For some reason, IT consulting firms (both large and small) and the modern small business have become two ships passing in the night. The modern small business will often have very few employees, often less than 20 or 25 at any given time. These small businesses have evolved and become settled into and focused on a very specific niche, often sub-niche. This means that they have very specific needs which may not mirror other larger businesses within the same industry.

Here is a quick list of what small Businesses now expect from their IT Consultants.

1.Hardware Knowledge

For an IT consultant to be effective, they need to know their hardware. However, with a small business, consultants will often be expected to know much more than computers. They should have a wide birth of knowledge including notebook PC’s, PDA’s, a variety of printers/faxes/and the like, switches, servers, cable, or DSL. small businesses expect their IT consultants to be able to assist them with more than computers, but the wide variety of technology that any employee may need to use.

2.Software Knowledge

While software should never be the main focus of an IT consultant, understanding the specific software needs of a small business will give the consultant a huge leg up. Many small businesses will choose to outsource various aspects of their business and will need to be able to choose software that allows for this to happen easily. Since a small business has a hyper-focused sub-niche, they may need unique and flexible software that would not be considered an “industry-norm.” In addition, it’s a good idea to constantly research for new software. This way, you can provide good alternatives in the event that the client is not satisfied with one.

3.Operating Systems

Every IT consultant should have a more than strong understanding of a variety of operating systems. As with software, a small business are increasingly using alternative operating systems to run their business. For example, the accountant may be running PC while the marketing director may be dedicated to their Mac. This means that being an IT consultant for a small business can actually require a strong foundation across all operating systems to ensure the network runs seamlessly.

4.Networking

For a micro-business, the IT consultant needs to have a strong understanding of secure networking. They should also be able to make decisions about anti-virus software, firewalls, and remote solution software that are unique to each business. Small businesses will always thrive because they have a level of flexibility that their larger counterparts will never be able to touch. Therefore, their IT consultant must be able to do everything that needs to be done on the technology side, to maximize the companies flexibility.

The bottom line is simple. If more IT consultants understand how to provide exactly what a small business needs, then they will have a leg up over their consulting competition. It is also important to keep in mind that the small business owner is not always tech savvy. Therefore, it’s essential that IT consultants communicate effectively. Take the Geek Level down a notch and explain the situation in basic terms. However, keep in mind that this does not mean that you should talk down to anyone. We have big problem in the IT industry with talking down to people. Let the EGO go and you’ll have more success in your industry.

PDF stands for Portable Document Format, originally a file format used for print publishing as a tool for proofing print jobs. Today, it has become the standard for sharing print-ready documents via the Internet. PDF is now accepted as an open standard, and is widely supported by several software vendors (Adobe, FoxIt, Microsoft).

Several characteristics of a PDF make it a great choice for sharing or publishing documents over the Internet.

1. Retain Original Formatting
PDF allows the original presentation and formatting of any document to remain exactly as its original author intended it to look, including images, fonts, and layout.

2. Security
With PDF documents, you have full control over users’ ability to open, print, copy,modify, or share documents. You can selectively enable or disable these actions for each document according to your preferences.

Note: It’s not completely impossible to break the security permissions applied to PDF documents. There are several softwares available to remove certain security limitations. However, it’s a risk most business users are willing to take after reviewing on case per case basis.

3. Easy to Create
Because PDF has become an open standard, many software vendors support the format.You don’t necessarily need Adobe’s Acrobat software to create PDF documents. Many plug-ins for Microsoft Office, print drivers, or online conversion services are available free.

Free PDF Conversion
1) Office 2007: PDF conversion built in.
2) Office 2003: PrimoPDF
3) Online Service: Scribd

4. File Size Compression
PDF file sizes can be shrunk to suit the needs of target users. PDF documents can be packaged and compressed while retaining the original quality, or can be down-sampled and compressed to dramatically reduce file size, making it quick to download over the web.

5. Powerful and Flexible
You can add interactive elements including form fields, hyperlinks,electronic signatures, and multimedia such as sounds and videos to your PDF documents. Although these features are also available with other formats,they are not as easy to package and share as PDF.

So consider switching to PDF when you want to share or publish documents over the Internet. If you need assistance, let us know – we can help.