Revenue in the IT consultancy industry is set to grow by 6.26% in 2023. Proving that UK-based companies are increasingly placing a high level of importance on digital infrastructures, we predict that this trend will continue to increase in the coming years.
IT consultants provide support with all software and hardware management forms. The diverse areas covered and skills available to businesses are appealing for many reasons. At Creative Networks, we specialise in providing an expansive set of IT consultancy services, so we know a thing or two about how companies can benefit.
Do you want to know how IT consultancy firms can elevate business operations? Keep reading to find out.
What Does the IT Consultancy Market Look Like?
The UK market size for IT consulting is worth £63bn in 2023 with IT consultants making up 20% of the global consultancy services market.
As the future of IT outsourcing continues to rise in popularity, the current landscape for support is rapidly changing. Companies are becoming wise to the fact that although they want to spend less, that investment in IT support is not something that can be cut from budgets.
IT consulting offers businesses a way to streamline their operations through intelligent management of hardware, software, and digital processes. Consulting is about more than just giving advice. In IT consultancy; the services span from definition and ideation stages to implementation support.
Cyber risk is one of the biggest IT worries worldwide for businesses. Other concerns, such as cloud operations, employee connectivity, and digital brand representation, also mean that IT consultancy is heavily relied upon.
The IT consultancy market thrives with businesses looking to reduce staffing and streamline spending. This is because these essential agencies plug the gaps that companies have affordably.
What Are the Benefits of Using an IT Consultancy?
The nature of IT consultancies means that the benefits are plentiful. Here are a few reasons why IT consultation support is a vital component of modern business operations:
Increased Access to IT Skills
IT consultants specialise in many different areas of IT support. This knowledge and the associated skills are more cost-efficient for a business when outsourced to specialists. By working with an IT consultancy agency, a range of IT experts are at a company’s disposal. This improves overall efficiency and means outsourcing to other third parties for new project needs are unnecessary.
Supported Decision Making Strategies
By taking a top-level view of how a business works, IT consultants can implement unbiased strategies and processes. By looking at a company from an outsider’s perspective, there is more chance of highlighting problems and creating solutions that genuinely make a change.
Once an IT expert in this field has defined processes, the modern can be rolled out across an entire business resulting in the much-strived-for continuity in operations.
Collaboration Across all Departments
IT consultants can also unite teams through a shared understanding of overall IT processes and capabilities. This can significantly enhance employee experience and company culture, which has many positives for a business.
Collaboration is also a great way to enhance problem-solving as it means when issues arise, teams are already aware of the processes they can follow and fellow colleagues that they can lean on.
Rapid Problem-solving
IT consulting professionals will be able to depict issues in the infancy stages to ensure small items do not escalate. The processes they implement can also mean that any other problems can be dealt with quickly. This is because an IT consultant constantly keeps tabs on operations through manual and automated processes.
Improvements to Security
40% of UK companies experienced a cyber-attack in 2022. It will therefore come as no surprise that cyber security is a top priority for many. IT consultants can manage all stages of the cyber network for a company, highlighting risks and providing solutions for long-term resilience.
What Services Do IT Consultancy’s Offer?
You should consider IT consultants as the next step from traditional IT support packages. These professionals combine strategy and planning with implementation to offer businesses a more succinct operating solution. Whilst the services and level of support on offer will differ between agencies, you can expect to receive the below-listed support when you enlist the help of a professional IT consultancy.
Cyber Security, Governance, and Compliance
IT consultants can provide support with all aspects of cyber security. By taking a birds-eye approach initially, they can ensure complete alignment with safeguarding solutions.
One of the main ways IT consultants can support this area is by identifying risks. Security risk management and vulnerability management are two main ways a company can improve overall safety. These models can be applied to all aspects of cyber security and security compliance, with the intended result being shared insights and planning for the prolonged level of cyber safety.
As with any task, it can be hard to take an unbiased view when someone is working on it every day. The benefit of bringing in an IT consultant to help with security is that they can highlight issues that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. The consultancy also includes support with choosing and implementing the right software tools and cloud operations, which are essential in modern business.
IT Support for Hardware and Software
IT consultancies can also advise on software and hardware decision-making. Our services demonstrate that some agencies can go further by offering IT support beyond simple advice-giving.
The role of an IT consultant is to improve overall IT operations and processes, of which the tools being used are a vital component.
IT Strategy
IT strategy should not be taken lightly, as the effects of your chosen working style impact an entire business. IT consultants add structure into planning, whether short- or long-term, with alignment to wider business objectives being the top priority.
This is achieved by considering all aspects of operations and applying a facts-driven approach to choosing the best strategy. IT consultants also provide services to implement these strategies and create processes to check their ongoing adherence.
What Is the Process for Working with an IT Consultancy Firm?
Like choosing any agency, a company should take an educated approach to select the right IT consultancy for their needs.
A great place to start is to look at the work that the agency has already done, as this indicates both the industries that they cover and the skills that their organisation has to offer. We often provide our case studies to clients as it showcases just how broad our areas of coverage are.
IT consultants should have skills in all areas of digital support and be able to provide services that a company would otherwise not have access to. To further enhance this point, we recommend that you should also consider the number of services on offer.
As digital demands have grown, so have the needs that companies have. Modern IT consultants should also be able to provide additional service support to make their recommendations a working reality.
Once you have chosen the agency for you, the process should be collaborative. Whilst IT consultants are tasked with providing a top-level view of operations, they should still work closely with business professionals to ensure strong processes. IT consultants can also work alone with a company without current IT support.
How Can Creative Networks Assist with IT Consultancy?
As an IT support and IT consultancy agency, we have the skills available for any project needs.
The different types of IT support available and our strategic planning expertise means we can define and implement IT infrastructures for companies of any size.
We also have a strong team of professionals in-house, which means no project is out of the area of coverage that we provide. Whether you need help defining security compliance procedures, want to streamline your IT spending, or even add new software, we can support you.
Contact us today to learn more about our unique approach to combining IT consulting with full support.
