5 Things IT Consultants Do for Your Business
Businesses with IT departments often assume that they don’t need to hire IT consultants. Contrary to that belief, getting help from a consultant can make your business more successful by providing these five services.
Assess the strength of your IT infrastructure
Your business’s IT infrastructure probably includes a lot of devices and software. An IT consultant can assess the strength of each feature and find bottlenecks in your system. Depending on your specific infrastructure, you can expect your IT consultant to scan your:
- Network
- Databases
- Servers
- Applications
When IT consultants find vulnerabilities that put your business, clients, and data in danger, you can use this information to improve your security.
Improve the efficiency of your business processes
The more efficient your business processes function, the more productive your company becomes. Unfortunately, a lot of business processes get slowed down by old equipment, outdated software and poorly configured IT infrastructures.
Anyone with a few years of IT experience can replace broken routers and aging cables. When you want your business processes to work as efficiently as possible, though, you need an IT consultant that understands infrastructure from technological and artistic frameworks.
Building a terrific IT infrastructure takes more than access to the right equipment. It requires in-depth knowledge that you only get from years of hands-on experience.
Implement or build custom applications to tackle specific problems
If you’ve been using the same software for years, then your business could probably benefit from newer versions of applications designed to tackle specific problems.
Doing some research online will teach you about some of the latest tools that businesses use to help co-workers collaborate, manage projects and maintain relationships with clients. Unless you’ve used these tools, it’s difficult to decide which ones will fit your business’s needs well.
Not to worry – IT consultants to the rescue.
The fact of the matter is that IT consultants know the pros and cons of today’s tools and software. After they take a close look at your business’s needs, you will get recommendations that keep you at the forefront of technology while preparing you for the future.
Train your employees to recognize the latest phishing attempts
You may already know that more than 60% of data breaches happen because employees make mistakes at work. Training your employees to recognize the signs of phishing attempts and malware infections can help you stop hackers before they cause serious damage to your business.
However, the cybersecurity landscape has changed drastically over the last couple of years.
In 2017, most companies worried about ransomware that would lock their computers and networks. If you got hit by ransomware, you could only regain access to your files by paying a ransom.
Related: 7 Tips to Manage Cybersecurity Risk
Now, hackers use a more covert type of malware. Cryptomining malware forces your system to spend time and resources “mining cryptocurrencies”, such as Bitcoin. At the beginning of 2018, cryptomining attacks accounted for about 90% of remote code execution attacks.
Cryptomining attacks may not seem as harmful as ransomware, but they still do considerable harm by stealing your processing power. The more work your system does for hackers, the less work it can do for your business.
By hiring an IT consultant, you can avoid common training mistakes and teach your employees about the latest threats.
Help your business set a reasonable IT budget
Setting a reasonable IT budget will help your business adapt to the future without spending too much money. SMBs already account for 40% of business IT spending, so you want to make sure you get the most for every dollar you spend.
An IT consultant can evaluate your needs to create an IT budget that keeps your business competitive without overspending. Without an expert, it’s difficult to know whether you’re making the right decisions.
Even if you have an IT staff, it makes sense to bring in a consultant that can take an objective look at your technology. Doing so could save you a lot of money in the long run.
Find an IT Consultant that goes above and beyond
To sum it all up, an IT consultant doesn’t just help optimize your IT infrastructure. They become an essential business partner that helps optimize your company through technology.
That’s why you need to find one that you can trust. The consultant you partner with needs to actually know and care about your business, and they should have a proven track record with others.
That’s where we come in – we’ve been successfully consulting businesses since 1998. We’d love to get to know your business and your challenges. If you’re interested in learning more, let’s have a chat.
