Choosing the Right Southern New England IT Consultant to Boost Your Business

The southern New England area has been such a great place to live, raise a family, and start or expand a business, and thanks to the proximity to a few great cities like Boston, Providence, Worcester, Springfield, and Hartford, there are plenty of resources and opportunities available. One critical resource that nearly every organization needs is a trusted IT consultant to help leaders make informed decisions on their technology and to ensure that businesses aren’t putting themselves at risk by implementing IT solutions incorrectly. Let’s talk about how business owners can find the right IT consultants throughout southern New England.

What Role Does an IT Consultant Play?

IT consulting plays a critical role in modern businesses thanks to the increasing importance that IT has for virtually any organization. If your business relies on computers, servers, connecting to the Internet, storing documents and customer information, or even has a need to use security cameras and other digital security solutions, then having an IT consultant on retainer is a pretty good idea.

While some businesses might be able to justify hiring an in-house IT manager or a Chief Information Officer (CIO), most small and medium-sized businesses will find their dollar goes further by using outside consultants. The best value comes from using IT consultants that are paired with managed IT service providers. 

What’s a Managed IT Service Provider?
We’ll be brief; a managed IT service provider is typically a business that provides varying degrees of computer support services for other businesses. In our industry, we often call ourselves Managed Services Providers (MSPs), but most of the time we’re referred to as IT companies, IT consulting firms, help desks, or the colloquial “computer company.”

There’s a massive variation between one company and another—some charge by the hour, some set up monthly agreements, some perform the bare minimum, while others can truly boost an organization’s performance through the use of properly maintained technology.

Network Design and Implementation

Both new and established businesses can benefit from a properly designed network. Smart network planning will ensure that all staff have a solid, reliable connection to the network, while greatly reducing bottlenecks and potential threats.

Wireless networks, especially in a business environment, can be extremely finicky unless properly implemented. Performing a wireless site survey before purchasing and installing Wi-Fi routers and other infrastructure will prevent a business from wasting time and money, and solve a lot of frustrating issues.

The same goes for planning, maintaining, and upgrading your server room and other critical infrastructure.

IT Security

Modern IT Security is now being broken down into two categories; cybersecurity and physical security. Cybersecurity are the practices and efforts put in place to prevent online threats like ransomware, malware, phishing attacks, data breaches, and other types of attacks. Physical security involves security cameras, access control, and protecting your business from physical threats while establishing onsite accountability.

Most IT consultants will focus more on cybersecurity, although no aspect of the overall IT industry has been moving faster than cybersecurity has, so any business is advised to vet your IT consultants to ensure they are up to speed with modern cybersecurity trends.

Your best bet is to ensure that your IT provider is pushing a very strong agenda concerning cybersecurity. This used to be considered a sort of “luxury addition” to the services offered by IT providers that most businesses would opt out of. Today, cybersecurity plays a critical role in every organization, and failing to take steps to prevent threats will almost certainly result in huge problems down the road.

You can learn about Datalyst’s Cybersecurity offering here. We also have some free trials and reports we can run for you to get started.

Helpdesk Support

While this isn’t really a part of the day-to-day role of an IT consultant, offering ongoing technical support to your staff can bolster performance and efficiency, and also create a much more stable, positive work environment. The IT consultant’s role is to review past and current support requests to find weaknesses in the network, and help your organization make informed decisions on changes based on the issues that occur.

Cloud Services

Cloud computing has become an essential technology for businesses that want to stay competitive and agile. Businesses can leverage the power of cloud computing to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and improve their overall productivity. An IT consultant would help with the planning and implementation, and even the migration of existing legacy systems into a cloud-based environment, as well as providing long term support for scaling and security.

Datalyst is a Southern New England IT Consultant: Providing Expert Technology Solutions to Boost Your Business

There are many reasons why businesses choose Datalyst as their technology partner. Here are just a few:

Experience: We have been providing top-notch IT solutions to businesses in southern New England since 2010, and we have a proven track record of success.

Customer service: We believe in providing our clients with the highest level of customer service and support, and we are always available to answer their questions and address their concerns.

Expertise: Our team of IT consultants is highly skilled and experienced, and we stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and best practices to ensure that our clients receive the best possible solutions.

Customization: We take a personalized approach to each project, tailoring our solutions to the specific needs of each client.

We Save You Money and Headaches: IT isn’t just about spending money—it’s about making your business more efficient and effective. We work with organizations of all types and sizes to help them establish a plan that fits within their IT budget and can grow as they need it to.

Want to talk to an IT consultant and plan the future of your business? Give us a call at (774) 213-9701 today!