Our approach to IT Consultancy

The benefits of independent IT Consultancy

Technology Management and Consultancy act as independent IT consultants. We firmly believe that a consultant should advise on all possible solutions not just the ones their company resells or makes the most money on. Where a consultant offers to deliver a product for the solution they should make clear any other alternatives, their possible conflict of interest and their relationship with the manufacturer.

A TMC IT Consultant works independently of both technology and suppliers choosing the best solution for your problem and infrastructure. We do partner with organisations such as Microsoft, IBM, SoftScan and Symantec but any revenue generated for them is clearly indicated with any proposal we deliver.

Our independent approach means we can work with Open Source solutions as easily as traditional licensed products and have no sales pressure to upgrade or convert your existing hardware or software.

Just like you wouldn't expect your IT Manager to recommend only solutions they make money on a TMC IT Consultant always acts in your best interests.

IT Consultancy Services

Technology Management and Consultancy can offer the following standard IT Consultancy services but we can also design bespoke delivery packages if your requirements are not listed below. Please see our contact page to get in touch.

Employment cover

IT Managers and Directors occasionally leave a company, take a long term absence or get busy with large projects. An organisation facing a resource shortage has three main options, cope using existing resources, hire a contractor or bring in a consultant. Using a TMC IT Consultant leaves the existing staff to cope with their already busy workloads and doesn't bring the potential management load of a contractor. One of our IT Consultants can be more flexible in their working schedule, perhaps only attending on-site one or two days a week or two weeks out of three, which means you only pay for what you are actually using.

If your organisation is struggling because of an IT resource shortage contact TMC to arrange a chat with one of our IT Consultants about how we can help.

Tier 3 Support

In a large support organisation Tier 1 is the support desk answering calls and monitoring queue loads, Tier 2 is the incident management team dealing with common issues and quick fix issues and Tier 3 is the problem management team dealing with more complex or longer term issues.

An organisation with good Tier 1 and 2 may lack the knowledge and experience of a Tier 3 team, which is where a TMC IT Consultant can help. Experienced with all levels of IT from small networks to large resilient data centres our IT Consultants can support the existing IT team in problem diagnosis and solving without becoming a threat to their existing roles.

Our IT Consultants are available on a retainer service, set number of days per week/month or an hourly charge per problem.

IT Management

An IT Manager sits between the Board and the IT team and usually reports to either the Financial Director or the IT Director. Not all organisations want the burden of an extra salary at this management level, preferring to manage the IT resources at the Board level. There is a danger that this could result in a lack of strategy delivery and compliance as the Board Director spends time fulfilling their other duties and the IT team firefight support problems.

 A TMC IT Consultant with specific IT Management experience can fill that middle Management gap on a part-time or short term basis. The consultant will help the IT team deliver the Board strategy and put in places procedures and policies to ensure the company complies with any regulatory or legal requirements they may have. Wherever possible and suitable our IT Consultants deliver using ITIL best practices.

If you're a Board member who believes the IT department are not delivering the business strategy then contact a TMC IT Consultant to discuss the options available.

Project Based Consultancy

Do you have a new IT system that must go in on time but existing resources are just not enough to deliver? A TMC IT Consultant can be a welcome short term solution to ensuring the project is delivered on time without impacting on all the other critical work the existing IT department are doing.

Because we're not a full outsourcing company or a support organisation our IT Consultants can be less threatening to an existing IT team as they have no agenda for introducing other resources from TMC. We don't want to take over the daily running of your IT infrastructure or replace existing staff with our own, our consultants work on your behalf at all times.

Project Management

Companies running IT projects can use existing IT staff to Project Manage and deliver the project but find that doing both can be very stressful. Our IT Consultants can provide resources to deliver a project but we can also provide Prince2 Registered Practitioners to manage the project.

Our Project Managers are experienced with managing IT Projects for all sizes of organisations and across multiple countries. Even if your project is not a PRINCE2 one the controls and  processes of PRINCE2 can still be used to provide an extra level of quality to the project management.

Our Project Managers can help with existing projects that are running late, new projects that don't seem to have realistic plans or new projects that just don't have the resources they require.

Asset Audits

It's as true in the IT world as it is anywhere else, you can only manage what you know about. Without a true idea of the hardware and software and organisation owns it becomes very difficult to plan a strategy for the IT department, if you don't know how many PCs there are how can you forecast how many more you need or how many staff are needed?

A TMC IT Consultant can help an organisation deliver an asset management program that firstly documents what assets there are then put in place procedures to control new and disposed assets. With the procedures in place a list of assets, their projected disposal dates and current value will be available at the push of a button. Linking the asset information to a support desk software package can show you the real cost of a piece of hardware, in both equipment and staff hours.

If you get three different answers when you ask how many laptops or PCs the organisation has or the value of your asset register looks low compared to the equipment you can see in the office then contact TMC to obtain a quote for an asset audit from one of our IT Consultants.

Software Asset Management

If you have a Microsoft licence agreement or similar from another software company then you may find you have a requirement to participate in a Software Asset Management (SAM) program. Even without this requirement from the large suppliers there are benefits to a SAM program, including reducing the purchase of unnecessary licences, consolidation of existing licences and the ability to enter the true value of software into your assets and accounts. In the event of an investigation the controls that come with a Software Asset Management system can reduce time spent providing evidence and can also prove the organisation has made all possible efforts to reduce the chance of software licence theft or fraud.

A TMC IT Consultant can work with an existing IT Team to bring in the procedures and controls required for an approved SAM system, including allocating licences to specific users if required. Our consultant can work with existing audit software such as Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) or Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager or aid in the deployment of tools to automate inventory collection.

Mergers and Acquisitions

For companies involved in a take-over the process of Due Diligence is very important. This mainly involves checking financial accounts, operational systems and procedures and HR issues but doesn't always cover the IT.

A due diligence report from a TMC IT Consultant covers areas such as skills (will there be any skills shortages if IT staff don't transfer), infrastructure (is all the hardware under maintenance and inventoried), software (can the licence trail be proven and are the quantities adequate) and supplier contracts (are they transferable and adequate).

In the past organisations have been caught out after an acquisition when it is discovered that the software purchased from the acquired company is not correctly licensed and new licences need to be purchased. This can be a significant cost.

If you are in the process of acquiring a new company, merging with another organisation or need to prepare a due diligence report prior to approaching a potential buyer then speak to a TMC IT Consultant about our due diligence service.

New Purchase Review

Deciding to buy new hardware or software can be a daunting process for even the largest IT department. Creating a list of potential suppliers, short listing to a list to provide demonstrations, arranging the calendars of everyone involved in the demonstrations, facilitating each demonstration to ensure everyone has their questions answered, liaising with suppliers over pricing and providing feedback to the unsuccessful suppliers can be a time consuming process. All this has to be done before the purchase order is raised, which is where a TMC IT Consultant comes in.

Working across all the business units, including IT, our consultant will create a specification, create a list of suppliers, discuss the specification with them and liaise with everyone over demonstrations. Because we believe our consultants should have excellent communication skills they are all trained to facilitate meetings instead of just leading them.

Where using a TMC IT Consultant can be extremely beneficial is when you want to get to the demonstration shortlist without the suppliers knowing you are in the market for their products (thereby reducing the number of sales calls). Acting as an intermediary TMC will never divulge the details of their clients until authorised to do so.

If you are considering a purchase at the moment and would like someone to manage the process then speak to one of our IT Consultants.

Emerging Technology

Are you hearing competitors, clients or supplier using new buzzwords about new emerging technology such as Social Networking, Virtual Worlds or Web 2.0 and are wondering if your business can make use of them?

The cross industry experience of our IT Consultants means they have to not only keep up to date with emerging technology but also the business applications of it. It means we probably have a client somewhere making use of the technology. You may even find one of consultants working in one of these new online environments.

New technology isn't only limited to what online technology is making the news, it can be a new network or storage technology or new software to aid productivity.

If you want someone who can look at new technology with both technical and business heads then contact a TMC IT Consultant.

Incident Management

During a crisis an extra pair of hands, or pairs, can help recover everything back to normal a lot quicker. Whether the incident is one relating to Business Continuity or Disaster Recovery or a sudden illness in a critical staff member a TMC IT Consultant can move quickly to bridge any gaps.

Incident or Crisis Management is a combination of skill and experience. Remaining calm in an already critical situation can only be truly learnt by being placed in critical situations, only our most experienced IT Consultants are made available for Incident Management so you can be sure they have managed similar situations in the past.

If the situation is getting worst and you're struggling to see a way out then contact TMC immediately to see if we can make one of our IT Consultants available to help.

A Second Opinion

Sometimes organisations just have the requirement for a second opinion. This may be just before signing the purchase order for a new solution or because a technical person has told them something they're not quite sure of. It could also be because an explanation was delivered using technical language and a business explanation is needed or someone has said a solution is impossible but the organisation isn't too sure about that.

A second opinion is where the two main skills of a TMC IT Consultant can be most beneficial. They are independent so will not rubbish or promote a solution because of a sales requirement and they speak Business not just IT.

If you don't believe you're getting the whole truth about something or just want to check your conclusions with an independent third party then speak to a  TMC IT Consultant to see if we can help.