Why Partnering with an IT Consulting Company is the Key to Modernising Your Professional Services Firm

When it comes to professional service firms in the accounting, legal, engineering, marketing, or healthcare industries, technology would be the last thing on your mind. But the thing is, technology is what runs your operations. So, it’s as essential as your internal workflows to get the cogs turning.

That's where an IT consulting company comes into the picture.

Practice managers and business owners don’t have the expertise to make the best choices for technology-related decisions. But with an IT consulting services company, they can align your technology with your firm's goals.

In this article, we’ll look into what having an IT consulting company means for your firm, business gaps they can close, tangible benefits you get from working with one, and how to find the best IT consultants to help you optimise your professional services firm’s operations.

What does an IT consulting company “actually” do?

According to Deltek, IT consulting is the process of providing expert technological advice and solutions to organisations looking to establish technology in their day-to-day operations. They do this with the help of IT consultants who assess diverse IT strategies and align them to your target business or process goals.

The thing with an IT consulting services company is that they have an unbiased view of your IT problems. They look into your tech problems and ask bigger questions that wouldn’t have been asked internally, like business goals for the next three to five years.

What makes them different from an internal IT team is that an IT consultant brings an outside perspective and recommends solutions used by organisations across the same industry. They know potential industry problems and recommend proven solutions, rather than hit-or-miss guesses.

An IT consulting company typically delivers these services:

• IT strategy and roadmap development
• Cloud migration and management
• Cyber security assessments
• Hardware and software selection
• Digital transformation planning
• vCIO services for growing firms without a full-time CTO

4 Reasons Why Professional Services Firms Need IT Consulting More Than Ever

Not sure whether you need to hire an IT consulting company?

If you have at least one of the reasons below, you need an IT consultant to point you in the right direction IT-wise.

1. Your Competitors are Starting to Modernise

Are your competitors becoming more efficient with their operations?

Digital transformation is no longer a trend but a necessity for professional service firms in Australia. With a modernised IT infrastructure, your operations start to become more efficient with reduced admin overhead, faster data processing, and more secure systems – all of which win you more business down the line.

With an IT services and IT consulting company, you can access expert insights into strategic managed IT solutions, so enterprise businesses can rely on them for years to come without the price tag.

Modernising to keep up with competitors doesn’t have to be pricey or complicated. And you'll need a reliable IT partner to hold your hand and give you the best advice.

2. Your IT Comes with Long-Term Consequences

Choosing hardware and software is critical because they come with commitments. And choosing the wrong one means you either have to make do with them until they expire, or you'll shell out thousands again for the right technologies.

Having an IT consulting company removes the guesswork and costly mistakes.

They’ll evaluate your IT assets (before you buy them) and can save you from potential additional costs in the future. No need to worry about choosing the wrong document management system or the wrong cloud platform. You’ll have someone to figure that out for you without worrying about downtime, data loss, or non-compliance.

3. Your Cyber Security Should Be Non-negotiable

Professional firms must comply with the cyber security regulations in Australia, especially those that process sensitive client data, like legal documents, health records, and financial information.

Cyber criminals find this type of data ideal. They're considered high-value targets as they’re sold at high prices on the dark web.

With an IT consulting services company, you’ll have someone to evaluate your firm’s cyber security posture with an unbiased eye and then recommend practical solutions to strengthen your cyber defences. To further strengthen your security, they can also assist in implementing frameworks such as the Essential Eight and SMB1001 to neutralise risks before they cause problems.

4. Your Team Should Only Focus on Their Responsibilities

Wouldn’t you and your team love it if you could focus on what you do best without worrying about when your IT’s going to break?

When half of your firm is losing time to IT issues, you’re not only losing billable hours but also client trust. Working with an IT consulting company brings stability to your day-to-day operations. Your team stays focused, your billable work and client delivery stay in top shape, and your IT gets handled by certified experts with a plan.

According to Deltek, the role of IT consulting is to recommend tailored strategies to improve a firm’s efficiency, security posture, and business IT performance. And when you partner with the best IT consulting company for your professional services firm, you can unlock productivity at every function of your operations.

Unfiltered Upsides of Working with an IT Consulting Company

There’s more that an IT consulting company can offer than just advice on what technologies to implement in your firm. IT consultants offer a range of services that meet specific business needs. Here are a few perks they offer:

You Get Optimised (and Predictable) IT Costs

When your firm can control IT costs, you have space to invest in other areas of your business.

A proactive IT consulting services company will look into improving your cost control, so you can spend less on fixes, upgrades, and security incidents and instead operate from a controlled (and predictable) budget.

At Office Solutions IT, our IT consulting services don’t just stop at cost-reduction strategies; we also implement recommended solutions without cutting corners or compromising essential features, so you can get the best of both worlds for your IT without sacrificing perks to save.

You Get Access to Specialist Expertise Without the Overhead

When you’re a professional services firm, hiring a full-time CTO, IT Director, or in-house IT staff can cost thousands per year. But when you partner with an IT services and IT consulting company, you get access to a team of certified tech experts in support, cyber security, cloud computing, and infrastructure management without burning a hole in your IT budget.

IT consulting companies are ideal for small- to medium-sized professional firms that need enterprise-level IT expertise without the cost or headcount requirements.

You Get a Strategic IT Roadmap

A professional services firm’s goal is for their IT to be more than solving today's IT problems; it should also stand the test of time.

When you account for growth, team restructuring, regulatory compliance, and automations, you’ll need a business IT environment that can keep up with these changes.

As a trusted IT consulting services company for Australian firms, Office Solutions IT creates custom IT roadmaps designed for a scalable infrastructure where tools and configurations harmonise.

You Get a Stronger Security & Compliance Posture

Cyber security and industry compliance are non-negotiables for professional services firms in all industries, particularly those that fall under the Privacy Act, state-based health privacy laws, and sector-specific standards.

An IT consulting company in Perth, like Office Solutions IT, will ensure your firm has a fully secure and compliant system with the latest requirements, keeping you running safely and with confidence.

You Get Smoother Tech Implementations

To get above the curve with your competitors, you’ll need trusted hardware and software in your lane. But the thing is, IT implementations, particularly hardware, software and cloud migrations, tend to go over time and over budget – especially if not managed right.

With an IT consulting company, you get custom-made methodologies designed for your firm’s goals. This process involves scoping, stakeholder alignment, phased implementation, employee training, and maintenance and support.

If you’re working with the best IT consulting company, you should expect that your tools will work efficiently and that your team can use them effectively.

Searching for the Best IT Consulting Company for Your Firm? Here’s What to Look Out For

If you reached this part of the blog, you have already made up your mind that you need an IT consultant in your firm to lead the way. But not all IT consulting service companies are the same. It’s important to find one that’s a good fit for you.

Local and Industry Expertise

IT consultants need to understand local market requirements, industry-specific compliance obligations, vendor relationships, and specific challenges Australian firms face. You’ll need a partner who has experience working with other firms in your industry and location.

If your firm is based in Western Australia, partnering with an IT consulting company in Perth is ideal if you prefer an IT partner with local physical presence, where you can get local client references before you sign contracts and see if they’re an ideal match compared to their interstate counterparts.

Proven Results with Similar Firms

Do they have case studies from firms in your sector?

Your firm’s IT challenges differ from those in other industries. You’ll need an IT consulting services company that has worked with firms in your industry and has successfully brought them the results they wanted.

Working with a consultant who understands your environment and has experience setting firms up for success will deliver better outcomes than working with one who has little or no experience.

Transparent Consultancy Process & Honest Pricing

Do they have a clear process with fair pricing at each stage?

The best IT consulting companies have a clear process at every stage. They should have transparent procedures during discovery, assessment, recommendations, implementation, and support stages. All should have honest pricing with no surprise add-ons on your monthly invoice.

Bevy of Relevant Certifications

Would you work for an IT services and IT consulting company that doesn’t have certifications for the tools you use?

Probably not.

Always look for certifications like Microsoft, Cisco, Veeam, Google, AWS, and other industry-recognised security certifications. It would also help your Australian professional services firm if they’re ISO-certified and compliant with strong security frameworks like the Essential Eight or SMB1001.

If they have strong vendor partnerships with companies like HP, Lenovo, Apple, Dell, Kyocera, Logitech, and more, then it’s a strong signal of MSP quality.

Long-term Tech Partnerships

IT evolves in mysterious ways. One day you’re the top innovator in your industry; then out of nowhere, you’re behind your competitors.

Technology evolves. And you have to make sure your firm evolves with it.

The best IT consulting relationships offer long-term partnerships instead of one-off engagements. They should evolve alongside your firm and should be able to cater to your changing requirements.

Office Solutions IT is the IT Consulting Company in Australia that Professional Service Firms Trust

As a trusted IT consulting and IT services company since 1996, we’ve worked with more than a thousand firms and SMEs across Australia in navigating their IT infrastructure with confidence.

We’re an ISO-certified managed service provider (MSP) that adopts a holistic approach to every consulting service we provide. And we do that through proactive IT budgeting and scalability planning, whether that be in cyber security, cloud migration, IT project implementation, or business continuity initiatives.

I mean, our three decades of results speak for themselves.

• 260+ Five-star reviews across Google and Cloud Tango
• 99.5% SME success rate with our IT consultancy services
• Up to 45% tech cost reduction by our IT consultants

Office Solutions IT has a track record of providing IT consulting to professional service firms across industries. Whether you need to make your accounting firm more efficient, secure your legal firm’s billable hours, migrate your engineering firm’s operations to the cloud, or ensure your healthcare practice is up to par with industry regulations, OSIT has done it. And we can do it for you too.

Wherever your firm is in Australia, we have local teams in Perth, Mandurah, Bunbury, Karratha, Melbourne, and Sydney ready to provide proactive IT consulting.