Infrastructure survey
Understand what exists before recommending anything.
Written report
Priorities, risks and costs in writing.
Second opinion
Independent reading of proposals from other suppliers.
IT consultancy for businesses
IT consultancy is telling you what to do, in writing, before selling you anything at all. DataRoad provides IT consultancy for businesses nationwide with a simple rule: first the assessment and the report, then — and only then — the proposal. If the report concludes that the best path is to keep what you already have, that is what gets written down.
When it makes sense to call in an IT consultant
There are five situations in which a company gains more from an independent diagnosis than from yet another commercial proposal:
- Thinking of investing and don't know in what. We've got an approved budget for infrastructure and three suppliers recommending different things.
- He inherited an infrastructure with no documentation. You changed your IT manager or supplier and nobody knows for certain what is set up or why.
- Would you like a second opinion?. There is a proposal on the table and you want to know if what is in it is necessary, sufficient, and at market price.
- It will grow, relocate or open an office. Network, server and security decisions made during the move condition the following five years.
- You have to meet formal requirements. GDPR, NIS2, client or insurer audits, specifications.
What the consultancy includes
Infrastructure survey
Network and cabling, servers and virtualisation, workstations, backups, licensing, perimeter and endpoint security, communications. This isn't a questionnaire: it's going on-site, opening the rack and checking what's actually in there against what you think is in there. The two things rarely match.
Prioritised written report
We deliver a document that a non-technical management team can read: what is going well, what is at risk, what is urgent and what can wait, each point with its business impact and an order-of-magnitude cost. With deadlines, so it can be turned into a plan.
Second opinion on third-party proposals
We analyse proposals from other suppliers and provide our written assessment: what is necessary, what is redundant, what is missing and what is abnormally priced. We do this even when the conclusion is that the proposal is correct.
Monitoring of execution
If you like, we can stay by your side during the execution — whether designed by us or another supplier — to validate that what was delivered matches what was contracted. Cabling certification, performance tests, verification of configurations and backups.
How we work, and what makes us different
| Principle | In practice |
|---|---|
| Diagnosis first | Survey and written report prior to any commercial proposal |
| No own catalogue | We neither develop nor resell management software. We have no interest in replacing yours |
| Multi-vendor | We recommend the right solution because we master several, not because we only have one |
| Independence of the result | The report is yours and remains valid even if the execution is carried out by someone else |
| Ground presence | Collection in-store in Lisbon, Porto and nationwide |
Where we operate
The consultancy is carried out on-site. We have teams in Lisbon and no Porto and we travel all over the country, including Setúbal, Barreiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Braga e Sintra. The full list is in the areas of expertise.
From consultancy to operation
The consultancy ends with the report — it's a fixed-scope service with a beginning and an end. If you decide you also want someone to execute and maintain it, the next step is the IT Unlimited, the support agreement with a written SLA. And if you are comparing suppliers, the criteria for choosing an MSP they apply just as much to us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the IT consultancy paid for separately or is it included?
The initial analysis is free and without obligation: we visit, look at the essentials and tell you whether there is scope for consultancy work. The full assessment with a written report is a quoted service, with a fixed price known before starting. For clients with a support contract, it is included in the annual review.
How long does a withdrawal take?
In a company with 10 to 50 workstations, one to two days on site plus a few days of analysis. The report is usually ready in two weeks. In environments with multiple sites or industrial production, it depends on the number of facilities.
Is the report any use if we decide to hire another supplier to carry it out?
It serves its purpose, and that is how it should be. The report is yours, with enough detail to serve as the basis for a request for proposals. You are not dependent on hiring us next.
What is the difference between IT consultancy and IT support?
Consultancy answers “what should we do” and ends with a document. Support answers “keep this running” and is ongoing. They are different services and can be contracted from different suppliers.
Do you provide consultancy to companies that already have an in-house IT team?
We do, and often. The internal team knows the operation better than anyone, but they're too close to it — an external perspective sees what has become invisible from being looked at every day. The report also serves to internally justify a budget request.
What CAE covers IT consultancy?
It's CAE 62201, “computer consultancy activities”. We explained the differences to the neighbouring codes in CAE 62201 explained.
Consultancy is one of the IT services for businesses from DataRoad. If the query is about the contracting model, see the comparison IT Unlimited vs. contract and outsourcing; if it's about continuity, the page disaster recovery.
Where we do IT consultancy
We work nationwide, but most of the audits take place in Greater Lisbon and the south bank. We have dedicated pages with the context for each area, in order to IT consultancy in Lisbon, IT consultancy in Setúbal and to IT consultancy in Barreiro. For longer trips outside of there, the itinerary is agreed upon in advance and is written into the proposal.
Book the first analysis
The initial consultation is free with no obligation. Call 211 459 950 or write to [email protected] and we'll arrange a visit.