March 21, 2017
In technology consulting, extensive technical expertise is very important. If your consultant doesn’t understand the technology in front of them, how can they possibly assist your business? But, it isn’t everything. The best technology consultants can see the forest through the trees and recognize, at the end of the day, what really matters is the business. That’s why when Mindsight meets with a new or existing client, the focus of the conversation is on business goals.
Solutions Architects and Business Outcomes
The role of a solutions architect is an essential position at Mindsight, and its function really embodies our consulting philosophy. It may sound trite or simplistic, but we sell solutions and not technology. Anyone can fill out the paperwork to order a piece of hardware or deploy a particular application into your environment. Of course, we are happy to do so if the situation calls for it, but we would rather position our conversation around your goals, and the solutions architect is the essential next step of that conversation.
Before a solutions architect is brought into the conversation, Mindsight and the client have discussed the challenges of the business and what they’d like to achieve in mostly non-technical terms. For example, the goals might include increasing the profitability of a contact center, ensuring reliable data backups, or increasing the performance of a particular application.
The trio of the client, the account executive, and the solutions architect then must translate those non-technical goals of revenue, efficiencies, or capabilities into a workable technology strategy within the client’s budget. This intermediary step is the quintessential difference between a consultant and a value added reseller (VAR). There is no pre-packaged solution to business challenges in the 21st century, but there are strategies and technologies that can be leveraged into real-world, measurable improvements to your business.
The Final Component: Transparency
There’s one key element that makes this work: transparency. If a consultant is hiding an agenda or unable to speak frankly, the entire consulting relationship breaks down. Sometimes a client may request an application, equipment, or strategy that is ultimately detrimental to their environment or not as beneficial as an alternative. There needs to be a level of candid conversation that can take place, and inherent in that conversation is the trust between the consultant and client.
When Mindsight can establish this baseline with our clients, we empower our solutions architects to create real change and real improvements in our client’s business.
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About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT consultancy and services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We’ve always prided ourselves in delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from design and implementation to support and management. Our highly-certified engineers and process-oriented excellence have certainly been key to our success. But what really sets us apart is our straightforward and honest approach to every conversation, whether it is for a local business or global enterprise. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.