Why It Matters To Have An IT Consultant That Cares

As IT consultants our clients understand the value that we provide when we fix a problem, or avert a crisis, help them achieve their goals and enable the work they do each day. However, one aspect of what we do is always invisible to our clients, and that is how we arrive at the decisions we make on their behalf.

I wish that our existing and prospective clients could really take a peek into our solution development sessions. If they did, they would see a team of dedicated professionals that really sweat the details. Each of our clients are unique, and when we devise solutions that will meet their needs, solve their challenges or support their aspirations, we place their idiosyncrasies front and center.

Every time we design a solution we ask ourselves:

Is this the best set of choices? How will our client use and interact with these technologies? Is this the most cost effective way to address this problem?

These are the essential questions that keep us up at night. Even after settling in our collective minds, we still debate even the most minor of technical details about our choices. Why? Because we feel strongly that our clients deserve the best.

We often spend hours conducting research on what the IT landscape has to offer our clients, or scouring online forums to understand the practical challenges that others have experienced when implementing technology solutions for clients similar to ours.

So why does it matter to have an IT consultant that cares? Here are my top 3 reasons:

‍1) The Knowledge Gap Won't Be Exploited Our clients are not technology experts. We are. So they rely on us to make informed and wise decisions when proposing solutions. We've seen this gap exploited by consultants who consider their bottom line before that of the client, forcing them to purchase technologies they do not need or may never use. It's important to trust, but also verify. Ask around or conduct some research of your own.

‍2) You'll Have More Successful Outcomes In technology implementations, the devil is in the details. Without careful consideration to how each technology is expected to integrate or function, you are likely to end up with surprises that happen during a project with hefty price tags attached. It's difficult to judge whether a consultant is thorough or methodical in planning and proposing solutions, but if you pay attention to how they approach the engagement you'll get a good feel for what to expect. The other side to the equation is that a client you must be willing to pay a consultant to perform the due diligence necessary for proper planning and execution.

‍3) They Are More Likely to Have a Long Term View Consultants are very sensitive to the value of time and who can blame us. We trade hours of our lives for a prescribed monetary value. IT consultants in particular are likely to trade hours during nights and weekends. Valuable time that could otherwise be spent with spouses, kids, family and friends. That aside, our success depends entirely upon long term relationships with our clients. No matter how much we might feel we deserve it, consultants often bypass the approach to nickle and dime clients in favor of client longevity.