Consulting for choosing ICT systems
Surveying the needs for ICT acquisitions and directing IT development projects
IT and ICT technology is a tool, channel of communication and even a critical factor of success in the business of almost every entrepreneur. We offer help and expertise for business needs including the following:
- System acquisition for a SME company – finding the best ICT solution for one’s own business.
- A SME company that seeks a competitive advantage through an operating practice that differs from the conventional model and seeks suitable ready-made or customized ICT solutions.
- A technology company whose own core area of expertise is related to in-depth technology skills, but whose selection requires connections to many ICT solutions.
What is important for the acquisition of ICT solutions besides the cost of acquisition is overall cost, which is affected by things such as working life, maintenance fees and any customization required by one’s own operation now and in the future. Finally, the success of the choice is affected by compatibility between one’s own systems and those of the partner network, as well as the manageability and transferability of the created business data as business, customers’ needs and even the terminal devices used change.
Whether we are talking about an e-mail, customer management, intranet or extranet solution or an Internet service targeted at customers, finding the most suitable ICT solution requires identifying the requirements set for the system by one’s own business operation and studying the available choices from their perspective:
- What are the key requirements one’s own business operation sets for the new system?
- Which of these are related to critical and which to desirable features?
- What should be acquired in the form of ready-made software, and what does available software have to offer?
- What can be customized to better suit one’s personal needs?
- What opportunities and restrictions does customization create?
- How does the planned acquisition fit in with future requirements set by growth or change?
- How to transfer data from old systems, if applicable?
- What kind of solution should be obtained as a cloud service, and how do the solutions offered under this fashionable term differ from each other?
- How to compare solutions that differ from each other in terms of overall cost?
The focus point of the operation of a SME company is the development of its own expertise and competitiveness, and broad expertise in ICT technology is not always available within the company itself. A consultant independent from suppliers will survey the key requirements for operation together with the client and provide support in drafting an offer request and full comparison of the offers, and help with questions related to how one’s own operation and processes should be developed to maximize the benefits of the new system.
A successful project could be launched through an assignment of only a few days of consulting. Contact us, and together we will find the right approach for your company.
Partner: Timo Vasankari, +358-40-5546246
R&D projects and their funding
Every product development project will benefit from careful preparation and planning that forms a basis for flexible but results-oriented direction of the starting project and eventually evaluation of performance and learning from the project. Projects for the growth and internationalization of small and medium enterprises can often apply for public funding, and the application brings its own perspectives and demands into the preparation of projects. It is often most efficient to focus the expertise and resources of the company’s own R&D organization on the implementation of the project itself and use an outside expert in the preparation for the project.
Konsulttiyhtymä AIKA’s services include drafting TEKES funding applications and the project and business plan required for them based on information collected from the client.
Partner Timo Vasankari
Innovations and patenting
Innovation service
Are you sure you have found all patentable innovations in your products? Are you planning to publish a new version in the near future? Let us review your product, search for patentable parts and protect them.
PATENT SURVEYS
- Are you sure your invention is genuinely new?
- Do you have freedom to act?
- Do you know if you are violating your competitor’s patent, or if your competitor is violating yours?
Contact us! We offer the most cost-efficient way of doing all necessary patent-related surveys, such as novelty search, freedom to act and patent landscapes.
IPR STRATEGIES
Do you have an idea, but do not know what to do next? Contact us, and together we will draw a patenting strategy to support the growth of your company.
Partner Janne Aaltonen, +358-40-5833824
Technology management
In technology management consulting, we seek solutions together with company management and R&D that will
- combine agile methods of development and the long-term goals of company strategy
- strengthen the company’s technology and product platforms through the implementation of customer projects
- identify one’s own core area of expertise and ensure its survival and development when there is a desire to expand operations by sub-contracting development work
A product and technology roadmap drawn through consulting that implements the company’s strategy is a key tool for the company for directing and prioritizing its development projects, identifying its needs for R&D expertise and strengthening its core areas of expertise in changing situations affected by external factors, such as turning points in the technology used, or internal factors, such as the company’s desire to grow into new product areas or areas of service. A roadmap that has been phased and drawn from multiple perspectives is also a convenient way of communicating the company’s view of technology and goals to interest groups, such as the partner network, sales channel and current and potential future financiers.
Partner: Timo Vasankari
Interim manager is fast and cost-effective solution
The experts of Konsulttiyhtymä AIKA will also act as interim managers, if necessary. When you only need a top expert for 1-2 days a week, for example, we will provide you a solution. An interim manager is a quick and cost-efficient solution compared to hiring a permanent employee. You get an experienced professional who will quickly get familiar with the project and will make and accomplish changes instead of just telling what should be done. There will be no idling, as the interim manager will leave after a set period of time. Interim managers are available for the following fields:
Marketing manager / Commercial manager: Johanna Siltala, +358-40-5061508
Sales manager: Ari Holm, +358-50-3663381
Business development manager (strategic development projects): Antti Lehtimäki, +358-40-7226448
- strategic management of development project portfolio
- increasing strategic management of the business
- different researchs for new business areas
Technology manager: Timo Vasankari, +358-40-5546246
Manager for turnaround projects: Antti Lehtimäki, +358-40-72226448
CEO: Antti Lehtimäki, +358-40-7226448
If necessary, we will search for potential interim managers also for other tasks according to the client’s needs. Interim manager services operate mainly in the Turku area and the region of Southwest Finland.
If you are interested in working as an interim manager yourself, please contact partner Antti Lehtimäki.