Computer Consultants Secrets ™

Make sure before you do anything with small business insurance, you check with an accountant or lawyer to get specific information.  Still, the following types of small business insurance have worked well for many computer consultants.  

Which Type?

You should get general liability and professional liability small business insurance policies for your services.  The professional liability insurance needs to have an errors and omissions insurance rider.

How Much is It Going to Cost?

Small business insurance will vary in price, but the average is about $3,500.  The cost is usually based on the size of your company in regards to employees, sales volume and your risk potential.  Make sure you look at the categories really carefully with your agent before you get pigeon-holed into a specific type of classification.  Sometimes you might be misclassified as a software developer when you should be in the network installer or reseller category.  

Subcontractors and Small Business Insurance

Each of your subcontractors needs to have small business insurance of both the professional and general liability variety.  It is not your job to cover them.  If you do, you will be potentially offering them benefits like those of a regular employee.

Small Business Insurance:  The Next Step

To get started with small business insurance, talk to your insurance agent.  If you have one that deals with your property and contents insurance needs, ask him/her plenty of questions and also talk to your accountant.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Currently computer business Apple has been going through some uncertain times with sales.  However, the company’s Macintosh computers have made record sales.  While the computer business’ iPod sales have slumped and while it waits for clear results of its recent iPhone release, the sale of Mac computers have remained steady and strong.

Apple announced the good news of increased sales of Mac computers on Wednesday.  In the third quarter, it grew at 2 ½ times the rate of the PC industry and enjoyed better revenue and profit than it expected.  Analysts say that the increase in Mac computer sales for the computer business took the focus off the iPhone and made up for decrease in sales of the iPod.  Investors were pleased with the results and put a higher value on Apple stocks.

Computer business Apple sold 1.8 million Mac computers in the last quarter, up 33 percent from the same period the previous year and the highest sales rate ever in the history of the company.  Similarly, desktop computer sales rose, which have always been less popular than the notebook line.

While the iPod is still popular, its sales have been waning in recent quarters.  The company sold 21 percent more iPods than last year at the same time, but its revenue only rose 5 percent.  This is the second quarter iPod sales have lagged.  While some were quick to state that the iPhone release could be the reason for fewer iPod sales (because users bought the iPhone over the iPod), experts state that this is not necessarily true.  Still, the iPhone may have caused people not to buy it instead of the iPod, but to delay their purchase until more performance reports come out about the new device.  

For more information on this story about computer business Apple, visit the attached link.  

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

When you make recommendations on extended service plans for your clients’ new notebook PCs, you need a written statement of what these plans cover … and what they don’t cover.  Those dealing in notebook PCs do not always clearly explain what is and what is not part of warranties.  Often you will have to just guess what is missing by comparing the warranties to those from other companies.  

Do They Cover Hazard?

Most vendors selling notebook PCs exclude warranty claims that come from neglect issues like liquid spillage or dropping.  Others do cover these items under rather limited warranties.

Will your clients and end users be traveling with notebook PCs?  You need to expect that, unlike desktops notebook PCs find themselves on the road much more frequently.

Do They Have International Coverage?

Some notebook PC vendors have international warranty coverage as part of the extended warranty price, but some charge extra.  Make sure to find out the details if your clients’ are taking their notebook PCs abroad.  Determine whether the notebook PC extended warranty is on-site, features technicians that will come to your clients or if it involves shipping the PCs to a service depot.  What will the response time be?   

The Main Point About Notebook PCs

Carefully look at the price list of available notebook warranty upgrade options before deciding on a specific computer.  You also need to look at all terms and conditions and what is and is not covered under the specifics of certain warranties for notebook PCs.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Solution provider Ariba announced last week it had been named to the Supply and Demand Chain Executive 100 list.  This list was created for solution providers to recognize those that are changing the face of the supply and demand chain.  Solution provider Ariba has been recognized in this category since 2003.

Ariba, Inc. provides spend management solutions to help companies find software and services that meet their complex needs.  Spokespeople from Supply and Demand Chain Executive state that the solution provider list each year informs corporate executives and other business leaders who the best providers are in a variety of industries so they can make more informed decisions.  

Solution provider Ariba was chosen as part of the 2007 Supply and Demand Chain Executive 100 because of its innovation and commitment to advancing supply chain-related issues.  It has a long history of helping companies get the best results from their technologies.

For more information about this solution provider story, visit the attached link.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

If you have a computer consulting business, you can’t spend time running up a huge bill, sitting at a client site as you wait on hold for two hours with tech support for your clients’ IT assets.  You will be dealing with angry users and possibly compromise your relationship with your clients.

Both You and Your Clients Need Good Vendor Tech Support

Your computer consulting business can best help your clients and keep its credibility in crisis if you have good vendor tech support.  Even if you are very experienced in troubleshooting PC hardware, you will have to sometimes rely on a true specialist.

Know the Offerings

You need to get the real story about vendor tech support before you recommend your computer consulting business clients make purchases.  A lot of top PC vendors have similar offerings, but you still need to ask about what is included – technical support services, etc. – and get their description in writing.

Questions Will Help You Decide

You need to ask questions to figure out how reliable a certain type of PC vendor tech support is.  Are the professionals available by phone?  Is the tech support number toll-free?  Is the support free?  You should also find out if there are separate numbers to call for separate products and if the vendor tech support is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week for emergency support should your computer consulting business need to use it.  Also ask about online tech support resources.        

Access to a Specialist is Critical

With your computer consulting business, you need direct, quick access to a specialist that deals with nothing but the product you have all day.  Test the tech support group’s responsiveness when you aren’t in crisis mode to get a real idea of how good it is.  

You can also check with PC magazine to find a list of PC vendors and their quality of tech support to get more ideas for your computer consulting business.

Submitted By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Virtual IT software company Virtual Iron Software announced it had signed a distribution agreement with Tech Data.  Virtual Iron offers enterprise server virtualization and management software and with this new agreement will be able to serve more VARs in the U.S., opening up the possibilities for affordable virtualization solutions.  

The virtual IT software company will use Tech Data’s Advanced Infrastructure Solutions (AIS) Division to distribute its products.  The division was created this past February and uses highly personalized sales approaches, technical expertise and product knowledge to help VARs increase the demand for server, storage and software solutions.

The virtual IT firm hopes that reducing costs of virtualization software will help increase the use of the technology.  Tech Data is well known throughout North America and will help the company better serve existing and new customers.

The virtualization of servers helps end-user customers create a cost-cutting and streamlined, efficient solution to data management.  For more information on the partnership between virtual IT firm Virtual Iron and Tech Data, visit the attached link.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Computer consultants that work for small businesses enjoy many benefits.  The following are some reasons to become self employed.

Choose Your Own Work!

Self-employed computer consultants have a flexible work situation with a great deal of variety.  Computer consultants in business for themselves choose their favorite technologies and platforms and decide which products they will sell, service and support.  Unlike a regular company job, small business computer consulting does not involve working with products that don’t work or are unpleasant.    

There Are a Lot of Clients to Be Had

Regardless of where they are located, when there are small businesses around, there is work for computer consultants.  People working with any industry can find a nice amount of small businesses that will need their type of support.  Computer consultants can stay in their own area and make a decent living and even work from home.

Enjoy Freedom of Choice

Computer consultants that own their own businesses get to choose their own bosses, clients, colleagues, partners, vendors and contractors.  Self-employed computer consultants get to choose their own working hours too.  They can choose the clients that will allow them to work better hours without feeling like they are on call 24 hours per day.

Boost Your Confidence

Being a self-employed computer consulting professional is a real self-esteem-builder.  Computer consultants working for themselves are acting as the main contact person for small businesses without an IT department that desperately need their help.  They act as part-time, virtual IT departments.

The Main Idea About Computer Consultants

Computer consultants get to choose their own clients and projects that offer the most fulfilling experience for them.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Computer business Microsoft is losing popularity points with its Windows platform as more developers decide it is not right for them.  In North America, it is still the top platform used, but a new survey suggests that these same developers are starting to choose alternatives.  The number of developers that used Windows for applications decreased by 12 percent from a year ago, with 64.8 percent using the platform as opposed to 74 percent in 2006.

The computer business survey targeted 400 developers and IT managers in North America.  John Andrews, CEO of Evans Data – the company that conducted the survey – stated that he believes the decline is due to an increased interest in Novell’s and Red Hat’s Linux-based systems.  The release of Windows Vista kept numbers from being worse, but the Windows share is supposed to drop another 2 percent in 2007.  

Developers in the computer business are using Linux 34 percent more than in the previous year.  Industry experts predict the numbers for Linux will go up to 16 percent within the next year.  

The battle in the computer business between Windows and Linux has been translated by many experts, including Evans as evidence that open source is evolving.  Use of the Windows on the development desktop has not changed a great deal, despite other changes for the system.  

The survey conducted related to both client and server application development.  Evans Data reported that a transition from Windows to alternatives probably began two years ago and has picked up in speed recently.  The survey also included Unix and Mac OS, but these computer business numbers were not released.  

While open source software is definitely changing the commercial software market, Andrews believes that there will always be room for Windows and Linux-based systems in the computer business.  

Other findings of the computer business report included the realization that JavaScript is the most widely used scripting language, having surpassed PHP, Ruby and Python.

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

When thinking about whether or not you have the right personality to be an IT consultant, ask yourself some questions.  Do you talk to strangers?  Are you in a good mood most days?  Are you punctual?

Are You Extroverted?

To be an IT consultant, you have to be a real people person.  You have to be humble and ask for help when needed, and you need to be really enthusiastic about what you do.  Being an IT consultant can be a 24-hour a day, 7-day a week job, especially in the beginning. Once you get great clients and are full time, you will find it to be 9-5 or 8-4, but you need to be ready for anything.  

Patience is a Virtue

You will not find overnight success being an IT consultant.  Because the computer consulting field is so much about relationships and relationships take time to build, your business will take between three and six months to get enough clients and often even six months to one year to get enough clients to build a real business that will support you.  

Are You a Positive Person?

As an IT consultant, you will have a mixed bag of days – good, bad and in-between.  You need to be really enthusiastic about your business and create a plan that will help you grow and stay on target.  Especially when you have bad days, you need to have a plan to keep you focused and encouraged.  You need to be able to shake off bad days and keep moving.  

Reliability is Key

You need to be able to push yourself, because no one will be telling you to do your job every day.  You have to be motivated by an inner voice and prepared to work with very little encouragement.

The Bottom Line About IT Consultant Traits

Think about whether or not you have what it takes to be an IT consultant by going through the above traits and comparing them with what you know of your personality.  

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg