Modern technology landscapes are evolving fast. How do you carve out the right strategy to support your organization—without overspending or creating too much complexity?
This is a crucial question, whether you use managed IT services, staff resources, or a mix of both. The right service provider should offer technology consulting to help you create and implement a smart stategy. But not all providers are created equal.
Here’s everything they don’t want you to know.
1. Most IT consulting companies are set up to nickel-and-dime you
It’s rare to find an IT service provider who includes strategic consulting as part of your service package. Consulting is usually billed outside your monthly fee.
This is a great arrangement for IT service providers—because they can charge separately for giving you their perspective.
The alternative?
An IT service provider who includes unlimited strategic consulting as part of your service package. That’s what we offer here at Corsica Technologies. Your vCIO (virtual CIO) consults on all things strategic—including your three-year technology roadmap. No matter how much consulting you need in a month, your bill will stay the same.
2. A smart IT strategy demands unlimited service and stable costs
Many IT service providers claim to offer “unlimited” service. They say everything is included, and you’ll never get unexpected bills.
But when you read the fine print, that’s not actually true.
Many common scenarios in modern IT environments will require “out-of-scope” work. And that work will get billed separately from your monthly cost.
This kind of fluctuation isn’t great from a strategic perspective. IT costs should be relatively stable. You shouldn’t encounter speedbumps when you need extra support—and your CFO shouldn’t get a headache when they compare actual IT spending with your budget.
The key is the provider’s billing model. Is everything really covered in that monthly fee?
Here at Corsica Technologies, we provide true “unmetered” service for IT, cybersecurity, EDI, data integration, digital transformation, and IT strategy consulting. It doesn’t matter how many work hours you consume to meet your needs. Your monthly cost will always remain stable.
How big of an impact does this billing model make?
Use our FREE Managed IT Services Pricing Calculator to find out.
3. IT consulting can work against your interests if your partner doesn’t have skin in the game
Charging separately for IT strategy consulting has ramifications that we don’t usually think about.
Consider this: If your IT service provider bills separately for consulting, do they really have a reason to minimize the length and cost of a consulting engagement?
Not really. The more consulting hours they can bill for, the better. They’ll never tell you that, but they like drawn-out engagements.
An all-inclusive services model fixes this. When IT strategy consulting gets bundled with other services, and you get it all for one monthly price, your provider’s interests change. Now they need to create the best results for you—while also minimizing waste in the consulting process, since they can’t just rack up the billable hours under a separate engagement. This creates a strong incentive for your provider to practice efficiency in their consulting processes.
It’s a great strategic benefit if you can find a provider like this. That’s why we include unlimited IT consulting in our service packages—while still charging one predictable monthly fee.
4. A smart IT strategy requires true partnership with your service provider
IT strategy is getting more and more challenging in today’s complex technology environment. To navigate this landscape with success, you need a service provider who’s really on your side.
That includes their billing model, which we’ve already discussed. But it’s much more than that.
You need an IT provider with a “can-do” attitude. You need great people who really care. And you need timely responses to emergent issues—as well as smart consulting on long-term strategic IT goals.
All of this requires more than just hard skills. It requires soft skills too. You need a provider who looks beyond technology and sees the people who matter most—your team, your stakeholders, and your customers. And you need technicians who are approachable, empathetic, and customer-focused. That’s our commitment here at Corsica Technologies.
5. No IT strategy is complete without data integration and EDI
There’s an elephant in the room when it comes to IT strategy consulting.
Usually, the world of IT won’t touch data integration and EDI.
“IT” means network infrastructure, helpdesk, and so on. These professionals aren’t trained on data integration or EDI, which are separate disciplines requiring the focus of an entire career.
Consequently, there’s a great divide in technology services. You have the IT and cybersecurity providers on one side—and the EDI and data integration providers on the other.
This makes it tough to build a holistic technology strategy. You have to work with multiple providers, and no one consultant can give you a holistic view or an integrated strategy.
The alternative?
An IT service provider who also handles EDI and data integration.
That’s what we offer here at Corsica Technologies. We cover the standard IT and cybersecurity services—but we also cover EDI and data integration. We have a wide range of experts on our team who cover all these disciplines. It’s the right mix of expertise to develop and implement a comprehensive technology strategy.
6. A smart IT strategy demands a Cybersecurity Service Guarantee
IT systems come with certain vulnerabilities. While you should mitigate your risks through appropriate cybersecurity controls, the reality is that 100% bulletproof security is impossible—and it would stop your organization from functioning.
Rather than bulletproof security, you should implement two things:
- The right cybersecurity controls
- The right incident response protocols
A Cybersecurity Service Guarantee is a huge piece of a smart plan for incident preparedness. This type of guarantee offers free remediation services for an incident, with limitations. Check out Corsica’s Cybersecurity Service Guarantee for more information.
The takeaway: Demand more from IT strategy consulting
You shouldn’t have to pay extra for IT consulting. Your provider should work alongside you as a strategic partner, offering a stable monthly cost while also helping you plan for the future. That’s our model here at Corsica Technologies. We bring together comprehensive technology services and consulting for IT, cybersecurity, EDI, data integration, and digital transformation—all in one team. You get peace of mind as we partner with you on day-to-day tasks and big-picture strategy.
Want to solidify your IT strategy?
Reach out to schedule a consultation with our technology specialists.
