Are You Big Enough for Your Clients?

[Cohesive Computing]

We're a specialist IT consultancy with a small footprint and one of the things we find is there are times we have to turn down work because we don't have (access to) sufficient numbers of reliable and skilled professionals.

It is our intention to retain our small footprint, and to draw from a wider pool of professionals we trust, as and when our (usually client facing) projects require them.

If there are other small London based IT firms interested in pooling resources, we'd be interested in talking to you. We focus primarily on systems development based on Microsoft technologies.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Possibly. Can you drop me a PM please

 

[3 MORE YEARS]

Again possibly interested. Feel free to PM.

 

[seeingISbelieving]

We're a specialist IT consultancy with a small footprint and one of the things we find is there are times we have to turn down work because we don't have (access to) sufficient numbers of reliable and skilled professionals.

It is our intention to retain our small footprint, and to draw from a wider pool of professionals we trust, as and when our (usually client facing) projects require them.

If there are other small London based IT firms interested in pooling resources, we'd be interested in talking to you. We focus primarily on systems development based on Microsoft technologies.

It's called outsourcing, as I'm sure you know. And I'd be blowed if I'd turn away lucrative contracts simply because you don't feel capable of doing the job yourself.

There are so many places online where quality professionals can be temporarily hired ad-hoc, and by noting previous feedback you are relatively assured of a competent worker/company. In a saturated market you would as likely still end up with a healthy profit after outsourcing costs.

Still, if your happy to retain your small budgerigar footprint . . .

 

[Paul_Rosser]

There are so many places online where quality professionals can be temporarily hired ad-hoc, and by noting previous feedback you are relatively assured of a competent worker/company..

Sorry but I have to disagree, having worked with a number of ousourced IT staff I have found that whilst a number are very good you just don't have the same level of control as you do when subcontracting to firms you have existing relationships with.

It's not even the technical side of things, some very good programmers etc just don't have the soft skills to deal with clients in a professional manner.

When it comes to clients being 'relatively assured' just isn't good enough.

 

[seeingISbelieving]

Sorry but I have to disagree, having worked with a number of ousourced IT staff I have found that whilst a number are very good you just don't have the same level of control as you do when subcontracting to firms you have existing relationships with.

It's not even the technical side of things, some very good programmers etc just don't have the soft skills to deal with clients in a professional manner.

When it comes to clients being 'relatively assured' just isn't good enough.

Then being a specialist IT consultancy yourself (the OP), that is your job . . . to assess the qualifications, previous experience and skills, of staff hired through outsourcing. As with any other business I might add. Unless of course he is happy to spend many years nurturing new relationships with various subcontractors.

I really don't see the difference as you are as likely to build up relationships with those you outsource to as with new companies you approach. Either way they are new if you have not worked with them before. Or you stand still.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Then being a specialist IT consultancy yourself (the OP), that is your job . . . to assess the qualifications, previous experience and skills, of staff hired through outsourcing. As with any other business I might add. Unless of course he is happy to spend many years nurturing new relationships with various subcontractors.

I really don't see the difference as you are as likely to build up relationships with those you outsource to as with new companies you approach. Either way they are new if you have not worked with them before. Or you stand still.

Rather than having to spent a lot of time checking the staff you find online, if you have a relationship in place with other firms you trust then they will only provide staff they have already vetted to ensure they have the technical and customer facing skills you require.

Having worked in IT consultancy/outsourcing for over 20 years this is by far the safest option, however you do pay a premium when having staff provided via another firm.

 

[Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd]

Hi,

Are you also interested in offering additional services, such as cloud computing and online backup? The reason I ask is that we're looking to drop our direct sales channel and focus purely on the Reseller/Dealer network that we're currently building up, and we're always looking for IT firms that are open to partnerships...

Let me know if you are interested and I'll PM you. We're based in Peterborough but work all over the country.

We also have a partnership contract with Comms-Care so we have access to any kind of engineer you'd ever need and could provide them to you on a better rate than you'd get without signing up to a contract with them.

Cheers

Ryan
Quest Cloud Solutions Ltd

 

[Cohesive Computing]

Thanks for the replies... will get in touch where we think there's something to work on.