6 Questions to Ask before your Hire an IT Consultant

Hiring the right IT consultant is a cost-effective way for a small or medium-sized business to leverage a wide range of technical knowledge. Hiring the wrong IT consulting company can cost you more than money—it will waste your time and effort.

There are many basic hiring questions that you will for sure be asking such as the fee structure, years of experience, credentials and areas of responsibility, but there are a few more critical questions that you don’t want to overlook.

The first step to choosing the best IT consultant for your business is to ask the right questions during your screening process.

Questions to Ask Before You Hire an IT Consultant

#1 Have you worked with companies like mine?

It’s important for IT consulting agencies to have the industry-specific knowledge, but it’s also ideal that they have a broad knowledge base of other industries. This gives them the ability to bring new technology ideas to your business that you may not have thought of before.

 #2 What makes you different from other IT consultants?

Find out if this consultant has any key pieces of experience or knowledge that is specific to your business. Maybe they have local staff that is available to be on-site or specialize in a certain type of IT security. Whatever it may be, learning what sets your potential consultant apart from the rest, is a good way to ensure you’re selecting the right one for your business.

 #3 What will you need from me to do your job?

Once you’ve hired an IT consultant, they are going to need certain pieces of information from you in order to do their work correctly. They will need access to different areas of your business such as IT management information. Get this information up-front so you there are no surprises.

 #4 What is my organization’s biggest IT security risk?

We like this question because it gets your consultant thinking about a customized IT security solution for your unique business needs. Getting a handle on your core risks will help ensure you’re focusing (and spending your money) in the right place.

 #5 Who will perform the work?

Many big firms will hire inexperienced associates to go out on jobs to solve the client’s problems. To make matters worse, it can be a new person every time. It’s important to learn about the team, how big the team is, what the team structure is, and who will be your point of contact.

 #6 How will you communicate with me about the work you will do?

Having good communication is the cornerstone to any good business relationship. Before getting started with a new IT consultant, it’s key to understand the work they will be doing, what the process will be, how they will recommend solutions, and what the deliverables will be throughout the project. The more transparent the consultant, the better your experience will be.

GoTech IT Solutions is a local IT consulting firm offering full-service support, for businesses in Southeastern Wisconsin, Eastern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As a valued and trusted business partner, GoTech focuses on integrity, excellence, employee development and community impact.

We want to understand how you work, how your technology works and ensure you have the right solutions in place to succeed.