Top 5 Questions People Ask IT Consultants

The short answer is that most businesses are already at least partially in the cloud. Any online software solutions that you use are, essentially, cloud services. The decision to move exclusively to the cloud, with no on-premise infrastructure, is a big one with many layers to consider. 

Planning, planning, planning! 

The truth is that IT must be viewed as an investment in your business and not an expense. Just as you would with other investments, you would think ahead and approach them methodically and strategically. IT is no different. Taking a reactive approach and making spur-of- the-moment buying decisions when something breaks will lead to spending more money in the long run. The approach we take with our clients involves us, as the IT consultants, sitting down regularly with the business owner or Executive team to plan out key technology initiatives to support business goals. Taking this high-level, proactive and strategic approach ensures that there are no surprises and allows you to properly budget and plan for initiatives to keep your technology current, secure, productive and affordable

The better question might be, what can't you do? 

Microsoft 365 (if you haven't heard, they changed the name from Office 365 to Microsoft 365 in April 2020) is a robust suite of apps and services that can enhance a variety of things for your business. It includes mobility for all of the Microsoft Office applications (i.e. Word, Excel. PowerPoint) so you can easily create and edit documents from any device, inter-office chat functionality, audio and video conferencing and a slew of other apps to run your business like to-do lists, shift scheduling, surveys, form creation and much, much more. Microsoft 365 changes, improves and enhances constantly so it's a lot to keep up with but, chances are, if you need some functionality, they offer it!

Can you guess what our answer will be? :) 

In our more than 34 years of doing business with small- to medium-sized businesses, we consistently hear that outsourcing IT makes the most financial and business sense. You’ll get a team of people behind you with the necessary expertise needed to handle most situations that arise. You won’t have to worry when your in-house IT professional goes on vacation or is sick, or worse, if they leave the company unexpectedly. That doesn't mean that having in-house IT is not a good thing, because it can be extremely beneficial. In fact, many of our most successful clients have in-house IT along with us as their IT consultant to provide a full range of coverage for all of the day-to-day, project and strategic work. However, if in-house IT doesn't make sense for your business, most IT consultants can do it all! Just be sure to choose a company with a large enough team to provide the coverage and skillsets you need and be sure their approach and style matches not only your business, but your work culture. They will become an extension of your team and trust and synergy is extremely important.