Summary: Factors to consider when selecting a suitable technology and vendor for your business.

The following are factors that many chief technology officers consider when deciding on the right technology and vendor for their IT support and consultancy services. Consider these, but make sure you keep in mind the specific requirements of your own business.

Use existing infrastructure: An IT consultancy service should give your business access to the latest technology. But the service provider should also try to maximise the use of your existing IT infrastructure. This will help to reduce the cost of conversion and adoption of the managed service. Leveraging your current infrastructure also allows you to reduce capital and operational expenditure.

Ease of operation: Ensure that the package and technology you choose is easy to use, as this is key to employee retention. Search for an IT service supplier that can provide you with software that is simple to deploy and does not require too much staff training. The cost of training must not eliminate the positive return on investment of a well-designed and implemented system. Simple deployment allow for an easy transition from previous systems, so ensure that the service provider offers a simple solution that encompasses your full requirement.

Technology platform: Check and understand the pros and cons of the underlying platform of your system when selecting a service provider. This may mean doing some research, but it’s worth the effort. This system will be the fundamental building block on which all your transactions may be processed, so knowing its weak points will be extremely useful.

Sign an appropriate service-level agreement: It is important to put everything down in a service agreement that lists your requirements and establishes the standards of performance you expect from the service provider. Ensure that your service provider has understood your requirements at the initial stage. Clear guidelines about penalties for levels of performance lower than the established standard must be documented because they will help ensure high performance levels in the future.

Managerial control: It is extremely important that you retain control of the overall management of the IT systems if you outsource any essential function. From a business management standpoint, the ownership and responsibility of all systems related to your business must rest with you. The service provider should have the capability to allow this seamlessly.

Summary: A detailed definition of IT support and consultancy, with a focus on managed services.

Information technology (IT) support and consultancy firms provide advice and support services to help you use IT to best serve your business goals. These consultants are experts in their field and offer implementation, deployment, administration and back-end support for IT systems and packages.

Many of these consultancies operate as managed services. This involves the transfer of daily tasks and management of IT systems to a third-party service provider. The aim here is to increase the efficiency of your organisation. The service provider is accountable to your organisation, which retains control and ownership of the system. This type of transaction is known as business process outsourcing. It has grown in importance thanks to the widespread use of IT systems in most industry sectors.

There are two main categories for IT consulting services:

· Professional services companies that have a large staff of consultants and experts to assign to your project for a fee. Billing can be by the hour or by the deliverable results. Increasing numbers of their consultants come from developing nations such as India and the Philippines. This is because of the comparative cost advantage for the services firm. And this can translate into savings that are passed on to your organization.

· Recruitment firms that temporarily staff your organisation with an appropriate expert in IT, as per your requirements. These firms may also use the cost advantages of bringing in technology workers from nations with lower pay scales. These service providers typically have time-based fees, which are based on daily or hourly rates.

There are also independent technologists, which can provide expert consultancy based on in-depth knowledge and expertise in a particular niche. This type of consultant acts as a hybrid between the other two main types, providing customised solutions and support, and often working in-house for long periods.

Summary: A look at the benefits that IT support and consultancy services can bring to businesses.

Companies like yours will find different advantages in using IT consultancy services. Some of the main benefits are below.

Expertise: Outsourcing complex needs related to IT support and services allows your business easy and timely access to specialist knowledge and skills. The lack of in-house experts in a company need not stand in the way of taking advantage of the latest technology in the market.

Lower cost of ownership: A managed service allows you to extend internal resources at minimal cost. The need for infrastructure and capital outlay is done away with, and the incremental cost of add-ons to the system is lower. Further, the trend for managed IT consultancy service providers to bring in staff from low-cost nations allows greater savings that can be passed on to you.

Focus on core competencies: The adoption of managed services for IT systems allows your business to make optimal use of existing resources by reducing the pressure on your employees. This will allow your staff to focus on your company’s core competencies rather than on IT support tasks. Faster implementation time for IT systems translates to reduced time to productivity. It also reduces the impact of exiting experienced support personnel.

Business efficiency: The use of IT services can result in higher levels of efficiency thanks to a more focused use of limited business resources. The business processes will improve through the establishment of best practices.

Return on investment: An outsourced service means that return on investment is clearer thanks to measurable outlay, more effective cost control and service-level guarantees. Budgeting becomes easier because you are guaranteed fixed IT system costs.

Customer satisfaction: Easier access to new technology and an increased focus on delivery of products or services means that customer satisfaction levels will be higher. This is because employees will be able to concentrate on your customers, so the quality of service is likely to improve.