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Organizations’ reliance and engagement level with an outside technical consulting team is often directly related to where that company is on the IT maturity spectrum. Just like a global enterprise may leverage a management consulting firm to assist with a merger, business process optimization initiative, or another triggering business event, the same is true in the IT world.   

When an enterprise-level organization elects to implement or upgrade their ERP or new third-party application, they will often need some extra horsepower to execute. Leaders of these organizations usually also recognize that there’s benefit in establishing a trusting relationship with a consulting firm to have a resource available for those times when they encounter a subject matter that is outside of their team’s domain. For a product with as many layers and complexities as Oracle EBS, this is inevitable.   

Organizations that have more robust internal IT departments can generally handle the workload of day-to-day operations and possess the leadership capacity to make the right decisions for the short and long-term health of the business.   

For the smaller business that may not have yet developed this same degree of internal competency, establishing a relationship with a consulting partner can help drive their business forward. A company with under 100 employees, most likely, lacks a structured IT department or ERP environment; in this case, establishing a relationship with a third-party consulting firm can provide external subject matter expertise to help guide both tactical and strategic decisions. We see that companies in this space often have plenty of opportunities to innovate at their disposal but are hamstrung by what they perceive as a lack of options with a limited budget.   

Whether your company is 20 or 100 employees, it may or may not make sense to a hire full-time IT leadership. However, engaging a consulting firm as a ‘Fractional CIO’ should be viewed as an opportunity for identifying all aspects to cut costs or recognize revenue-generating opportunities through technology.   

Too often, we see companies elect to maintain the status quo. Regardless of the size or maturity of your IT team, we encourage you to be cognizant of the opportunity cost of not acting. There is an investment in engaging an outside firm for a strategic evaluation, but it’s one that will drive operational improvements for your business.   

Learn more by visiting the Traust Consulting blog.