Computer Consulting Means Turning Leads into Prospects

As someone starting your computer consulting business you may wonder what you are looking for in your sweet spot consulting clients. The general rule is to look for businesses that are reaching seven-figure annual sales numbers and have about 10 to 25 employees. But what more specific criteria are you looking for in your computer consulting business clients?

COMPUTER CONSULTING: GOOD AND BAD SIGNALS

Certain industries are more reliant on IT than others. You will figure out through exploration what industries most need your computer consulting services. There are some pretty standard good and bad signs that you will notice right away when meeting with prospects that will save you time and help you identify those wiling to spend $1,000 to $2000 on services.

One good sign is if a prospective client tells you he is working with another computer consulting firm or solution provider and is not satisfied with the results. This tells you the prospect is willing to pay for additional computer consulting services.

On the flip side, a bad sign is if the prospect is already working with a moonlighter or someone that is helping out, whether a friend or a family member, for free. If this is the case, you know the prospect probably isn’t keen on buying real computer consulting services and that any price you quote will be beaten by their current provider.

SWEET SPOT CLIENTS COME IN GROUPS

Sweet spot clients willing and able to spend $1,000 or $2,000 per month on services from your computer consulting firms will probably have established relationships with local accountants, attorneys and management consultants and may even be working with other niche technology providers. These relationships can help you when they start referring you to others in their network.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Finding the Users and Influencers/Users Amidst Business Contacts

Your network consists of many business contacts, and these people are vital to your business. It is your responsibility to nurture relationships with business contacts to expand your business and reach out to more customers.

Business contacts come in two types: users and influencers/users. You need to be able to tell the different between these two categories of business contacts and establish the appropriate relationships. Those that fall into the influencers/users categories are your best bet for business contacts because they can both use your services and convince others to use them. While every client is a potential source for referrals, influencers/users are entrenched in the business of referrals.

TWO CATEGORIES OF INFLUENCERS/USERS

The influencers/users among your business contacts fall into two distinct categories:

ADVISORS TO SMALL BUSINESSES

The following are business contacts are typically considered trusted specialists in the advice business:

1. Accountants

2. Bookkeepers

3. Attorneys

4. Business Managers

5. Consultants.

These business contacts are people businesses call when they need help with other types of services. If you maintain the network of a well-respected accountant, you will be most likely to be recommended by this person to his own clients.

NICHE TECH SMALL BUSINESS PROVIDERS

This category is marked by those in the IT industry that don’t compete directly with you and include the following people:

1. Accounting Software Experts

2. Industry Niche Software Professionals

3. Phone System Sellers

4. Software Developers

5. Those that build Systems

6. Website Designers

These professionals within your business contacts typically work for businesses that will fall into your sweet spot, and will most likely recommend your expertise if you provide IT services for them and stay in good contact.

Business contacts are critical to your success, and you should focus on influencers/users in order to help with your referrals.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101

News for IT Consultants: Managed Services Firm Singlefin Presents Free E-Mail Security System for Clients

Singlefin, a San Diego-based security and business services company recently announced it would be offering free e-mail filtering for a variety of businesses. This filtering service presents enterprise-quality anti-spam, anti-virus and technical support that matches services offered by IT consultants without necessary additional hardware or software. Companies making use of this filtering service do not need to change ISPs or e-mails.

Singlefin has been providing e-mail and security to companies like that offered by professional IT consultants since 2001 and enjoys a reputation as the largest e-mail filtering service across the globe. Singlefin filters five billion e-mail messages daily by using unique filters to stop viruses, spam and malware of all types before it gets to internal networks.

CEO of Singlefin Troy Getty states that is has been working as a security engine in a capacity similar to systems implemented by the most expensive IT consultants for free e-mail companies that include Juno, NetZero and BlueLight. The company supports over 10.5 million users and even more messages daily. So far there is no competition for business-grade tech support with instant results that costs nothing to operate. According to Getty, Singlefin offers e-mail filtering, filtering of instant messages, web filtering, anti-virus and anti-spam services. This is accomplished free of charge because of the redirection of DNS or MS records through Singlefin data centers and filters that only allow clean data through to customer networks. While the service is primarily made for businesses that have their own domain names, it does not require a change in current ISP or e-mail address.

IT consultants noted that the service does not use banner ads or e-mail marketing in order to help support its free nature, rather uses large amounts of free e-mail traffic to find spam and virus outbreaks and detect malware so users can feel protected. A certain number of business customers using this free service can choose to upgrade to paid services from the company that offer enhanced IM filtering, web filtering and even more e-mail protection. Many IT consultants have endorsed this free filtering system, stating it is a sophisticated and affordable alternative to other more expensive security filtering systems.

Created By: Joshua Feinberg

Tips for Solution Providers: Closing the Sale

As a solution provider for small businesses and others, the best way to keep clients is to fully comprehend the business problem and be prepared with a solution. While the hardest part is figuring out the intricacies of what a CTO needs within a company, this process is important for you as solution providers and allows for easier problem-solving and tailor-made solutions.

You need to research the problem of each business and know the finer points so you can start a meaningful conversation that isn’t just a standard speech you give to all clients. Ask yourself how the business you are working with as a solution provider can improve its efficiency.

Time is critical for solution providers. If you are a solution provider, you need to remember that time is important to you and your business, but also to your clients and their businesses. You need to be able to quickly express interest in your clients’ problems and offer a good solution even faster to grab their attention. If you do your homework before the initial meeting with a prospect, you will be poised and ready to respond to whatever is thrown your way.

Experts and companies that work with solution providers agree that they need to work with a solution provider that truly understands their problems and pains. Typically business people are so busy that they respond best to someone that offers a lot of information succinctly.

Managed services are most interesting to end users if service providers can offer an impressive case about how efficient and what a great value they are. Many clients will buy into an entire system analysis and even software or hardware upgrades if presented with a good first assessment by solution providers. Many businesses just want an expert to tell them what they need and provide it. Solution providers act as virtual CEOs for companies of all sizes. Even larger businesses with a lot of IT staff members find themselves turning to solution providers for second opinions or to handle some of the more complex and sophisticated technology needs their company has.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting 101

IT Support and Your Level of Expertise

In the realm of small business IT support, specific levels of expertise can be all over the map depending on the work you are doing. What level of expertise does your IT support business need, and what skills do you and your employees truly need?

EXPERTS AT EVERY IT SUPPORT LEVEL

You will find experts at every IT support level. In big enterprise IT, you will typically have a range that goes from help desk technicians to senior systems engineers. You will also find CIOs. There will be many different levels of expertise within these ranges as well, but in a perfect world, each employee will be an expert at his/her specialty.

Your IT support contractors and staff should follow the same guidelines as these experts. You probably will have some technicians with simple skills like hard drive installation or a LAN adapter installation as well as some other staff members that are good with P2P networks or basic servers. You might also have those in IT support that are really good at firewalls and servers and networking along with other very sophisticated items.

PEOPLE SKILLS AND IT SUPPORT

The most successful IT support people are good at either technical aspects or sales. But one of the most important elements of IT support is people skills. The ability to coordinate projects involving people is particularly helpful with big projects that have many components. For example, you may be installing a 10 or 25-node network and need to coordinate with many vendors and solution providers. A lot can go wrong, but having project management, administrative management and account management skills are all vital to IT support.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Utilization Rates and How They Work With Benchmarking and Best Practice

You can measure your success against others in the computer consulting business by using benchmarking and best practice. When you examine industry benchmarks and rate your own performance in comparison, you can determine what areas you need to improve to get the most successful results. Utilization rates are critical to benchmarking and best practice. The utilization rate is defined as the ration of how many hours you bill clients compared to the number of yours you actually work during a certain period.

UTILIZATION RATE IS EQUAL TO HOURS BILLED/HOURS WORKED

You should compare your skills with benchmarking and best practice based on a 40 hour work week. Thus, if you are working 40 hours per week but really only working with clients for 10 hours, the utilization rate would be 25%.

BENCHMARKS AND THE UTILIZATION RATE

Benchmarking and best practice within the computer consulting industry is typically approximately 50% minimum in regards to utilization rate. You need to gauge whether your utilization rate is going up to meet these standards for best practice and benchmarking.

You should be at 50% utilization rate by the sixth to ninth month of your computer consulting business. By the time your business is fully grown, you will probably be at a utilization rate of 75%, meaning you will be working 30 billable hours per week. If you get higher than this percentage, you are probably not going to be able to do your best work. You might get a huge paycheck, but you will probably burn out quickly.

Part of being in the computer consulting business s measuring your performance against your competitors. Benchmarking and best practice will help you figure out where you stand in the industry, and your utilization rate will be dependent upon where your business is in its life cycle.

Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg

IT Consulting News: Speakeasy Teams With World Telecom Group

Large provider of broadband to IT consulting firms recently announced a partnership with World Telecom Group, another service provider to offer business class broadband as well as voice services to 1,000 independent consultants. Speakeasy intends to provide T1, DSL, VoIP and different hosting options along with VoIP certification for those interested.

Based in Seattle, Speakeasy has experienced success in the IT consulting industry, offering small business-focused services to many for several years. The partnership with World Telecom Group will hopefully improve the company’s visibility within the channel, according to CEO Bruce Chatterley.

World Telecom Group works to distribute services from over 75 providers to its network members. The recent collaboration with Speakeasy will add new products like VoIP and others to its already rich service list. According to Vince Bradley, President and CEO of World Telecom Group, the company is renowned for its customer support and array of products, so Speakeasy will fit in perfectly with other companies in its fold.

Speakeasy is one of the largest independent broadband services company in the IT consulting industry of the U.S. and focuses on small businesses and professionals that rely heavily on the Internet as part of their business plans.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting Kit

Computer Business Lenovo Adds Yet Another Dell Executive to Its Ranks

Computer business Lenovo recently hired yet another Dell executive. In a mere eight days, the Chinese computer business and world’s biggest computer maker has hired four executives from Dell, increasing the competition between the two companies.

The latest Lenovo recruit is Christopher J. Askew, former vice president of Dell. He will be senior vice president in charge of the service department at computer business Lenovo. In his previous position with Dell he was in charge of service in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan.

On August 17, Lenovo stated that David Miller, previously president of Dell China would be president of the computer business’ Asia Pacific operations. Miller is also a senior vice president of Lenovo and will base his work in Singapore. Other recruits include Sotaro Amanoas, president of Lenovo Japan and formerly vice president of Dell’s home and business sales division in Japan and David Schmoock, vice president in charge of the all new centre of excellence on market evaluation and strategy.

The addition to computer business Lenovo of these four senior executives is a bold move by CEO of Lenovo William Amelio and is said to be a move to improve business in the Asia-Pacific Region. Amelio was hired by Lenovo as a replacement for Stephen Ward last December. Ward was an executive with the company for just eight months.

Lenovo’s latest sales figures were reported at $3.5 billion, 38 percent higher than the same period from last year.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101

IT Marketing Strategies for Growing Your Computer Company

If you want to sell your services in the IT industry, you have to first show clients they have problems to solve and then move onto proving how your firm can solve the problems. IT marketing is an important means to build awareness that your solution will be effortless, affordable and a good investment.

EFFECTIVE SEMINAR MARKETING

Seminar marketing is an excellent option for IT marketing because it can efficiently build awareness among prospects and clients. Instead of using multiple salespeople to go on sales calls that take an hour or more just to explain very fundamental principles, you can reach multiple prospects at once in one conference room.

LOW PRESSURE FOR PROSPECTS

Seminar marketing as an IT marketing strategy is far less intimidating for prospects. With appropriate registration, good follow-up and proper qualifications along with good invitation plans, you can drum up a lot of business just through holding seminars on top technology issues for your niche.

IT MARKETING AND WHITE PAPERS

Publishing a white paper or an e-zine is also an excellent IT marketing strategy and can ease the process of follow-up. For example, if you run a direct mail campaign and offer a white paper with a certain value attached for prospects, they will be more likely to view you as a worthwhile time investment. If you do regular seminars, you can offer a transcript or white paper based on key topics as a part of your IT marketing strategy.

IT MARKETING IS ABOUT ADVERTISING YOUR SERVICES

You can advertise your white paper when you do display ads or direct mail items. The white paper will give people an excuse to call or go online and ask for something specific. Once they make the request, you can get their information and use it in further IT marketing endeavors.

Added By: Joshua Feinberg

More Seminar Tips for Solution Providers

Training seminars can be an integral part of any marketing strategy for solution provider. But hosting a successful seminar requires hard work and careful planning. The following is a list of tricks you can use to help get the most out of you training seminars as solution providers:

1. The content of the training seminar should be fun for participants. Get the audience involved in the process by asking questions and encouraging attendees to share information with each other.

2. Offer handouts at the training seminar that has your company information on it. Leave blank spaces on the paper and encourage participants to take notes on the paper so they may be more likely to feel it is their own and they will save it.

3. Invite your favorite clients to the training seminars for solution providers. They will appreciate being asked and will most likely share positive experiences with you with other seminar attendees. There’s a chance you will be able to use some testimonials in your presentation.

4. Practice delivery of the materials. If you have speaking anxiety, join an organization like Toastmasters and practice speaking until you feel less frightened of the experience. Even if you don’t plan on hosting a training seminar, as a solution provider you should still practice speaking to improve your group presentations and better marketing activities.

5. Drum up demand for your solution providers training seminars by speaking at various events like Chamber of Commerce breakfasts or Rotary meetings.

6. Ask clients if they know people that want to attend your training seminar. The people they find will be more likely to trust you because of their involvement with someone that knows your services well.

7. Invite all members of your contact list as solution providers to your seminar through postcards, email and phone calls.

8. Put advertising inserts about your training seminar in your newsletters.

9. Rent target lists for a direct mail campaign to increase the success of your training seminar.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting Kit

Competitors - Learn To Exploit Their Weaknesses

The best way to beat your competitors isn’t to lower your prices and hope you don’t starve. Instead, you need to figure out how to exploit their weaknesses you do this by asking a couple series of questions.

First of all, decide who your competitors are so that you can investigate their practices. Ask yourself about each of these types of companies:

• Big PC manufacturers
• Computer consulting moonlighters
• Established computer consulting businesses
• Software producers and distributors

You will also need to know what prospective clients are saying about computer consulting, whether they are in your area or whether they live hundreds of miles away. Talk to your friends, family, employees, and acquaintances to find out the answers to these questions:

• What are they saying about computer support?
• What are they complaining about?
• What causes them frustration?

To learn more about exploiting your competitors’ weaknesses, read the entire article (link above).

Submitted by Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Work Life Balance - 6 Tips For Achieving It

Trying to keep your work life and home life balanced when starting your business can be tough, but these six tips can really help you keep your life in line.

• Avoid going out to clients on more than 3 consecutive weekday evenings.
  
  
• Stick to a rigid standard configuration. If you keep consistent hardware and software, standard settings, similar operating systems, similar peripherals, the same ISPs whenever possible, and the same web host whenever possible, you will be working more efficiently.
  
  
• Look for 9-5 clients. You went out on your own to avoid being on call 24/7.
  
  
• Don’t let deadbeats ruin your morale. Though it’s frustrating, don’t give these clients all your attention.
  
  
• Try to operate from a position of financial strength so that you can be picky with your clients and keep your work and life balanced.
  
  
• Live by the motto: Life’s too short to put up with crap. Remember to laugh and let go of the stress.

Learn more in the full article (link above).

Blogged by Joshua Feinberg

Review: Which Free Linux Desktop Is Best?

Most shops used to be all Microsoft, all the time, but times are changing. Many businesses are becoming interested in Linux-based products due to security concerns and long wait for Vista. That means solution providers are becoming interested as well.

Linux can be a hard thing for solutions providers to deal with well. In order to successfully market Linux products, they have to decide which type of Linux desktop to offer. So which one was best in a recent review?

Three products came out as winners as they were all roughly on equal footing. The top products rated by CRN were Ubuntu, OpenSuse and Freespire. These are all great options for solutions providers.

To learn more about these products or business interest in Linux, read the entire article (link above).

Blogged by Computer Consulting 101

Apple recalls laptop batteries

Sony has just had a bad month. After the Dell fiasco where thousands of laptop batteries were recalled, the company is dealing with a similar experience with Apple who is recalling 1.8 million batteries.

Users of the iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 laptop models sold between October 2003 and August 2006 are being asked to return their laptop batteries as they may overheat and catch on fire.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission: "These lithium ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers." Apple spokesman, Steve Dowling, said, “We discovered that some Sony batteries in previous models of Power PC-based PowerBooks and iBooks do not meet Apple's standards for safety and performance. None of Apple's Intel-based laptops are affected."

Learn more in the full article (link above).

Added by Computer Consulting Kit

Computer Consulting: Take Some Action

If you think you’re ready to open your own computer consulting firm, you need to get moving. There are lots of things that you need to take care of before you start your business. Let’s talk about a few.

Print Business Cards

Business cards are a must from the first day and even before. You need to be able to tell people who you are and what you do while providing them with a way to remember and contact you.

Get Involved

By joining the Chamber and other local business organizations, you will be able to network and make lots of new contacts with prospective customers. Give seminars and speeches and just get involved.

Starting your company requires you to be proactive, so make your cards and get involved. If you want some more helpful tips, check out the full article (link above).

Submitted by Computer Consulting 101

Terms of Sale - Mind Your Own Cashflow

Terms of sale are essential as they keep your cashflow in the black. While you are starting your company, you simply can’t afford to finance other people’s businesses. Here’s how to stay in control.

• Don’t be too quick to give new clients credit.
• Always insist on written agreements as part of your terms of sale.
• Always get a deposit check on all major projects. Require at least 25% and 50% if you can get it.
• Bill weekly.
• Always enforce your credit policies. When you have an overdue invoice, send past due notice or make a phone call to make sure the invoice gets paid.
• Make sure you have funds set-aside for the inevitable dry spell.

Find out more great tips when you read the whole article (link above).

Added by Joshua Feinberg

Computer Consulting Businesses are Labor-Intensive Endeavors

Starting a computer consulting business takes a great deal of time and involves a lot of activities. You have to go to meetings, talk to people and make many follow-up calls. Ads and direct mail campaigns do not replace the personal touch communicated by connecting person-to-person. Having a realistic attitude about starting your computer consulting business will help you succeed.

FRANCHISES ARE NOT GUARANTEES

Just because you decide to open up a franchise with pre-established policies and images does not mean you have ready-made clients. And buying a business already in operation with existing clients is a lot more expensive. Even the purchase of a small computer consulting business could cost a few hundred thousand or a few million dollars.

COMPUTER CONSULTING BUSINES START-UP COSTS

If you start your own computer consulting firm, you can do so inexpensively for a few thousand dollars. You will need a business phone number and voice mail, a cell phone, business cards and legal licenses and registrations. You will want to consult an attorney and an accountant and get insurance. Many times you can start from a home office.

FRANCHISES REQUIRE FLEXIBILITY

When you buy a franchise, you give away some control. You have to do things in specific ways according to set rules, and you can’t stray very far from the guidelines. Your company pays the franchiser a percentage of the annual revenue until the end of time. And you lose some control over taking your computer consulting business in new directions.

As someone starting a computer consulting business, you have some options. You can star an independent consulting firm, buy a franchise or buy a pre-established business. Just keep in mind that a totally new computer consulting business will require more work than money.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101

How to Get Favorable Media Publicity

You want to create media publicity because it is a free way to get some typically expensive exposure. Once you get media publicity, you can continue to use it now and in the future. The following ways can help get reporters on your side and give you the most favorable coverage:

1. Expose yourself as an expert in order to get good media publicity. You should go to seminars and join committees to increase your community profile.

2. When approached by the media, make yourself stand out by communicating a unique angle. Your ideas will be more quotable and you will get recognized above other experts.

3. Always treat the media respectfully and professionally. Return phone calls and emails as soon as you can, since the media publicity typically is awarded to the first two of ten experts reporters approach.

4. Create friendly relationships with reporters that typically cover your industry. Since many seek out media publicity, you have to be proactive about establishing good relationships with those that might call you so they will call you more often.

5. Don’t let stories be all about you. Sometimes you can approach the media with news of interest in your industry, prompting reporters to come to you in the future for your advice and opinions.

6. Get creative about media publicity by giving inside looks at your IT world.

No matter how you go about getting media publicity, you have to keep persevering even if you don’t get attention right away. Similarly, once you get on the front page of a newspaper after months of pitching a media publicity idea, don’t expect to have people calling you constantly. You may only get a few inquiries and a few calls to congratulate you. The most important part of media publicity is strengthening credibility, not getting more sales.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

FTC to examine net neutrality

Internet neutrality advocates are finally having their fears heard by the FTC. The FTC has decided to take a long, hard look at the possibility that broadband providers could block the Internet or slow websites of competitors.

While calling for the meeting and inquiry, Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras did warn lawmakers to be careful about creating a net neutrality law. She said, "I just question the starting assumption that government regulation, rather than the market itself under existing laws, will provide the best solution to a problem.”

Majoras also added, "While I am sounding cautionary notes about new legislation, let me make clear that if broadband providers engage in anticompetitive conduct, we will not hesitate to act using our existing authority. But I have to say, thus far, proponents of net neutrality regulation have not come to us to explain where the market is failing or what anticompetitive conduct we should challenge."

Learn more by reading the entire article (link above).

Submitted by Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Microsoft 'Recalls' Small-Biz Server

Microsoft seems to be missing their expected dates all around. Apparently, they need to make more changes to other programs besides Vista, including the Small Business Server that should have been released in mid-August.

A routine check found that portions of the Small Business Server code wasn’t final and ready for public use. So, Microsoft is working to fix the glitch. A company spokeswoman said, "Microsoft plans to swap in the 'final' code, then reissue Small Business Server 2003 R2 to its manufacturing partners."

How long will it be before the server is released? Four to six weeks according to Microsoft. That puts it around late September or early October. Stay tuned for updates, though, as you never know when Microsoft might change its mind.

To learn more, read the whole article (link above).

Added by Computer Consulting Kit

Number Portability Expected to Hurt Smaller Solution Providers in September

Number portability is set to hit the market in September and will potentially financially hurt small solution providers less equipped that use least cost routing (LCR). This issue is causing worry among customers expecting that the negative impact on solution providers will translate to higher costs for them.

Industry experts still state that while there may be some impact, churn rates will probably be lower, allowing consumers to port to alternative networks. Number portability makes it possible for users to choose alternative network providers without changing numbers, which allows them to have more options within the market.

Experts also state that convenience is typically what determines churn rates. Traditionally 90% of new connections are customers that pre-pay and don’t need or want to go through the difficult process of porting. They usually throw away old SIM cards and get new numbers.

Solution provider Vodacom recently got rid of one million inactive prepaid consumers, which displays how simple it is for these consumers to just buy totally new packages when they need a number. The biggest problem for customers is the cost of changing providers, which is still unregulated.

Because many subscribers get stuck in contracts, they won’t be able to break out of them with the dawn of number portability. The service provider releasing the client from the contract and the one signing this same client up have to agree on a standard process, meaning that sometimes certain solution providers will refuse to allow number migration if there is an outstanding bill or any sort of dispute surrounding a contract. Commitments will probably have to be more long-term, causing customers to have to think more carefully about the process of signing up for specific contracts.

Because no one wants to lose money, there will be a lot of money spent on retention marketing, which will be a great deal for consumers but might very well cause difficulties for solution providers. Call centers will probably be better, and the competition among providers will cause better customer service in general and some special opportunities.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101

Computer Consultants Help Design High Tech Computing Center and Database at Cornell University

The interdisciplinary research center stationed at Cornell University that provides IT services for research and education, The Cornell Theory Center (CTC) stated this week that computer consultants had helped design a new computing center and informatics system as part of the Biorepository at the medical research center. The new center located at the Feinstein Center for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY will be a data warehouse and data mining center that will help manage the large amounts of information stored in Cornell’s collection and help more efficiently analyze and process biological specimens.

The Biorepository was built in 1998 and now houses thousands of human samples, including serum, plasma, DNA, cells, tissues and tumors. Accompanying these samples are huge amounts of data attached to important scientific studies. Thanks to expert computer consultants, the process of analyzing and handling these specimens will now be much simpler and provide more detailed information for students and staff.

Those at Cornell have stated that until computer consultants helped design this new data management system, longer studies with huge datasets were nearly impossible to efficiently manage and manipulate. The Feinstein Biorepository informatics system offers a symmetrical multi-processor (SMP) Unisys ES7000 computer that can be expanded to 256 GB of RAM that runs four 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 processors that can themselves be increased to 64. This unique system runs Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition R2. Data is stored through four host bus adapters to an EMC CLARIION CX300 RAID disk array. Also part of the computing center is a series of 32-bit applications that run on Dell PowerEdge servers and PowerVault disk arrays. This new system will hopefully offer a much more streamlined data management system than previously was being useed and will help Cornell University fully utilize its cyberinfrastructure resources for both research and education, providing valuable insight to medical experts, university students, professors K-12 outreach programs and other teaching and learning programs attached to the university.

Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg

Computer Consulting: The Initial Consultation

Note to self: I am NOT a car salesman. Instead of thinking in hard selling terms, consider yourself a consultant. Your initial consultation will be about the client – their problems and their needs – and how you can solve their problems.

Do You Have Details?

You may discover things both in the interview and before that may make you reconsider doing business with a particular company. This consultation is a two-way process. If the client will be more trouble than they’re worth, just say no and walk away from the account.

Time is Money

Don’t spend hours helping out a company for free. Get in listen, talk, ask for the deal, and set up a time to come back to work. Your time is money, and you want to make the most of both.

Learn more about the initial consultation in the full article (link above).

Posted by Computer Consulting Kit

More Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 2 of 2)

What kind of questions do you need to ask when hiring a computer consulting firm? Make sure that you don’t miss this important list of questions.

Reseller, "Pure" Computer Consulting Company, or Hybrid
Technology Provider

Does your company resell various technology products, such
as hardware and software? Is this a profit center or do you
mind if we shop for our products elsewhere? And if we do
shop elsewhere, can we still purchase your needs analysis
and procurement services?

Are there any other vendors, such as ISPs or telephone
companies, that your firm acts as an agent or affiliate for?
In other words, do you accept commissions or referral fees
for steering business toward certain vendors?

Costs, Hidden Charges, and Billing Procedures

What are your payment terms, rates and hourly billing
minimums? What is billable and what is not billable?

Do you charge for your travel time? Telephone support? E-
mail/online support? Remote support?

Are there any hourly rate billing premiums for after-hours
or emergency service? What constitutes "after hours" or an
"emergency"?

Do you offer support contracts? What are the cost and
benefits?

Client Reference Accounts, Case Studies, and Testimonials

Can you tell me about one of your more long-term small
business client accounts?

Can you tell me about one of your more recently signed-on
clients? Can you tell me about a small business client who
didn't work out and why?

Can you provide references?

Research/Developments and Keeping Skills Sharp

How do you keep up with new tech developments?

What do you bill clients for and what do you absorb
internally? Are there any gray areas?

Training Approach and Knowledge Transfer

How do you feel about handholding and in-depth training with
users?

What kind of user and technical training can you provide?

Will you train our internal computer administrator to become
more self-sufficient, even if it takes away from your "job
security" and opportunities to bill more hours?

Blogged by Joshua Feinberg

Computer Consulting 101: An Easy Fix for Any PC

All businesses should enlist the support of a good local computer consulting business, but some computer problems require little time and no money to fix. And you don’t have to have certifications or even much computer knowledge to repair simple issues.

The best piece of advice for anyone using computers is reboot first. If you are panicking, you may not think to try this simple procedure, but studies have shown that ten to twenty percent of the time, rebooting is what fixes a problem and avoids spending money and time calling a computer consulting firm.

The reboot process is simple:

1. Exit out of files and programs.

2. Go through a shutdown and restart sequence as prompted by your PC.

3. If your problem may be hardware-related (if it involves a mouse, keyboard or sound card), go one step further by going to the start menu, shutting down your PC then turning the power off for a minute or so before starting it back up again.

Many times your problem will resolve itself by going through these simple steps. And because calling a computer consulting firm is expensive, and when the problem is so simple to fix, also a bit embarrassing remembering to reboot first will save computer consulting budgets and your ego!

Added By: Computer Consulting Kit

Strategic Marketing Plans and How They Can Help Your New Business

Strategic marketing plans should be an essential pat of any new computer consulting business and can help you name a specific way to achieve a greater marketing goal. Successful businesses have strategic marketing plans in place from the get-go and refer back to them when completing all business activities.

The most important element of developing a strategic marketing plan is figuring out the different possible marketing activities. The following list provides some guidelines for creating a good strategic marketing plan:

1. You should spend half your time and money on marketing through organizations as well as referral marketing.

2. Spend 20% of your time and finances on speaking, teaching and seminar marketing and other related activities. This portion of a strategic marketing plan figures in not only solo seminars but also joint seminars with accountants and other tech providers.

3. Direct mail is the next part of your strategic marketing plan and will take about 20% of your time. You need to focus on targeting, as you would with any other element of the plan.

4. The smallest amount of time and money, 10% of it, should involve marketing activities that may or may not work for you. These can range from door hangers and telemarketing to going after specific industries. You might fail a lot when experimenting with these techniques, but testing them is critical.

If you build your strategic marketing plan from the beginning of your business it will keep you focused and on track and help you explore the many options available to you in the computer business.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting 101

Computer Business Dell Decides to Recall 4.1 Million Sony Batteries for Laptops

On Monday computer business Dell, Inc. stated it would be recalling 4.1 million Sony Corp.-made computer batteries due to their flammable nature. The batteries are said to have the potential to overheat and catch fire. The computer business worked out the recall with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Dell spokespeople stated that the batteries eligible for the recall were those put in notebooks shipped between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006.

While the incidence of batteries actually catching fire is low, in some cases a short circuit could overheat the batteries and create smoke or even fire. These battery packs came with certain machines from the computer business Dell, including Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and some other workstation notebooks. Dell will launch a website with more specific model information and information about how to get free batteries from the computer business to replace those that may be faulty.

Spokespeople for Sony also stated that they have been investigating issues with these battery packs for over a month after reports began to come in about smoking computers. Lithium-ion batteries have been in production for a decade and are also used in cell phones and mp3 players. Sometimes the tiny metallic parts in these batteries short circuit the entire system and can be further affected by specific configurations. Sony is helping computer business Dell fund the recall, but there is no estimated amount on the table for the total cost of the endeavor or how it will be split between the companies.

Computer business Dell has struggled lately to keep sales up against rival Hewlett-Packard in particular, and this latest development does not help the cause. HP does not use Sony batteries, so the company has not been impacted by this news, however Apple Computer, Inc. is looking to make sure its products are safe.

Dell remains the world’s largest PC maker, but Monday’s recall is the third of Dell notebook batteries within the past five years. The Safety Commission has reported 339 different incidents involving lithium batteries catching fire in both cell phones and laptops, not simply Dell-based products, between 2003 and 2005.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Up and Coming IT Consulting Firm Treetop Tech Hires New Senior Executive

Fast-growing IT consulting firm Treetop Tech recently announced the appointment of Chris Middleton as the new Director of Consulting and Project Services. The IT consulting company has been recognized as one of the fastest growing IT services businesses in the U.S. since 2004 by Inc. Magazine.

As a new senior executive, Middleton will be managing Treetop’s staff of specialized IT consultants and helping increase IT consulting practice areas such as Agile Business Solutions, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Spokespeople for Treetop state that Middleton comes into the position with experience managing enterprise information technology solutions as a Senior Manager formerly at Accenture and IT Director at Capital One. Middleton is excited about working with leading software development technologies from major players including Microsoft, IBM and Oracle.

Middleton is coming into his new senior executive IT consulting position from Capital One, a global 200 financial services company where he acted as an IT director for the Credit Recovery Services (CRS) Division. Previously he has also worked as Senior Manager at Accenture, in charge of software development and implementation.

IT Consulting firm Treetop Tech was started in 1997 in Boise, Idaho and has been growing steadily since 2004, with partnerships with IBM, Oracle and Microsoft.

Blogged By: Joshua Feinberg

What IT Certifications Will Your Clients Expect to Support Their Businesses?

Your sweet spot small business clients will need specialized support, including strong desktop support skills and some minor LAN skills. What skills and IT certifications are most important to your sweet spot business clients?

WHAT TASKS ARE YOU SUPPORTING?

Most sweet spot clients need help with popular items like Microsoft Office, Intuit QuickBooks and Interact ACT! They will also need assistance with hardware upgrades or even with setting up shared folder backups and maintaining antivirus and firewall software. Many clients will also need help syncing PDAs.

THE DISTINCTIVE NEEDS OF MICRO SMALL BUSINESSES

Businesses with less than 10 PCs that use P2P networks will not need or expect you to have a lot of IT certifications, so you shouldn’t waste your money on them. IT certifications in the world of micro small businesses sometimes are seen as a detriment because owners may feel like you are overqualified and too expensive.

REAL IT MANAGERS LOOK FOR IT CERTIFICATIONS

When you are selling services you a real IT manager at a larger small business that has 50 plus systems, you run into someone that is looking more closely at your IT certifications. A real IT manager will know what the different IT certifications are and will typically be looking for niched experts instead of more generalized IT consultants. Because this type of business does not do much outsourcing of IT work, they will be pickier about the person chosen to support the company and more likely to be invested in IT certifications such as those surrounding Microsoft programs.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting 101

What Are the Best Business Organizations for You to Join?

Business organizations can really help you with your relationship marketing. When you join business organizations you expose yourself to important business owners in your community and get the opportunity to get active and fully use relationship marketing.

The Chamber of Commerce may be the most common business organization for many professionals, but there are many others that can help you immensely.

HOW DO YOU FIND BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS?

1. Look through the local newspaper and watch out for community announcements about business organizations

2. Regularly read and subscribe to an area business journal.

3. Go to local government offices, business assistance offices and economic development offices for referrals to different business organizations you can join.

4. Look at the Gal Group Encyclopedia Associations.

5. Go to a reference librarian and ask for the names of good area business organizations.

6. Inquire within your network about business organizations and what might be best for you.

7. Go to national organizations, then narrow down your search to state, county then city level.

8. Use Business Referral Networks to find leads about business organizations. BNI.com and bltip.com are some good examples.

9. Look at civic organizations, which are not business organizations but house a lot of local business owners. Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions are all this type of organization.

SPECIALTY BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

Specialty business organizations are also a viable option and include the following groups: minority business owners associations; IT industry business organizations; the ICCA (Independent Computer Consultants Association); International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners for Microsoft Certified Partners; the “F’ group.

Business organizations will help you meet prospects and other business owners, and you should explore the many options beyond the Chamber of Commerce to find the perfect ones for you.

Created By: Joshua Feinberg

IT Marketing: Join Organizations to Build Relationships

Joining local and national organizations will help you build relationships with future clients. Take a look at the most common organizations computer consultants join:

• General Business Organization: This could be a chamber of commerce, the Rotary or Kiwanis. Additionally, it could be a group like Le Tip or BNI or a lead club. The group isn’t targeted for a single type of business; it's just a group where you're going to find a lot of other small business owners and managers.
  
  
• User Group: If you decide to specialize in installing Windows-based networks, you may want to look around for a Windows server type of user group. If someone on staff wants to specialize in security, look for a security user group. Thus, you can meet people who have similar interests that are either consultants or like-minded IT professionals.
  
  
• Targeted Business Organizations/Trade Groups: These are the clients you’re looking for. If it is in the medical field, you may be looking at medical organizations. Find out what kind of events are coming up, whether there's an expo, and whether they have a newsletter you can obtain.

Learn more about joining organizations to build relationships in the full article (link above).

Posted by Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Hourly Rates - Don’t Lowball To Get Clients

The hourly rates you charge clients are closely related to your success. You must make enough to cover all your overhead, including taxes, and still support you and your family as well as your staff.

The most common mistake new consultants make is that they lowball to get customers. You can’t simply double or triple your rates after the first job – you’ll never keep any clients. At the same time, you can raise your prices 5% to 15% over time in order to keep up with inflation and rising rates.

You want to attract quality clients not just paying ones. By advertising a slightly discounted price, you can save yourself time in the long run, and you can easily raise your rates just a little after the initial project.

To learn more, read the entire article (link above).

Blogged by Joshua Feinberg

Cranel, PowerFileTeam

Cranel Imaging is the leading distributor of document imaging, storage and duplication products and services, while PowerFile, Inc., is an innovator in online archive solutions for long-term storage of fixed digital content.

What do these two companies have to do with you? Just this week, they announced a distribution deal so that they could expand into the massive document imaging marketplace in North America.

The two companies already have a lot of experience in their respective areas, so this new partnerships should be profitable both for the company, their clients, and eventually other companies involved.

Learn more in the complete article (link above).

Blogged by Computer Consulting 101

Linux Vendors Prime Programs, Solutions For Channel

All sorts of vendors were touting new Linux channel programs this week at LinuxWorld. Among them were Hewlett-Packard, Levanta, GroundWork, Storix and Collax just to mention a few.

According to Levanta CEO, Matt Mosman, "Our biggest challenge has been finding you [VARs]. It's hard to find good, Linux-focused channel partners.” Despite the fact that the company has been able to put together programs in other countries, they have struggled to find American VARs for their program.

GroundWork is also working to bring in VARs. Tony Barbagallo, GroundWork's vice president of product management and marketing, said, “We'll kick-start partners and provide field marketing funds, and we're flipping them initial deals. We'll provide training via [our] partner resource center online.”

Right now, the deals are sweet for Linux VARs. If you want to learn more, read the full article (link above).

Submitted by Computer Consulting Kit

IT Specialists: Finding Your Niche

Although the most common type of niche marketing is vertical where you market to people in the same industry, you may discover that all your clients are of the same type, for example, office managers. You can market vertically to this group of people. How do you reach those people, though? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Who are “they”?
• What do they read?
• What trade publications are out there?
• What e-zines?
• What newsletters do they get?
• What local and regional conferences might they already be attending?
• What trade groups have local chapters that they belong to?
• Where do they hang out?
• What do they talk about?
• What do they worry about?

Once you figure out the answers to these questions, you can easily reach your target market. Learn more in the full article (link above).

Posted by Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 1 of 2)

You may desperately need help from a computer consultant, but you may be a little unsure as to how to hire a consultant. You will want to speak with several consultants to understand more about their firm. Here’s a list of important questions you will want to ask:

Part-time or Full-time Computer Consulting

Do you have a "day job"? Are you moonlighting?

Solo Practitioner or True Computer Consulting Business

What do you mean by the "we"? Are there any other people who work at your company?

Are they employees or contractors? What are their names, specialties and backgrounds? How long have they been with the company? Will they be involved with this account? (Tip: The more pointed questions you ask, the more you'll flush out the B.S. and hyperbole.)

Small Business or Large Company Computer Consulting Experience

What "size" is your typical consulting client, in terms of number of PCs, employees and annual revenue?

Generalist or Specialist Consulting Company

What industries or vertical markets have you worked with? And in what particular aspects and software applications?

What kinds of products, services, and platforms does your company shy away from? Do you work with any specialty hardware, software or services vendors?

If you want to learn more about how to hire a computer consultant, read the entire article (link above).

Blogged by Joshua Feinberg

First Tips for Companies Hiring Computer Consulting Firms

If you find that you are thinking of adding the services of a computer consulting firm to your business plan, you need to be prepared to ask the right questions so you help assure you get the best company for the job. The following tips can help overcome the root of the problem – the fact that small business owners often don’t know how to deal with difficult computer consultants or how to weed them out of the running for contracts.

PART TIME OR FULL TIME?

Is the computer consulting firm in question one that houses consultants with day jobs or are they moonlighting?

SOLO PRACTIONER OR TRUE COMPUTER CONSULTING COMPANY?

If the computer consulting firm uses the term “we” a lot, ask who the other people are working with the company. You need to know if they are employees or contractors and what their backgrounds and fields of expertise are. The more specific your questions, the more you will eliminate confusion.

COMPUTER CONSULTING: IS IT A SMALL BUSINESS OR LAGE COMPANY FIRM?

You should ask the prospective computer consulting firm about the size of the typical client, based on total number of PCs, employees and the annual revenue.

GENERALIST OR SPECIALIST?

Ask the prospect what industries his/her company has worked with and with what software applications. What kinds of products and services will the computer consulting company not manage? Does the company work with any specific hardware, software or services vendors?

Addressing these four categories of questions will help get the hiring process started for even those businesses with no experience hiring computer consulting clients to handle technology needs.

Added By: Computer Consulting 101

Using Two-Step Sales Processes for Direct Mail

Different types of marketing call for different sales techniques. Computer resellers often use direct mail advertising in their marketing strategies and compliment it with the two-step sales process.

A TWO-STEP SALES PROCESS DEFINED

The basis for a two-step sales process is the idea that you can’t get a $10,000 client from a direct mail postcard alone. The two-step sales process helps you get your foot in the door by getting the attention of your target.

The standard two-step sales process includes the following procedures:

1. Calling to reserv a seminar seat

2. Calling to request a report

3. Setting up a free mini needs analysis with no further obligation

4. Providing a confirmation email address

The actual service offered is far less important than eliciting the first response. When you have a person interested, you will be more likely to sell them the second part of the two-step sales process.

TRACKING IN TWO-STEP SALES PROCESSES

Using the two-step sales process involves built-in tracking devices. If you send out 2500 direct mail postcards, you need to figure out exactly how many inquiries the mailing produced. The other element to track as part of the two-step sales process is how many inquiries became paying clients during 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, 100-day, 180-day periods following the mailing.

These statistics are important when you plan your direct mail campaign and two-step sales process. They will tell you what is working so you can do more of it in the future.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting Kit

VARs: Financing Options Fall Short For Managed Services Model

Solutions providers are currently gathering at the XChange ’06 Conference in St. Louis. According to the VARs there, financing options fall short for the managed services model, though 64% involved in a survey said that they were part of a managed services model.

Panelist Jane Cage, COO of Heartland Technology Solutions, said, "Once you include hardware, it changes the whole deal. I need a leasing plan. I want to use Ingram's money, not mine."

Almost everyone agreed that tracking financing or finding appropriate financing options was a problem. Participants said that most leases were inflexible and couldn’t meet client needs.

To learn more about the conference and dealing with the lack of financing options, read the entire article (link above).

Submitted by Computer Consulting 101