Similarly, employees should be on the lookout for business-process or contractual errors. "Many times people have a point person to deal with consultants," says Siemens' Paul Rightmeyer. What if there's no point person? Are there consultants who consult about consulting? Compass America's Kopeck says his company never proposes it, but companies frequently request this service.
Even after you've done your homework, hiring a consultant still requires a leap of faith. How do you know you're in good hands? Truth is, you don't. The best you can hope for is to hedge against disaster. While the largest consultants provide insurance or bond, and some go so far as to use an encrypted store for customer data, the human element means you have no absolute guarantees. Instead, rely on advisable courses of actions, good references and probable outcomes.
Jonathan Feldman is chief technical manager of the Chatham County government in Savannah, Ga., and a Network Computing contributing editor. Send your comments on these articles to him at [email protected].
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