| If you've been in the computer | | | | IT Spending: Shielding Your Clients from |
| consulting business for a while, you | | | | Early Adopter Risks |
| know that influencing product selection | | | | As the PC industry continues to |
| is one of the more valuable services | | | | experience unprecedented financial |
| that your firm performs for its client | | | | pressures, a lot more products are being |
| base. | | | | rushed to market prematurely.In early |
| Your clients depend on your firm to | | | | 2001, leading IT market research firm |
| guide them toward reliable, | | | | Gartner Dataquest, announced that the |
| cost-effective technology solutions. | | | | U.S. PC market shrank by 3.5 percent, |
| Along the same lines, your clients count | | | | compared to the same period a year |
| on your firm to help them steer clear of | | | | earlier. This was the first industry |
| "lemons", or IT support "quicksand" in | | | | contraction in seven years. |
| their IT spending. | | | | One only can wonder if as the hardware |
| IT Spending: Newly Released Technology | | | | giants reduce headcount, expenses and |
| is Often Not a Smart Purchase | | | | R&D, will consumers become their |
| If the first year's depreciation cost of | | | | extended R&D facility? This revelation |
| IT spending on the latest and greatest | | | | is really nothing new to the PC |
| PC hardware doesn't deter your clients, | | | | industry. |
| this might. If your clients purchase PCs | | | | IT Spending: It Takes Time to Fully Test |
| with processors that have just been | | | | New Products |
| released, new kind of motherboards, | | | | For at least a decade, PC owners and |
| revolutionary kinds of graphics | | | | small businesses have had to consider |
| accelerators or updated chipsets, they | | | | their IT spending with a continuous |
| may get some very unpleasant surprises. | | | | stream of updated hardware device driver |
| IT Spending: Your Clients May Blame You | | | | software and reprogrammable firmware |
| Clients generally don't like unreliable | | | | updates. |
| PC hardware. Many clients will even | | | | The trouble is, from the time problems |
| blame you, the highly paid computer | | | | are first reported, analyzed, diagnosed |
| consultant. Peeved clients with major | | | | and ultimately fixed through updates, |
| hardware headaches can be huge threat to | | | | your clients have to suffer with |
| your firm's survival. | | | | unreliable hardware products. If you're |
| Protect your clients' IT spending plan | | | | looking to help clients control their IT |
| and your company's future by being very | | | | spending, you don't want your clients to |
| careful when it comes to being an early | | | | be a hardware vendor's guinea pig. |
| adopter with bleeding-edge PC hardware. | | | | |