[TechRepublic] Five questions to ask prospective clients

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Five questions to ask prospective clients Here are five key questions that Brad Egeland has learned to ask at the beginning of any potential consulting engagement. Read more Resource of the day Combine Double-Take Software with Virtualization Technology for Enterprise-Class Disaster Recovery Download this free white paper to learn how combining Double-Take Software's replication solutions with virtualization technologies can achieve additional flexibility and cost-effectively protect critical data and applications for your organization. What to do when a client won't properly license software If a client tries to cut corners by pirating software, your IT consultancy should consider taking these recommended steps. Read more Don't be shy about seeking advice from other IT consultants IT consultants might be reticent to ask peers for advice for various reasons, including pride and egocentric biases. Let us know whether you ask other consultants for advice. Read more Additional TechRepublic resources   Never trust a client's initial project requirements A customer's initial perceived needs for their project often don't mesh with reality. Follow these steps to shape the customer's wish list into real requirements. Read more Five tips for deciding when to replace an aging PC You may not want to part with a system you like -- especially if you've put a lot of money into it. But sometimes it's the sensible thing to do. Brien Posey lists some clear-cut reasons to retire older hardware. Read more Video: Five tips for improving a new Windows PC Bill Detwiler shares five tips for setting up a new computer that every PC owner should consider before going online. Read more 10 things you should know about IPv6 addressing Although IPv6 adoption seems to be moving at a snail's pace, there's no outrunning it. Brien Posey demystifies some of the addressing issues many admins are still trying to figure out. Read more 10 KDE tools you need to try KDE 4.5 offers some impressive tools for all types of Linux users. This list will point you toward the best ones to check out. Read more Five Exchange 2010 gotchas and how to handle them Before upgrading to Exchange 2010, there are five points of caution that administrators should understand. Scott Lowe discusses these Exchange 2010 gotchas and explains how to mitigate each one. Read more Featured multimedia   10 Sysinternals tools you shouldn't be without Derek Schauland chose 10 Sysinternals tools that he finds that he uses the most and that come in handy for special situations for Windows systems. View on site The top 10 geek sins TechRepublic has previously talked about some of the things you can do to increase your geek cred. Naturally, there are also some things that can hurt your reputation as a geek. In fact, we've put together a list of 10 of the worst transgressions for any geek. Doing any one of these will put your geek credentials at risk. Do two of them and your geek card immediately gets revoked. View on site Photos: 20 iPad competitors to watch The Apple iPad has re-energized the market for tablet computers but it has gone nearly all of 2010 without a serious challenger. That will soon change. Here are 20 upstarts taking aim at the iPad. View on site NASA images: Desktop wallpaper from outer space Some of the best desktop wallpaper available comes from the final frontier, where no one has gone before. View on site Featured Webcast A Strategy for Keeping Your Data Secure Security is a concern as more data is compromised by either malicious attacks or employee carelessness. Join this TechRepublic Webcast to explore the most promising ways that IT leaders can ensure the security of their organization. 500 Things Every IT Pro Needs to Know   If you have extra budget to spend, TR Pro's 500 Things Every Technology Professional Needs to Know is a wise investment. You'll get tips on the Windows Registry, optimizing and maintaining your PCs, and much more. Order it today! Today's recommended downloads Combine Double-Take Software with Virtualization Technology for Enterprise-Class Disaster Recovery (Double Take Software) Increase innovation with Google Apps (Google) Free Videocast: Riverbed Steelhead Mobile. View Now (Riverbed) Solve the Desktop Management Challenge (Dell) How Technology Is Changing the Way Talent Does Business (Oracle) Perennial favorites   IT consulting: The importance of naive creativity Can you identify your shortcomings as an IT consultant? Resist the temptation to do wrong by your clients Aligning an IT consultant's abilities to the potential client base Is the rise of the IT supervendors a good thing or a bad thing? IT superpowers IBM, HP, Oracle, and Cisco have been gobbling up big acquisitions to become the one vendor IT departments need. Is this a good trend or a bad trend? Take the poll. TechRepublic newsletters   Get IT advice and techniques, mobile news, Mac tips, and product reviews in these TechRepublic newsletters. Automatically sign up today! Five Tips 10 Things Smartphones Macs in Business Product Spotlight Apple iPad galleries 20 apps that play to the iPad's strengths 20 iPad competitors to watch Apple iPad: The biggest annoyances Cracking open the Apple iPad 3G Connect with TechRepublic

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