Sept. 1, 2007 – Outsourcing your small business’s IT

There are a few simple ways for any small business to identify IT consultants they can trust, and avoid potential pitfalls.

By Justin St. Clair
Published in the St. Louis Small Business Monthly

The thought of hiring an IT consultant can be a source of anxiety for any small business owner. Bringing in consultants to fix or improve your information systems often means handing over access to your company’s most precious and sensitive data. Not getting a project done quickly and correctly ¬– or bringing in an ineffective consultant for long-term operations – can be a crippling blow to productivity.

Fortunately, there are a few simple steps that any small business can follow to identify IT consultants they can trust.

The first step should be to send RFIs (Requests for Information) to at least eight to ten different companies or individual consultants to gather general information about their capabilities and their backgrounds, says Brinda Beasley, Director of Staff Augmentation and Technical Recruiting for The Newberry Group Inc., a global IT consultancy based in St. Charles.

From that first group of firms, there should be several with the capabilities you need. Then you can begin the RFP (Request for Proposals) process, which will give a sense of how much the project is going to cost.

“I would get multiple proposals,” Beasley says. “You’ll get a feel for the price range that way.” Once you’ve narrowed your sights on a short list of companies, then the real work begins.

“Small businesses must do their homework and check out prospective consultants as thoroughly as possible. That means more than just looking over the consultant’s Web site,” says Steve Kelly, Director of the Engineering Process and Quality Assurance Group at The Newberry Group.

“Web sites can be deceptive. Anyone can put anything on a Web site to look qualified when they are not.”

Kelly says that when he is hiring an IT professional, he has a full background check done. He’ll call previous employers to verify information on the resume and try to fill in any gaps. He also doesn’t take things like special certifications at face value.

“If they’re certified, make them show proof of their certification,” Kelly says.

If you’re hiring a consulting company, you need to know what process they go through when hiring their consultants, Beasley says. If the work is going to be done outside of your company’s office, it’s also important to visit the site where the work will be done to make sure it is secure and professional.

“If the work is not going to be done on site, do your diligence,” Beasley says. “You want to know about the facility where your work is going to be done.”

When you’ve found the firm or consultant that’s right for your business, your work isn’t over, Kelly says. Aside from the usual statement of work contract and proof of insurance, you should request a non-disclosure agreement to protect any sensitive data such as proprietary information or production methods. It’s also important to define the project requirements and your company’s needs as much as possible before a consultant starts working.

“The better you are at up-front planning and understanding the scope of work, the better the contractor will be able to figure out and solve your problems,” Kelly said.

Finding a fair price is important, though you also need to remember the importance of having your system up and running as efficiently and as quickly as possible.

“I would go with the company that I thought could really get the job done the first time and get it done right the first time,” Beasley said.

Once the work begins, you’ll want to pay continued attention to the consultant’s methods, security measures, accounting, work ethics and other aspects of the work.

“If I do hire them, I want to know everything they’re doing,” Kelly says.

Without such safeguards, a company’s IT can fall into incompetent hands, valuable information could be stolen, costs can rise and projects can drag on.

By following these simple guidelines, any small business can avoid the possible pitfalls of outsourcing their short-term IT projects or long-term system management.

Finding the right consultant to do such work can be a very cost-effective way to solve your IT problems and keep your system running. It removes the need to add someone to your payroll and the cost of benefits, and you can pay for services on an as-needed basis, Beasley says.

“You get the full capability but you don’t have the responsibility,” she says. “It can be a great benefit, as long as you do your homework.”