Small Business Computer Consulting

Based in Vancouver, IT consulting firm Outsource Technologies has started stressing people skills in its business strategies.  The IT consulting company has been in business for ten years, offering services that go from basic tune-ups to long-term network maintenance.  But its main emphasis is on assessment and business planning along with design and integration and education of customers and clients on the management of their unique IT systems.  

The company employs 10, and hand-selects its staff based on experience not only with technology, but also with people.  Staff members of the IT consulting firm state they are more compassionate and sympathetic than most professionals in their field because they have years of experience working with customer pain first-hand.  

Outsource Technologies:  Customer Service is a Mantra

According to employees at the IT consulting firm, Outsource Technologies’ success has been based on the premise by which it began.  The IT consulting firm started based on the idea of a vested interest in client success.  The IT consulting team at the company strives to create an outsourced virtual IT department for small businesses that provides complete support for systems.

The IT consulting company has evolved in how it delivers service, but has kept its mantra the same.  From the beginning, the company has pushed service contracts as preventative maintenance programs.   The fact that overtime spent on emergencies and other service to customers not on service contracts meant expensive overtime pay encouraged support contract sign-up.

IT Consulting and Service Contracts

The firm introduced its Managed Services Program, providing flat-fee preventative maintenance under a contract to clients two years ago.  The IT consulting firm has learned the value of support contracts in keeping business and satisfying customers.  Service contracts have helped the company grow and help get better, more loyal clients.  

For more information on this IT consulting firm, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

IT sales don’t happen right away and require time and effort.  If you can show clients that your services are beneficial to them and can develop a strong relationship, you can help IT sales.

IT Sales:  Your Unique Benefit

To get IT sales, you need to concentrate on problems you can solve for the client.  You need to be able to tell them how services you can provide them will make their businesses run more smoothly.  

What is Your IT Sales Pitch?

You need to know how to talk about what you have done in the past with other customers and the benefits clients have received from the solutions you’ve created from beginning to end.  This type of benefits-focused IT sales pitch will be memorable and tempting.  

IT Sales:  An Evolving Relationship

Sometimes you might have to wait a couple weeks or months have definite IT sales success.  Be both patient and persistent with prospects and send email, faxes, postcards and call regularly.  However, don’t go overboard.  You want to call once or twice a month, assuming they stated interest in doing a project in the next couple months.  

IT Sales:  Answering Prospect Questions

Keep in touch with prospects to see if any questions have come up, or if they need any revisions to the original quote.  If prospects say they will get back to you, the discussion is not over.  However, you may need to give them a better reason to do the project today in order to get IT sales.

To find out what is holding prospects back, as the following questions:

1.    How important is the project?

2.    When do you want to start?

3.    What is the urgency?

4.    Where are you in the process of deciding?

5.    How much research have you done?

6.    Is now a good time for this type of project?

7.    Do you have a budget for the project yet?

There are many ways to ask questions that get to the bottom of why IT sales are not happening quickly; you need to ask these questions to make sure you are acting on IT sales.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Halifax-based solution provider SecureTRANSIT, Inc. just stated it has achieved Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status, the highest level in two separate divisions.  This new status comes as a result of working with Microsoft and delivering Microsoft-based solutions to clients in the airline industry.  Specifically, the status for the solution provider is based on work with ISVSoftware Solutions and Microsoft Business Solutions.  

The solution provider has become known for filling in gaps between business demands and technology and is now considered an expert in working with Microsoft products to achieve end goals and improve customer service.   

Recently SecureTRANSIT has figured out how to use Microsoft technologies on a variety of new projects and has released several new products that use the latest Microsoft technology.  According to Microsoft and the solution provider, the ability of the solution provider to so fully integrate Microsoft products into its services is the reason the company was able to achieve elevated status.  It also illustrates the beneficial relationship the two entities have developed and its ability to provider superior solutions to more people.  

For more information on solution provider SecureTRANSIT and the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

Regardless of your niche, part of your IT marketing strategy needs to be a sales letter that stresses benefits.  While in the past you may have been advised to keep IT marketing-type letters short and sweet, they don’t necessarily have to be.  They simply have to address major points and grab attention.  

IT Marketing:  Use Long Sales Letters

Long sales letters are an appropriate part of an IT marketing campaign when you want to build urgency, stir things up and get people to act.  The following reasons for long sales letters also apply,

1.    When you want to take prospects through what it would be like if they did not keep up with security.

2.    When you want to show them how great things can be when their staff is productive.

3.    When you want to explain the benefits of growing a company 150% to 200% without adding more staff.

IT Marketing:  Sales Letters Should Address Painful Points

If you don’t have a great deal of experience writing sales letters, you can hire a copywriter or marketing ad advertising consultant to do the task.  Make sure you know your prospects’ hot buttons and communicate them to the person writing the letter.  You also have to know the main problem areas for your niche.  

IT Marketing:  Free Stuff

Generating demand as part of IT marketing may mean just a letter with your business card, but it will probably mean you need to offer something of value for free to gain prospects’ attention.  You can offer a free one-hour needs assessment or other type of bribe with a limited time attached so prospects are encouraged to act quickly.

If you want to be considered an IT expert for your niche, your IT marketing letters have to be welcomed.  Your knowledge should be communicated well in the headline and should be relevant to the professionals you are contacting.  Tell them what you’ve done for firms just like theirs and your IT marketing campaign will be a lot more likely to get through and spark their interest.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

IT consulting and technology solutions firm Idea Integration recently announced it would have an exhibit at the SAS Global Forum to be held on April 16-19 I Orlando, Florida at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort.  

Idea Integration is an IT consulting and solutions firm attached to MPS group.  The IT consulting firm specializes in application development, digital data management, business intelligence, security, infrastructure and various IT marketing solutions.  Idea is being sponsored by Alliance Café and will have a booth, #79 that will be dedicated to discussing challenges and concerns with approaching SAS initiatives.

Idea is an SAS Silver Alliance partner and has expertise in SAS national practice related to business intelligence, analytics, data, ESRI and other types of solutions.  The IT consulting firm’s philosophy extends to many vertical markets, such as financial services, health and life sciences, retail and a great deal more.

SAS Global Forum is a non-profit organization designed to serve many SAS software users worldwide.  The organization allows SAS software users to discover the many applications for SAS software.  For more information on IT consulting firm Idea Integration and the Forum, visit the attached link.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

One of the most challenging times for any IT consultant is getting an emergency call from a client with a totally shut-down office because of a systems outage.  If you have been working as an IT consultant for a while, you know that small business technology is tricky; your clients expect everything to be perfect, but don’t necessarily have a huge technology budget to handle unexpected problems and even general fault tolerance.

The IT Consultant Needs to Make Clients Aware of Downtime Costs

As an IT consultant, you need clients to know how important the protection from downtime is for their businesses.  Use the following two-stepped approach:

1.    Help clients determine the real cost of downtime;

2.    Strongly suggest investment by clients in spare PC hardware.

The IT Consultant:  What is the Cost of Downtime?

If your clients have more than a few PCs, they will eventually get a service history of which types of hardware go into disrepair most often.  They will also be able to learn from you as their IT consultant how to ask their PC vendor to give them replacement parts under warranty and how to figure out the time it will take to estimate the time to get replacement parts to their office and installed.

IT Consultant:  The Value of System Downtime

A quick calculation for figuring out the cost of system downtime is related to the hourly cost of system downtime.  The hourly cost of system downtime for clients equals projected annual revenue/(business days per year multiplied by the hours in a business day).

The IT Consultant:  A Tool for Your Website

If you know something about JavaScript, the calculator for determining system downtime can be a great marketing piece to put on the home page of your website.  If you use this tool, be sure to give credit back to the SmallBizTechTalk website.

Downtime is a major point for any IT consultant to discuss when building relationships with clients.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101

Computer business Cisco’s CEO John Chambers recently announced he predicts that Google will be the company’s biggest rival in the future.   This announcement came during the April 5 Cisco partner conference in Las Vegas.  He also stated he thought other rivals for the computer business will include Microsoft, Alcatel and Huawei Technologies.  

Computer business Cisco has never fully been labeled a software company, but executives believe the IT industry will cause the company to be incredibly important as unified networks, multiple claims and Web 2.0 applications start to be necessary.  

Chambers feels that his computer business is ahead of the game in the unified communications market, specifically in regards to Microsoft because his company has been dealing with the industry for three years longer.

The event in Las Vegas was attended by 2,500 IT consultants – Cisco partners. The attendance of the event Chambers believed supported his idea that computer business Cisco is a leader in the IT industry.

Cisco executives are concerned about competitors such as Google, but confident the computer business will be able to keep pace.  

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

On Monday, April 2, BEA Systems will release an update for the WebLogic Server for solution providers.  This release will be the first release of a complete Java Enterprise Edition 5 application server from a leading vendor for solution providers.

The WebLogic 10 server has Eclipse tools and comes with support for many different standards, including the Java EE 5 platform that was released almost a year ago in May 2006.  Solution providers and experts are not predicting great use for Java EE 5 yet because most server manufacturers have not updated their software in a long time to support the platform.  

BEA is competing with Oracle and IBM for control of the app-server market.  IBM has taken the lead in terms of the overall share of the market, but BEA enjoys a spot as the top vendor in the solution providers channel of app-servers that are designed around Java and .Net.

The most recent data from surveys taken comes from 2005, which showed BEA holding 24 percent of the market and IBM and Oracle close behind, according to IDC.

Sun and SAP have started making some Java EE 5 app servers, but not many compare to the craftsmanship of the BEA product for solution providers.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit