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March 17, 2023

A good consultant is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.

Have you been considering enlisting the help of a technology consulting firm like JDR, but aren’t fully convinced? You may be asking yourself if you really need a consultant. You may be thinking it would be better to hire someone full time. Maybe you think it is too expensive or not wort the cost.

Below we are sharing some of the benefits of engaging a professional consulting firm:

Larger Talent Pool from Single Source

Unlike recruiting a full time resource who may have very specific experience, consulting firms offer a host of resources in one package. This gives you access to multiple resources with varying experience levels and specializations that are able to tackle any level of project without having to hire multiple resources.

For example, when looking at average industry salaries of various roles within an organization there is a broad range—from entry-level to executive-level experience. Within a consulting firm, you are getting access resources with all levels.

• Helpdesk Professional (3-5 yrs = $55-$85K) – Able to support the day-to-day technology issues. Has a good knowledge of both the front and back-end of the product being supported as well as how the industry works. Many times these individuals have come from working within the industry and have grown and naturally stepped into a consulting role.
• Product Expert (5-10 yrs = $95-$110K) – Able to lead major technology projects and initiatives. Has an even more extensive knowledge of both the front and back-end of the product being implemented as well as how the industry works. These individuals have typically started their careers in a helpdesk/support role, naturally progressing to more of a project expert/project management role within the industry before stepping into a consulting role. As a consultant they have lead numerous implementation and custom projects.
• Developer (5-10 yrs experience = $100-$120K) – Developers not only have the deep industry and front and back-end product experience, but they also have more specialized training in programming and development of custom solutions. Developers are your go-to source to solve a complex technology challenge. They work magic with back end data to get you the information you need in the format you need.
• Executive/CIO (10-20 yrs experience = $150-$225K) – Your executive-level or “C-Suite” consultants are what you would call industry veterans. They have most often worked in the industry (or similar) for their entire professional career, and served in leadership roles for multiple organizations. Executive level consultants are the strategic thinkers that you go to for process review and improvement.

As you can imagine, to hire/cover all of the above roles would be a great expense, but if you are able to find a good consulting firm who can cover several, if not all of these roles, you can rest assured that no matter the issue or setback, you are covered.

Effective from Day 1

Another trait you will find in a good consulting firm is that their consultants are highly trained in their area of expertise, giving your organization a boost from day 1. There is little to no training that will need to occur for the consultant to get up to speed and running on your project/initiative other than some brief discovery to learn a little more about your organization, your unique processes and your unique system setup.

Today, most organizations are running as lean as possible, and don’t have the resources to spare or cover while their new hire is getting up to speed. Sometimes there is no-one in the role or knowledgeable enough to provide effective training. Did you know that it can take 6-24 months for a new hire to become 100% effective? Most organizations don’t have that sort of time or money to invest.

Ensures Continuity

Across the board, we hear from organizations who are facing the growing challenge of retaining employees. You spend valuable time and money to bring a new resource up to speed and then they walk away for another opportunity at the first chance they get.

Consultants ensure continuity for your organization, allowing you to operate seamlessly in the case of employee leave, vacations and turnover. Consultancies are made up of a team of highly trained individuals—not just one resource. And, these resources are cross-trained on multiple accounts, offering coverage when and where you need it.

“Obligation” is Short-Term

Consider this scenario. You have a new technology initiative upcoming, an implementation. You need a resource to manage the project. You have two options: 1) you could hire a full time resource for the duration of the project, knowing that you will have to either retrain and find a place for them after the project is complete or let them go, or 2) you can hire a consultant with the up-front understanding that once the project is complete, they will move on. Consultants are used to moving from one project to the next, supporting new clients all the time.

Why go through all of the trouble and expense of recruiting, interviewing and onboarding an employee for just a short period of time, when you can have a qualified expert who has completed similar projects, ready to go on day 1 AND without the formalities of a new hire?

Easily Shift Resources

When you engage a consultancy for an ongoing partnership vs. bringing someone on full time, you are also afforded greater flexibility for your money. Perhaps when your brought on the consultant, the need was in one specific area, such as implementations, but as time evolved the greater need was in another area such as accounting.

Consulting firms can quickly and easily reallocate consulting hours as your organizational needs change, quickly applying the right resources to the area currently in need. This is in contrast to hiring an employee who may have only one specialization, and could not easily step into a role requiring a completely different skill set without extensive training.

Lower Actual Cost

Many organizations are under the misconception that hiring a consultant is more costly than hiring a resource full time. When you really think about it, are you considering all of the costs associated with onboarding a new employee. In addition to the base salary, you need to consider benefits, training/ramp up time and office overhead such as space, equipment, internet, phone, etc…

When you do the calculations you will find that the real cost of hiring a new employee can range from 1.5 to 3 times the base salary. With a consultancy, your consulting rate is established and no additional costs go into bringing the resource on. They will complete the job as requested and move on.

Want to find our how JDR can help you meet your system administration and support needs while helping you to predict and control costs? Contact us at info@jdrconsulting.net to learn more.