IT Consulting is the outsourcing of part or all of IT services for a company. Respect to a company formed by professionals specialized in certain areas, helping clients to choose and implement better management software or restructure the governance of the internal sector.
There are many benefits for a company that hires an IT consultancy. For this reason, there are more and more companies and professionals dedicated exclusively to this business model.
Read more: What is IT outsourcing? Quick overview 2022
Also known as outsourcing, there are different types of consulting and the scope of the service may vary according to the technical training of the team.
If you’re looking to learn more about what IT consulting is and how it works, you’re in the right place!
IT Consulting: what is it?
IT Consulting is the outsourcing of strategic IT services so that the company can benefit from the specific technical specialties of Information Technology. These services can assist in project planning, decision-making, and monitoring of all activities.
IT consulting is a way to avoid rework.
So, an IT consultant is a professional who works in consulting companies and acts as a self-employed professional. It is what they are going to attend to client companies, meet their needs and objectives, understand the context and the current business scenario, seeking to offer solutions that meet their demands.
An IT consultancy does the below things carefully to bring your business to the frontline.
- Study the current scenario and the reality of the client, the dependencies and necessary requirements for the promotion of the project
- Accompanied and oriented all to implementation
- Train the teams or professionals involved in a new system in your business
- Offer support for maintenance, seeking to improve the performance and results of the company, according to its strategic objectives.
- Reduce the implementation time, avoided complications during the entire process, and, of course, save money.
How does IT Consulting work?
To better illustrate the operation of an IT consultancy, we will trace, below, a simple step-by-step, from the moment of identification of the need to the conclusion of the project.
In summary, the operation is given in the following way.
i. The company identifies a need or problem
The company must analyze and consider indicators such as the history of clients and cases, initial assistance, and the availability of the consultant.
In this phase, for example, which is defined as the periodicity of visits or meetings, consultants are responsible for the company, a fundamental item to ensure the quality of deliveries and the satisfaction of both parties.
Understanding the current scenario, and detailing the real needs and requirements, the consultant can provide a solution for the initial problem, for which he was hired.
ii. Explanations of the operation
It can vary a lot, according to the problem or the contract model. For example, consulting can be contracted for a specific project, beginning, middle, and end. Either way, the contract can be a monthly assessment, without a definition of the deadline for completion and without a dated scope.
Thus, in this model, the consultant will support decisions on various questions, solving numerous problems or situations, as they appear.
Therefore, it is normal for consultancies to know their clients deeply, being able to act strategically towards the two business objectives.
Types of IT Consulting
IT consultancies can be separated into three types, which vary according to the contracting model and location.
Offshore
Some companies choose to hire consultants from other countries, especially the less developed ones, for offering cheaper labour. Consequently, countries from Asia are also standing out in the technology sector, with numerous professionals in the area, normally working remotely, throughout the world.
Onshore
In this case, companies hire consultants within their own country. The objective, here, is not to reduce cost, but to facilitate communication, maintain proximity between consultant and client, or facilitate eventual face-to-face visits and avoid cultural conflicts.
Near-shore
The company hires consultants from other countries, seeking lower costs, but opts for professionals from countries with the same language, seeking to reduce misunderstandings due to the language and avoiding different uses, so that both consulting and client companies can be available and schedule us what you need.
How to hire IT Consulting Services for your business
A company can decide to hire an IT consultant for different work models or types of services. It all depends on the objectives, the structure of the IT sector of the company, and the skills or expertise required for the job.
1. Systems and Equipment
Consultancies for systems and equipment are those that guide the purchase and implementation of programs or machines, supporting or developing the company, not referring to the technical and technological structure.
In this way, the company minimizes errors, reduces costs, and speeds up the process of moving, optimizing its processes, and counting on training or support from specialized professionals.
The consultancy can also support or be responsible for the management of assets, keeping an updated inventory, and guaranteeing the availability of all the equipment.
2. Security and Infrastructure
For this business model, consulting is specifically focused on information security and infrastructure questions.
It is essential to have IT professionals specialized in legislation and capable of adapting the company’s operations.
Infrastructure consultancies guarantee better performance in the IT sector, in addition to reducing the unavailability of systems and applications. Infrastructure consultancy also controls access and permissions, guaranteeing more security for the company’s strategic information.
3. Full Consulting
Full consultancy, which assumes all the responsibilities of the company’s IT sector. For small companies, hiring a full consultancy can be very useful and cheaper than implementing internally or department.
In this way, the company can invest its resources in processes related to key business activities, leaving or planning IT decisions for professionals specialized in the area.
Conclusion
The need to hire strategic consulting and IT consulting services may arise when a company is facing the implementation of new business areas or computerized management activities.
If you need the advice and consultancy that an IT consulting services can offer, this is the option you need. We have professional IT consultants with extensive experience in the sector and with knowledge of the latest technologies that appear on the market.