Today, most businesses and organisations heavily rely on IT to connect with clients and keep overall data and information safe. In fact, availing IT resources is essential to stay ahead in the present highly competitive and dynamic business environment. Using IT resources, business processes get efficient, businesses stay organised, and communication within the company is facilitated. However, when availing of state-of-art technology, there is certainly a need for expertise. One of the IT experts required is an ICT Consultant. In this blog, we will look into the details of ICT Consultants and why they are important.
ICT Consulting: A Basic Introduction
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is a special application of Information Technology that includes aspects of communication along with software development, mobile devices, cloud computing, data centres, cyber security, research networks, support and so on. ICT consulting is a professional sector where experts (ICT consultants) advise businesses or organisations on the design, structure and efficiency of ICT systems.
ICT Consulting services mostly deliver the following services:
- Strategic Planning for transformations, implementation, and maintenance
- IT Solutions Delivery
- IT Programme & Project Management
- Information & Systems Security
- Enterprise Architecture Design
Who is an ICT Consultant?
An information technology consultant (IT consultant) is a professional who provides advice, guidelines and a road map for sourcing, utilising and managing IT assets and resources. They have comprehensive IT (Information Technology) and Communications (Telecommunications) knowledge. An IT consultant also specialises in formulating and developing enterprise-wide IT strategies and assisting their clients in implementing those strategies. Mostly ICT consulting services work on a contract basis. At present, most ICT Consultants work remotely.
The Demand for ICT Consultants in Australia
The number of start-ups and eCommerce sites is increasing in Australia; these businesses are now utilising digital platforms to get the best results. To help these businesses in having strong control over the IT infrastructure, IT consultants’ advice is necessary. Not only that, but ICT consultants can help organisations to re-energise their business development process and enjoy optimal benefits. In fact, with ICT Consulting, the core business and its staff can continue to innovate and drive business operations forward.
ICT Consultant’s Salary in Australia is $80,000 /year on average (based on 503 salaries). The lowest salary is $56,000, while the highest is $142,000. Senior IT consultants, depending on their experience, can earn in the range of $ 137,000 to $142,000. [source: Glassdoor.au]
Roles of ICT Consultant
- ICT Consultants look at business needs (connectivity, security, technical infrastructure issues, data protection compliance, etc.) assessments and develop IT solutions to meet the organisation’s ICT goals.
- ICT Consultants also work to improve the structure and efficiency of organisations’ IT systems.
- An ICT consultant mostly works in partnership with clients, advising them on how to use information technology to meet their business objectives or overcome problems.
- Businesses and firms trust ICT consultants as those consultants observe niche markets and provide solutions accordingly.
- ICT Consultants help their clients to streamline their business operations to leverage the technology resources and focus on their core competence.
- IT consultants also help clients to integrate business strategy and enable technology such as digital, cloud, and ERP to ensure long-term efficiency.
Overall with the help of IT consultants, businesses can save time and money and, at the same time, stay competitive.
Benefits of Having an ICT Consultant
Some of the benefits of hiring an ICT consultant are explained below.
- Improved Customer Service
High-quality client service and positive customer reviews do impact a business’s reputation. Having ICT Consultants can improve the IT infrastructure and hence help businesses respond faster to their customer’s issues. This can eventually increase customer satisfaction.
- Effective Business Management
Using ICT consultants’ guidance, managers and employees can make decisions quickly and accurately. Therefore, they can manage operations effectively and respond rapidly to business opportunities or threats. In fact, by having an IT system in place by implementing the advice of ICT consultants, companies can manage and reduce their workload.
- Continuous improvement
An organisation needs to get things right with ICT to avoid the employees in the company ending up getting frustrated, and the organisation will have its resources wasted and increase in costs. Thus, with an ICT consultant’s help, organisations can resolve long-standing ICT challenges and allow employees to focus on what they do best.
- Enhanced knowledge and expertise
Technology is constantly evolving and advancing in terms of capability. Keeping up with emerging technologies and the latest trends is a huge challenge. As technology gets better and more advanced, making errors or delaying updating the technology can result in unexpected downtime. So, ICT consultants can help in implementing technologies and avoid unnecessary downtime. Bringing their expertise, knowledge and skills to the table, ICT consultants ensure their clients reap the best benefits.
- Reduction of errors and risks
Adopting new technology can be full of obstacles. Without specialists’ help installing new technology can result in downtime, misconfiguration, errors and eventually decreased productivity. In such a context, an ICT consultant can help oversee the installation of new technology and also address any difficulties as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Cost-effective
Having an in-house IT department means making a significant investment. Having full-time employees do the duty of an ICT consultant may not be a cost-effective decision. For full-timers, organisations have to pay hefty salaries, benefits, workspace, and other costs. But an ICT Consultant would tackle a particular problem within a specific timeframe and get paid for that service only. This is certainly more cost-effective than hiring full-timers. In fact, an ICT consultant clearly provides guidance on what technologies to invest in to support business objectives and make savings.
- Enhanced security
Today, cybersecurity is a big concern for businesses of all sizes. With new threats emerging, organisations must be prepared to protect their and their customer’s data. If an organisation suffers from cyber threats, it can be financially and reputationally draining. Thus, ICT Consultants, who are aware of current cyber threats, identify network vulnerabilities and develop and implement effective cybersecurity solutions. They also recommend and implement IT programs and services to protect clients’ networks.
Overall, using the services of an ICT Consulting company, you can make your company resilient to risk, make result-driven enterprise-technology investments, make smart technology transformations, and align the technology with your immediate or long-term business goals.
Qualities of a good ICT Consultancy Company
- They must have ICT consultants with excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, in order to avoid any perplexity.
- The Technical expertise and experience of multiple years when offering ICT solutions. In fact, ICT Consultants must have a proven track record in their work.
- The expert advice must be focused on ensuring a healthy IT ecosystem in an organisation and maintaining healthy business relationships.
- They must know that each business is unique and need different priorities and needs. So, the consultancy must have the right amount of information about the clients they are or will be dealing with.
- A good ICT Consultancy company offering result-driven ICT services. Their suggestion and recommendation should aid in forming, adjusting or modifying the ICT infrastructure of a business.
Why choose NSW IT Support for ICT Consulting services in Australia?
If you are looking for an efficient ICT Consultant in Sydney, then NSW IT Support is here for you. We are an Australian IT Company offering IT Consultation services along with IT Support, Cloud Services, IT Security, Telecom Services, and IT Procurements. Further, we offer personalised ICT consultancy services that are tailored to address your specific business requirements. We have an ICT Consulting team with years of experience in the ICT industry of Australia. Our team offers strategic advice on various issues, such as cloud strategy, budgeting, risk management, disaster recovery, business continuity planning, business assessment, strategic planning, and communications.
To learn more about our ICT Consulting service delivery, please contact us.
