As a business owner, it’s your job to approach spending with at least some degree of skepticism. While you want to invest in software and tools that help you manage and grow your company, you also need to avoid any unnecessary costs when possible. A common—yet misguided—step business owners take to cut costs is neglecting to onboard consulting partners when adopting new technology systems. They often choose to manage the installation and upkeep of complex tools from Microsoft
on their own.
Sound like something you’re considering? It is true that forgoing a consulting partnership for technology can save money up front. But not having that professional support from the beginning can lead to inefficiencies and actually end up costing you more in the long run. Here are some examples of why you shouldn’t make the cost of consulting the reason you forgo a partner when it comes to onboarding new software solutions.
Consulting Maximizes Your Time Efficiency
Whether you opt for a consulting partner or not, you will still need to spend time and money toward installing and managing your new software. The difference is that instead of paying for the expertise of a consultant, you are now pulling employees from other important jobs to handle installation and adoption. This approach can get thorny if your employees don’t necessarily have Microsoft
or Oracle expertise. Committing to a partnership ensures that you can start implementing your new solutions confidently and right away with the guidance of experts.
You Are Set Up for Success
You want to build strong foundations for your business’ growth. Avoiding the upfront costs of consulting partners could lead to mistakes made early on that could affect your processes and productivity in the future. Mishaps like these could negate any savings you might have made and end up costing you more in the long run.
You Gain Expertise
One overlooked result of working with a partner is that it can elevate the knowledge and abilities of everyone else involved. This means that while you are receiving support from your consultant, you and your team are also learning lessons and techniques from them that you would otherwise miss out on. Instead of learning hard lessons because you made mistakes, you learn preventative and proactive practices that end up benefiting your overall operations.
Custom Support When You Need It
A serious question to consider is what will you do when things go wrong? There’s nothing worse than needing support and having no one to turn to. It can also be frustrating calling a generic support line that doesn’t understand the unique aspects of your business. When you work with consulting partners, they take the time to understand the nuances of your business so when problems arise you have someone to call on who already understands the mechanics of your organization. This speeds up the troubleshooting process, saving you time and maintaining your flow of business.
Invest in Consulting Now to Save in the Long Run
Making the choice to grow digitally is one of the most important decisions the modern business owner can make. While it’s tempting to potentially save money up front by handling your own software implementation and upkeep, this could lead to complications that might cost you more later on. The cost of consulting ends up being a more intelligent long-term investment.
If you’re looking to evolve your business digitally with Microsoft, DSWi can help you protect and maximize that investment. We are a boutique business consulting firm and have been helping our clients digitally progress to reach greater profitability and growth since 2006.
Contact us today to speak to one of our implementation experts.
