Professional IT support is essential for businesses of all types and sizes. But as you begin your search for a new service provider, the abundance of services and new terminology can make it confusing to figure out what your company needs.
Two of the most common types of services are IT consulting and IT services. Both can support your current technology needs and reach your long-term goals. But how can you figure out which service will help your company best?
In this helpful guide, we’ll look at the definitions of IT consultancy and IT services, including some of the services they include. Then, we’ll delve deeper into the differences between the two, and lastly, we’ll help you decide which service is best for your company.
What Is IT Consulting?
Technology is an integral piece of most modern companies. Even still, many businesses struggle to make essential IT decisions or recognise how much tech can help them reach their overall goals. With IT consultancy services, a skilled professional offers strategic guidance and advice on all IT matters. Consultants leverage their expertise and industry experience to guide businesses and help them succeed.
A consultant will take their time to learn about how the business operates and its long-term objectives. They can help better define your goals and identify potential roadblocks to success. With this information, they can then create a comprehensive strategic plan. A consultant can offer expert recommendations for launching strategic IT initiatives, solving pressing issues, choosing the best software and hardware, and whatever else you need assistance with.
IT Consultancy Services in the UK from Optimising IT
IT consulting shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all solution. At Optimising IT, we offer a selection of consultancy services. You can select the individual consultancy solutions you need or enjoy them all with a complete IT consultancy package. Here’s an overview of the services we offer.
IT Strategy Consulting
IT systems and tech are constantly changing; is your company keeping up? Your IT services should help your organisation grow and meet its goals, not hinder them. With strategy consulting, we’ll work together to figure out how effective your current tech is and how your IT solutions need to evolve to support your needs and future growth.
Due Diligence Consulting
This service is ideal for organisations that are taking part in a merger or acquisition. Our due diligence consulting service will help identify potential system integrations issues to prevent unexpected costs and keep operations running smoothly. We can also optimise your new systems to make them more efficient and cost-effective.
Data Privacy Consulting
Prevent data breaches and ensure your company is compliant with all essential regulations using our data privacy consulting service. Our expert consultants can help your organisation become more aware of how data is acquired, who can access it, and which data protection regulations your business must comply with.
Information Security Management Consulting
We can create a robust plan to combat cyber security threats with our information security management consulting service. Our pros will assess your current data protection measures and suggest ways to improve and keep your business data safe.
IT Project Management Consulting
When it comes to launching a new IT project, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Our IT project management consultants can help you avoid potential problems and ensure the seamless completion of your IT project. Whether upgrading, installing or integrating new tech, our consultants can guide your company to deliver results on time and within budget.
Business Intelligence Consulting
Business data is only as helpful as your analysis of it. Business intelligence consulting services aid your company in getting the maximum value from all data assets. We’ll gather all your data in easy-to-use dashboards and reports to reveal vital insights into customer behaviour and business trends.
Business Software Consulting
Having the right business software can boost productivity, data security, and overall business success. Are your IT systems working for you? Our business software consulting can help you create a seamless work environment by analysing and evaluating software and offering recommendations on how to optimise your IT systems better.
What Are IT Services?
IT services generally refer to the third-party management and maintenance of an organisation’s IT systems by a managed service provider (MSP). These services keep the technological infrastructure running smoothly so you can focus on achieving your long-term objectives.
IT services take a more hands-on, technical approach to serving a business’s tech needs. An MSP will handle the routine activities that keep IT systems functional, like desktop support and service management. They can also solve technical problems as they arise to minimise downtime and keep productivity up.
Optimising IT’s Managed IT Services
At Optimising IT, customers can take advantage of a variety of managed IT services. Choose a full-service package to fulfil all your IT needs or cherry-pick services to supplement your current IT support. These are the IT services we offer.
Desktop Support
Solve all of your everyday tech problems with desktop support services. Our experienced technicians resolve 78% of IT support issues during the first call to prevent your staff from enduring unnecessary frustrations and excessive downtime.
Infrastructure and Network Support
We can keep your IT systems in top condition with our infrastructure and network support services. Through proper management and regular maintenance, we can help you avoid security vulnerabilities and diminished system performance to keep business running smoothly.
On-Site IT Support
While many tech problems can be resolved remotely, some issues require hands-on assistance. Optimising IT offers regularly scheduled, on-demand, and ad hoc site visits to fulfil your IT needs.
IT Service Transition
For new customers, we provide IT service transition services to simplify the process of switching to an MSP. Our experts will get to know your business inside and out to create a personal launch plan and help your company reach its full potential.
Service Management
Say hello to your new outsourced IT department. Our complete service management package includes staff training and workshops, hardware maintenance, cyber security monitoring, software configurations and upgrades, development suggestions, and more.
Project Management and Delivery
Stay on top of all your IT projects with our project management and delivery service. Our technical engineers, procurement specialists, and project managers will work tirelessly to complete your project from conception to delivery.
Managed Procurement
If you’re searching for new software or hardware, Optimising IT can guide you through the whole process. From researching products and working with our partners to provide competitive prices to installing and implementing new technologies, we’re here to help.
Types of Service
At Optimising IT, we offer outsourced and co-sourced support services. With outsourcing, we take full responsibility for all of your IT needs. If you’re looking to fill a gap and support your existing IT team, we provide co-sourcing services. We also offer climate-conscious IT support to help our customers decrease their environmental impact.
IT Consulting vs IT Services
Now that you know a bit more about managed IT and IT consultancy services in the UK, we can explore the differences between the two essential tech services. For companies that are just beginning to explore IT services, there can be quite a bit of confusion between the two. Managed service providers often offer consultancy services too, and some IT services may involve a level of consulting. While there is plenty of overlap between these services, there are a few essential differences.
IT Consulting Is About Planning Strategy and Building Relationships
In general, IT consultants deal more with strategising and crafting long-term plans for success. When you chat with a consultant, you talk about your overarching goals and current challenges. Then, they help to devise a plan to upgrade and optimise how your organisation handles technology. Consultants are equipped with not only technical experience but business knowledge, too, so they can help determine the best course of action for your company.
Consultants also focus on building relationships with their clients. To work effectively and provide the highest level of guidance, they must first get to know your company, its systems, and its employees. An IT consultant must be as amiable as they are knowledgeable so they can become your trusted source for all your tech needs.
IT Services Offer Hands-On Support, Management, and Maintenance
On the other hand, IT services get deeper into the daily minutia of technical support. A lot goes into running and maintaining a business’s tech systems. And, even with the most well-maintained network, problems still arise. IT service providers are highly trained and experienced experts who specialise in managing, maintaining, and supporting an organisation’s tech infrastructure. They can offer remote or on-site individualised support to resolve issues and take steps to prevent them from occurring.
While they can offer advice as consults do, their role is more about enacting a strategy than creating one. Managed service providers must also work to build a good relationship with their clients. However, their ability to do their job well depends less on their rapport and friendly relationship with clients than for consultants.
Consultancy Focuses on the Big Picture, IT Services Manage the Day-to-Day
Both IT services and IT consulting share a common goal: to help companies make the most of their IT infrastructure in order to thrive and grow. However, the services use different methods to get you there. Consultancy services offer an outside perspective on the state of your current tech systems. They can help you recognise which changes are the most effective and create a plan to guide your business forward. IT services can then bring that plan to life, giving your team the proper support and resources to reach their goals. An IT consultant can create a roadmap to achieve your goals, but an IT service provider can provide the daily support and resources you need to get there.
Which IT Solution Is Best for Your Company?
Don’t let tech issues stress you out; turn to an IT professional. IT consultants and managed service providers can both help your business improve its tech infrastructure and reach its goals. But, the services are better suited for tackling different problems. Keep reading to determine which type of IT solution best fits your needs.
When Do You Need IT Services?
Here are a few situations when you should consider hiring a managed IT service provider:
- When your business is implementing new software or hardware, you need to ensure it’s optimised for your system.
- When you want to keep your network in top shape and avoid security concerns
- When your need to troubleshoot hardware malfunctions and routine problems
- When you’re handling any situation that impacts the day-to-day operations of your company
When Is IT Consulting a Better Choice?
For issues like the ones below, an IT consultant is a better option for solving your tech problems:
- When you need to upgrade your IT systems but don’t know where to begin.
- When you want to ensure a merger goes smoothly without any integration issues or costly delays.
- When you need expert advice from a specialist that your current IT team isn’t able to provide.
- When you need a detailed plan to solve a problem, improve data security, or stay on track with an IT project.
Why Choose at All?
Still can’t decide which one is best? The good news is that you don’t have to! Managed service providers and IT consultants can work together to provide the ultimate support for your company. Taking a hybrid approach can help you gain a new perspective on your IT systems, learn which alterations will be the most beneficial, and gain the support you need to implement the changes properly.
At Optimising IT, we take a consultative approach to all of our IT services to truly understand your aspirations and needs. Reach out to us today to learn how our managed IT and consultancy services can help your business!
