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With the recent advancements in business world, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) has grown to unparalleled heights and the role of ERP consultants has also greatly evolved. ERP consultants are professionals who render their valuable services related to planning, managing, coordinating and effectively implement the ERP system of an organization.

The duties performed by ERP consultants extends to ensure an effective implementation of the ERP system, to make sure that the objectives for which it was implemented are duly achieved well on-time. He is also entrusted with the task of making a detailed study plan and use his expertise towards ensuring that the system capabilities and organizational objectives are effectively matched. This is the most important step in the formulation of an ERP system, because unless the system is being able to match with objectives, the objectives would not be attained and there will be variances in the projected and actual objectives.

ERP Consultants may also be assigned the task of imparting education and training to the existing and prospective users of the ERP system. They must make sure that all the users are able to get a complete insight into the ERP process else the complete objective of installing the ERP will be doomed. The communication of plans and benefits to the users must be clear, precise and not vague. They can take the support of high-level management in achieving this responsibility. By doing this, they can ensure that business objectives are attained and business solutions are provided to meet the organizational requirements for the purpose of creating a sound and effective business environment.

The various tasks that are performed by ERP consultants are as follows:

* Selection of the ERP package.
* Creating equilibrium between system capabilities and organizational objectives.
* Present and prospective system analysis and documentation.
* Development, management, implementation and regular assessment of the ERP system.
* Imparting education and training to existing and prospective users.
* Ensuring steps for effective implementation of ERP.
* Assisting in installation and configuration of the ERP system.
* Making sure that the ERP system can be updated to satisfy changing business needs.
* They analyze the requirements of the business and provide an ERP consulting strategy to satisfy business requirements.
* They assist by providing their expertise on specialized software modules.

The responsibilities that are entrusted to ERP consultants also include the creation of a sound work-flow procedure, assisting in report-generation and providing business solutions to complex business problems. They are an integral part of the consulting team and management, which ensures that the objectives of the organization are attained by effective planning, coordination, automation and implementation of the ERP system.

Thus it can be rightly said that the role of ERP consultants is pivotal to the requirements of the business and they provide a supportive hand in the achievement of the business objectives in the most effective and efficient manner. They are, therefore, considered to be an integral part of the organization’s decision-making team.

For a student who wishes to pursue his/her higher studies abroad, it is a quite daunting task to make all the right decisions in the process of identifying the right institution and the right place to do so. The situation becomes even more complex if there is no one in the family or among the known ones who too has any such information. Such situation of uncertainties can be really tormenting for anyone. Fortunately, internet today gives a lot of information related to ways to curb such stressful situations and find the right place and also the best institution to go ahead with.

Despite that, the factor for uncertainty stays on because most of the information online too is doctored to promote brand of respective institution, and so relying only upon that is also not a wise choice. Then how is it that you as a seeker can get the information you want that you can rely upon. A global education consultancy can always be your best choice in this regard. Such consultancies can be found nearby you, or you could also approach a few of them over the internet.

There are two prime ways by which one can establish the credibility about one such consultancy. These ways are:

Forum Websites

These websites are an open platform for individuals to discuss about different areas of interests. With so much to talk about, there are several such websites, which also include the ones related to education abroad. Many of these also rate each global education consultancy based upon its past record as well as infrastructure, which can be more than useful to use. Being hosted and discussed about by individuals, it is unlikely that their information will be wrong, if at all.

Personal Visit

By doing so, you can not only get to see the infrastructure of the institution but also will be able to get some reviews from students who are already availing its services. You can also get to have a better view into their past record, which is always seen not only by prospective students but also educational institutions to establish the efficiency of the firm. A global education consultancy with an impressive past record will be preferred by educational institutions too, which in turn will also encourage students to sign up for its services.

Every global educational consultancy has a procedure that it follows to help a student get established in his new campus and feel as much comfortable in there as possible. For achieving this, many consultancies conduct training workshops from time to time, which vary from skill to skill, depending upon what kind of session a particular student batch is in need of.

Such sessions can also be divided into further sub-sections, which resolve any kind of query that a student may have in his/her mind. A few of these are:

Relocation Session: This will be related to all queries related to settling down in the new country, including hostel accommodation, meals, locality, etc.

Interview Session: This will be related to all the questions that the student will face before he is being signed up into the educational institution.

Placement Session: This will be related to the placement record of the institution, and what all options a student will have in his hands upon the completion of his course.

Financial assistance session: This will include counseling related to any financial aid a student is in need of, and also helping him/her out with the same in the process

Cultural Session: This will be related to information about the culture of the country the student will be relocating too, including its and bits of certain things that one may need to carry out while staying in that country.

If you are trying to grow your company, expand, raise capital or globalize your concept I’m going to give you some insider advice. Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news and I hate to rain on your parade but chances are, if you’re trying to achieve the above and you are doing it yourself you have about a 1% chance of succeeding. You need to hire a full service strategies consultant in order to do this properly as a qualified and full service consultant will evaluate your company and streamline the process with as few bumps in the road as possible.

Now here is the problem, entering into the realm of globalization strategists and pre IPOs is a world of shark infested waters and a sky that is down pouring with razorblades. Stay under water and get eaten alive or come up for air and get bled dry while you’re sliced and diced by the elements. This is not a place for upstarts or armatures. There are consultants who prey on people just like you. They understand your emotional needs, economic ambitions and they know what you want to hear and the psychological criteria to feed the empty spaces in your soul. There are some slick willies out there. So if you are trying to get ahead and understand the realities of failure in going it alone how can you find a consultant that will get you where you need to go with as little headache as possible?

Good question. First of all, be weary of a consultant who is on your side from the beginning of the first conversation. The last thing you want is a happy go lucky consultant that is all smiles and laughs and immediately falls for the picture that you paint for him on your first call. This guy is a chump, he’s naïve and chances are he’ll take your retainer fee and 24 months later the only thing you’ll have to show for it is a negative balance on your corporate checking account.

You want a consultant that is, um well, for a lack of a better term…a bastard. You need a hardnosed, arrogant, self centered power player who has developed a sense of confidence so pure that he would tell you to take a hike before he agrees to even look at your business plan to even consider bringing you on. You want a guy that will ask you or should I say “drill you” will questions in a way that makes you feel like you know nothing at all about your company, industry or your position. This breed of consultant, if he takes you on after qualifying you as a legitimate effort will turn your world upside-down and add jet fuel to your growth strategies and fill your company with the highest pedigreed executives in the industry, globalize your concept and not just take you public, but demand action from market makers, securities dealers and investor relations servants because his track record of success and strategic pre IPO picks are so obvious and dripping with success and profitability that these individuals in the market place have no choice but to act on his advice.

This is truly an industry where the nice guy gets eaten alive. When evaluating a globalization, positioning or IPO facilitation consultant everything is based off of track record, contacts and the aura that hovers around the consultant when they are walking into a room to negotiate on your behalf.

Information technology (IT) is a vital resource that companies rely on to complete day-to-day operations. Companies that do not see their IT configurations as a strategic advantage are not approaching this resource in the right way, and are wasting money and resources in the process. To get the most out of their IT components, businesses should hire IT consulting groups, which are professionals who teach businesses how to meet organizational goals with the help of IT resources. These professionals not only offer advice for utilizing IT components more efficiently but will also set-up, manage, maintain, and expand IT systems on behalf of the organization through outsourcing. Businesses can also outsource tasks like cost management, disaster recovery, and diagnostics to IT consulting groups. By familiarizing itself with all that these groups have to offer, companies can ensure that their IT infrastructure is a core competency and not a money pit.

The IT consulting industry includes four different tiers:

• Staffing Firms: These companies find technical workers and place them with companies on a temporary basis. These firms help companies avoid the cost of hiring someone full-time for a temporary need.
• Independent Consultants: These individuals are self-employed and make their expertise in disaster recovery, outsourcing, and other IT areas. These professionals are available to companies on a contract basis or through a staffing firm
• Information Security Consultants: These individuals are also self-employed and are brought in to secure information systems from the threat of hackers.
• Professional Services Firms: IT consulting groups fall into this category, as this category includes companies that employ a staff of qualified IT professionals who assist a company with its IT needs on a contract basis

Now that what IT consulting groups do is covered, here are some examples of why a company might hire IT consulting groups:

• Cost Management: Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs, but most assume that the high prices associated with IT operating costs are just a necessary evil. A consulting group helps companies consolidate machines so that energy bills and licensing costs are reduced. The group can also recommend outsourcing options and improve the efficiency of existing components.
• Disaster Recovery: Given how much money companies spend on IT infrastructures, they are taking a big risk when they do not have a plan in place in case of disaster. A good disaster recovery plan will ensure that organizations have no downtime following a disaster, by backing up data in real-time in on-site data storage servers or in an off-site hosted disaster recovery program.
• Diagnostics: IT consulting groups can run diagnostic tests to analyze current IT components and determine where improvements can be made inexpensively to deliver improved efficiency.

These are just some of the services that a company might acquire from IT consulting groups, and in some cases the group will offer other services like data back-up and disaster recovery resources. Therefore, the best consulting groups cannot only provide great advice but will help the company put that advice to use to improve IT efficiency.

Making money through consulting work is the in thing now. This is a very easy way of making some real good money. This job would also give a kind of satisfaction to the job consultant for having provided a job to a person who was in dire need of one. The following are some of the key facts relating to job consulting and how to make money through job consulting:

1. Job consulting is nothing but placing an unemployed graduate or an experienced professional, who is looking for a new job, in a job which is desirable and more suitable to the needs and qualifications of the job seeker. For providing this service, the job consultant either gets paid by the employer or the employee. The employer would pay a certain commission for the new recruit from their own pocket or will deduct a portion of the new employee’s first month salary.

2. There are lots of jobs in this world in different sectors but not many are aware of this availability in abundance. The job of the consultants is to bring these jobs to the job seekers. They usually have people scouting for different job opportunities in the market and then prepare a database of jobs depending on the findings. They get applications from different job seekers which they match with the jobs they have and send them for interviews to the companies as per the requirements.

3. People getting interview opportunities through these placement companies are very likely to get the job. The chances go up hundred percent if the candidate does well in the interview.

4. These job consultants basically have a contractual relationship with these companies and they make money as per the contents and stipulations of the contract.

5. These job consultants make money by lowering or reducing the burden of the human resources department of the job giving company. They basically do all the initial formalities like written tests and some initial HR interviews. After the candidate passes these tests, he would be sent to the actual company for the technical interviews or further rounds of interviews with the managers and supervisors there.

6. These job consultants make lot of money when there is an outburst of emerging jobs in the market.

7. Job consultants have websites for them or some of them stick to the usual brick and mortar statement.

8. Through job consulting, one not only makes money but also develops a lot of contacts with the top shots of the corporate world which might come in handy for their future course of actions or business plans.

9. Making money through job consulting is very respectable and a very legal way of making money.

10. There are lots of people who have earned considerable amount of money through job consulting within a short span of time.

11. There are also no big capital requirements for starting up a job consulting venture. So, one can make money with a job consulting without having to invest a lot of money or without having a huge financial back up for them.

Consultants of all kinds are becoming more and more popular in today’s business world, and for very good reason. There is often a great deal of talent out there, the hiring of which on a temporary basis means that companies can bring some freshness and creativity to their business, as well as benefit from valuable outside opinion.

Indeed, many businesses can become inward-looking and stagnant if they are always relying on the same individuals to put forward their opinions and perspectives day-in, day-out. Although a close-knit teams is actually a very valuable asset, there are definitely some instances when it is time to call in a management consultant – here are just a few.

Firstly, management consulting can be beneficial when you want a deeper understanding of the market and you are simply unsure where to get this kind of information. As mentioned above, people working for the same company for an extended period of time can become myopic and can lack the ability to see the bigger picture; this is where a great consultant can come into the picture.

As they work with a number of different clients in the sector – and train regularly in their industry – consultants can offer a unique and detailed perspective of industry trends, problems, risks and opportunities. This, when brought to a new company in the form of management consulting, can result in the greater possibility of business success.

Consultants also lack the biases that many business owners have, and will not fall into ‘wishful thinking’, instead being objective when it comes to their suggestions about what will work best for a particular company. Although all advice does not need to be taken to heart, it is definitely worth considering when trying to move a business forward in the right direction.

A second reason that many people choose to invest in management consulting is that there is a recognised need to improve processes and efficiency, but the supervisors or managers in question are simply not sure how this can be best achieved.

Whether the CEO of a company or middle managers, leaders at many different levels can learn about how to improve efficiency in their business, and this is where management consulting can come in very handy indeed.

Consultants specialising in management will be able to bring a new perspective, analyse processes and pinpoint issues within any organisation and make suggestions for improvement. They will also have the tried and tested tools to implement new processes that can dramatically improve efficiency in an organisation.

The results of this can mean happier staff, better sales results, more targets being met and everyone working to their full potential. This is not only great for the overall success of the business, but also for the morale of everyone working at the company too.

Another common reason that companies hire consultants is that they need to supplement their existing staff, but do not have the funding or desire to hire anyone permanently. This is one of the main reasons why more and more people are working as freelancers and consultants nowadays, and this is because many organisations are reluctant to hire fulltime staff.

Hiring a management consultant can mean that the work that needs to be done is completed, but at much lower cost than hiring a fulltime employee. Again, the fresh perspective of a professional in management consulting is also very important, as this can bring some new life to a business on a periodic basis.

These are just a few reasons why management consulting can be great for businesses. From filling a temporary need without the costly process of hiring permanent staff right through to identifying problems with company processes, there are many arguments as to why an outside consultant can be a very valuable asset to business.

I’ve met a lot of Independent Computer Consultants over the course of my career. While a few continue to thrive in their Independent practice, and a few others have grown their business into larger, successful computer support firms, the vast majority will give it less than a year before they give up and begin actively searching for a job again.

Almost every small business today that relies on computer systems, needs someone qualified to maintain them. The demand for affordable solutions for maintaining and supporting small business computer systems is huge. Today, every small business owner is looking for ways to reduce costs, and the Independent Computer Consultant is perfectly positioned to offer an excellent level of support that costs less than alternate solutions like in-house employees or larger IT Support firms.

So with such a strong potential market and with the Independent Computer Consultant able to provide a much needed solution, why is success for Independent Computer Consultants so rare?

Because they follow a standard, but wrong, hourly support billing model. If you want to join the majority of your colleagues and struggle briefly before you decide that being your own boss is to difficult and unstable and decide to call it quits, do like they do and follow these three simple steps.

STEP 1: BILL BY THE HOUR

Ask 100 Independent Computer Consultants what their hourly rate is and almost every one of them will be able to give you one, probably ranged somewhere between $75-$150 per hour.

How many will tell you, “I don’t charge by the hour. I charge flat, monthly rates.”? I’m betting not many.

Basing your income around how many hours you’re able to accumulate on a regular, monthly basis is a challenging and generally unstable situation. Due to the very nature of hourly rates, a cost-conscious client (and what client isn’t cost-conscious today?) will always be aware of the time you spend on-site. And they’ll be hoping to reduce it whenever and wherever possible.

They’ll hold off on addressing “smaller” issues, judging if an item like connecting a user to a network printer justifies having you in for your hourly rate. Unfortunately, these little problems have a large negative effect on your client’s productivity. When their productivity suffers to the point where it hurts them financially, they’ll notice. And they’ll be quick to blame the systems that you’re responsible for maintaining.

Even if these small issues only amount to a few minutes a day for you to address, because they can get you in the door to work on other issues, these daily occurrences are generally the items that can make up the foundation of the hourly, computer consultant’s salary. But with the client often looking to reduce these hours, this conflict can make it difficult for the consultant to properly maintain the systems and generate a reliable income.

And when a BIG problem occurs, such as a server or major email outage, your client’s stress will be compounded by the fact while they’re productivity is at zero, they’re spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to have you fix the problem.

Billing by the hour creates a win-lose environment. The client has computer problems, they’re unhappy, but the consultant makes more money. Fewer problems means a happier client, but a poorer consultant.

STEP 2: PROVIDE REACTIVE SUPPORT

If you’re billing by the hour for on-site support, you’re generally waiting for someone to call you with a need or problem for you to address. Hopefully you’ll be able to strike a balance where you’ll have enough clients with service requests to keep you busy, without too many clients demanding you simultaneously for “critical” requests or unexpected emergencies.

This is a difficult balance to find, and the downfall of many new computer consultants. If you have too few clients, with few problems and a minimal budget for improvement projects, keeping busy enough can be a challenge. When things are working smoothly, you may be tempted to call your client just to “check in”. But this can often be viewed negatively by your client as you possibly “fishing” for a few extra billable hours. Hitting a few slow months in a row can make for a very unreliable income.

Land yourself too many clients though, and you might be busier than you bargained for. Find yourself unable to provide support fast enough and you’ll have dissatisfied customers. Fail to respond to a client during a real emergency because you’re addressing another client’s emergency, and odds are high that you’ll lose more than just a few billable hours.

If you put a good server monitoring system in place, you can potentially eliminate most of these problems. If you monitor the server proactively, you can catch items like failed backups, low disk space, hardware failure alerts, etc. This will reduce unexpected emergencies and allow you to schedule your time much more reliably.

Monitoring will also let you identify issues that might have gone unnoticed until they escalated into a real problem. You don’t need to wait for your client to tell you what work needs to be done. You can review the server logs and let your client know what problems exist and need to be addressed.

The problem with proactive monitoring under the hourly billing model is… what if it works?

What if you’re able to clean up their systems to the point where problems are rare? Will you still be able to maintain a busy enough schedule with only the day-to-day minor user issues to address?

What if the opposite is true and you find problems popping up almost daily? While it’ll be easy enough to bring these problems to your client’s attention and hopefully they’ll appreciate you identifying the problem early, there’s also the probability that they’ll question why all these problems are occurring and why suddenly you need to spend so much billable time on their systems.

And of course there’s the question of how to charge for proactive system monitoring under an hourly-rate support model. Whether you charge an hourly, partial-hour or flat-rate for your monitoring service, unless the client sees regular, clear evidence of the effectiveness of your work, they’re going to question whether this extra expense is a necessary one.

If monitoring helps to identify problems and keeps you busy, your clients will potentially be asking why they’re spending more money now than before you started monitoring their systems. “Wasn’t the monitoring supposed to reduce problems and save me money?”

If it helps to keep their systems operating at peak performance, they’ll be happy, but your income will suffer.

Being proactive is a real challenge when operating under the hourly-rate business model. It can have a negative impact on your immediate income, but it gives you the best chance for satisfied clients.

Yet another conflict that the hourly-rate computer consultant must figure out how to overcome.

Reactive support however, is basically waiting for things to break in order for you to survive. Which for a computer consultant hired to keep things running, is career suicide.

STEP 3: PROVIDE ON-SITE SERVICE EXCLUSIVELY

Naturally, you’ll need to visit your clients on a fairly regular basis. As an hourly-support consultant, if you don’t see your clients, you don’t make money. If your business is built primarily around having to be at your client site to be able to support them and to generate your income, then it’s in your best interest to be there as often as possible. Of course, your client wants to see you there as infrequently as possible.

This conflict alone is enough to prevent someone who’s starting a computer consulting business from ever succeeding.

And there’s always the possibility that two of your clients might need support at the same time. If you’re not monitoring your clients proactively as discussed above, the chance for unexpected problems to arise is high. Two simultaneous emergencies happen often enough when you’re supporting multiple, unmonitored networks.

What if it’s not even an emergency, but a simple request to clean up a workstation that’s been getting pop-ups. But the call comes in while you’re working on a project and you have another service call waiting and you won’t be able to make it down until a day and a half from now. This doesn’t do much for customer satisfaction, let alone the possibility that your client may not want to wait for you and finds another way to resolve their problem, which will lose you some billable time at least (and maybe lose you a client at worst).

A simple solution would seem to be to provide remote computer support. Doing so gives you the ability to essentially be at two places at once. You probably won’t attempt to do an SBS migration remotely, but you certainly can start a malware scan remotely at one client while on-site at another (of course, if you’re billing by the hour, you need to be very careful about who’s clock you’re on when you’re doing remote work from a client site).

Providing remote computer support could definitely improve client satisfaction. In addition to being able to provide nearly instantaneous support, your clients will also be seeing you less often, which we know is what they want when being charged by the hour.

So unless you’re billing properly for remote support, you’ll be losing some income.

But under the hourly rate billing model, how do you charge for remote services? By the hour? In 15 minute increments? What if the support call takes 10 minutes to resolve? Do you charge for it, or do you chalk it up to providing “good customer service”? How many billable hours might you be giving away over the course of the month? How many of those calls could have led to additional billable time had you have gone on-site to provide the service? By not having to go on-site to resolve the day-to-day, minor issues, would you still be able to maintain enough hours of on-site work per week for each of your clients?

Let’s say you charge $125/hr. and you have four clients for who you provide a total of 2 hours of work each, per week remotely. This would be a fantastic gig for you… for the remote work alone, you’d be making $48K annually, while working about 8 hours a week, mostly while wearing your pj’s.

But I guarantee you, if you consistently send your client an invoice for 8 hours a month, and they can’t recall the last time they’ve seen your face for more than a few hours, it won’t be long before questions or suspicions arise as to the need or validity of your service.

Whenever you provide remote support, stellar record keeping and reporting is critical. However, even with detailed reports, if your client is paying for a substantial numbers of hours each month for work they don’t actually see you doing, they’re going to want a very high level of communication or other supporting evidence of your work and the time involved.

Once again, you’re faced with another conflict where you’re trying to do your work, and the very nature of your billing arrangement causes your client to question your work.

If you want to fail as an Independent Computer Consultant, it’s very simple to do. Just follow the examples laid out by the countless other failed consultants before you and create a business built on charging hourly rates to put out fires at your client’s sites as quickly and as often as you’re able to.

If however, you want to start a computer consulting business that follows a business model that’s been proven and guaranteed to succeed, then visit SuccessfulComputerConsulting.com for free step-by-step video training that can get you started on the right path today!