Collecting customer data is a great way to gain deeper insights into how your customers behave, which can help you improve products and services and build stronger relationships with customers. However, collecting customer data should always be done responsibly and ethically. Here are some tips to ensure you’re doing it right. 

Be an Open Book 

When it comes to collecting customer data, transparency is one of the most important factors. It’s vital to keep your customers informed about the data you are gathering and its purpose of it. In particular, you should be clear about how you intend to use their data and why you need to collect it in the first place. Not only is this information critical for building trust with your customers, but it’s also necessary to comply with data protection laws and regulations. By being transparent, you can build a strong relationship with your customers that will help you in the long run. 

Explain Policies Without Jargon 

When discussing your data collection policies with customers, make sure to avoid jargon as much as possible. Although technical terms may make sense to you, they could confuse or scare off customers who don’t understand them. Stick to everyday language when explaining your policies so that everyone can understand them easily. 

Keep Your Data Secure 

It’s not just important to protect customer data; it’s also important to safeguard your own business data, too. Make sure all of your systems are encrypted, and use secure passwords for all accounts associated with your business. You should also have a plan in place in case of a security breach so that you can respond quickly and appropriately if something does happen. Take a look at how Precise Business Solutions can help protect you against cybersecurity threats. 

Recognize Laws and Regulations 

It is important for businesses to understand the rules and regulations surrounding customer data collection in the countries in which they operate. By doing so, they can comply with legal requirements and protect themselves and their customers. This knowledge helps to establish ethical business practices that benefit everyone involved. 

Use Key Platforms for Better Understanding 

Looking to get a better understanding of how customers interact with your business? A customer data platform (CDP) can help provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. By analyzing this data, you can identify areas to improve current offerings or create new ones tailored to specific customer segments. Ready to see the benefits for yourself? You can try this by implementing CDP into your business strategy today. 

Guarantee a Mutually Advantageous Exchange 

When it comes to collecting customer data, it’s important to consider the exchange of information as a mutually beneficial arrangement. Customers may be hesitant to provide their personal information if they don’t feel like they’re getting anything in return. This is where incentives come in, such as offering discounts or free shipping in exchange for their data. By doing this, not only do customers feel valued and heard, but businesses also gain valuable insights that can help them better understand and serve their customers in the future. 

Collecting and using customer data is necessary for businesses to enhance relationships with existing clients and attract new ones. However, it is essential to do so in a responsible manner that complies with privacy laws and regulations. By leveraging CDP platforms, companies can collect and use customer data effectively while also providing value to their consumers, leading to successful business growth.

Each year we talk with tech leaders about the biggest problems they’ll face in the near future, and we’re starting to see some subtle and not-so-subtle shifts from the worries of 2018.

Data overload, a major concern 12 months ago, has evolved as new data-hungry tools and AI help make sense of data and drive business decisions. This year CIOs say they’re more concerned with how to protect that data, as organizations grapple with new privacy regulations.

As the economy continues to improve, CIOs are less hampered in 2019 by tightening budgets. And worries about moving to the cloud are less of an issue, since many companies have already made the jump. Executives put more emphasis now on securing their cloud-based assets across multiple cloud environments.  

Read on to see what experts from the C-suite, recruiters, and those in the trenches say are today’s top-of-mind concerns — and how to deal with them.

1. New security threats

Headline-grabbing recent events may spark surprising new security threats, says Rick Grinnell, founder and managing partner of Glasswing Ventures.

“The government shutdown helped contribute to a great cyber threat to the U.S. government, critical infrastructure and other public and private organizations,” Grinnell says. “With the shutdown, many of the security professionals watching for threats at a national level were not on duty, creating a bigger hole for attackers. Time will tell if a month of lowered defenses will have deeper repercussions in 2019 and beyond.”

Tech leaders are also gearing-up for next-generation, AI-driven cyber attacks.

“Security professionals must be extra vigilant with detection and training against these threats,” says John Samuel, CIO at CGS. “This year, companies will need to introduce AI-based protection systems to be able to contain any such attacks introduced by this next-gen tech.”

Grinnell says AI wasn’t a factor in the most notable attacks of the last year, but he expects that to change.

“I believe 2019 will bring the first of many AI-driven attacks on U.S. companies, critical infrastructure and government agencies,” he says. “Let’s hope I’m wrong.”

2. Data protection

Forward-thinking organizations are now implementing privacy by design in their products, but making sure those efforts meet GDPR standards is an ongoing concern. Google, for example, just saw a record fine by French regulators over how the company collects data.

“U.S. businesses will need to consider a GDPR-type policy to protect citizens even before any regulations are enacted,” Samuel says. “Ultimately, there must be international guidelines to ensure customer privacy and protection on a global scale to allow for easier compliance.”

Jacob Ansari, senior manager of Schellman and Co., says IoT security got a lot of attention last year, but it led to little practical change in the industry.

“The makers of IoT devices still use vulnerable software components, poor network and communication security, and are unable to supply software updates in the field,” says Ansari. “They’re still making essentially all of the mistakes everyone else made in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Oh, and your voice-activated home device is spying on you and the company that makes it will give your data to the wrong person by accident with little oversight or accountability. This also suggests that better data privacy legislation — at least in the U.S. — is a potentially hot topic for 2019, particularly in light of the events of recent elections. Nobody loved implementing GDPR in Europe, but its protections for ordinary people are decent.”

3. Skills gap

More than one of our sources mentioned the much-discussed skills gap in IT, but with a twist — some tech leaders now see the problem more self-inflicted than intractable.

“If you’re only looking at college graduates with computer science or electrical engineering degrees from the top ten universities in the U.S. then yes, there are hardly any candidates, and most of them are going off to the five largest employers,” says Tod Beardsley, director of research at Rapid7. “But the potential talent pool is so, so much larger than this, and companies would do well to explore this space a little more liberally.”

Sandra Toms, vice president and curator of the RSA Conference, says IT departments would help themselves by “plugging their skills gap with more diverse employees, and not just in terms of race and gender. Most IT hiring groups fail to look at diversity in life experiences, religion, backgrounds, sexual orientation, and education. Viewing diversity in a more holistic manner should open up a broader field of candidates and lead to higher levels of productivity.”  

For a more in-depth look at the hiring market, see “IT skills gap: Facts vs. fictions.”

4. Multi-cloud security

When exploring new cloud-based services, CIOs now need to ask about security across multiple platforms, says Laurent Gil, security product strategy architect at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

“Traditionally, multi-cloud leads the enterprise to manage many different, often incompatible and inconsistent security systems,” Gil says. “We think that selecting cross-cloud, cloud-agnostic security platforms is now fundamental in ensuring consistency, and most importantly completeness of securing enterprise-wide assets regardless of where these assets are living.”

Find out the “7 secrets to a successful multi-cloud strategy.”

5. Innovation and digital transformation

According to Gartner data, about two-thirds of business leaders think their companies need to speed up their digital transformation or face losing ground to competitors.

Most companies will continue on the same path until they’re forced to do otherwise, says Merrick Olives, managing partner at cloud consulting firm Candid Partners.

“Tying IT spend to strategic business capabilities and answering the question ‘How will this make us more competitive?’ is essential,” Olives says. “Value stream-based funding models as opposed to project-based funding are becoming more and more effective at tying board-level objectives to budgetary influences. The cost structures and process efficiencies of legacy vs. a nimble digital capability are much different — nimble is less expensive and much more efficient.”

See also “6 secrets of highly innovative CIOs” and “Insider tips on how to get digital transformation right.”

6. Finding new revenue streams

Ian Murray, vice president of telecom expense management software firm Tangoe, says that while the business landscape is ever evolving, the basic premise of making a profit is the same.

“The process to finding and exploiting revenue opportunities hasn’t fundamentally changed — find a problem that we can solve that is common, prevalent and that people will pay to solve,” Murray says.

What has changed is the emphasis on direct revenue generation landing in the CIO’s lap, says Mike Fuhrman, chief product officer of hybrid IT infrastructure provider Peak 10 + ViaWest.

“Maybe I’m old school, but I don’t think the CIO should be worried about directly generating revenue,” Fuhrman says. “I’m starting to see this pop up more and more among my peers. To stay relevant as a CIO, many are working to try and productize themselves. While there are benefits to thinking that way, I think it can also be a recipe for defocusing the team and the boardroom. When it comes to revenue-generating opportunities, the place the CIO belongs is focusing on those projects and digitizing the business into an automated platform at scale. We need to stay focused on driving costs out of the business and scaling from a go-to-market perspective. That’s how a CIO should focus on revenue.”

For more insights, see “6 secrets of revenue-generating CIOs.”

7. Lack of agility

Organizations that aim to incorporate agile methods sometimes end up limping along in a sort of hybrid model that incorporates agile practices but also more linear “waterfall” methods. In short, the worst of both worlds.

Tangoe’s Murray lays it out: “Developers are coding to specific spec sheets with little conceptual understanding of how this button or feature fits within the overall user experience. A disciplined approach is needed to pull this off, where the solution to specific problems are addressed within a certain release. Each release is then coordinated for a set of sprints so that a comprehensive solution that adds to the UX is achieved with every release and not just a collection of requested features that may or may not support one another.”

See also: “5 misconceptions CIOs still have about agile.”

8. Outsourcing risks   

The skills gap will lead many organizations to seek outside help. But these sometimes-necessary solutions can lead to concerns with reliability and security.

“Our main focus is to deliver on the promises we make to each customer,” says Sanchez. “You build your reputation and business on this one critical thing. In outsourcing your work, the quality of the deliverable is sometimes at the mercy of the firm you outsourced to. Given the sensitive nature of the projects we manage, we utilize strict third-party vendor assessments to evaluate partners in the event a project requires us to consider outsourcing some or all of the required tasks.”

In addition to quality concerns, outsourcing opens up security threats that are well known. “The specific threats for CIOs that should be top of mind are the insider and the contractor,” says French Caldwell, chief evangelist with MetricStream and a former White House cybersecurity advisor. “Until we move away from passwords for credentials, humans will continue to be the biggest threat.”

For more, see “11 keys to a successful outsourcing relationship.”

9. Business results

Matt Wilson, chief information security advisor at BTB Security, says there’s a disconnect between what’s set aside for the IT budget and measurable results for the business.  

“Most organizations haven’t taken a hard, brutally honest, look at their current spend,” Wilson says. “There’s often too much momentum behind the way things are currently done, the solutions already acquired, and the processes built over a decade to allow for any meaningful change. Instead, organizations may cobble together partial solutions that can’t ever fully address the root of the IT challenge — for example, Equifax not patching a known vulnerability. We live with IT pain. We waste dollars. We frustrate our talented resources with solvable problems that are rendered completely impossible in our companies by momentum. For 2019, we should refuse to be captive to history.”

See also: “The new rules of IT-business alignment in the digital era.”

10. Tools for a digital native workforce

Christian Teismann, SVP of global enterprise business at Lenovo, argues that a new workforce of employees who grew up with digital technology demands new ways of working that will boost the bottom line.

“Gen Z, for instance, expects control over the types of technology available to them,” Teismann says. “They favor the technology they grew up with and use in other spheres of their lives in the workplace — as well as a recognition of personal and cultural elements. Tech-enriched, assistive spaces that are configurable and flexible will continue to trend.”

11. Rebuilding trust

Isaac Wong, software engineering manager at Retriever Communications, calls 2018 a “bad year for IT publicity,” based on a number of well publicized hacks of large companies and questionable sharing of customers’ online habits.

“Issues such as privacy, security and device addiction must be addressed immediately by big and small players in the industry,” Wong says. “As a sector we have to be responsible corporate citizens. We need to show that we care about the people we claim to be serving and act in their best interest. People trusted us and we should be very respectful in honoring that.”

Next read this:

Copyright © 2019 IDG Communications, Inc.

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By

F. John Reh wrote about business management for The Balance, and has 30 years of experience as a business manager.

Read The Balance’s editorial policies

F. John Reh

Updated October 31, 2019

Project management is one of the most critical components of a successful business. It affects revenues and liabilities, and it ultimately interacts with customer or client satisfaction and retention. Your company might have only one project in the works at a time, while other larger corporations and entities might juggle several projects at once. By their very nature, projects are temporary.

Projects are a means toward a goal, and the goal will eventually be reached. Your business might move on to another project…or not. It might have been a one-time objective. 

Projects prompt a burgeoning need in the workforce. The Project Management Institute estimated that, during the 2010–2020 period, more than 15 million new project management positions would be added worldwide.

Project management is not the entire operation of your company. It’s just one segment, a specified project with a detailed plan as to how you and your business are going to achieve that goal. It’s a plan detailed in a series of steps, each of them as important as the others. You must achieve one to properly move on to the next.

Think of project management as a ladder you must climb. You can’t leap to the top. You must take it rung by rung for utmost efficiency. Your team must apply the tools made available to them as well as their expertise and knowledge to execute each step and move on to the next.

It’s easy enough to say you want to get to Box A, so you’re going to take 25 steps in that direction. But you must also factor time considerations into your project plan, and you most likely have to work within a budget. You might crawl those 25 steps or you might jog. It depends on how quickly you must get there for the successful completion of the project. You can save money by traveling on foot, or you can hire a driver. It depends on the budget you’ve dedicated to the project.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach, system, or plan. Each project you and your company tackle will most likely have its timeline, goal, and budget. That’s why it’s so critical to have a savvy, talented project manager in place to run the show. 

A successful project manager must simultaneously manage four basic elements of a project. These elements are interrelated.

• Scope: This involves the project’s size, goals, and requirements.
• Resources: You’ll need people, equipment, and materials in place. 
• Time: This doesn’t just address how much time the project will take overall. It must be broken down into task durations, dependencies, and critical path.
• Money: Have a firm grasp on costs, contingencies, and profit.

The project scope is the definition of what the project is supposed to accomplish and the budgets of time and money that have been created to achieve these objectives. Any change to the scope of the project must have a matching change in budget, time, resources, or all three.

If the project scope is to construct a building to house three widgets on a budget of $100,000, the project manager is expected to do that. If the scope is changed to a building for four widgets, the project manager must obtain an appropriate change in time, money, and resources. 

There are three aspects of understanding and managing resources: people, equipment, and material. 

A successful project manager must effectively manage the resources assigned to the project, including members of the project team, vendor staff, and subcontractors. He must ensure that his employees have the skills and tools they need to complete the job, and he must continually monitor whether he has enough people in place to complete the project on deadline. His job is to ensure that each person understands the task and project deadlines.

The senior member of each group of employees reports to the project manager when he’s managing direct employees, but employees might also have a line manager who provides technical direction. In a matrix management situation like a project team, the project manager’s job is to provide project direction to the line managers. Managing labor subcontracts usually means managing the team lead for the subcontracted workers, who in turn manage those workers.

A project manager must often procure equipment and materials and manage their use as well so that the team can operate efficiently. He’s responsible for having the appropriate equipment and materials in the correct location at the proper time. 

The three elements of successful time management are tasks, schedule, and critical path. 

Build the project schedule by listing, in order, all the tasks that must be completed. Some must be done sequentially while others can overlap or be done in tandem. Assign a duration to each task. Allocate the required resources. Determine predecessors—what tasks must be completed before others—and successors, the tasks that can’t start until after each other task is completed. This aspect of project management is sometimes referred to as waterfall management because one task follows another in more or less sequential order.

Project management software can simplify the task of creating and managing the project schedule.

Some tasks have a little flexibility in their required start and finish dates. This is called “float.” Other tasks have no flexibility. They have zero float. A line through all the tasks with zero float is called the critical path. All tasks on this path—and there can be multiple, parallel paths—must be completed on time if the project is to come in by its deadline. The project manager’s key time management task is monitoring the critical path.

The three considerations in managing money are costs, contingencies, and profit. 

Each task has a cost, whether that’s the labor hours of a computer programmer or the purchase price of a cubic yard of concrete. Each of these costs is estimated and totaled when preparing the project budget.

Some estimates will be more accurate than others. The project budget should, therefore, include a contingency allowance—money set aside in the budget “just in case” the actual cost of an item is wildly different from the estimate.

Profit is the money the company wants to make from the task. It’s put on top of the cost.

So a project budget is composed of the estimated cost, plus the contingency, plus any profit. The project manager’s job is to keep the actual cost at or below the estimated cost and to maximize the profit the company earns on the project.

Successful project management takes practice. These ideas can give you a basic understanding of project management but consider it only a beginning. If your job or career path includes project management, and if you want to improve your skills, talk to successful project managers, read, and practice. Project management can be a very rewarding career.

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Trying to find the right virtual phone system for your small business or startup? You’ve come to the right place.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the top cloud-based business phone system providers on the market. So, if you’re looking for virtual PBX and auto attendant with great pricing, robust features, call quality, and outstanding customer support, we’re confident you’ll find a business phone service provider below that will meet your needs.

Without further ado, here’s the ultimate 2020 list of the best virtual phone systems for small business:

1. UniTel Voice

Company Description: UniTel Voice is a cloud-based virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners. When it comes to affordability, features, call quality, ease-of-use, or customer support, UniTel Voice has you covered.

With UniTel Voice, there’s no hardware to maintain or software to download. You can manage all your cloud-based business phone system features online and run your business from your existing phones (home, office, cell, landline, VoIP, or smartphone app).

UniTel Voice takes all the features and functionality of other leading auto attendant phone systems and simplifies it. So, whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur, busy small business owner, or bootstrapped startup – UniTel Voice is a professional virtual PBX you can easily set up and afford. No instruction manuals or technical knowledge needed.

You can even use the UniTel Voice mobile app to add your business phone number as a second line to your existing mobile phone, turning your personal smartphone into your office phone when you’re on-the-go.

And unlike many other phone service providers, UniTel Voice’s customer support is not outsourced to an overseas call center. It’s 100% USA-based. It’s always free. And there’s always a real person ready to help.

Pricing: UniTel Voice starts at just $9.99/month which includes 500 monthly minutes, unlimited greetings, extensions, voicemail and more.

Every plan is month-to-month. You’re never locked into a long-term contract and you get a money-back guarantee, so you can try UniTel Voice risk-free for 30 days.

It’s as straightforward as it sounds. If after 30 days you’re not 100% satisfied, your money is refunded no questions asked.

2. Grasshopper

Company Description: Are you a small company that wants to look like a national company? Grasshopper is a virtual phone system at a reasonable price with a range of business phone system features.

Grasshopper makes it easy for companies to receive calls on the mobile devices they already own. Features included in Grasshopper’s plans include extensions, call forwarding, voicemail-to-text — each without the need for investments in expensive hardware. 

Pricing: Grasshopper offers three plans. Their solo plan is $29 per month and offers one phone number with three extensions. The Partner plan is $49 per month and offers three numbers and six extensions. The Small Business plan is $89 and offers five numbers and unlimited extensions.

3. FreedomVoice

Company Description: FreedomVoice’s cloud-phone system service gives businesses includes a virtual auto attendant and a mobile app that you can use to track the usage of your business lines.

It’s a professional phone system that is managed directly through your smartphone — meaning that you don’t have to invest in expensive equipment. The company has served business both large and small throughout their history and have low-cost plans.

Pricing: FreedomVoice’s plans are priced based on the number of minutes you’ll need per month. Their plans start at 400 minutes monthly for $9.95 per month.

4. MyOperator

Company Description: Do you need a business phone system that can do more? MyOperator is a VoIP company that offers business phone plans with a wide. Their Cloud PBX system allows businesses to distribute calls among their team members, ensuring scalability. Their plans also include toll-free numbers, virtual numbers, custom IVR,  call recording and in-depth call analytics so that companies can better analyze their call operations.

MyOperator includes Call Desk features, which allow for businesses to attend to all business calls without missing them. MyOperator’s system doesn’t require the installation of expensive hardware. Their software places its focus on giving companies a complete business phone solution for individual departments within their company. Their plans scale with the number of monthly minutes that the customer requires, but all plans offer unlimited extensions.

Pricing: MyOperator’s plans are straightforward. They start at $10 per month for 200 minutes per month and go up to $200 per month for 100,000 minutes per month. Each plan also includes unlimited extensions, pro licenses, and a number of internal departments that the system can be used within.

5. Talkroute

Company Description: Do you wish that you could find a business phone solution that allows you to keep your current phone without having to invest in expensive equipment and hardware? TalkRoute gives you access to local and toll-free numbers, extensions for everyone on your team, call forwarding and routing, voice messaging and in-depth tracking — all from your own mobile device and with no extra equipment purchase required.

TalkRoute offers a live demo of their service on their website, which you can use to see how the service would fit in with your current processes. TalkRoute helps companies enjoy all of the benefits of business phone services from the convenience of their own mobile device.

Pricing: TalkRoute’s plans start at $19 per month and go all the way up to $99 per month. Each setup up in plan offers more advanced features that are suited for different business uses.

6. Vonage

Company Description: Vonage is a powerhouse in the business phone industry. The company offers a range of VoIP business phone plans that allow companies to secure their own toll-free number and use the advanced mobile features that the company offers. Their features include a reliable mobile app, desktop app, conference calling, online meetings, video conferencing, file sharing, multi-level auto-attendant, CRM integrations, call recording, group calls, and visual voicemail.

With Vonage, you can download the app and start using their service on your mobile device immediately after signing up.

Pricing: Vonage offers three different business phone plans, costing $19.99, $29.99, and $39.99 per month respectively. Each step up offers additional features.

8. RingCentral

Company Description: Do you want to try a business phone service out, but aren’t ready to make a commitment at this time? RingCentral provides businesses with an instant 800 number and a free 15-day trial so that they can give the service a try before they commit to a monthly plan.

RingCentral allows customers to take calls from any device, return calls with one click, welcome callers with a custom greeting, track incoming and outgoing calls in their log system, and port existing toll-free numbers into their service. RingCentral is a reasonably priced, feature-rich option for growing businesses.

Pricing: RingCentral allows companies to secure their own 800 number for just $15.99 per month. They also offer a number of larger business phone service plans ranging from $19.99 to $49.99 per month, based on needs.

9. CallHippo

Company Description: Do you wish you had a virtual phone system that could learn about your business the more that you worked with it? That’s exactly what CallHippo provides. Their intelligent virtual phone system comes complete with workflow automation, allowing you to build out how your customer support teams handle calls from your customers.

CallHippo can help teams to improve their customer support, analyze and optimize the productivity of their employees, and train new employees how to work within the processes that are built out from within their system. Their in-depth activity feeds allow you to have a complete top-down view of your operations. They currently offer numbers from more than 50+ countries around the world and boast a system setup process that takes less than three minutes in total.

CallHippo is an excellent solution for teams that want to define their sales and support processes directly through their business phone provider.

Pricing: CallHippo’s free plan allows for up to two users per month. It comes with a free softphone, call forwarding, voicemail greetings, and voicemail transcriptions. Then they offer $8, $15, and $35 per month plans that each offers different features.

10. eVoice

Company Description: Wouldn’t it be nice to get a free toll-free number with your business phone service? That is exactly what eVoice brings to the table. Their plans include a free local or toll-free phone number. Every plan also comes with call forwarding, allowing you to set advanced call routing rules to send inbound phone calls anywhere that you need. It’s an excellent feature for sales teams that are constantly dialing to hit quota.

eVoice plans also feature an auto-attendant that can personalize your phone answering services and forward callers to the right extension within your company.

Pricing: eVoice’s smallest package starts at $12.99 per month, with 300 minutes, 2 extensions, and 6 numbers. Their biggest plan is $79.99 per month and includes 4000 minutes, 15 extensions, and 45 unique numbers.

11. Phone.com

Company Description: Phone.com offers a feature-rich solution for small and mid-sized businesses. Their plans include more than 40 different standard features including custom phone numbers, video conferencing, user extensions, auto-receptionist, greetings, and call routing features. Each of their 40+ standard features are included in all of their plans, with their larger plans offering a few features that are typically geared toward larger enterprise businesses.

If you are looking for a business phone solution that is easy to use, feature-rich, and affordable — phone.com is an excellent choice.

Pricing: Phone.com plans start at just $12.99 per month. Their smallest plan comes with 300 monthly minutes, unlimited user extensions, 1 toll-free number, 5,000 SMS messages, and all of their 40+ standard features. Their largest plan is $39.99 per month and offers 1,000 monthly minutes and 20,000 text messages.

12. Callture

Company Description: Have you ever wished that you could have a little extra context about previous conversations before you pick up a call from a customer or colleague? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little background information before saying “Hello?” That’s exactly what Callture offers with their virtual phone service that features their patented “memo-on-call” feature. The memo-on-call feature allows you to record a memo after the call. Then, when the person calls back, the memo will be played to you while the caller hears the ringing on the other side.

Callture offers a virtual phone system with unique features that help it to stand out from the competition. If you constantly find yourself needing additional context when you hop on a call, Callture can help.

Pricing: Callture’s smallest plan is their Professional plan, which is available for $9.95 per month. The plan comes with 300 minutes, unlimited extensions, internet fax, and one toll-free number. Their largest plan, the Platinum 3000 plan, offers 3000 minutes for $78.95.

13. CloudPhone

Company Description: CloudPhone takes all the features of an advanced hardware-based system and makes it available to businesses in the cloud. Every plan includes a toll-free business number and works with any mobile or landline phone that you already own. Their plans include a virtual receptionist that can answer, route, and play messages automatically so that you don’t have to stop business every time that a call comes in.

If your company is concerned with efficiency, CloudPhone is a service that prides themselves on their features that facilitate efficiency and make it easy for businesses to improve their phone communication without having to slow down their business in other areas.

Pricing: CloudPhone’s basic plan is $24.99 per month and includes 1 number, two extensions, and one virtual receptionist. Their largest plan is $64.99 per month and offers 10 numbers, unlimited extensions, unlimited virtual receptionists, conference calling, business hours, greetings, and call recording.

14. MightyCall

Company Description: MightyCall’s virtual phone system is designed for small businesses. Their system makes it simple to set up and start using their virtual phone system. First, you pick your business phone number — either toll-free or local. Then you add your employees, set your call routing rules, and begin accepting calls from customers!

MighyCall helps to ensure that you’ll be able to stay in touch with customers. Because their system features an in-depth analytics and tracking system, you’ll be able to monitor your team’s activities through your phone system and pinpoint areas for improvement. MightyCall apps are available on both mobile and desktop.

Pricing: MightyCall plans start at $19.99 per month, offering 1000 minutes and 2 toll-free numbers. Their largest plan is $99.99 per month and features 15,000 monthly minutes, 10 toll-free or local numbers, call recording, voice to text, API access, and softphone usage.

15. Nextiva

Company Description: Nextiva is a large virtual phone service provider and a well-known brand within the industry. They allow companies to register toll-free 1-800 numbers or local numbers anywhere in the U.S. Their setup for their service is instantaneous — once you pay, you’ll be able to begin using Nextiva right away. Their features include the ability to use their service on a mobile device and manage your calls online from anywhere in the world.

Nextiva also includes an auto-attendant that will play callers a customized greeting and provide them with a menu that connects them with specific people or departments within your company.

Pricing: Nextiva offers three plans, costing $8.95, $19.95, and $69.96 respectively. The smallest plan offers 100 minutes, the middle plan offers 500 minutes, and the largest plan offers unlimited minutes. All plans come complete with all of their product’s features.

16. Dialpad

Company Description: Do you wish that you had a business phone solution that was easy to use and had an intuitive interface that helped you to track all the interactions that you have with your client? That’s exactly what Dialpad brings to the table. Their platform helps teams power their business voice service, video, messages, and meetings across all existing devices.

The nicest thing about Dialpad is it works on all of your existing devices, making it easy for companies to integrate the solution.

Pricing:  Dialpad offers three plans, costing $20, $30, and custom quote — all billed per user. The smallest plan is available for one office and three departments. The largest plan offers unlimited offices and unlimited departments with a 100-user minimum.

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$99.99 / year	$69.99 / year	$149.99
Buy now Try free for 1 month	Buy now	Buy now One-time purchase
One convenient subscription for up to 6 people. Includes premium productivity apps, up to 6 TB of cloud storage (1 TB per person), and advanced security for all your devices.	One convenient subscription that includes premium productivity apps, 1 TB of cloud storage, and advanced security for all your devices.	The essentials for individuals to get it all done. Classic versions of the Office apps installed on 1 PC or Mac.
Premium apps included MicrosoftWord MicrosoftExcel MicrosoftPowerPoint MicrosoftOneNote MicrosoftOutlook MicrosoftAccess (PC only) MicrosoftPublisher (PC only)	Premium apps included MicrosoftWord MicrosoftExcel MicrosoftPowerPoint MicrosoftOneNote MicrosoftOutlook MicrosoftAccess (PC only) MicrosoftPublisher (PC only)	Classic apps included MicrosoftWord MicrosoftExcel MicrosoftPowerPoint
Services included MicrosoftOneDrive MicrosoftSkype	Services included MicrosoftOneDrive MicrosoftSkype	Services included   (not included)
Product feature
Usage	Up to 6 people	1 person	1 PC/Mac
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote1 Work offline and apply advanced formatting with powerful desktop apps.	Premium	Premium	Classic
OneDrive cloud storage Back up and access your files and photos across your devices. Save your Office documents to OneDrive to enable AutoSave and easy sharing.	Up to 6 TB (1 TB per person)
Outlook Bring your email and calendars together in one desktop app.	Included	Included
AI-powered creative tools Get helpful design and writing suggestions with features like Designer, Ideas, and the new Microsoft Editor.	Included	Included
Premium creative content Access an extended collection of royalty-free creative content, including templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts.	Included	Included
OneDrive Advanced Security Know your files are protected with built-in ransomware detection and recovery2 and use two-step identity verification to access your most important files in OneDrive Personal Vault.	Included	Included
Skype Keep in touch with friends and family on their mobile phones or landlines with 60 minutes of Skype calling per month.3	Included	Included
Works on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android4 Use on your favorite devices at home or on the go.	Included	Included
Access to the latest updates Stay ahead of the curve with access to the latest features as soon as they’re released.	Included	Included
Special partner offers Access to new and unique benefits from several Microsoft partners.	Included	Included
Ongoing technical support Get help via chat or phone at no extra cost throughout your subscription.
How to buy	Purchase an annual or monthly subscription5	Purchase an annual or monthly subscription5	One-time purchase

Swipe to view more plans

• Best value: up to 6 people on PC or Mac

  $99.99 / year

  }

  Try free for 1 month

  One convenient subscription for up to 6 people. Includes premium productivity apps, up to 6 TB of cloud storage (1 TB per person), and advanced security for all your devices.

  Premium apps included

  • MicrosoftWord
  • MicrosoftExcel
  • MicrosoftPowerPoint

  Services included

  • MicrosoftOneDrive
  • MicrosoftSkype

  • Usage

    Up to 6 people

  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote1

    Work offline and apply advanced formatting with powerful desktop apps.

    Premium

  • OneDrive cloud storage

    Back up and access your files and photos across your devices. Save your Office documents to OneDrive to enable AutoSave and easy sharing.

    Up to 6 TB

    (1 TB per person)

  • Outlook

    Bring your email and calendars together in one desktop app.

    Included

    

  • AI-powered creative tools

    Get helpful design and writing suggestions with features like Designer, Ideas, and the new Microsoft Editor.

    Included

    

  • Premium creative content

    Access an extended collection of royalty-free creative content, including templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts.

    Included

    

  • OneDrive Advanced Security

    Know your files are protected with built-in ransomware detection and recovery2 and use two-step identity verification to access your most important files in OneDrive Personal Vault.

    Included

    

  • Skype

    Keep in touch with friends and family on their mobile phones or landlines with 60 minutes of Skype calling per month.3

    Included

    

  • Works on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android4

    Use on your favorite devices at home or on the go.

    Included

    

  • Access to the latest updates

    Stay ahead of the curve with access to the latest features as soon as they’re released.

    Included

    

  • Special partner offers

    Access to new and unique benefits from several Microsoft partners.

    Included

    

  • Ongoing technical support

    Get help via chat or phone at no extra cost throughout your subscription.

    

  • How to buy

    Purchase an annual or monthly subscription5

  Learn more

• $69.99 / year

  }

  One convenient subscription that includes premium productivity apps, 1 TB of cloud storage, and advanced security for all your devices.

  Premium apps included

  • MicrosoftWord
  • MicrosoftExcel
  • MicrosoftPowerPoint

  Services included

  • MicrosoftOneDrive
  • MicrosoftSkype

  • Usage

    1 person

  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote1

    Work offline and apply advanced formatting with powerful desktop apps.

    Premium

  • OneDrive cloud storage

    Back up and access your files and photos across your devices. Save your Office documents to OneDrive to enable AutoSave and easy sharing.

  • Outlook

    Bring your email and calendars together in one desktop app.

    Included

    

  • AI-powered creative tools

    Get helpful design and writing suggestions with features like Designer, Ideas, and the new Microsoft Editor.

    Included

    

  • Premium creative content

    Access an extended collection of royalty-free creative content, including templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts.

    Included

    

  • OneDrive Advanced Security

    Know your files are protected with built-in ransomware detection and recovery2 and use two-step identity verification to access your most important files in OneDrive Personal Vault.

    Included

    

  • Skype

    Keep in touch with friends and family on their mobile phones or landlines with 60 minutes of Skype calling per month.3

    Included

    

  • Works on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android4

    Use on your favorite devices at home or on the go.

    Included

    

  • Access to the latest updates

    Stay ahead of the curve with access to the latest features as soon as they’re released.

    Included

    

  • Special partner offers

    Access to new and unique benefits from several Microsoft partners.

    Included

    

  • Ongoing technical support

    Get help via chat or phone at no extra cost throughout your subscription.

    

  • How to buy

    Purchase an annual or monthly subscription5

  Learn more

• $149.99

  }

  The essentials for individuals to get it all done. Classic versions of the Office apps installed on 1 PC or Mac.

  Classic apps included

  • MicrosoftWord
  • MicrosoftExcel
  • MicrosoftPowerPoint

  Services included

   

  (not included)

  • Usage

    1 PC/Mac

  • Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote1

    Work offline and apply advanced formatting with powerful desktop apps.

    Classic

  • OneDrive cloud storage

    Back up and access your files and photos across your devices. Save your Office documents to OneDrive to enable AutoSave and easy sharing.

  • Outlook

    Bring your email and calendars together in one desktop app.

  • AI-powered creative tools

    Get helpful design and writing suggestions with features like Designer, Ideas, and the new Microsoft Editor.

  • Premium creative content

    Access an extended collection of royalty-free creative content, including templates, stock photos, icons, and fonts.

  • OneDrive Advanced Security

    Know your files are protected with built-in ransomware detection and recovery2 and use two-step identity verification to access your most important files in OneDrive Personal Vault.

  • Skype

    Keep in touch with friends and family on their mobile phones or landlines with 60 minutes of Skype calling per month.3

  • Works on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android4

    Use on your favorite devices at home or on the go.

  • Access to the latest updates

    Stay ahead of the curve with access to the latest features as soon as they’re released.

  • Special partner offers

    Access to new and unique benefits from several Microsoft partners.

  • Ongoing technical support

    Get help via chat or phone at no extra cost throughout your subscription.

  • How to buy

    One-time purchase

  Learn more

Explore Microsoft 365

• One-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac
• Classic 2019 versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
• Microsoft support included for 60 days at no extra cost
• Licensed for home and commercial use

1. OneNote features vary by platform. View frequently asked questions about OneNote.
2. OneDrive ransomware recovery allows you to recover previous file versions for up to 30 days prior from the date of the attack.
3. 60 monthly minutes. Skype account required. Excludes special, premium, and non-geographic numbers. Calls to phones are for select countries only. Skype minutes available in select countries. Exclusions apply. See more information here.
4. App availability varies by device/language. iOS and Android require separate app download. 
5. Cancel anytime to stop future charges.

Office 365 is now Microsoft 365. New name, same great value, same price.

	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 Apps for business
Explore Microsoft 365	Get first 6 months free with annual commitment.5	Includes Microsoft Teams for easy remote working.	Includes Microsoft Teams for easy remote working.	Only includes apps
$5.00 user/month (annual commitment)	$12.50 user/month (annual commitment)	$20.00 user/month (annual commitment)	$8.25 user/month (annual commitment)
Buy now	Buy now	Buy now	Buy now
Promotional pricing reflected in cart.5	Try free for 1 month 4	Try free for 1 month 4
Best for businesses that need Microsoft Teams and cloud storage. Desktop versions of Office apps not included.	Best for businesses that need Office apps across devices plus business email, cloud file storage, and online meetings and chat.	Best for businesses that need everything included in Business Standard plus advanced cyberthreat protection and device management.	Best for businesses that need Office apps across devices and cloud file storage. Business email and Microsoft Teams not included.
Office apps included    (Web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint included.)3	Office apps included MicrosoftOutlook MicrosoftWord MicrosoftExcel MicrosoftPowerPoint MicrosoftPublisher (PC only) MicrosoftAccess (PC only)	Office apps included MicrosoftOutlook MicrosoftWord MicrosoftExcel MicrosoftPowerPoint MicrosoftPublisher (PC only) MicrosoftAccess (PC only)	Office apps included MicrosoftOutlook MicrosoftWord MicrosoftExcel MicrosoftPowerPoint MicrosoftPublisher (PC only) MicrosoftAccess (PC only)
Services included MicrosoftExchange MicrosoftOneDrive MicrosoftSharePoint MicrosoftTeams	Services included MicrosoftExchange MicrosoftOneDrive MicrosoftSharePoint MicrosoftTeams	Services included MicrosoftExchange MicrosoftOneDrive MicrosoftSharePoint MicrosoftTeams MicrosoftIntune MicrosoftAzure Information Protection	Services included MicrosoftOneDrive
Product feature
Partially includedIncluded
Web and mobile versions of Office apps	Included	Included	Included	Included
Web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote	Included Plus a web version of Outlook	Included Plus a web version of Outlook	Plus a web version of Outlook
Always up-to-date versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for iOS and Android  on up to 5 mobile devices  and 5 tablets1	Included Plus Outlook	Included Plus Outlook	Included Plus Outlook	Included
Real-time coauthoring so multiple users can work in the same document, simultaneously	Included	Included	Included	Included
Email and calendaring	Included	Included	Included
Email hosting with 50 GB mailbox	Included	Included	Included
Use your own custom domain name (for example, [email protected])	Included	Included	Included
Business-class email on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and the web with Exchange	Included	Included	Included
Manage your calendar, share available meeting times, schedule meetings, and get reminders	Included	Included	Included
Schedule meetings and respond to invitations with ease using shared calendars	Included	Included	Included
Set up new user emails, restore deleted accounts, create custom scripts, and more from anywhere	Included	Included	Included
Teamwork and communication	Included	Included	Included
Host online meetings and video calls for up to 250 people with Microsoft Teams2	Included	Included	Included
Chat with your team from your desktop or on the go with Microsoft Teams	Included	Included	Included
Bring together all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and apps so you can easily connect and collaborate from one place with Microsoft Teams	Included	Included	Included
Create team sites to share information, content, and files throughout your intranet using SharePoint	Included	Included	Included
File storage and sharing	Included	Included	Included	Included
1 TB of OneDrive storage for file storage and sharing	Included	Included	Included	Included
Work on a file and save it directly to OneDrive or SharePoint; your changes are updated across your synced devices	Included	Included	Included	OneDrive only
Share files with external contacts by providing access or guest links	Included	Included	Included	Included
Securely share documents and send emails so only those with the right permissions can access the information	Included	Included	Included	Included
Access and sync files on PC or Mac and mobile devices	Included	Included	Included	Included
Security and compliance	Included	Included	Included	This feature is partially included
Protect your email against spam, malware, and known threats with Exchange Online Protection	Included	Included	Included
Meets key international, regional, and industry-specific standards and terms, with more than 1,000 security and privacy controls	Included	Included	Included	Included
Control who and when someone has access to your business information with security groups and custom permissions	Included	Included	Included	Included
Create password policies that require users to reset their passwords after a specified number of days.	Included	Included	Included	Included
Support and deployment	Included	Included	Included	Included
Around the clock phone and online support	Included	Included	Included	Included
99.9 percent uptime guarantee	Included	Included	Included	Included
Maximum number of users
Licensed for commercial use	Included	Included	Included	Included
Desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac	Included	Included	Included
Fully installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote for Windows or Mac (plus Access and Publisher for PC only)	Included	Included	Included
Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs1	Included	Included	Included
Tools to build and manage your business	Included	Included
Plan schedules and daily tasks with Microsoft Teams	Included
Make it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments with Microsoft Bookings	Included
Have real-time, accurate mileage tracking and reporting in the palm of your hand with MileIQ	Included
Advanced threat protection
Help protect against sophisticated threats hidden in email attachments and links, and get cutting-edge defenses against zero-day threats, ransomware, and other advanced malware attempts with Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection	Included
Remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices with selective wipe from Intune	Included
Restrict the copying or saving of company information to unauthorized apps and locations with app protection for Office mobile apps	Included
Control who has access to company information by applying restrictions like do not copy and do not forward with  Information Rights Management	Included
Apply policies that provide prebreach threat resistance in Windows 10 with Windows Defender Exploit Guard	Included
Enforce malware protection to help keep your Windows 10 devices safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software with Windows Defender	Included
Enable unlimited cloud archive and long-term preservation policies to ensure you never lose an email with Exchange Online Archiving	Included
PC and mobile device management	Included
Configure security features and settings on Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices running iOS or Android® with an easy-to-use setup wizard	Included
Use simplified controls to manage policies applied to Windows 10 PCs	Included
Automatically deploy the Office apps to Windows 10 PCs	Included
Configure your PCs to automatically install Office and Windows 10 updates	Included
Apply security policies to protect business data on all your devices, including iOS, Android®, and Windows PCs with mobile device management from Intune	Included

Swipe to view more plans

• Get first 6 months free with annual commitment.5

  $5.00 user/month

  (annual commitment)

  Promotional pricing reflected in cart.5

  Best for businesses that need Microsoft Teams and cloud storage. Desktop versions of Office apps not included.

  Office apps included 

   

  (Web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint included.)3

  Services included

  • MicrosoftExchange
  • MicrosoftOneDrive
  • MicrosoftSharePoint
  • MicrosoftTeams

  Partially includedIncluded

  • Web and mobile versions of Office apps

    Included

    

    • Web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote

      Included

      

      Plus a web version of Outlook

    • Always up-to-date versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for iOS and Android  on up to 5 mobile devices  and 5 tablets1

      Included

      

      Plus Outlook

    • Real-time coauthoring so multiple users can work in the same document, simultaneously

      Included

      

  • Email and calendaring

    Included

    

    • Email hosting with 50 GB mailbox

      Included

      

    • Use your own custom domain name (for example, [email protected])

      Included

      

    • Business-class email on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and the web with Exchange

      Included

      

    • Manage your calendar, share available meeting times, schedule meetings, and get reminders

      Included

      

    • Schedule meetings and respond to invitations with ease using shared calendars

      Included

      

    • Set up new user emails, restore deleted accounts, create custom scripts, and more from anywhere

      Included

      

  • Teamwork and communication

    Included

    

    • Host online meetings and video calls for up to 250 people with Microsoft Teams2

      Included

      

    • Chat with your team from your desktop or on the go with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Bring together all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and apps so you can easily connect and collaborate from one place with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Create team sites to share information, content, and files throughout your intranet using SharePoint

      Included

      

  • File storage and sharing

    Included

    

    • 1 TB of OneDrive storage for file storage and sharing

      Included

      

    • Work on a file and save it directly to OneDrive or SharePoint; your changes are updated across your synced devices

      Included

      

    • Share files with external contacts by providing access or guest links

      Included

      

    • Securely share documents and send emails so only those with the right permissions can access the information

      Included

      

    • Access and sync files on PC or Mac and mobile devices

      Included

      

  • Security and compliance

    Included

    

    • Protect your email against spam, malware, and known threats with Exchange Online Protection

      Included

      

    • Meets key international, regional, and industry-specific standards and terms, with more than 1,000 security and privacy controls

      Included

      

    • Control who and when someone has access to your business information with security groups and custom permissions

      Included

      

    • Create password policies that require users to reset their passwords after a specified number of days.

      Included

      

  • Support and deployment

    Included

    

    • Around the clock phone and online support

      Included

      

    • 99.9 percent uptime guarantee

      Included

      

    • Maximum number of users

    • Licensed for commercial use

      Included

      

  • Desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac

    • Fully installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote for Windows or Mac (plus Access and Publisher for PC only)

    • Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs1

  • Tools to build and manage your business

    • Plan schedules and daily tasks with Microsoft Teams

    • Make it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments with Microsoft Bookings

    • Have real-time, accurate mileage tracking and reporting in the palm of your hand with MileIQ

  • Advanced threat protection

    • Help protect against sophisticated threats hidden in email attachments and links, and get cutting-edge defenses against zero-day threats, ransomware, and other advanced malware attempts with Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection

    • Remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices with selective wipe from Intune

    • Restrict the copying or saving of company information to unauthorized apps and locations with app protection for Office mobile apps

    • Control who has access to company information by applying restrictions like do not copy and do not forward with 
      Information Rights Management

    • Apply policies that provide prebreach threat resistance in Windows 10 with Windows Defender Exploit Guard

    • Enforce malware protection to help keep your Windows 10 devices safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software with Windows Defender

    • Enable unlimited cloud archive and long-term preservation policies to ensure you never lose an email with Exchange Online Archiving

  • PC and mobile device management

    • Configure security features and settings on Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices running iOS or Android® with an easy-to-use setup wizard

    • Use simplified controls to manage policies applied to Windows 10 PCs

    • Automatically deploy the Office apps to Windows 10 PCs

    • Configure your PCs to automatically install Office and Windows 10 updates

    • Apply security policies to protect business data on all your devices, including iOS, Android®, and Windows PCs with mobile device management from Intune

  Get first 6 months free with annual commitment.5

  $5.00 user/month

  (annual commitment)

• Includes Microsoft Teams for easy remote working.

  $12.50 user/month

  (annual commitment)

  Try free for 1 month 4

  Best for businesses that need Office apps across devices plus business email, cloud file storage, and online meetings and chat.

  Office apps included

  • MicrosoftOutlook
  • MicrosoftWord
  • MicrosoftExcel

  Services included

  • MicrosoftExchange
  • MicrosoftOneDrive
  • MicrosoftSharePoint
  • MicrosoftTeams

  Partially includedIncluded

  • Web and mobile versions of Office apps

    Included

    

    • Web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote

      Included

      

      Plus a web version of Outlook

    • Always up-to-date versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for iOS and Android  on up to 5 mobile devices  and 5 tablets1

      Included

      

      Plus Outlook

    • Real-time coauthoring so multiple users can work in the same document, simultaneously

      Included

      

  • Email and calendaring

    Included

    

    • Email hosting with 50 GB mailbox

      Included

      

    • Use your own custom domain name (for example, [email protected])

      Included

      

    • Business-class email on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and the web with Exchange

      Included

      

    • Manage your calendar, share available meeting times, schedule meetings, and get reminders

      Included

      

    • Schedule meetings and respond to invitations with ease using shared calendars

      Included

      

    • Set up new user emails, restore deleted accounts, create custom scripts, and more from anywhere

      Included

      

  • Teamwork and communication

    Included

    

    • Host online meetings and video calls for up to 250 people with Microsoft Teams2

      Included

      

    • Chat with your team from your desktop or on the go with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Bring together all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and apps so you can easily connect and collaborate from one place with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Create team sites to share information, content, and files throughout your intranet using SharePoint

      Included

      

  • File storage and sharing

    Included

    

    • 1 TB of OneDrive storage for file storage and sharing

      Included

      

    • Work on a file and save it directly to OneDrive or SharePoint; your changes are updated across your synced devices

      Included

      

    • Share files with external contacts by providing access or guest links

      Included

      

    • Securely share documents and send emails so only those with the right permissions can access the information

      Included

      

    • Access and sync files on PC or Mac and mobile devices

      Included

      

  • Security and compliance

    Included

    

    • Protect your email against spam, malware, and known threats with Exchange Online Protection

      Included

      

    • Meets key international, regional, and industry-specific standards and terms, with more than 1,000 security and privacy controls

      Included

      

    • Control who and when someone has access to your business information with security groups and custom permissions

      Included

      

    • Create password policies that require users to reset their passwords after a specified number of days.

      Included

      

  • Support and deployment

    Included

    

    • Around the clock phone and online support

      Included

      

    • 99.9 percent uptime guarantee

      Included

      

    • Maximum number of users

    • Licensed for commercial use

      Included

      

  • Desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac

    Included

    

    • Fully installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote for Windows or Mac (plus Access and Publisher for PC only)

      Included

      

    • Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs1

      Included

      

  • Tools to build and manage your business

    Included

    

    • Plan schedules and daily tasks with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Make it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments with Microsoft Bookings

      Included

      

    • Have real-time, accurate mileage tracking and reporting in the palm of your hand with MileIQ

      Included

      

  • Advanced threat protection

    • Help protect against sophisticated threats hidden in email attachments and links, and get cutting-edge defenses against zero-day threats, ransomware, and other advanced malware attempts with Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection

    • Remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices with selective wipe from Intune

    • Restrict the copying or saving of company information to unauthorized apps and locations with app protection for Office mobile apps

    • Control who has access to company information by applying restrictions like do not copy and do not forward with 
      Information Rights Management

    • Apply policies that provide prebreach threat resistance in Windows 10 with Windows Defender Exploit Guard

    • Enforce malware protection to help keep your Windows 10 devices safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software with Windows Defender

    • Enable unlimited cloud archive and long-term preservation policies to ensure you never lose an email with Exchange Online Archiving

  • PC and mobile device management

    • Configure security features and settings on Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices running iOS or Android® with an easy-to-use setup wizard

    • Use simplified controls to manage policies applied to Windows 10 PCs

    • Automatically deploy the Office apps to Windows 10 PCs

    • Configure your PCs to automatically install Office and Windows 10 updates

    • Apply security policies to protect business data on all your devices, including iOS, Android®, and Windows PCs with mobile device management from Intune

  Includes Microsoft Teams for easy remote working.

  $12.50 user/month

  (annual commitment)

• Includes Microsoft Teams for easy remote working.

  $20.00 user/month

  (annual commitment)

  Try free for 1 month 4

  Best for businesses that need everything included in Business Standard plus advanced cyberthreat protection and device management.

  Office apps included

  • MicrosoftOutlook
  • MicrosoftWord
  • MicrosoftExcel

  Services included

  • MicrosoftExchange
  • MicrosoftOneDrive
  • MicrosoftSharePoint

  Partially includedIncluded

  • Web and mobile versions of Office apps

    Included

    

    • Web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote

      

      Plus a web version of Outlook

    • Always up-to-date versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for iOS and Android  on up to 5 mobile devices  and 5 tablets1

      Included

      

      Plus Outlook

    • Real-time coauthoring so multiple users can work in the same document, simultaneously

      Included

      

  • Email and calendaring

    Included

    

    • Email hosting with 50 GB mailbox

      Included

      

    • Use your own custom domain name (for example, [email protected])

      Included

      

    • Business-class email on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and the web with Exchange

      Included

      

    • Manage your calendar, share available meeting times, schedule meetings, and get reminders

      Included

      

    • Schedule meetings and respond to invitations with ease using shared calendars

      Included

      

    • Set up new user emails, restore deleted accounts, create custom scripts, and more from anywhere

      Included

      

  • Teamwork and communication

    Included

    

    • Host online meetings and video calls for up to 250 people with Microsoft Teams2

      Included

      

    • Chat with your team from your desktop or on the go with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Bring together all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and apps so you can easily connect and collaborate from one place with Microsoft Teams

      Included

      

    • Create team sites to share information, content, and files throughout your intranet using SharePoint

      Included

      

  • File storage and sharing

    Included

    

    • 1 TB of OneDrive storage for file storage and sharing

      Included

      

    • Work on a file and save it directly to OneDrive or SharePoint; your changes are updated across your synced devices

      Included

      

    • Share files with external contacts by providing access or guest links

      Included

      

    • Securely share documents and send emails so only those with the right permissions can access the information

      Included

      

    • Access and sync files on PC or Mac and mobile devices

      Included

      

  • Security and compliance

    Included

    

    • Protect your email against spam, malware, and known threats with Exchange Online Protection

      Included

      

    • Meets key international, regional, and industry-specific standards and terms, with more than 1,000 security and privacy controls

      Included

      

    • Control who and when someone has access to your business information with security groups and custom permissions

      Included

      

    • Create password policies that require users to reset their passwords after a specified number of days.

      Included

      

  • Support and deployment

    Included

    

    • Around the clock phone and online support

      Included

      

    • 99.9 percent uptime guarantee

      Included

      

    • Maximum number of users

    • Licensed for commercial use

      Included

      

  • Desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac

    Included

    

    • Fully installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote for Windows or Mac (plus Access and Publisher for PC only)

      Included

      

    • Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs1

      Included

      

  • Tools to build and manage your business

    Included

    

    • Plan schedules and daily tasks with Microsoft Teams

      

    • Make it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments with Microsoft Bookings

      

    • Have real-time, accurate mileage tracking and reporting in the palm of your hand with MileIQ

      

  • Advanced threat protection

    

    • Help protect against sophisticated threats hidden in email attachments and links, and get cutting-edge defenses against zero-day threats, ransomware, and other advanced malware attempts with Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection

      Included

      

    • Remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices with selective wipe from Intune

      Included

      

    • Restrict the copying or saving of company information to unauthorized apps and locations with app protection for Office mobile apps

      Included

      

    • Control who has access to company information by applying restrictions like do not copy and do not forward with 
      Information Rights Management

      Included

      

    • Apply policies that provide prebreach threat resistance in Windows 10 with Windows Defender Exploit Guard

      Included

      

    • Enforce malware protection to help keep your Windows 10 devices safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software with Windows Defender

      Included

      

    • Enable unlimited cloud archive and long-term preservation policies to ensure you never lose an email with Exchange Online Archiving

      Included

      

  • PC and mobile device management

    Included

    

    • Configure security features and settings on Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices running iOS or Android® with an easy-to-use setup wizard

      Included

      

    • Use simplified controls to manage policies applied to Windows 10 PCs

      Included

      

    • Automatically deploy the Office apps to Windows 10 PCs

      Included

      

    • Configure your PCs to automatically install Office and Windows 10 updates

      Included

      

    • Apply security policies to protect business data on all your devices, including iOS, Android®, and Windows PCs with mobile device management from Intune

      Included

      

  Includes Microsoft Teams for easy remote working.

  $20.00 user/month

  (annual commitment)

• Only includes apps

  $8.25 user/month

  (annual commitment)

  Best for businesses that need Office apps across devices and cloud file storage. Business email and Microsoft Teams not included.

  Office apps included

  • MicrosoftOutlook
  • MicrosoftWord
  • MicrosoftExcel

  Services included

  MicrosoftOneDrive

  Partially includedIncluded

  • Web and mobile versions of Office apps

    Included

    

    • Web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote

      

    • Always up-to-date versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for iOS and Android  on up to 5 mobile devices  and 5 tablets1

      Included

      

    • Real-time coauthoring so multiple users can work in the same document, simultaneously

      Included

      

  • Email and calendaring

    • Email hosting with 50 GB mailbox

    • Use your own custom domain name (for example, [email protected])

    • Business-class email on mobile devices, tablets, desktops, and the web with Exchange

    • Manage your calendar, share available meeting times, schedule meetings, and get reminders

    • Schedule meetings and respond to invitations with ease using shared calendars

    • Set up new user emails, restore deleted accounts, create custom scripts, and more from anywhere

  • Teamwork and communication

    • Host online meetings and video calls for up to 250 people with Microsoft Teams2

    • Chat with your team from your desktop or on the go with Microsoft Teams

    • Bring together all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and apps so you can easily connect and collaborate from one place with Microsoft Teams

    • Create team sites to share information, content, and files throughout your intranet using SharePoint

  • File storage and sharing

    Included

    

    • 1 TB of OneDrive storage for file storage and sharing

      Included

      

    • Work on a file and save it directly to OneDrive or SharePoint; your changes are updated across your synced devices

      

      OneDrive only

    • Share files with external contacts by providing access or guest links

      Included

      

    • Securely share documents and send emails so only those with the right permissions can access the information

      Included

      

    • Access and sync files on PC or Mac and mobile devices

      Included

      

  • Security and compliance

    This feature is partially included

    • Protect your email against spam, malware, and known threats with Exchange Online Protection

    • Meets key international, regional, and industry-specific standards and terms, with more than 1,000 security and privacy controls

      Included

      

    • Control who and when someone has access to your business information with security groups and custom permissions

      Included

      

    • Create password policies that require users to reset their passwords after a specified number of days.

      Included

      

  • Support and deployment

    Included

    

    • Around the clock phone and online support

      Included

      

    • 99.9 percent uptime guarantee

      Included

      

    • Maximum number of users

    • Licensed for commercial use

      Included

      

  • Desktop versions of Office apps for PC and Mac

    Included

    

    • Fully installed and always up-to-date versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote for Windows or Mac (plus Access and Publisher for PC only)

      Included

      

    • Each user can install the Office apps on up to 5 PCs or Macs1

      Included

      

  • Tools to build and manage your business

    • Plan schedules and daily tasks with Microsoft Teams

    • Make it easier for your customers to schedule and manage appointments with Microsoft Bookings

    • Have real-time, accurate mileage tracking and reporting in the palm of your hand with MileIQ

  • Advanced threat protection

    • Help protect against sophisticated threats hidden in email attachments and links, and get cutting-edge defenses against zero-day threats, ransomware, and other advanced malware attempts with Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection

    • Remotely wipe company data from lost or stolen devices with selective wipe from Intune

    • Restrict the copying or saving of company information to unauthorized apps and locations with app protection for Office mobile apps

    • Control who has access to company information by applying restrictions like do not copy and do not forward with 
      Information Rights Management

    • Apply policies that provide prebreach threat resistance in Windows 10 with Windows Defender Exploit Guard

    • Enforce malware protection to help keep your Windows 10 devices safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software with Windows Defender

    • Enable unlimited cloud archive and long-term preservation policies to ensure you never lose an email with Exchange Online Archiving

  • PC and mobile device management

    • Configure security features and settings on Windows 10 PCs and mobile devices running iOS or Android® with an easy-to-use setup wizard

    • Use simplified controls to manage policies applied to Windows 10 PCs

    • Automatically deploy the Office apps to Windows 10 PCs

    • Configure your PCs to automatically install Office and Windows 10 updates

    • Apply security policies to protect business data on all your devices, including iOS, Android®, and Windows PCs with mobile device management from Intune

  Only includes apps

  $8.25 user/month

  (annual commitment)

Explore Microsoft 365

Get the latest version of Microsoft products for your home and business with Office 2019 and Microsoft 365.

1. Compatible with Windows 10 or later. For complete requirements for PC and Mac see system requirements.
2. For HD calling, compatible HD hardware and broadband connection with at least 4 Mbps required.
3. This plan works with Office 2019, Office 2016, and Office 2013. Previous versions of Office, such as Office 2010, may work with Microsoft 365 with reduced functionality. This compatibility with Office does not include the Office 365 F3 plans.
4. After your 1-month free trial, you will be charged the applicable subscription fee. Credit card required. Cancel any time to stop future charges.
5. Offer available to new Microsoft 365 Business Basic commercial customers in the US between April 7th, 2020 and June 30th, 2020, and all other markets between April 10th, 2020 and June 30th, 2020 and applies to first year only. Cancel any time to stop future charges. 300 seat maximum. Promotional discount received by purchasing annual subscription, billed monthly with payment method required. Promotional pricing reflected in cart. Monthly charges will begin in month seven of the first year of the annual subscription.

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2019 RANKING & REVIEWS
TOP RANKING IT CONSULTING FIRMS

2019’s Top-Rated IT Consulting Firms to Trust with Your Technology

In today’s data-driven world, IT consulting has become more important than ever. Just two decades ago, office computers were mainly relegated to word processing or accounting functions, but in 2019, technology is the foundation that nearly all business functions rely on.

Top IT consulting firms can help businesses make the most efficient use of their technology, protect their infrastructure from data breaches, and administer their systems for peak efficiency.

The right use of IT can make or break a company. Those that use it to their advantage can reduce costs and gain a significant competitive edge over their competition.

It’s important when considering hiring IT consultancy services, that you carefully review a firm’s reputation, case histories, and experience in your industry to see if they’re a good fit.

For many busy CEOs and executives, reviewing multiple IT consulting companies can be a time-consuming task and not all know what they should be looking for when choosing a consulting firm to trust with their technology vision.

That’s one reason that AdvisoryHQ reviews multiple firms each year. It’s our goal to make the search for the best IT consulting firm easier by bringing you a list of the top-rated firms around the world.

We’ll tell you what makes each top IT consultancy on our list stand out and what values and innovations make them a great option. Read on to find out which 10 technology consultants made our 2019 ranking.

Award Emblem: 10 Best IT Consulting Firms

10 Best IT Consulting Firms | Brief Comparison & Ranking

Table: 10 Best IT Consulting Firms | Above list is sorted by rating

Why Should a Business Use an IT Consulting Firm?

While you may have your own in-house IT department, that doesn’t mean that you won’t still benefit from hiring an IT consulting firm. Here are some of the advantages of working with this specific type of IT professional

A Fresh Perspective

While bringing in an outside consultant can seem intrusive to some people, a fresh perspective that comes from an outside firm can often inject new ideas that can take your technology to the next level.

IT consulting firms will have extensive experience working with multiple companies, both those in your industry and those in other industries. Their experience can often illuminate new IT efficiencies and workflows that you may not have been aware of.

Consulting professionals also bring an objective opinion to the table and can tell you honestly how your IT infrastructure is doing and what should be done to improve productivity, efficiency, and reduce costs.

Knowledge of IT Best Practices

Because technology consulting firms work with a wide variety of leading companies in multiple sectors, they’ll have an intimate knowledge of best practices and what’s worked or not worked for others in your industry.

By working with a top-rated IT consulting company, you gain the benefit of their multiple years of experience empowering business through IT innovations and securing networks and data with best practices.

IT consultancies will often provide white papers or other resources that can provide valuable education and insights to your own technology team.

Staff, Skillset, & Analytic Augmentation

Technology consulting firms have multiple skillsets which can be utilized in several areas of a business. Whether a company needs to automate their shipping process or ensure regulatory compliance with data privacy rules, an IT consultant can help.

Companies working with a top IT consulting firm gain the benefit of multiple team members. Consultancies purposely choose team members with diverse backgrounds and industry experience so they can put together a team that’s custom matched to each client’s needs.

Data analytics and “big data” are a driving force for many important corporate decisions. Many of the best IT consulting companies have special data analytics divisions to bring clients the comprehensive data analytics they need to drive value-based decisions.

2019 Top-Rated Global IT Consultants

2019 AdvisoryHQ’s Selection Methodology

What methodology does AdvisoryHQ use in selecting and finalizing the credit cards, financial products, firms, services, and products that are ranked on its various top-rated lists?

Please click here “AdvisoryHQ’s Ranking Methodologies” for a detailed review of AdvisoryHQ’s selection methodologies for ranking top-rated credit cards, financial accounts, firms, products, and services.

Detailed Review – Top Ranking Best IT Consulting Firms 

Below, please find a detailed review of each firm on our list of 2019 top IT consulting companies. We have highlighted some of the factors that allowed these technology consulting firms to score so highly in our selection ranking.

Click any of the names below to go directly to the review section for that firm.

• Accenture
• Boston Consulting Group
• Capgemini
• Deloitte Consulting
• IBM Global Technology Services
• KPMG
• McKinsey & Company
• Cognizant Technology Solutions
• Tata Consultancy Services
• Wipro Technologies

Click below for previous years’ rankings:

Accenture Review

Utilizing market-shaping AI and ideas powered by intelligent technologies, Accenture is a top IT consulting firm that works with companies from all industries, around the world.

The firm uses a unique six-part innovation architecture that includes innovation centers, research, labs, studios and more. Notably, the firm has over 6,700 patents and patents pending worldwide.

This top-rated IT consultancy employs 477,000 employees in offices and operations throughout 200 cities. They offer quality and innovative IT consulting solutions to clients in 120 countries.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of Accenture as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Proactive Team-Building Approach

Accenture is continually seeking new team members with a variety of technology-based skill sets to fill any one of thousands of roles throughout the company.

This top IT consulting firm has also been known to evaluate potential recruits before they’ve even finished college and is always looking for the best and brightest in a given field to enhance the technology solutions they provide to their clients.

In addition to typical recruiting tactics, Accenture also holds a student empowerment program where the firm targets scholars in the business and technology fields, from their sophomore to senior years of college.

Best IT Consulting Firms

Supporting a Diverse Workforce

As one of the top-rated IT consulting companies, Accenture maintains a strong priority of empowering and supporting equality in the workplace. Currently, 30% of Accenture company leaders are women, as are 40% of the external members of their board of directors.

Their goal is to attract, retain, and advance top talent from a diverse range of backgrounds to enrich the perspectives that they bring to client projects.

This top IT consulting firm has an objective to achieve 50/50 gender balance by 2025 and by 2020, to have women account for 25% of managing directors for the firm globally. Clients benefit greatly with this focus on gender equality from a broader range of talents, ideas, and expertise.

Rating Summary

Accenture helps some of the world’s most recognized names use technology to innovate operations and drive growth. They’ve helped connect high-touch technology and human touch for Carnival Corporation and implement cloud infrastructure for Del Monte Foods.

With a commitment to diversity and gender equality, a robust support architecture, and a reputation for innovation and implementing “new” now, Accenture scores 5-stars as one of the top IT consulting firms to consider partnering with this year.

Boston Consulting Group Review

Creating breakthrough ideas that drive change, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a top consulting company that provides management, strategy, and technology consulting that help businesses tackle their most important challenges.

Founded in 1963, this top IT consulting firm has a team of more than 18,500 that work with clients ranking among the world’s 500 largest corporations. They have offices in over 90 cities throughout 50 countries.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of Boston Consulting Group as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Value-Based Culture

When working with any IT consulting company, you’re entrusting quite of bit of your business operations to outsiders. So, you want to ensure you’re working with a company that upholds a set of values that shape everything they do.

BCG has a strong culture that’s anchored in a core set of values that both help them maintain their reputation as a market leader and create an inspiring workplace for its employees.

Core values that BCG refers to as their “common language” include:

• Integrity
• Respect for the Individual
• Diversity
• Clients Come First
• The Strategic Perspective
• Value Delivered
• Partnership
• Expanding the Art of the Possible
• Social Impact

Through this core set of values, BCG strives to provide exemplary support to their clients, nurture a productive and enriched workforce, and make the world a better place.

Big Data & Advanced Analytics

Businesses have access to an unprecedented amount of data in today’s world. The companies that know how to capture, filter, and analyze that data properly are the ones that will gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.

BCG is on the forefront of big data and analytics, helping companies organize data into reporting that provides valuable insight for more intelligent decisions.

For those companies wondering how data analytics can impact their bottom line, BCG offers several case studies to illustrate the benefits. A few of the examples of how this top-rated IT consulting firm has helped clients through analytics include:

• A bank identified and addressed an attrition rate of 60%
• A grocery chain increased its margin by $70 million
• A retailer increased sales through a loyal program by $160 million
• A company was able to better manage shipping which resulted in saving $500 million

Rating Summary

BCG is plugged into the top technologies that are helping companies innovate and transform their operations, such as artificial intelligence, big data, IoT, and digital transformation tools.  

With a reputation for pushing boundaries and blazing new trails and a corporate culture founded on strong values and high standards, Boston Consulting Group solidifies a 5-star rating as a top IT consulting firm to consider working with in 2019.

Capgemini Review

Working at the forefront of digital transformation, Capgemini is a global leader in IT consulting that’s been “living the future” since 1967.

The firm has over 200,000 professionals working on over 40 countries around the world. Capgemini is headquartered in Paris and has a number of industry recognitions, including being ranked as the second fastest-growing IT services brand in 2019 by Brand Finance.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of Capgemini as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Comprehensive IT Consulting Services

As a top IT consulting firm, Capgemini offers a host of valuable IT consulting services to address a wide range of business needs.

While each focus area has its own list of unique services, Capgemini divides their IT consulting into four core areas of expertise:

• Digital Customer Experience: Create and sustain connections between clients/customers

• Digital Manufacturing: Find smart, connected products with better mobility, analytics, and cloud solutions

• Insights & Data: Understand transactions and interactions based on global trends of digitization

• Product and Engineering Services: Partner with Capgemini to build customized digital solutions

Best Global IT Consulting Companies

The Collaborative Business Experience

A large part of Capgemini’s success comes from what they call The Collaborative Business Experience™. IT consulting services at Capgemini are created with collaboration at the forefront to ensure the best outcomes. 

This best IT consultancy believes that true success comes from working closely alongside their clients to create a customized approach. To achieve success through collaboration, Capgemini focuses on:

• Targeting Value: Defining specific goals and creating targets for individual projects

• Mitigating Risk: Understanding the stakes of each initiative and reducing challenges 

• Optimizing Capabilities: Providing necessary support and knowledge to empower clients

• Aligning the Organization: Creating lasting value through understanding and eliminating potential inhibitors

Rating Summary

Capgemini offers clients considerable depth when it comes to IT consulting, including two sub-brands, Capgemini Invent and Sogeti. The firm combines strategy, technology, data science, and creative design expertise to bring clients unique and transformative solutions.

With a results-driven approach, a focus on customized solutions, and expertise with emerging technologies, Capgemini is a top IT consulting firm to consider hiring this year and is awarded a 5-star rating.

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Deloitte Consulting Review

Delivering measurable and sustainable results for clients for over 150 years, Deloitte Consulting is a global consulting firm with a branch dedicated to IT consulting.

The firm works in over 150 countries and territories and has a committed team of 245,000 offering multiple services including audit & assurance, tax, legal, risk, and financial advisory, and strategic and IT consulting.

Key Factors That Led Us to Rank Deloitte Consulting as One of the Top IT Consulting Firms

Strong Company Culture

When evaluating IT consulting companies, it pays to compare their internal culture and working environment to ensure they align with your own organization’s value.

IT consulting firms that maintain a supportive environment for consultants also tend to have a client-facing approach. They believe that keeping employees happy and supported will, in turn, ensure clients receive exceptional care and attention.

Deloitte is proud to have an inclusive, diverse culture, and even conducts regular research on its benefits. Potential clients can easily review reports on topics like:

• How organizations can advance inclusion
• How to encourage individuals to avoid “covering” their authentic selves
• Understanding the millennial cultural mindset

Insights uncovered from the firm’s research are directly applied to their internal culture, creating an environment of respect, integrity, and diversity.

Comprehensive IT Services

Partnering with Deloitte means taking advantage of decades of experience not just in IT consulting alone, but also in digital tools and strategy implementation.

Services from this top IT consulting firm include (but are not limited to):

• Consulting: Learn how to innovate, transform, and lead the market

• Application Managed Services: Customize application managed services to business objectives and IT

• Deloitte Digital: Advance customer and design-centric thinking from strategy to execution

• Oracle: Cloud-based solutions for HCM, marketing, ERP, customer experience, supply chain, and performance management

• SAP: Digital platform designed to deliver sustainable value

• Salesforce: Improve brand loyalty, sales processes, and customer relationships

Rating Summary

Deloitte is always striving to do better, which is reflected in the quality of the work they provide to their client’s. Their key objective is to help clients realize their ambitions and make a positive difference in society.

With a commitment to a diverse and supportive workspace and a broad range of solutions to help clients in multiple areas, Deloitte is a top-rated IT consultant that’s earned a 5-star rating and companies would do well to consider working with.

 Popular Article: Best Management Consulting Firms | Ranking | Working with a Management Consulting Firm

IBM Global Technology Services Review

With a rich heritage of transforming society through technology, IBM Global Services is one of the IBM arms, carrying on the company’s tradition of IT innovation which has been changing the face of the industry since 1911.

IBM’s IT infrastructure services offer a wide range of technology consulting services for organizations, including lab service, client centers, product engineering, platform testing, and IT economics.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of IBM as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Corporate Responsibility

As a global leader among IT consultancies, IBM takes a proactive approach towards corporate responsibility. They do this through pioneering technology, continuous transformation, and sustainable change. 

Some core tenets of IBM’s approach to corporate responsibility include:

• Supporting & improving local communities
• Investing in the personal & professional growth of employees
• A commitment to environmental protection
• Requiring social & environmental responsibility through their supply chain
• Comprehensive & rigorous corporate governance

The effects of these principles have been overwhelmingly positive. In 2018, IBM implemented approximately 1,900 energy-saving projects across 300 locations, lowering their energy use by 151,000 MWh and saving an associated 53,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

This culture of responsibility also inspires the firm’s employees, with IBMers volunteering 1.3 million hours and donating over $24 million to charitable organizations last year.

Top-Rated Technology Consulting Firms

IBM Cloud Advisory Services

As one of the top-rated IT consulting services, IBM helps organizations ramp up the cloud learning curve quickly through their Cloud Advisory Services.

These IT hybrid cloud computing professionals work alongside clients to identify and implement individualized cloud-based solutions that are designed to improve efficiency and the bottom line. The firm has served big-name clients like American Airlines, Honda, and Bitly. 

Potential clients get guidance on stumbling blocks to avoid and assistance with any level of cloud adoption needed from planning and design to migration.

Rating Summary

Well known in the industry as a pioneer, IBM Global Technology Services is a name that speaks to over a century of experience using technology to enable businesses to innovate and evolve. 

With one of the richest IT consulting backgrounds, multiple resources for any type of technology need, and a reputation for results-based solutions, IBM solidifies their 5-star rating as a top IT consulting firm to consider for your technology needs in 2019.   

Read More: Best HR Consulting Firms This Year (Ranking and Review)

KPMG Review

A member of the “Big Four” auditing firms, KPMG is a professional services company that offers audit, tax, and advisory services. Data-driven solutions through IT consulting are included in their advisory functions.

KPMG has over 207,000 specialized professionals assisting clients in multiple industries. This global IT consulting and professional services firm is based in the Netherlands, with over 750 locations around the globe.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of KPMG as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Value-Based Company Culture

As one of the top-rated IT consulting firms, KPMG is committed to maintaining a value-based corporate culture, demonstrated through their Code of Conduct. 

This document provides a basis that guides behaviors and actions at KPMG, focusing on integrity at the forefront.

When it comes to the client-firm relationship, KPMG is dedicated to confidentiality, quality, engagement, and ethical practices, setting high standards for IT consulting firms and instilling trust in their clients.

IT Consulting Capabilities

Traditionally, KPMG is not as well-known for its IT consulting services, however, their visibility has increased significantly due to sound strategies and expanded IT consulting capabilities.

The IT consulting arm of KPMG assists clients in the following areas:

• Developing appropriate IT strategies
• Regulating and controlling financial and operational risks
• IT risk management and controls
• Assistance with outsourcing or offshoring IT services
• Cost optimization
• Logistics and chain supply issues

Partnering with KPMG for IT consulting services can be extremely advantageous for a business, because the firm is independent, objective, and focuses solely on the business impact of technology.

KPMG offers its clients the following IT consulting services:

• Applications Rationalization
• Business Alignment
• Cloud Strategy and Deployment
• Change Management
• Data Center Strategy and Optimization
• Demand Management Infrastructure
• Rationalization
• Enterprise Architecture
• Technology Business Management
• Employee Engagement

Rating Summary

KPMG may be more known for its audit capabilities however the firm has also created a robust IT consulting arm that compliments their advisory services. They use cutting-edge solutions to improve revenue growth, mitigate risk, and help clients streamline operations.

With a commitment to integrity, a talent for data analytics and application, and a goal of enhancing overall value for their clients, KPMG earns 5 stars as a top-rated IT consulting firm to consider partnering with this year.

Related: Best Economic Consulting Firms | Ranking and Comparison

McKinsey & Company Review

Helping organizations set a course to reach their most important goals, McKinsey & Company is a global IT consulting firm that partners with businesses, government and non-government entities, and not-for-profits.

The firm works with people in 65 countries and has 30,000 professionals working to help clients create change that matters. They have a history that spans over 90 years and champion a commitment to diversity and strong values.

Key Factors That Led Us to Rank McKinsey as One of the Top IT Consulting Firms

Investments in Knowledge

The success of McKinsey is anchored in a detailed, in-depth understanding of each client’s institutional context, sector dynamics, and economic environment.

Researching these aspects is something that the firm is strongly dedicated to, investing over $600 million each year to studying markets, trends, and best practices across the globe to provide the best insights possible to their clients.

Not only does McKinsey share its findings with their clients, but they also publish the results of their research on a regular basis, supporting a global community of thought leaders.

A great example of McKinsey’s dedication to research is Women Matter, a research initiative which reveals the importance of gender diversity on a localized and a global scale.

Women Matter has celebrated over a decade of global research, and the most current findings can be found in Five-Fifty, a series of reports and articles exploring why women continue to be under-represented in management to this day.

2019’s Top Technology Consulting Companies

Digital McKinsey

For clients looking for the best IT consulting services, Digital McKinsey is a one-stop-shop for all things related to IT, data, and technology. This top IT consulting firm offers over 20 different services, each grouped into specific goals to help clients:

• Disrupt with game-changing strategies
• Build a digital culture
• Modernize core technology
• Create stunning digital experiences
• Turbo-charge marketing & sales
• Optimize your operations

No matter what a company’s specific IT goals are, Digital McKinsey uses a value-based approach to navigate the complexities of a changing environment, reinvent the base of an organization, and maximize the effectiveness of their IT consulting services.

According to McKinsey, the result is a 25x average return on fees, making their IT strategy consulting services excellent value for many.

Rating Summary

McKinsey & Company is a firm that is not only committed to making a positive impact on their clients’ businesses but also on the world at large. They believe in creating change that matters and you’ll find that represented in the firm’s social initiatives and diverse, global corporate culture.

With a full range of services, a commitment to social responsibility, and a reputation for innovative change, McKinsey & Company scores 5 stars as one of the best IT consultancies to consider working with in 2019.

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Cognizant Technology Solutions Review

Preparing companies for the future of work, Cognizant is a top-rated IT consulting firm that works to advance companies in scale and speed through the use of digital technology.

The firm has a global footprint and a reputation for sustained growth and increasing its expertise through acquisitions. This top IT consultancy is ranked 193 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently named as one of the most admired companies in the world.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of Cognizant as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Global History & Perspective

For companies that need an IT consulting firm with a global perspective, Cognizant is an excellent fit. The firm first began in India as a technology unit of Dun & Bradstreet and began working with external clients in 1996.

Two years later, Cognizant made its initial public offering, becoming the first software services firm listed on the NASDAQ. The company experienced a period of rapid growth in the 2000s, leading it to be recognized on the following corporate listings: 

• Fortune 500
• Newsweek’s World Green Ranking
• Financial Times Global 500
• Fortune Global 2000
• Forbes FastTech 25

With the rapid growth and ongoing success, Cognizant has expanded across the world, with more than 270 offices and digital hubs throughout the world.

For companies that likewise want to expand their global footprint, the firm’s international history and expansive reach can offer significant advantages when competing on a global scale.

The Cognizant Difference

As one of the top technology consulting firms, Cognizant adheres to a comprehensive value proposition, which relies upon client service, deep domain expertise, and vast global resources.

Called “The Cognizant Difference,” their value proposition is designed to implement digital transformations across large, established companies. It includes the following:

• Deep technology and industry expertise at the scale required
• Long-term, trusted relationships that help to implement their clients’ most essential business processes
• An agile, diverse, globally born team
• A client-first culture
• A sound management track record

Rating Summary

Cognizant has greatly increased its IT consulting expertise and depth of experience through strategic acquisitions that have positioned them as one of the top global IT consulting firms to work with.

Although the firm definitely has top industry expertise, our review process also takes firm culture into consideration, which is ultimately why Cognizant has been awarded a 3-star rating.

Reviews from Cognizant employees on sites such as Vault and Glassdoor are significantly lower than the other top IT consulting companies on our 2019 ranking. Many employees note frustration with a lack of organization, work weeks over 50-hours, and little room for growth.

This is problematic because, in our experience, the best client experiences with IT consulting services come from team members that feel empowered and fully supported by their firm and have an appropriate work/life balance.

While Cognizant holds an excellent set of client-facing values, this IT consulting firm may benefit from improving their workplace culture to foster employee contentment and wellbeing. This is a move which could easily cause them to score higher on a future ranking.

Related: Best Boutique Consulting Firms | Review and Comparison Ranking

Tata Consultancy Services Review

Dedicated to helping clients create the future, Tata Consultancy Services is a global IT consulting firm that combines technical expertise with business intelligence.

Tata was originally founded in India in 1968 and has since grown to employing 436,641 professionals in 46 countries across the world. This top-rated IT consultancy works with clients across 10 industries and counts American Greetings and GE Power among its customers.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of Tata Consultancy Services as a Top IT Consulting Firm

Cognitive Business Operations

Tata has been recognized as a leader in digital augmentation. The firm’s cognitive business operations work to digitally enhance operations by using technology to enable superior outcomes, reduce costs, and boost capabilities.

Three key solutions this top-rated IT consulting company utilizes in this area are:

• TCS Analytics & Insights Services: Designed to increase the response rate, reduce the cost of customer acquisition and decrease marketing spend

• TCS ValueBPS™: Helps power accelerated business growth and speeds the reach of company goals

• TCS Utility Solutions: Ensures firms can leverage analytics to reduce cost-to-serve, maximize profits, and improve customer outcomes

By taking a holistic approach to technology-driven success, Tata helps clients realize their goals faster, more efficiently, and with a better chance of rapid adoption and sustainability.

CHROMA™ Talent Solution

IT consulting firms that develop and deploy their own IT solutions offer additional value to their clients and can often customize their solutions to fit a client’s distinct needs.

One of Tata’s application offerings is a human resources platform called CHROMA™. This tool is designed to help enterprises rapidly adopt best HR practices, promote team collaboration, and nurture talent.

This unique IT solution is designed to manage a team from hiring to separation and includes benefits such as:

• Agile HR Practices
• Collaboration and Work Culture
• Nurtured Talent
• Greater Levels of Employee Engagement
• Potential Tapping Across the Enterprise

A testament to any IT consulting firm’s expertise is the creation of their own applications that can help companies get ahead, and this one is just one of many offered by this top-rated technology consulting firm.

IT Consulting Firms to Consider in 2019

Rating Summary

Tata Consultancy Services has worked to become a more well-known name beyond their part of the world, and their standing as 16th in the world on Vault’s 2019 Best Consulting Firms for IT Strategy Consulting (up a position from last year), shows that they’re headed in the right direction.

With a focus on custom IT solutions and a wide range of experience and industry know-how, Tata has earned its place among other top-rated consulting firms.

However, we did find that the firm could better improve their employee satisfaction ratings on sites like Glassdoor. Satisfied employees go a long way towards ensuring clients are well taken care of and are also satisfied with their experience.

On average, TCS employees on Glassdoor give the firm a rating of 3.7, a rating that is at the low end when compared to other top-rated IT consulting firms on our list. Thus, we have scored them with 3-stars.

Many employees reviewing the firm cite issues with high workloads, making it difficult to manage a healthy work-life balance. Another common concern is that the firm has poor internal communication.

We’ve noted that the firm is going in the right direction with a slightly higher Glassdoor rating by .3 points than last year. So, with a continued focus on employee satisfaction and a nurturing workplace, they could easily score a higher rating on a future ranking.  

 Popular Article: Top Consulting Firms (Review: Best Management Consulting Firms)

Wipro Technologies Review

With a passion for helping their clients succeed, Wipro is a top multiservice firm that was founded in 1945 and offers IT consulting, system integration, and digital strategy services.

This top IT consulting company employs a team of 160,000 that serve clients across six continents. They harness the power of cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, analytics, and other emerging technologies.

Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of Wipro as a Top IT Consulting Firm

History of Reinventing Itself

Wipro was first incorporated to produce vegetable and refined oils in 1945 as “Western India Palm Refined Oil Limited” or “Wipro” for short. The company later expanded into IT consulting in 1982 while continuing its consumer products manufacturing division.

Wipro secured a wide range of significant deals with various companies throughout the 2000s, including Lockheed Martin and Nokia Siemens Networks in 2007 and ATCO in 2014.

In 2014, Wipro was selected as the DSJ Global Sector Leader for the Software & Service Industry. Two years later, this top IT consulting company became a player in the US health insurance market with its acquisition of HealthPlan Services.

Innovative Client Themes

As a top-rated IT consulting company, Wipro is dedicated to skillfully implementing technology and innovation for each of their clients. It works with some of the most emerging technologies, such as robotics and artificial intelligence.

This IT consulting firm works with clients in 25 different industries helping them harness the power of IT to transform their core operations. The firm’s technological expertise includes the following areas:

• Big Data
• Blockchain
• Cloud
• Cybersecurity & Enterprise Risk
• DevOps
• Enterprise Architecture
• Enterprise Ops Transformation
• Industry 4.0
• Internet of Things
• Mobility
• Open Source
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Software Defined Everything

Rating Summary

Wipro has a history of positive change in its own organization and has helped clients in multiple industries similarly grow their businesses through the use of data-driven solutions.

The firm has a reputation for being ahead of the trends when it comes to new technologies and having a wide range of IT consulting capabilities covering everything from data analytics to hyper-automation.

However, although Wipro has demonstrated strong growth in the past, the firm is beginning to show signs of difficulty competing with other top global IT consulting firms, which is why they’ve scored a 3-star rating.

Although Wipro is still a top-rated IT consulting firm and has a lot to offer companies looking for technology guidance, the firm will need an additional competitive edge to compete with authoritative IT consulting firms like McKinsey & Company and IBM.

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Conclusion – 2019 Top 10 Best IT Consulting Services & Technology Consulting Firms

Technology is perhaps one of the first areas in a company where the benefits of a consultant are quickly recognized. The speed of evolving technology is starting to separate those businesses that can keep up from those that can’t.

The best IT consulting firms can come in and look at an organization’s most immediate needs first, then provide the right technology solution to engage change, reduce costs, and improve overall productivity.

The data analytics capabilities of IT consultancies can ensure principals have the information they need to make smart, informed, and strategic business decisions. IT consultants achieve this through the harnessing of company and client data and comprehensive reporting.

If you’ve been wondering how your company can take better advantage of technology to drive your workflows and organizational processes, the right top IT consulting firm can take your dreams and turn them into a digital reality.

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Image sources:

• https://pixabay.com/illustrations/artificial-intelligence-brain-think-3382507/
• https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/inclusion-diversity/gender-equality
• https://www.capgemini.com/events/hpe-discover-2019/
• https://www.ibm.com/services
• https://www.mckinsey.com/
• https://www.tcs.com/tcs-chroma

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Summary

Source

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It is also referred to as IP Telephony, Internet Telephony, and Internet Calling. It is an alternative way of making phone calls that can be very cheap or completely free. The ‘phone’ part is not always present anymore, as you can communicate without a telephone set. VoIP has been named the most successful technology of the last decade. 

VoIP has a lot of advantages over the traditional phone system. The main reason for which people are so massively turning to VoIP technology is the cost. In businesses, VoIP is a way to cut down communication cost, add more features to communication and interaction between employees and with customers so that to render the system more efficient and of better quality. For individuals, VoIP is not only the things that have revolutionized voice calling worldwide, but it is also a means to have fun communicating through computers and mobile devices for free.

Looking for a New VoIP Provider? Here Are the Best

One of the pioneering services that made VoIP so popular is Skype. It has allowed people to share instant messages and make voice and video calls for free worldwide. 

VoIP is said to be cheap, but most people use it for free. Yes, if you have a computer with a microphone and speakers, and a good Internet connection, you can communicate using VoIP for free. This can also be possible with your mobile and home phone.

There are many ways of using VoIP technology. It all depends on where and how you will be making the calls. It could be at home, at work, in your corporate network, during a travel and even on the beach. The way you make calls varies with the VoIP service you use.

The great thing about VoIP is that it taps additional value from the already existing infrastructure without additional costs. VoIP transmits the sounds you make over the standard Internet infrastructure, using the IP Protocol. This is how you can communicate without paying for more than your monthly Internet bill. Skype is the most popular example of services that allow you to make free calls on your PC. There are many computer-based VoIP services out there, so many that you will have a difficult choice. You can also make free calls using traditional phones and mobile phones. See the different flavors of VoIP service that allow you to do this.

VoIP can be used for free with computers and even, in some cases, with mobile and landline phones. However, when it is used to completely replace the PSTN service, then it has a price. But this price is way cheaper than standard phone calls. This becomes thrilling when you consider international calls. Some people have had their communication costs on international calls cut down by 90% thanks to VoIP.

What makes calls free or paid really depends on many factors, including the nature of the call and the services offered. You only have to choose one depending on the nature of your communication and needs.

VoIP is a relatively new technology and it has already achieved wide acceptance and use. There is still a lot to improve and it is expected to have major technological advances in VoIP in the future. It has so far proved to be a good candidate for replacing the POTS (Plain Old Telephone System). It, of course, has drawbacks along with the numerous advantages it brings; and its increasing use worldwide is creating new considerations surrounding its regulations and security.

The growth of VoIP today can be compared to that of the Internet in the early 90’s. The public is getting more and more conscious of the advantages they can reap from VoIP at home or in their businesses. VoIP which not only gives facilities and allows people to save​ but also generating huge income for those who ventured early into the new phenomenon.

Source

Who is this guide for?

If you own, manage, monetize, or promote online content via Google Search, this guide is meant for you. You might be the owner of a growing and thriving business, the webmaster of a dozen sites, the SEO specialist in a Web agency or a DIY SEO ninja passionate about the mechanics of Search : this guide is meant for you. If you’re interested in having a complete overview of the basics of SEO according to our best practices, you are indeed in the right place. This guide won’t provide any secrets that’ll automatically rank your site first in Google (sorry!), but following the best practices outlined below will hopefully make it easier for search engines to crawl, index and understand your content.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is often about making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on your site’s user experience and performance in organic search results. You’re likely already familiar with many of the topics in this guide, because they’re essential ingredients for any web page, but you may not be making the most out of them.

You should build a website to benefit your users, and any optimization should be geared toward making the user experience better. One of those users is a search engine, which helps other users discover your content. Search Engine Optimization is about helping search engines understand and present content. Your site may be smaller or larger than our example site and offer vastly different content, but the optimization topics we discuss below should apply to sites of all sizes and types. We hope our guide gives you some fresh ideas on how to improve your website, and we’d love to hear your questions, feedback, and success stories in the Google Webmaster Help Forum1.

We hope you will enjoy the content and we hope to hear and integrate your feedback via our Google support Forums

Feel free to save, print off the guide responsibly and re-share it: let’s improve the quality of the web.

Happy reading!

Signed,
The Google Search Quality team

Contents

• Getting started
• Help Google find your content
• Tell Google which pages shouldn’t be crawled
• Help Google (and users) understand your content
• Manage your appearance in Google Search results
• Organize your site hierarchy
• Optimize your content
• Optimize your images
• Make your site mobile-friendly
• Promote your website
• Analyze your search performance and user behavior
• Appendix: Link URLs used in this paper

Getting started

Glossary

Here’s a short glossary of important terms used in this guide:

• Index – Google stores all web pages that it knows about in its index. The index entry for each page describes the content and location (URL) of that page. To index is when Google fetches a page, reads it, and adds it to the index: Google indexed several pages on my site today.
• Crawl – The process of looking for new or updated web pages. Google discovers URLs by following links, by reading sitemaps, and by many other means. Google crawls the web, looking for new pages, then indexes them (when appropriate).
• Crawler – Automated software that crawls (fetches) pages from the web and indexes them.
• Googlebot – The generic name of Google’s crawler. Googlebot crawls the web constantly.
• SEO – Search engine optimization: the process of making your site better for search engines. Also the job title of a person who does this for a living: We just hired a new SEO to improve our presence on the web.

Are you on Google?

Determine whether your site is in Google’s index – Do a site: search for your site’s home URL. If you see results, you’re in the index. For example, a search for “site:wikipedia.org” returns these results2.

If your site isn’t in Google – Although Google crawls billions of pages, it’s inevitable that some sites will be missed. When our crawlers miss a site, it’s frequently for one of the following reasons:

• The site isn’t well connected from other sites on the web
• You’ve just launched a new site and Google hasn’t had time to crawl it yet
• The design of the site makes it difficult for Google to crawl its content effectively
• Google received an error when trying to crawl your site
• Your policy blocks Google from crawling the site

How do I get my site on Google?

Inclusion in Google’s search results is free and easy; you don’t even need to submit your site to Google. Google is a fully automated search engine that uses web crawlers to explore the web constantly, looking for sites to add to our index. In fact, the vast majority of sites listed in our results aren’t manually submitted for inclusion, but found and added automatically when we crawl the web. Learn how Google discovers, crawls, and serves web pages.3

We offer webmaster guidelines4 for building a Google-friendly website. While there’s no guarantee that our crawlers will find a particular site, following these guidelines should help make your site appear in our search results.

Google Search Console provides tools to help you submit your content to Google and monitor how you’re doing in Google Search. If you want, Search Console can even send you alerts on critical issues that Google encounters with your site. Sign up for Search Console5.

Here are a few basic questions to ask yourself about your website when you get started.

• Is my website showing up on Google?
• Do I serve high-quality content to users?
• Is my local business showing up on Google?
• Is my content fast and easy to access on all devices?
• Is my website secure?

You can find additional getting started information on http://g.co/webmasters6

The rest of this document provides guidance on how to improve your site for search engines, organized by topic. You can download a short, printable checklist of tips from http://g.co/WebmasterChecklist7.

Do you need an SEO expert?

An SEO (“search engine optimization”) expert is someone trained to improve your visibility on search engines. By following this guide, you should learn enough to be well on your way to an optimized site. In addition to that, you may want to consider hiring an SEO professional that can help you audit your pages.

Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time. Make sure to research the potential advantages of hiring an SEO, as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including:

• Review of your site content or structure
• Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript
• Content development
• Management of online business development campaigns
• Keyword research
• SEO training
• Expertise in specific markets and geographies

Before beginning your search for an SEO, it’s a great idea to become an educated consumer and get familiar with how search engines work. We recommend going through the entirety of this guide and specifically these resources:

If you’re thinking about hiring an SEO, the earlier the better. A great time to hire is when you’re considering a site redesign, or planning to launch a new site. That way, you and your SEO can ensure that your site is designed to be search engine-friendly from the bottom up. However, a good SEO can also help improve an existing site.

For a detailed rundown on the need for hiring an SEO and what things to look out for, you can read our Help Center article “Do you need an SEO”11

Help Google find your content

The first step to getting your site on Google is to be sure that Google can find it. The best way to do that is to submit a sitemap. A sitemap is a file on your site that tells search engines about new or changed pages on your site. Learn more about how to build and submit a sitemap12.

Google also finds pages through links from other pages. See Promote your site later in this document to learn how to encourage people to discover your site.

Tell Google which pages shouldn’t be crawled

Best Practices

For non-sensitive information, block unwanted crawling by using robots.txt

A “robots.txt” file tells search engines whether they can access and therefore crawl parts of your site. This file, which must be named “robots.txt”, is placed in the root directory of your site. It is possible that pages blocked by robots.txt can still be crawled, so for sensitive pages you should use a more secure method.

You may not want certain pages of your site crawled because they might not be useful to users if found in a search engine’s search results. If you do want to prevent search engines from crawling your pages, Google Search Console has a friendly robots.txt generator to help you create this file. Note that if your site uses subdomains and you wish to have certain pages not crawled on a particular subdomain, you’ll have to create a separate robots.txt file for that subdomain. For more information on robots.txt, we suggest this Webmaster Help Center guide on using robots.txt files13.

Read about several other ways to prevent content from appearing in search results.14

Avoid:

• Don’t let your internal search result pages be crawled by Google. Users dislike clicking a search engine result only to land on another search result page on your site.
• Allowing URLs created as a result of proxy services to be crawled.

For sensitive information, use more secure methods

Robots.txt is not an appropriate or effective way of blocking sensitive or confidential material. It only instructs well-behaved crawlers that the pages are not for them, but it does not prevent your server from delivering those pages to a browser that requests them. One reason is that search engines could still reference the URLs you block (showing just the URL, no title or snippet) if there happen to be links to those URLs somewhere on the Internet (like referrer logs). Also, non-compliant or rogue search engines that don’t acknowledge the Robots Exclusion Standard could disobey the instructions of your robots.txt. Finally, a curious user could examine the directories or subdirectories in your robots.txt file and guess the URL of the content that you don’t want seen.

In these cases, use the noindex tag if you just want the page not to appear in Google, but don’t mind if any user with a link can reach the page. For real security, though, you should use proper authorization methods, like requiring a user password, or taking the page off your site entirely.

Help Google (and users) understand your content

Let Google see your page the same way a user does

When Googlebot crawls a page, it should see the page the same way an average user does15. For optimal rendering and indexing, always allow Googlebot access to the JavaScript, CSS, and image files used by your website. If your site’s robots.txt file disallows crawling of these assets, it directly harms how well our algorithms render and index your content. This can result in suboptimal rankings.

Recommended action:

• Use the URL Inspection tool16. It will allow you to see exactly how Googlebot sees and renders your content, and it will help you identify and fix a number of indexing issues on your site.

Create unique, accurate page titles

A