Information technology (IT) is big today and enterprises from every domain have adopted information technology in order to streamline their business operations and increase productivity and efficiency. Some of the biggest IT companies today provide an entire range of services to cater to the varied requirements of the enterprises and their distinct business goals and objectives. So, you have IT consulting, managed support services, managed IT services, software development services, and so on. Here let us look at two of these services – IT Managed services and IT Consulting services – to understand their differences.

What is IT Managed Services?

IT Managed Services refer to proactive outsourcing of one or more aspects of a company’s IT infrastructure support and management to a managed service provider. The service provider is an Information Technology firm with a team of domain experts and is referred to as Managed Service Providers (MSP). In this model, the enterprise that seeks the services (the client) holds complete ownership of the IT infrastructure being outsourced while the liability of the provider only extends up to providing the managed services. There is a contract or agreement signed by both parties that defines the criteria and metrics to be adhered to.

While most big IT companies have an in-house team that looks into the management of IT infrastructure, small and medium businesses, including startups, cannot afford to have a team of experts working for them. This makes it difficult for them to keep up with the latest technology updates and security threats. Often non-IT professionals in the firm are forced to research on management of IT infrastructure, which takes up time and drives the focus away from other aspects of business operations.

Common Examples:

Systems Management
Backup & Recovery of Data
Data storage & Management
Management and Monitoring of Network Security
Human Resource Management
Production, Support and Maintenance of Software
What is IT Consulting Services?

IT Consulting Services refer to the practice of companies seeking the advice of domain experts on different fields of information technology in order to gain insights on making the best use of information technology to achieve their business goals and objectives. It is also called technology consulting and IT advisory, and basically involves an experts offering advisory or consultancy services to an organization (the client). The IT consulting industry involves three major types of consultancy providers – IT companies and firms, staffing firms, and independent consultants.

With the introduction of new concepts in technology, such as the Cloud, mobility and Big Data changing the business scenario, businesses have to constantly evolve their strategies in order to stay competitive. However, having an in-house team to strategize on the IT-based work and operations is not viable option for many small and medium businesses, primarily because of the costs involved and also the obvious lack of expertise and domain experts.

A client organization can hire the services of a IT consulting firm for different purposes, depending on its requirements. So, you have some IT consultants providing objective advice, others sharing their expertise and knowledge with the organization’s development team, and still others offering temporary help to crack a complex project successfully. However, the common goal of the IT consultants is to develop long-term and short-term strategies that help the client organization to drive business growth, and generate new revenue streams.

Common IT Consulting Services Examples:

Website and Database Development and Management
Expertise in use of complex IT tools and processes
Advice regarding the right IT investments
Insights gained from experience to help companies make correct decisions
Both IT Managed Services and IT Consulting services help organizations achieve the common benefits of cost savings, access to expertise and experience, time to focus on core business issues, and more. However, the basic difference is that while consulting involves seeking advice and suggestions from providers, managed services are about seeking their involvement in undertaking the project.

The wrongful death of a loved one can have wide-reaching impacts on surviving family members, including leaving them without income or the ability to pay for funeral expenses.

The Columbus, Ohio, wrongful death attorneys at Robert W. Kerpsack Co., L.P.A., have years of experience helping the families of wrongful death victims recover the financial compensation they need and peace of mind they deserve when a loved one dies as the result of another’s negligence. Ohio wrongful death law allows surviving family members to pursue damages including financial compensation for:

- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of support
- Loss of services
- Loss of society
- Loss of prospective inheritance
- Mental anguish
- Funeral and burial expenses

When a wrongful death lawsuit is successfully litigated or settled in Ohio, the awarded damages are distributed equitably among the decedent’s beneficiaries according to the order of the probate court in the county in which the deceased individual resided. Beneficiaries in Ohio wrongful death cases may include:

- Spouse
- Parents
- Children
- Siblings
- Grandparents

The wrongful death lawsuit must be brought on behalf of surviving family members by the executor of the decedent’s estate or another representative appointed by the court. In successful wrongful death cases, the probate court may appoint a legal guardian to protect the interests of beneficiaries who are either children or mentally incompetent; the probate court may also order the distribution of damages to dependent children to be placed in a trust fund until the child reaches the age of 25.

For more information about wrongful death lawsuits, please see our Questions about Wrongful Death page.

If you believe your family member died as the result of another’s negligence, please contact Robert W. Kerpsack Co., L.P.A., for your free case consultation. Our compassionate wrongful death attorneys are ready to help you through this difficult time.

Website: http://rwklaw.com

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MTD or Making Tax Digital is an initiative of the British Government to digitalize tax filing and accounting for their people. The idea behind the innovation was to help individuals as well as businesses to streamline tax filing, on a single platform.

When Will It Come into Play?

Making Tax Digital is expected to come into practice on April 1, 2019. However, this deadline is only for businesses that have crossed the VAT threshold. Businesses beyond VAT will be included under MTD by April 2020.

Who Is Included Under MTD?

Making Tax Digital will include a wide group of people, ranging from individual taxpayers, landlords, self-employed individuals and all businesses, except a few. Although, by April 2019, it will only be mandatory for the VAT registered businesses with a turnover greater than £85,000.

Why Was the Change Initiated?

The HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) claims that every year billions of pounds are lost to errors and miscalculations during tax filing. To cap these losses, the HMRC proposed the idea of Making Tax Digital administer taxes in a simpler and effective manner, avoiding the possible errors.

In short, Making Taxes Digital has been employed to make tax filing:

Accurate
Making Tax Digital desires to shape the tax process in such a way that there remains little chance of miscalculations and errors. A tight control of fraudulent activities will also be practiced.

Simpler
The HMRC will introduce tax software that allows small businesses to quickly file their taxes online, with ease and efficiency.

Faster
With efficient software available online, the tax filing for business owners and accountants will be more automated and time efficient.

How is Will Making Tax Digital Benefit People?

Everything At One Place
Users with MTD will create a single financial account that will include every detail of their liabilities and claims, all at one place.

Digital Interaction
MTD has replaced the telephonic conversations with online chats and emails. Users will no longer have to wait on call for several minutes to get their queries answered.

Up-to-date Tax Information At Every Time of The Year
Making Tax Digital by HMRC will require its users to update their tax statements at least four times a year. Although it is not a mandate to do it every three months, the information will need to be available on their digital accounts so it can be viewed by HMRC when required. Thus, a comprehensive tax picture for both the user and the government.

Fewer Efforts, More Time At Hand
One digital account will hold every critical information, tax payments will be done on the same platform, documents and spreadsheets will stay on the same account, using a third party software.

With this, tax filing and record keeping will be less of an effort for the users, saving them more time to be used on more important areas.

Tax Planning Better Than Before
By maintaining records digitally, users will develop a habit of updating their taxes regularly. This gives the taxpayers a clearer picture of their tax situation. Using this information, they can manage their taxes better. Payments this way can be budgeted to make financial management easier and effective.

Are There Any Risks Associated With Making Tax Digital?

The only problem with MTD is that a large number of businesses are used to the traditional method of tax filing. These businesses may be apprehensive to make the transition from the current practice to the digital platform. Although it may be scary to use entirely new software knowing that the HMRC is involved in the process, the benefits out-number the risks.

The best thing to do is to prepare you for the upcoming changes to make the best of what the government has in mind.