COMMENTARY--Times are tough and everyone's trying to get maximum return from minumum outlay. So tell me: are consultants the way to go?
Ok, you're starving, and you only have $20 for food to last you through the month. What do you do?
(A) Hire a dietary consultant for $19.95 who will look at your eating habits and your likes and dislikes, and then tell you where you can get the best deals on your favourite foods.
All right. I may be oversimplifying things, but after listening to a number of stories detailing IT companies' experiences with consultants, I decided to do a bit of research to see if I could find instances where the consultant approach had worked.
Here's one writeup I found: "Who needs consultants? The answer is simple: everyone does! Consultants are no longer viewed as a luxury. They've become a necessity in today's constantly evolving business environment."
No prizes for guessing it was written by two consultants (as a promotion for their new book, How to Start and Run a Successful Consulting Business).
Here's another: "Is hiring a consultant worth the investment? Resoundingly, many HR Directors and CFOs are saying 'yes!' Consultants add value to the organisation and are often worth every penny that you spend, even if their hourly rates may sound high at first." A consultant-written promo that is shamefully self-serving and disarmingly honest at the same time!
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(B) Stop eating. They don't call these "belt-tightening" times for nothing. But judging from reader feedback on topics such as company concerns and buying cycles (see this month's Talkback section), that's exactly what many IT organisations have been doing: nothing. No new purchases, no investments, no marketing. Did someone say "spending freeze"?
Occasionally people I've spoken to get to talking about how the only spending that gets authorised is that having to do with security, and even those cases seem to be more reactionary than visionary. A bit like taking that $20 and spending it on echinacea tablets instead of food.
(C) Pit a few street vendors against each other to see who comes up with the best deal on food for your $20. The thing is that IT product and service vendors are as hungry as you are. Why don't more organisations take advantage of the situation? A single vendor will most certainly give a biased view of how they would be able to solve your problems, so why not make it a competition for your business?
Am I being too hard on IT consultants? I am, after all a guy, so it's genetically impossible for me to even ask a petrol station attendant for directions. Tell me your experiences with consultants at edit@zdnet.com.au.
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