What are your reasons for seeking out an IT consultant? Most companies look for help when they:

• Lack specific expertise

• Need help identifying and solving problems

• Are short-staffed

• Need an objective point of view

• Need training

• Want (or need) someone to do the “dirty work”

All those reasons require the consultant to know their stuff, be able to work with your team, and understand your business. Here’s how to make sure the consultant you hire can get the job done.

Make Sure Your Consultant Knows Their Stuff

Whatever their other skills, an IT consultant who lacks certain technical knowledge won’t be able to complete tasks on their own or gain the respect that helps them motivate your technology team. So hiring an external IT consultant always starts by evaluating their technical background.

A strong tech background on its own no longer stands as the best criterion for selecting a consultant. And a degree (or degrees) alone doesn’t mean the consultant doesn’t have the hands-on capabilities. Tech skills can come through hobbies, boot camps, or a nano degree program. If the consultant’s resume includes the specific technical skills you require – including knowledge of specific hardware and software products – you should be a good match.

If you aren’t committed to a specific technology or vendor's product, make sure you understand the consultant’s relationship with their suppliers. You need to trust that the technology they recommend will benefit your business, not simply earn them a commission.

Expertise can also be demonstrated by conducting a pre-hire interview with your team, reviewing a portfolio of their work, and/or confirmation of their abilities from in-depth conversations with their references.

Make Sure Your Consultant Knows Your Business

In addition to having the right technical knowledge, an effective IT consultant needs to have the right type of business knowledge. While technology is the same wherever it’s deployed, every business domain has specific constraints that dictate how the technology can be used. While not strictly necessary for solving technical problems, it’s helpful if the consultant has experience working with other businesses in your industry, and the challenges you face.

It’s also helpful if that industry experience was in a company of comparable size. The IT issues, business challenges, and appropriate solutions aren’t the same in a mom-and-pop business as they are for a Fortune 500 firm. Developing a solution appropriate to the environment requires understanding how the business size affects its capabilities and the way it can support a proposed solution.

Make Sure Your Consultant Can Work With Your Team

No one does a job alone; even if you’re hiring the consultant as an individual contributor, they’ll need to be able to work with your team. This means their work style needs to mesh with the way your team works, including synchronizing their work schedule with the team’s schedule.

Generally, this means the consultant needs to have good communication skills. Depending on your workplace, communication may take place in person, via email, over video meetings, or even in PowerPoint presentations– or a combination of these.

Both speaking and writing skills are important. They need the ability to use those skills to work with your IT team, your business contacts, and both the business and IT management groups. Consultants also need the ability to defend their point of view, but also need to be able to recognize when others have a better idea.

Make Sure the Consultant Can Solve Your Problems

When you hire an external IT consultant, you probably have an idea of specific problems you want them to solve. A truly effective consultant, however, can innovate and go beyond the bounds of your problem to identify and solve other issues you haven’t recognized yet. You want a consultant who has the confidence to tell you when you’re wrong, point out what you’re missing, and steer you in the right direction … even if it’s not where you thought you were heading.

Make Sure the Consultant Has a Good Business Reputation

Make sure the company the consultant works for has a solid reputation for thoroughly completing work, finishing on time, and other good business practices. Check out the consultant’s reputation as well; speak with references and confirm that the consultant has a reputation for integrity.

Whenever you add someone to your team, whether an employee or an external consultant, there’s always the worry of whether they’ll work out. By evaluating technical, business, and interpersonal skills, you’re likely to find a consultant who will effectively fit into your team and help your business achieve its goals.

Looking For an Experienced IT Consultant?

Our team at CTC Technologies has experience in IT consulting for mid-market and enterprise companies in the following areas: networking, WLAN, security, data storage and protection, SD-WAN, and more. Ourteam of engineers also has extensive experience in architecting solutions from major vendors like Cisco, Microsoft, and VMWare, just to name a few. And yes,we have references!

If your company has IT knowledge, resource, or talent gaps, reach out to us at (734) 408-0200 or  contact us online today.