| If you're one of those IT consultants who breaks | | | | big retainer checks. |
| out in hives at the thought of getting your hands | | | | New Advances in Technology |
| dirty with low-margin sales of desktop PCs, | | | | Despite all the advances during the past few |
| notebooks or PDAs, you may not be looking far | | | | years, the venerable desktop, notebook and |
| enough beyond the box. In this article, we'll look at | | | | server have remained the staples of the PC |
| how to profit from your clients' needs for | | | | hardware world. Sure, there are newcomers. |
| full-service support of desktops, notebooks and | | | | Since the mid-'90s, both Palm and Microsoft have |
| PDAs. | | | | spearheaded competing handheld standards. But |
| IT Consultants Roles as Technology Influencers | | | | the main PC hardware world has not seen much |
| IT consultants who have been in business awhile | | | | change by IT consultants. |
| already know that smart PC hardware selection | | | | And now there are special-purpose |
| can make installation, support, troubleshooting and | | | | rack-mountable servers, with surely more to |
| upgrading work much easier. | | | | come, dedicated to the unique demands of |
| Selecting the right PCs and related peripherals can | | | | serving high-volume Web sites. |
| dramatically boost system reliability, which helps to | | | | IT Consultants Have a Huge Profit Opportunity |
| keep your valued clients happy. Pick the wrong | | | | with Hardware Sales |
| PC hardware and well, let's not even go there! | | | | IT consultants play an extremely important role |
| When PC hardware starts acting up, clients get | | | | as your clients' primary technology influencer - the |
| peeved . . . and clients may actually "blame" your | | | | one who recommends what to buy. This |
| IT consultants for their IT-related problems. | | | | responsibility presents a huge business opportunity |
| As a general rule of thumb, it's a good idea to | | | | for IT consultants with desktops, notebooks and |
| stay on the "good" side of the folks that | | | | PDAs. |
| authorize your service agreements and sign your | | | | |