Just about every business in Australia or overseas will have some necessity for an IT department in some shape or form. Information technology is spread far and wide in modern 2018 society and it is those organisations who adapt fastest that cash in on the trend.
One of the key pitfalls than many owners and executives suffer from is their own perception about IT specialists and consultants. Either hearing of horror stories through the grapevine or simply lacking any experience with these professionals, they are written off as selfish, condescending individuals who don’t add value.
While we cannot account for every specialist that walks through a company’s door, it is worthwhile examining the rationale behind businesses that are gun-shy about adapting to change and hiring a consultant.
“Not worth the money”
The bottom line with revenue is the metric that owners begin and end their day assessing. They will continue to ask themselves: “Is this decision worth the investment?”
What an IT consultant allows an enterprise to do is farm out or include into the process a trained and educated professional that can be hired and fired on the spot. The investment it will take to hire an internal employee for a small business, train them and expect them to carry out the same task will pay off, but only in the long-term.
Consultants can arrange contracts for one-off projects or for a sustained period. To blame this service just on expense alone is a fool’s errand.
“Selling new product is their main goal”
People are right to be suspicious these days given of insider hatchet men and women on the prowl, but if you have any strain of common sense as an owner or department head, you can sound this out. IT consultancy firms don’t just sell their service, they sell their reputation every time one of their agents heads out into the field.
Sometimes a new operating system or piece of software is required to purchase, but anytime you query that pricing or requirement, undertake some internal research to crosscheck that recommendation.
“Working within a team is impossible”
IT consultants can be viewed from afar as aloof folk with a one-track mind and arrogant personality. However, their role is to come onboard to meet new organisations and solve problems within those unfamiliar surroundings.
Should your specialist fail this key performance indicator, then they won’t have much of a future in the industry. An organisation’s structure and team dynamic would also be incredibly brittle if one consultant managed to be an overbearing influence on proceedings as well.
“They don’t know our circumstances”
Any IT consultant worth their time will have undertaken a degree of research on your operation. They should come prepared and briefed on the problems facing the company and the objectives they wish to reach within a given timeframe.
Now this cannot be taken for granted if called upon on short notice, but given the appropriate time, this should be the scenario. It is recommended that companies offer their transparency without the need to divulge sensitive information.
“Consultants love to climb the corporate ladder”
Those consultants who thrive on telling others what to do often the fit the bill for an executive or president in waiting. What differentiates those individuals from the savvy operators is a desire to identify problems and solve them as efficiently as possible.
The modern commerce landscape is littered with career-orientated professionals that are on a crash course to climbing the corporate ladder. A quality IT consultant will showcase their credentials by creating no concerns and acting as an asset.
In that spirit, each specialist should be judged on their own merits.