In a 2015 survey, 66% of surveyed businesses used an outside IT firm within the previous year. The practice of turning to IT consultants for a business is fairly common, but what exactly do IT consultants do? Typically, consultants have a variety of responsibilities that cover tech issues within a company. Here’s a breakdown of their usual responsibilities and why a company would need IT support.
What Does IT Consulting Involve?
The role of an IT consultant encompasses the duties of a systems analyst and a computer technician. While a systems analyst has a high-level view of issues that a business has with their technology, computer technicians do the actual work of fixing the technology. In modern IT services, these two roles are combined into one knowledgeable consultant. The following is a list of their typical responsibilities:
- Meet with clients to determine the technical requirements of their company and work with them to define the scope of a project.
- Liaise with staff at all levels of the business’s organization. Most companies will have several departments, all with the specific technology of their own, and a consultant will have to be familiar with all of them.
- Analyze IT requirements within a company and provide independent, truthful, and objective advice on the use of IT.
- Develop the agreed upon IT solutions and implement the systems that the company desires.
- When needed, purchase systems for the company, and then design, test, install, and monitor the new systems.
- Communicate effectively with clients by preparing documentation and presenting progress reports.
- Ensure the users of the technology know how to properly operate it by organizing training for each department or department head.
- When appropriate, maintain contact with clients to ensure that they have the support they need after your consulting period is over.
- Between consulting periods, identify potential clients and maintain contacts to gain new consulting jobs.
Why Does A Business Hire An IT Consultant?
Managed IT services are useful to companies for many reasons. Smaller business may not have the capacity to employ an entire IT department, but they still have technology that needs servicing. Other businesses may have functional equipment, but maybe they want to try a new program or device that can improve their business. Or, they simply want to make sure that they’re doing everything they possibly can to be successful technologically. Turning to IT consulting is a great way for any business to ensure that they are up to date in their tech department without hiring a full time IT specialist.
If you think that your business could use some IT help, contact an IT consulting service today.
