At the same time as it decided to buy the IT consulting firm, Dell decided to work with retailer Tesco in order to sell XPS and Inspiron notebook and desktop systems in 500 stores based in the UK, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  

Dell has joined forces with many IT consulting firms and also retail stores in recent months as it breaks away from its direct-to-business and direct-to-consumers via phone and the Internet.  Dell’s agreements currently include selling computers in more than 10,000 stores throughout the world.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Spokespeople for the IT consulting firm Estafet Open stated they had seen a lot of companies turning to MuleSource to fulfill software needs because of their increased offerings.  More consultants in the firm are gaining experience with the software and realizing that the platform works well.

MuleSource software has been used increasingly in project from proof of concepts to different applications.  The demand is increasing for developers, solution architects and others to service the IT consulting firms and businesses in need of support for their products.

A spokesperson from IT consulting firm Estafet Open further added that proof of concept projects are getting larger in scope, and there will be a greater demand for consultants that have experience with the Mule platform.  The IT consulting firm is excited about its partnership with MuleSource and the opportunities it will provide in the future.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

The Benefits of Formal Partnering Programs:

1.    High Margins;

2.    Dedicated partner representatives;

3.    Toll free support, unlimited;

4.    Four percent MDFs;

5.    Market development funds;

6.    30-day money-back guarantees;

7.    No quotas;

8.    No stocking of inventory.

But if your plan is to offer a traditional service model, partnering formally isn’t that great a deal.  

The Best Formal Partnering Programs

VARBusiness, an important industry magazine conducts surveys and studies on the most valuable partner programs and rates them by vendor satisfaction with tech support, sales support, margins, business opportunities, small business clients, etc.  VARBusiness is a great resource for those looking to learn about partnering programs.  

You will read about big partnering programs such as the Microsoft Certified Partner program and IBM Business Partner.  But you will also learn about lesser-known programs ad what you can count on when you sign up.  Trends are moving towards advertising your own company and not the partnering programs to which you belong or the brands you represent.  

Will You Benefit from Formal Partnering Programs?

Before you make the decision to invest time and funds in partnering programs, think about your own solutions and services and how you plan to work with customers and clients.  Partnering programs will be a financial and time investment, and you need to make sure the programs you choose will help both you and your clients.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Solution providers will typically explore alternative relationships when they need extra support, when they find opportunities or when a customer or trend within the market shows them the value of a specific alternative vendor.  Some solution providers are starting to look weekly and monthly at alternative new partnerships with vendors that will help their businesses grow.

Choosing a Vendor

Selecting an alternative vendor is not easy for many solution providers.  The best practices listed below are based on solution providers interviews and can help solution providers find, evaluate and choose the best alternative vendors.  

1.    There is no one way that is best for selecting an alternative vendor.  Many solution providers view the process opportunistically and let people on their staff talk to vendors about emerging products and technologies.  Others choose to have committees designed to evaluate alternatives formally.  

2.    Alternative vendors actively pursue new partners, so many solution providers receive calls from vendors and take meetings several times a week.  Alternatives are becoming incredibly competitive and technology changes regularly, so solution providers need to have a clear policy for evaluation.

3.    Different shops have different needs, so solution providers need to put the appropriate people in charge of new partnerships.  In small shops, the owner or CEO should make the decision about alternative vendors, whereas in midsize or large companies, line-of-business managers or sales executives and technical teams might be qualified to choose.  

4.    Formal vendor evaluation committees are an excellent way to stay competitive with other solution providers.  The committee can be comprised of representatives from the executive staff, IT/engineering staff and sales and marketing staff.  Regardless of who is on the committee, committee members need to review the company’s specific technology needs before selecting appropriate partnerships.  

The Bottom Line about Alternative Partnerships and Solution Providers

No solution provider should ever rush into a relationship with an alternative vendor without first exploring the many options.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

The Computer Consulting Kit stresses the importance of relationships in the IT industry.  An IT consulting firm is first and foremost about selling services, not commodities.  This means the foundation of any successful consulting company is relationships with clients, subcontractors and business people within the community.

The Computer Consulting Kit and William Patterson of Applied Data Systems

William Patterson owns Applied Data Systems, a San Antonio, Texas-based IT consulting firm that offers computer-related services to those in his area.  Like many consultants just starting out, William found reaching out to others in the face of perceived risk a challenge at first.  The Computer Consulting Kit helped him organize his business plan and gave him strategies that allowed him to take on a leadership role within his community.  With the help of the Computer Consulting Kit he was able to proceed with confidence to establish valuable relationships and communicate the strength of the solutions he provides.

 
William said, “I learned to work with other contractors and to act as a lead contractor as well as a subcontractor.”

He also added that he was able to better manage his relationships and move forward.

“I am learning to partner and coordinate relationships.    The Computer Consulting Kit gave me confidence to move in the right direction and advice on how to approach and cooperate with other contractors in my field without being intimidated.  I feel I understand the benefits of partnering even when it seems that it is a risk.  The Computer Consulting Kit helped me earn $10,000 in additional revenue.”

The Bottom Line About the Computer Consulting Kit and Building Relationships

The Computer Consulting Kit provides a framework for business owners like William Patterson that want to build stronger relationships with clients, community partners and subcontractors.  Join the many IT professionals that are using the Computer Consulting Kit as a resource to build a better, more lucrative business.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

IT consulting experts state that this will be a great move for Level 3 because it will tap them directly into the resources Microsoft offers.  Currently major providers for Microsoft’s Internet business include Savvis, Akamai and Hewlett-Packard.

According to Microsoft spokesperson Arne Josefberg, as Microsoft grows its online services business, strengthening the network infrastructure will become more and more important in order to better serve customers, partners and advertisers.  Because IT consulting firm Level 3 already runs a huge Internet services segment through its fiber-optic network, its addition to the family will be welcome.

This $135 million acquisition was announced Tuesday and will be finished within the first quarter of 2007.  The acquisition of IT consulting firm Savvis will include network components, customer contracts and all intellectual property.  CDN, the Savvis content-delivery network had sales of $15 million for the nine months ending September 30.  The CDN components will allow Level 3 to better take advantage of rich media applications including video, Web 2.0 applications, multiplayer online gaming, software and others via the Internet.

IT consulting firm Level 3 will bring great experience in online video distribution to the table and make its relationship with Microsoft stronger than it was previously because it will get closer to the heart of the company.

IT consulting firm Savvis will spend $200 million creating four new data centers for the managed hosting and collocation services in Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C. and Santa Clara, CA.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101

When you enter into a business partnership, you have a prime opportunity to test the water on a certain product or service before deciding to branch into it yourself. When a new product, operating system, platform, or niche opens up, if you create a business partnership with a company who is an early adopter, you get to witness, first hand, how profitable the venture is.  

Let’s say I want to add Sales Logics to my product and service line.  To become an authorized reseller or get a recognized designation, I have to invest 80 to 100 hours or more in getting training.  These classes will cost several thousands of dollars, probably upwards of $7,500.  

I could do all this on my own or I could figure out if Sales Logics is a good opportunity by securing a business partnership with someone who already does this work.  If I monitor this business partnership closely, I will learn the following information:

• The return on investment the company is realizing
• The specific IT issues presented
• The associated business issues
• The length and nature of the sales cycle
• The amount of demand for the product
• The type of clients demanding the product

With a business partnership you get access to all the information you need to make a decision.  And you don’t have to go through any painful trial and error or learning curve issues to figure out if the investment is worth it.

Bottom Line on Business Partnerships
Business partnerships are a low risk, low cost method for doing market research. With a strategic business partnership like this, you can easily figure out if you want to invest the time and money in a new venture, based on the demand among your client base and the type of prospects that you work with.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to Business Partnerships. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about Business Partnerships, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business. 

• The absolute best way to locate a business partnership is through a common account.  This means you start working with a new small business and they are already working with someone who’s a deeply niched technology consultant.  By working together you form a camaraderie similar to working together in an internal IT department.  The business partnership idea flourishes naturally from this type of introduction.  You’re both working together, you have ample opportunity to talk, and you become friendly.   

• Next down the list is tapping into your word of mouth referrals for business partnership ideas. If you have a business partner that does Access database development but you need someone who’s an expert on SQL server, letting your current partner know what you need will usually net you a few solid business partnership leads.

• Networking directly through organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or business networking events is the next best way to meet people for potential business partnerships.  

• Another great idea for identifying business partnership prospects is going to reseller channel events for the platform or products that you support, as well as reseller channel events for products that you don’t support.  

• Technical training classes are another source of potential business partnerships.

• User groups and related consultant reseller groups are always great places to meet niche technology providers.

• Look to niche and industry trade groups, trade associations and industry-specific conferences.  Some of the best people for business partnerships may be speaking.  

• Niche and industry trade publications are great sources for picking up potential business partnerships. 

• Vendor Web sites, industry ISVs, independent software vendors, and independent hardware vendor Web sites are other business partnership referral sources.  You can go a step beyond that and contact the local field reps in your area and get personal referrals from people that work with the software vendor or the hardware vendor.  

Bottom Line on Business Partnerships
There are many different ways to investigate potential business partnerships.  The best methods are the most personal ones.  The more direct contact you have with a potential business partner, the more likely it will turn into a full fledged business partnership.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to Business Partnerships. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about Business Partnerships, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

The great thing about the computer industry is that there are plenty of people you can use for IT services outsourcing. When you first start up, your concentration needs to be on getting business.  You need to spend time networking and relationship marketing.  

In order to have the time to do this you need to rely on IT services outsourcing – there just simply is not enough time for you to learn everything you will be asked to deliver.

Rather than lose the relationship, you want to be able to offer your prospects the services they need.  To do this you essentially have two alternatives for IT services outsourcing:

Work out referral relationships with other niche technology providers in your area  
Set up partnerships and subcontractor relationships

The quickest and easiest way to set up your IT services outsourcing is to set up partnerships or subcontractor relationships.  This is a fast and efficient way to deal with the issue.  

Of course, if you continue to get lots of requests for the same type of IT services, then you should probably consider getting the skills to offer it in-house.  When there is a large enough need then the time and money invested make good sense. Until that time though, IT services outsourcing is your best option.

Bottom Line on IT Services Outsourcing
Like it or not you can’t know everything.  When prospects ask for services you don’t offer, rather than lose the relationship, look to IT services outsourcing instead.  Build referral relationships with other niche IT service providers or set up subcontractor or partnership arrangements.  By doing this you maintain your client and leave yourself open to the possibility of offering the service yourself down the road.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to IT Services Outsourcing. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about IT Services Outsourcing, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

• Expanding your areas of expertise
• Taking on bigger projects
• Keeping your overhead low

When you and another business have similar clients, but complementary businesses, join up with them to maximize your prospects and minimize your marketing expenses. 

Read on to see how one of our computer consultants benefited from partnering.  

"I took the time to write a letter to a company that provided outsourced billing for medical offices around town. I stated that we don’t provide the services they do and they don’t provide the services we do and that we could help each other out.  To my surprise, his response was ‘Your timing couldn’t be better.’ We met over breakfast one morning and discussed that fact that we knew they did good work since our client really likes them and that he knew we did good work because the same client liked us. It just made sense for us to make recommendations on each other’s behalf. It got me thinking about partnering with the right kind of service providers that serve the same market but don’t do general technical consulting, yet get asked for that type of support all the time."

Nick LaRosa, Subnet Support Services LLC
St. Louis, Missouri

The Bottom Line about Partnering

To learn more about partnering, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.