Software for IT Services Firms

Common types of software for IT services firms

Software is available for each key function within your technology consulting practice. Some of the most common software solutions found in IT consultancies are:

Office Productivity Suite	Software to help technology consultants perform day-to-day tasks includes email, calendar, word processing, slide show, spreadsheet, and database software. The most common suite is from Microsoft, with Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, etc.  Other alternatives are becoming more common, such as the free OpenOffice suite, or online applications such as Google Docs or Zoho Sheet.
Timesheets	Keep track of your consultant's time against clients, projects and tasks, and use this to generate invoices and get insight into how projects or the firm as a whole are performing. Typically, timesheet software allows to you distinguish between billable and non-billable time, set different billing rates for different situations, and manage the approval process - amongst other things.
Expense Management	Tracking expenses on client work is easier with the right expense management system. Technology consultants can lodge their expenses, managers can approve them, and finance can reimburse them and charge the client accordingly.
Project Management	Keep your projects on track with good project management software. Lay out the key tasks that need to be done, organise them on the time schedule, and assign responsibilities to each IT professional. Run reports to see how projects are performing, and identify any emerging problems.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)	Relationships are key in IT consulting, and CRM software allows you to get proactive in managing your client relationships. From keeping track of existing client contact details through to a more sophisticated system that manages your sales prospects and records all interactions, there is a CRM system that can help improve your client relationships. Issue tracking is often a critical module for those firms with ongoing support contracts.
Human Resources Management (HRM)	People are one of your biggest assets, so it is important you manage them appropriately. Keep track of all your staff, manage their training and development schedules, and streamline the recruiting process. This and much more is possible with the right HRM solution.
Email Marketing	Manage your email campaigns to clients, prospects, staff and alumni with powerful email marketing software. Ensure high delivery rates, learn which content is working best, see who opened and responded to your messages, and much more.
Collaboration tools	This helps you work effectively as part of a larger team, or to interact better with clients in remote locations. Examples include online meeting and webinar software like GoToMeeting or Webex, teleconference services, chat systems, filesharing and other collaboration solutions.
Practice Management or Professional Services Automation (PSA)	Manage all aspects of your IT consulting practice with a single, integrated system. There are typically modules available to handle each of the above specialist functions, such as timesheet, expenses, project management, CRM, and HRM.  If your consultancy is large and growing, it may well be worth investing in a fully-integrated solution.

 

 Find the right software for your IT consulting firm

There are many choices you will face in choosing the right software for your IT consulting practice. Should you buy separate software for each function, or should you get an integrated practice management or professional service automation (PSA) solution? Should the software be installed on your servers or hosted by the vendor? Do you need internet or mobile phone access? And many other questions…

Rather than trawling through the many available options yourself, why not use SoftwareShortlist’s free software recommendation and comparison service to find IT consulting software that is right for you?

SoftwareShortlist helps you build a shortlist of the best software to meet the unique needs of your IT services practice – quickly and easily. Time is money, after all!