer resellers will also focus on theft, website destruction and identity theft along with ways to prevent these attacks.  Additional computer reseller workshops will take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia on June 6, Montreal, Quebec in September and other cities throughout North America in 2007.

Jason Hart, CEO of CRYPTOCard Europe and an additional ethical hacker will offer attendees examples of ways hackers can get through all types of IT security systems by getting past enterprise content filters using Google translator, etc.  These professionals will also show how easy Google makes the process of searching through passwords and other information.  Hart will also offer computer resellers an opportunity to see how easy it is to view security cameras throughout the world in real time.  

For more information on these valuable hacking workshops for computer resellers, visit the attached link.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

When it comes to providing clients with IT support, you have a lot of responsibilities.  There are specific areas that you need to include as part of your IT support services.

IT Support:  Coordinate Telecommunications Solutions

When it comes to sweet spot clients, you will most likely have to coordinate IT support with a local telephone company.  You will probably work with either a CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) or an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier).  Research the types of connections you need and check out dial-up networking solutions.  You also have to be prepared to coordinate tech support with an ISP.

IT Support:  Test

Your firm will probably have to know about vertical industry applications.  You will either have to bring in the vertical applications or test them at the request of your clients before they make an investment.  You are responsible for telling clients how the application will fit into their networks.  

IT Support:  Guru and Employee Training

Whether you want to be involved or not, part of IT support is conducting formal end-user training.  You will probably have to train small groups when you add new applications.  Also be prepared to provide informal training with the internal guru, who in turn can train the rest of the employees about more mundane issues.  

IT Support:  Predict Disaster

Part of IT support is dealing with disaster recovery planning, which includes regular data backup checks, virus scans, power protection and other security items.  Don’t forget that part of IT support is maintenance.

IT Support:  The Main Idea

Your problem-solving and strategic-planning skills are your best tools for clients.  You have to deal with everything IT when it comes to clients, write it down and really get organized so you can take a proactive stance with IT support.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

More and more solution providers are learning that specialization is critical to providing the best tech services.  A recent research study conducted by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) confirmed this idea.

CompTIA shared findings with solution providers at its Managed Services Summit in Coronado, CA last week.  The organization polled 332 managed technology users and asked them what the five most important things were that they sought when choosing solution providers.    

Twenty-seven percent stated they chose solution providers that specialized in unique services.  Other factors included a pre-established relationship with the solution provider, the provider’s reputation and availability of support.  Also included in the findings were recommendations and referrals from others that had worked with the solution providers.  

Respondents stressed that low prices were not the top concern when seeking out solution providers.  The quality of the services offered and the fit of the solutions to the specific business were far more important to those looking for solution providers for their small businesses.   

CompTIA stressed that solution providers often have to educate existing and prospective customers on tech solutions and managed services.  Fifty-two percent of customers polled stated their lack of knowledge about solutions was a huge factor in discouraging them from choosing solution providers.  

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

There are two ways for consulting firms to think about being product resellers.

What is a Pure Computer Consulting Firm?

Some consulting firms are pure consulting firms.  Typically these firms think they will never make money off product margins and therefore should not be product resellers.  These types of consulting firms do not resell hardware, software or any peripherals.  Typically these consulting firms will help clients choose products and give advice on specs and where to buy products.  

Consulting Firms:  The Purity of Purchasing Agents

Some consulting firms decide to be purchasing agents for clients.  If you are a purchasing agent, your firm purchases items for clients and bills them for a couple hours to do so.  Your firm will spend time receiving and reviewing quotes, tracking and placing orders and taking the purchase of products to the end.  These capacities – the referral and purchasing agent role – are other versions of pure consulting firms.  

Consulting Firms:  Hybrids as an Option

A hybrid consulting firm resells some products.  Many computer resellers do white box PC reselling as part of this concept; they sell PC clones.  A computer consulting firm that resells white box systems sells desktops, servers and sometimes notebooks without brand names attached.  

Consulting Firms:  Should You Resell?

When you decide whether or not you should resell, think about how you want to spend most of your time.  Do you want to get some additional profit from product sales?  Do you want your consulting firm to be purely thriving from consulting services?  No matter what you decide the answers to these questions are you can’t start with prospects and customers by offering product sales.

Consulting Firms:  Are Product Sales a Gateway?

New owners of consulting firms often ask if they should sell inexpensive PCs, cheap software and other products to help pave the way to selling consulting services.  Typically, the answer is “no.”

If you lead with selling products as a consulting firm, you are setting yourself up to be a commodity instead of a service provider.  Customers will typically not hire someone that is a commodity broker for true consulting services.

If you really make the choice to be a product reseller, you have to establish consulting relationships before offering products.  Make sure your consulting firm is making enough profit for your time, capital, staff, space and any overhead.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg