Small Business Computer Consulting

On Monday a major partner of IBM, MSI Systems Integrators said it added Hewlett-Packard to its vendor partner roster.  The announcement was made at HP’s America’s Conference in Las Vegas.  Jim Simpson, president of MSI Systems Integrators of Omaha, Nebraska conducted a question and answer session with representatives from HP to make the announcement.

MSI Systems Integrators’ president Simpson earned a position on CRN’s Top 25 most innovative industry executives.  He said the addition of HP was necessary in order to expand his own business and best serve his over 3,000 customers.   

Simpson acknowledged his company’s partnership with IBM and has no plans of discontinuing the relationship or its scope in the future.  His plan is to not have separate HP and IBM divisions, but to base his business around his clients, which is a good plan for systems integrators focusing on services.  HP representative Michael Hurd also likened the concept of multiple partners to the idea of a computer business having multiple product lines.  

MSI Systems Integrators entered into the partnership a great deal because of Hurd and HP’s enthusiasm for serving the channel.  Simpson reiterated that at no time did the company hide plans from IBM.  He also stated that he would consider acquiring an HP solution provider as part of his systems integrators team to help start his HP business if the opportunity presented itself.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

CRN recently posted an article revealing 10 computer business predictions for 2008.  With everything from technological innovation to surprising news about large companies, this list of predictions provides some interesting insights.  These first five will get you started learning about some developments in the industry.  

1.    An unprofitable year for computer business giant AMD:  The California-based Advanced Micro Devices struggled in 2007 and lost hundreds of millions of dollars each of the three quarters it reported earnings.  AMD CEO Hector Ruiz is predicting there will not be profitability for the company until quarter 3 of 2008.  This is leaving many to wonder if the company will survive long term.

2.     On-going developments in the anti-trust case with Intel:  Computer business Intel continues to struggle with anti-trust lawsuits.  Many experts believe that Intel is being unfairly prodded and could see some real penalties in the coming year.  Still, these lawsuits have not changed the market very significantly, though if AMD goes out of business, many might look more closely at Intel.  

3.     Consolidation of computer business player Nvdia:  Many believe that this California-based company will use a CPU presence to change its relationship with CPU makers.  Many have speculated it will forge new partnerships in the coming year and perhaps merge with another company.  Regardless, the company could change the landscape of the computer business.  

4.    Increased use of virtualization technologies:  Many IT consultants and professionals are starting to think seriously about reducing energy use in regards to servers, and virtualization is quickly becoming an obvious solution.  Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD states that 2006 was the year when virtualization proved its worth and 2007 was a time for testing and initial integration into businesses.  He and many others predict that in 2008 virtualization will become a widespread reality in the computer business.

5.    Increased use of graphics across the entire tech industry:  High-def digital media and gaming along with graphics and video processing have become more integral to PCs.  Computers with high-end graphics and GPU processing are going to become more affordable and accessible to more people.  There will be a large volume of software focused on better graphics and more interactive features as well.

For more of these 10 predictions for the computer business in 2008, visit the attached link.  

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

What is an elevator speech in IT marketing?  Simply put, it’s a fast introduction to yourself and your company that doesn’t sound too generic and has personality.  You want to get a speech that is somewhere from 10-20 seconds long and use it whenever you meet a prospect at a networking event.  

Your elevator speech needs to discuss what your company does, why you are unique and why a prospect should consider you to help with computer problems.

Your Elevator Speech it Essential to Your IT Marketing Plan

The term “elevator” speech is based on the following concept – You get into an elevator on the 20th floor of a building with someone and by the time you get to the ground floor, both of you should have time to talk about your respective businesses.  Your elevator speech should become like a reflex.

Practice Makes Perfect

As part of your IT marketing plan, write out your elevator speech on an index card and keep it in your pocket.  Look at it when you are at a traffic light or before you go on sales calls.  The more you work at perfecting it, the better it will become.  Rehearse it with those close to you until it is an absolute reflex.  

The idea is to get an IT marketing short elevator speech that will be comfortable to deliver and appropriate for any expos, seminars or other networking events you attend.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

If you are like any other IT consulting professional, you may have questions about time management.  How can you focus on finding long-term B2B clients when you already feel maxed out working 60-80 hours per week?  The solution is not easy, but you have some options.

The IT Consulting Time Study

If you examine where you are spending most of your IT consulting time, you can figure out if you can delegate, automate or eliminate some tasks.  For example, if you find yourself building PCs and putting in motherboards and power supplies 10 hours per week, this simple task could probably be delegated.  If you are minding traffic in your store, you should probably delegate that as well.  

How Does Delegating Help?

You should think about which tasks you can delegate based on the staff you have already.  When you delegate, you can often free up a day or a day and a half each week that can be spent finding IT consulting clients.

How Do You Use Extra IT Consulting Time?

To get clients, you can go to networking events, plan marketing campaigns, go out on sales calls and also make follow-up phone calls to cultivate relationships.  

Time Management and IT Consulting

If you are already working a lot of hours per week, you just need to find the time to do what you have to do to find IT consulting clients.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg