18 Jan 10 Computer and Network Consultants
Computer and Networking Consulting companies are popping all over the place these days, I have noticed, actually personally seen people who have little knowledge of this business, yet they start their own business with a notion that just because they have taken some of the IT Industry Certifications such as MCSE, A+, MCP etc gives them the ability to run a Computer and Network Consulting business.
In fact running a Computer and Network Cosulting style business that offers high end and solid services such as Infrastructure Design, Disaster Recovery, HIPAA, SOX, PCI Compliance, Network Audit and security, Managed Services requires lot of work, coordination, leadership skills, project management skills, sales skills, customer service skills, time management skills as well as technical knowledge. Now how do you acquire these skills? To be very honest with you, these skills can’t be acquired by taking IT Certifications, just because some one took their MCSE or A+ does not mean that they know the business and are suitable to manage your business’ Technical Infrastructure or even advise you on it.
Yes such a person would be cheap, you can probably hire a person like that for probably $20 to $30 per hour but will he make the right decisions for your business needs? Answer is NO.
When you hire a Computer and Networking Consultant consider some of the points:
- Initial meeting, is it in their office or yours, if it is in their office what kind of office is it, office must have a professional appearance
- Owners personality and ability to communicate
- Company affiliations and partnerships
- Vendor choices are also important companies sticking with residential grade technology equipment can’t handle and provide you with solid and reliable services because simply, residential grade equipment is for homes not for businesses.
- Look at their organizational structure
- Do they have a project manager, help desk, network and server engineers
- Do they have a lab and staging area
- What kind of credentials their techs have
- Are they offering free initial consultation
- Are they performing a site survey and network audit and presenting you with a report
- Do they have 24/7/365 hours
- What are their response times
- Do they have managed service plans and service level agreements
- Do they have a professional looking website
- Ask for real customer testimonials not something they just typed on their website
- Ask for case studies
These are just some of the points that I can think of, in the end it is you who have to decide what is good for you and your business. Use your own judgment and imagination, remember its your business you don’t want just any one to handle your Technology needs, you don’t want to give the keys to your Kingdom (your office computers, servers and network) to just any one.
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