Ask Slashdot: How Can You Find a Good IT Consultant? 263
Slashdot reader Thelasko says his wife manages a small eight-person business -- but remains unhappy with the company's IT consultant:
She's had endless problems with Windows 10 Pro's update system causing downtime. Anytime she calls the IT consultant, they don't resolve issues to her satisfaction, and the company gets stuck with a large bill. She's resorted to researching and providing support for the company network herself.
The contract is up at the end of the year, and she wants to find a new consultant. The company owner however, doesn't want to switch because all of the work the consultant provided is covered under a "warranty" for 3 years (the company typically gets charged). I don't work in IT myself, and am unable to provide advice. What should they do? How would Slashdot find a reputable consultant?
Leave your best answers in the comments. How can you find a good IT consultant?
The contract is up at the end of the year, and she wants to find a new consultant. The company owner however, doesn't want to switch because all of the work the consultant provided is covered under a "warranty" for 3 years (the company typically gets charged). I don't work in IT myself, and am unable to provide advice. What should they do? How would Slashdot find a reputable consultant?
Leave your best answers in the comments. How can you find a good IT consultant?
Quit (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems her boss doesn't value her work, and quality work in general. I wouldn't advise to stay at such a company on the long term. Nothing will change until she gets overwhelmed and burnt out, and then she'll be the scapegoat for the crisis.
Re: Quit (Score:2)
Pretty sure she is the boss, judging from the question.
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Pretty sure she is the boss, judging from the question.
The summary says the "company owner" is vetoing her decisions, so she may be the day-to-day manager, but is not at the top.
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Note this: Professionals, if your 'boss' routinely vetoes your decisions, you don't have any actual authority!
Change jobs, leave that micromanaging moron alone with his/her veto. It's hopeless.
That warranty makes zero sense to me (Score:5, Insightful)
She's had endless problems with Windows 10 Pro's update system causing downtime.
Yes, that is what it's there for.
Anytime she calls the IT consultant, they don't resolve issues to her satisfaction
Thought: Maybe this is not on the consultant, but the choice to use Windows for everything. But despite all that, lets move on to the main issue...
The company owner however, doesn't want to switch because all of the work the consultant provided is covered under a "warranty" for 3 years
What would a "Warranty" even mean even mean for IT consulting? Within a single year so much about the system would have changes because of Microsoft or hardware updates that any kind of warranty would be meaningless. Also if the work is covered under a warranty, shouldn't that mean they have to repair whatever even if not under contract?
If they are not happy move on, though as I stated before I do not think they can find happiness given what they are giving the IT consultants to work with.
Re:That warranty makes zero sense to me (Score:5, Interesting)
The company owner however, doesn't want to switch because all of the work the consultant provided is covered under a "warranty" for 3 years
Also if the work is covered under a warranty, shouldn't that mean they have to repair whatever even if not under contract?
Better questions, how often have they ever gotten warranty repairs free? Who's time and money is spent investigating a possible warranty issue? If the consultant blames Microsoft, would they ever make a third party review? Even if they did and found shoddy work is mostly at fault, would they ever have the time and resources to drive a process to force the consultant to unwillingly fix it under warranty? I smell a cushy kickback scheme here, the consultant gets the job of finding the problem. So 90% of the time, it's not his fault and he bills in full, while 10% of the time he'll say it's a "free" warranty fix. Of course he bakes that into his rates, but in return he gets all new business because the owner feels he'll lose "invested" warranty time going with somebody else. He's being played by a simple mind trick.
Best post here (Score:2)
Great post and all points she should raise with her boss who wants to keep the contract.
If nothing else, even if they do really want to keep the contract, the company is wasting an opportunity not to re-negotiate the contract based on performance they have see. Either push for a lower price or some kind of performance targets they have to hit or face penalties.
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If nothing else, even if they do really want to keep the contract, the company is wasting an opportunity not to re-negotiate the contract based on performance they have see. Either push for a lower price or some kind of performance targets they have to hit or face penalties.
Good points.
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What would a "Warranty" even mean even mean for IT consulting?
It is just like in Wealth of Nations where Adam Smith compares toll roads to block grants given to the landowner. The network is the road, and the IT problems that need fixing are the weather damage. Everything else is the same; you're way better off paying as you go. If you already paid, just because the landowner is supposed to fix it doesn't stop you from having to sit by the side of the road in your carriage for a week while their minimal repair crew fixes it.
In the enterprise where they have a big IT d
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Thought: Maybe this is not on the consultant, but the choice to use Windows for everything. But despite all that, lets move on to the main issue...
Due to the proprietary nature of the work, using Windows is a requirement. Everyone loves to blame Windows, but a professional consultant needs to work with the customer's requirements.
Great point (Score:3)
The "warranty" acts as a "client retention tool", more than anything, and is probably routed to the sales department as an opportunity to push more billable services at them.
I was thinking of it as marketing, but had not considered the leverage it offered for even more sales - like "Great news! 25% of the problem is covered by your warranty, so you only owe us $10 for the server updates that failed!".
In fact the more I think about it the more I think any kind of unrealistic long term warranty offered seems
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Sanity check his claims. He says the company was spending over $500k/year more on maintenance than vs now.
Obvious bullshit.
First Criterion: WHERE? (Score:3)
It matters where in the world the need is. Without a City and State, I'd be in the dark trying to help.
Don't be female (Score:2, Interesting)
Not kidding. IT bro's are not your friend. If you can manage it have a male negotiate, even if you are the decider. I speak as a female business owner.
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Girls expect contractors to be their 'friends'?
Fuck that, never hire friends as direct reports. The job will be fucked and your friendship will likely end.
You want a friendly professional working relationship. Not like your going to want to go to nudie bars with him after work anyhow.
I'm really torn on this one. (Score:5, Informative)
On one hand I have never seen a "good consultant", on the other hand, how could you expect a single person to fix the complete and utter mess that the Windows 10 update system is?
I have encountered some quite good freelance "support providers", though. They don't have a website, they don't advertise, they seem to be keeping as quiet as they can, because they get more than enough work just by word of mouth. So the only way to find them is to talk to other comparable businesses in your area.
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One of the problems is that the money just isn't there, at least here in Toronto. I've done this work in the past, and although I had happy customers, it was exhausting.
The kind of competence and depth of knowledge to really be able to fix the problems on a small to medium business network can command a near six figure salary ($CAD) at a large company: You'll need to charge at least $100CAD an hour to make a similar net by consulting,
Not many small to medium businesses are going to be willing to pay that so
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They won't? I mean, I'm probably doing a rate increase next year, I'm at $100USD/hour now, it seems too low.
And of course I also don't offer a "warranty". It's per hour. I can't provide a warranty on somebody else's software. That would be insane, every operating system is full of bugs, and I'm not there to custom code an operating system. I'll give discounts when I feel it's appropriate, but that's my discretion.
(And sometimes they ignore my invoices. Handed a guy one last week for $300, got a check
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Get straight to the point, the consultant needs to look over the system and like a dentist, look I know it will hurt and cost a lot but if you want it to stop hurting you need a root canal. The whole system needs to be reworked if you want stability. Look I know it sucks but M$ have basically fucked you over, if you want update stability, you will have to rent the corporate version of the licence and pay every month and then and only then can I control updates. Also for the server, lets toss the M$ piece of
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I'm an ex-IT'er and I don't know (Score:3)
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You need to give them an estimate for assembling a 'detailed project plan and budget'.
Double the number and go to the next higher unit, e.g. if you think 1 week, estimate 2 months. The plan is the hard work, don't lowball.
You don't and this is why. (Score:4, Interesting)
You will be blamed for any changes you make.
Stupid bosses deserve to get what they ask for. Protect yourself, don't fall on your sword for someone guaranteed to yank it free then stick it in your back.
Do your job, get paid, and hand off all problems to the magic company supposed to fix them. Let them own their failure!
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Exactly: She needs to stop doing the work herself and just keep calling the IT consultant. Eventually, the boss will ask why they are paying the IT consultant so much.
The boss won't reward her for doing a job that isn't hers and will more likely blame her if either anything goes wrong, or, for just hiding the issues from the boss (that's the way the boss will see her "researching and providing support for the company network herself.")
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don't fall on your sword for someone guaranteed to yank it free then stick it in your back.
Wait, what? Bloody hell. Don't fall on your damn sword unless it was for the express expediency of the person yanking it free.
If you're not ready to make the sacrifice, don't virtue signal that you will. Or you'll be the one standing there with a sword in one hand a short straw in the other.
But look. There is two ways it goes. You either accept the consultant's recommendation, or you hire a different consultant. We slay legacy dragons, we don't fall on swords.
Freelancers! (Score:5, Interesting)
(1) Do it yourself ... or ...
(2) Find a competent freelancer
The problem is that most smart and competent freelancers get bored of doing network/IT support after a while and either go back to university and do something else, or move into a more interesting part of IT like programming or design.
This brings me to a third idea -- put up ads that you need someone at a local university. You might end up with a career-changer or former freelancer who needs a few dinars on the side to pay for school. Even better if you can pay promptly without too much drama.
Address Business Problems First (Score:5, Interesting)
You are not in a position to be successful.
You're asking the wrong question - instead of asking "how to find a good IT consultant" you should be asking yourself the questions "how can I position myself in order to be able to find a good IT consultant." If the actual decision maker (not you) is making decisions based on faulty understanding (warranty, cost, quality) then you are not in a position to make a good decision. Understanding this will help you resolve the actual problem (the decision making process) rather than the symptom (the poor performance of an IT consultant.) Once you address this, then you'll be able to do things like create evaluation time periods, measure effectiveness, measure cost, measure downtime, and other metrics that should help you solve the problem you initially tried to solve. Before that, you need to solve a deeper problem.
So, I believe you either need to change who is making the decision (delegation), change how they are making the decision (evaluation), or remove yourself from the equation (quit/stop caring), before you address the issue you initially asked about.
Re:Address Business Problems First (Score:5, Insightful)
No, you're wrong and spewing the typical kind of bullshit useless people do.
The problem is the choice of operating system, not the consultant. Microsoft's windows 10 update ills cannot be fixed by any consultant.
Re:Address Business Problems First (Score:4, Interesting)
In the last 3 years, I'd say a good 75% of the problems I get called for are caused by Windows 10 Update. Usually the problem is it replaced a device driver which was working fine, with a "new" version which doesn't work. For about a year there was no fix - Microsoft removed the ability to exempt a device driver from updates. They finally added it back earlier this year, but by then some of our tenants had had to buy new printers because there was no way to make the working printer drivers "stick" in Windows 10.
The next most common is certain Windows functions (usually networking) failing or doing weird things. The cause is, again, Windows Update. This time an update requiring a reboot. But people used to get upset about Windows rebooting overnight without asking them, and losing all their work. So Microsoft erred the other way, too much. And now Windows often doesn't tell you when it needs to reboot to finish installing updates. But until it does, certain parts of Windows "mysteriously" stop working. (I used to just tell people to try rebooting. But with Win 8/10 Microsoft changed it so a shutdown and restart does not constitute a reboot. Shutdown now puts Windows into a hibernate-like state, whereas the updates need an actual reboot. To reboot Windows now, you have to actually select "Restart" from the shutdown options. Which is backwards - most people think a shutdown and power on is a more rigorous form of restarting.)
Unfortunately, all of their businesses are reliant on software which only comes in a Windows version (HIPAA-compliant). Which is why they opted to buy new printers rather than dump Windows.
Windows 10 updates (Score:3)
A good RMM with patch management can also be used to exercise some control over patch approvals at least on business versions of Windows (you are using Pro or Enterprise, right? Not a bunch of Windows Home systems?) and can be used to push u
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It's easy to fix the "windows 10 update ills" by using Windows 10 Enterprise on a domain with a local WSUS server. If your IT department can't set that up, they probably aren't worth what they're paid.
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nope, because win 10 updates can test fine and then still kill specific machines with certain software or hardware
but thanks for the WSUS server commercial hype.
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No, you're wrong and spewing the typical kind of bullshit useless people do.
The problem is the choice of operating system, not the consultant. Microsoft's windows 10 update ills cannot be fixed by any consultant.
Due to proprietary software, Windows is a requirement. A good IT consultant should work with the customer's needs. Blaming the customer is not a solution. I don't know how this got modded 5 insightful. It's very unprofessional.
Additionally, a consultant can and should work with the business to find a software solution that will work the best for that business. If the current software isn't working, the consultant should make recommendations for new software. The current consultant chose Windows 10.
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Completely disagree. While at 8 people the owner likely has undue influence, the benefit of being able to focus on your core business is critical. Any smart business owner will love the opportunity to divest themselves of areas where they lack expertise. Just need to be able to budget for it.
Find Open Source solutions (Score:4, Interesting)
Of the people I know only the worse have remained on Windows, and for the money.
A simple reason, you are just a slave of Microsoft, so, you just work for money.
It used to be that the changes where reasonable and bearable, but really, Win10 is sit
You really want to get better ? Start with replacing 1/10 of the computers that do menial work with Linux + Libreoffice.
It works, and the people dealing with it are better...
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You really want to get better ? Start with replacing 1/10 of the computers that do menial work with Linux + Libreoffice.
That is something for the IT consultant to work out with the customer. A small business isn't going to switch all of it's software without a consultant's help. The question is, how do you find a good consultant?
I know (Score:2)
The real problem (Score:2, Offtopic)
The real problem is that she is blaming the wrong people. The issue lies with those who designed windows update. It is unreasonable to expect third parties to fix design flaws for software they do not control. I have never seen such an error prone process for what should amount to copying files to directories and running a few scripts. It's worse than updating a 6 month stale gentoo installation.
Nothing will help. (Score:5, Insightful)
She's had endless problems with Windows 10 Pro's update system causing downtime.
The problem here is Windows 10 Pro for which there is no magic fix other than not using it. If the product does not perform to your satisfaction then the solution is to not using the product.
People hate this answer because it means moving to another operating system which can be unpleasant but that doesn't make it any less true.
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Windows 8.1 with Update 1 and all the later patches.
Best Windows Ever, which is why MS must kill it to force Win10 upgrade
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Second they would determine if windows was really needed i.e. is there some software which can't be replaced and must use windows sadly this happens more often than you think. I have greatly reduced IT costs by replacing any machines that can be replaced with a Mac leaving only those running specific software on windows
MS needs to let server 2016 have no active hours / (Score:2)
MS needs to let server 2016 have no active hours / let you set them to any time even limit them to say 1 day an week.
But windows needs to go back to the older update system. Stop pushing windows 10 as fast as they do and have SP come back.
If only apple open mac os to more hardware! (Score:2)
If only apple open mac os to more hardware! and did not lock there own hardware down to can't be repaired and is super thin.
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It's just OpenSTEP with a walled garden, surely there are alternatives.
Consider outsourcing (Score:2)
Re:Consider the lilies (Score:2)
Do you have cast-iron proof of that?
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Do you have cast-iron proof of that?
I do not, perhaps we can arrange a taste test or a bake off? Sorry for the typo (but not the pun.)
Not What You're Looking For (Score:2)
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Dedicated IT really isn't sustainable under about 30-50 employees. There just isn't enough to do. It only pays off at about 100 employees.
someone messing with anthing IT.. Your fired!!! (Score:2)
I fire clients who mess with anything without my permission.
I train them to do the simple stuff I want them to do.
Beyond that they touch anything they get fired.
There is nothing worse than trying to fix an issue with someone else mucking it up changing things.
A lot of other consultants do the same.
It sounds like a nightmare client.
I recommend ... (Score:3)
... googling Oxymoron, Inc.
They're the best.
I read about one ... (Score:2)
... named Dogbert in a tech magazine, "Dilbert."
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I think I worked with him a few years ago; he was the only one in the office who stayed out of the way.
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I worked with one when I was a systems analyst at Mobil Oil (now defunct). The manager came to me and said, "You know, I don't think that guy is loyal to our company." A similar line appeared in Dilbert years later by the Pointy Haired Boss: "You know, I don't think our temps are very loyal."
He didn't hurt anything but he didn't add value, either. I rejected all of his proposals as bullshit. That fucking consultant dabbled and poked at stuff all the way to the bank.
Some blanks in the submission (Score:2)
I don't really feel like there is enough information from the 2 or 3 sentences in the submission to make a huge determination on things, but rather it leaves some questions in my mind. I've been doing IT consulting for small businesses as a side gig for 25 years. Biggest things I run into is, they all want what I have at my main gig, but don't want to pay for it. I extrapolated that this fits the issue because of the, "Windows updates causing downtime" bit.
This could be easily solved if the clients were pa
Look at the local University (Score:2)
I would recommend contacting the CS department or Engineering College at the local University.
First, since it is only an 8-person company, it is something that doesn't need a full-time person, which means you won't be the consultant's only priority; and, odds are, they will have a bigger customer that will always be their higher priority.
Second, there are usually many students who help run the University/College/Department systems - including computer labs - which means they have some experience with actual
Referrals, interviewing and knowing what you want (Score:2)
The first thing is to figure out what her expectations are. Do they need to be able to be back up within 15-30 minutes after a catastrophic server failure? Are they willing to pay a premium for immediate responses and a Datto backup system that can spin up the 15-minute backup as a VM locally or in the cloud? Or do they want to pay $10/month for remote monitoring, patch management, managed AV and remote support? Because if they want that, she's going to be disappointed with w
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I am biased, but the consultants I have found focus on desktop support as the primary value-add and then do some hand waving about programming, custom solutions, and process optimization. Very few will support even the most basic Linux system, and mention Asterisk and they decide to cut and run.
Likewise, referrals are generally useless, because most companies don't actually know what they are getting-- the best case scenario is they feel like IT is a "3" on the pain scale, so the consultant must be pretty g
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Love asterisk too. Our amortized cost per line, including enough trunks to host conference calls is $10/user/month. Similar hosted service for some reason is $20/month, despite huge benefits of scale.
It was a learning curve to be sure, especially since we use manual config files, but when we upgrade it will just go to the freepbx GUI and database. Makes it child’s play...
More complex than you're giving it credit (Score:2)
Let's flip this the other direction, and see it from the IT perspective? What's your monthly IT spend like? Are you paying for services or work and not receiving it
There's no easy answer (Score:2)
But you need an actual consultant, that can provide business level consultation, not just break/fix windows, because its always broken and can't be fixed.
The only complaint called out by OP is windows update on Win10Pro, and its probably not the consultants vault, or within their skillset to do anything about. I'd argue Win10 Pro is really Win10 Pro(sumer), and probably shouldn't be used by anyone not content to accept all the defaults and by happy there aren't even more outages than you already get. If y
Easy (Score:2)
Find one that recommends you move away from Windows 10. Then you have found one that actually wants to solve your problems instead of seeing you as a perpetual cash cow.
Same as any other contractor? (Score:2)
This is pretty much the same as any service/contractor.
Surely you've tried to hire someone for a home renovation or tried to find a good mechanic.
It's mainly by reputation.
Any service can screw you over. Either unintentionally in that they can't diagnose the problem correct. Every had a mystery car problem? They literally just try telling you to swap out parts until it is fixed.
Now try telling any service person to 'fix' or 'workon' a botched job that someone else setup. That's even worse. That's the vast m
If you're within my range, I guarantee it all (Score:2)
...and by guarantee, I mean your satisfaction, you don't pay until after you're happy, every time.
I've been working this way for 25 years.
I come with references, both male and female, micro, small, and medium businesses.
I'm in the Greater Toronto Area.
I have no problem keeping windows 10's update system out of someone's way. It's not difficult. Been dodging it since Vista. Maybe it takes 25 years of experience to learn how to configure windows update. It isn't a challenge.
Split up the job. And: Technology is strategy. (Score:2)
The solution is easy:
Have two completely independant consultants. Once for establishing what needs to be done, plan that and write down the plan.
Another to execute. Have clearly defined milestones and performance indicators to measure if progress was made.
Anyone who want's to really solve a problem does it this way.
Another thing small business owners need to get into their thick scull: Technology is strategy. A decision for a certain type of IT (let's say MS Windows and stuff) is *always* a strategic decisi
competency simulation (Score:2)
The sad fact is that a lot of IT consulting is essentially what a colleague of mine calls "competency simulation". Some people are really good at it and that makes it hard to spot the real deal from those only pretending.
The solution is called a tender offer. It is why large companies make these tenders. So they can weed out, and question and check. I'm working on a large tender offer right now, and it includes a proof-of-concept phase specifically for this purpose.
You need to have your consultants demonstr
You're basically screwed (Score:2)
You publicly announced that you're blaming the consultant for all the problems caused by the Windows 10 updates. Google some IT sites and you'll notice it's not only you, but the whole world, and the problem is at the source, i.e. Microsoft.
Do you think anyone remotely competent will still want this position?
Isn't it wonderful how MS's quality problems get blamed on the consultant? Whoever posted this ask slashdot should get a big fat bribe from them. If they haven't already got it.
Summary (Score:2)
Use the dissatisfaction to renegotiate the contract and make it clear what services are included.
Document everything, and use that as leverage for negotiation.
Ask similar businesses who they use, as the best consultants are found by word of mouth. -- best answer.
Re:You don't. (Score:5, Insightful)
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True dat. The original question is: "How do you find a good (Windows) IT consultant", which is a subset of "good Windows IT", which is, of course, the null set.
Which, while a popular opinion on Slashdot, is incorrect. There are plenty of senior Windows professionals. The problem is that not many companies are will to pay for expert advice. They want cheap service and they get what they pay for.
To find the best, find a company that has senior Windows professionals who are Windows NT experts. Why? Because the underlying Windows system hasn't changed much since Windows NT days. Windows has the same strengths and weaknesses that it had back then and they are wel
Re:You don't. (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that not many companies are will to pay for expert advice.
No. The problem is that people that need an IT consultant are not able to judge quality. If they knew enough to make that judgement, they wouldn't need the consultant in the first place.
And don't give me that crap about "You get what you pay for." That is absolutely untrue in IT.
The best solution in this case is likely for her to build her team's internal skill set. Learn how to troubleshoot and use ServerFault, Microsoft.com, and Google for solutions. If she pays for a "solution", she should make sure she understands exactly what the consultant did, so she can do it herself next time.
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Not universally. As a business owner, the absolute worst use of my time is desktop support, even if I can do the job and even shame people into self-support.
I also struggle to find a consultant that won't screw up, leaving us without any servers for most of a day after a botched Windows update that they failed to realize del
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Don't hire a consultant to do desktop support, hire a professional services company that already staffs a quality support line.
Consultants should not be doing things other than writing code, configuring and architecting networks and systems, etc. One-time or up-front work that is expected to be maintained by different workers.
Hiring a consultant for desktop support is absurd. The sort of help you can get that way is similar but lower quality than just hiring a college student as a floating assistant. And th
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I completely agree. Unfortunately most “consultants” now are in the managed services racket, and their primary value-add is desktop support. We pay something like $50/workstation plus $100/server per month to a consultant. In theory, this includes 10 hours a month towards “projects,” but they have made effectively zero progress.
Why don’t I just fire them and get someone else? I have been interviewing alternatives for the better part of a year, but nobody that is actually conv
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And don't give me that crap about "You get what you pay for." That is absolutely untrue in IT.
THAT is absolutely untrue. You might not be skilled or experienced enough to command a premium, and may not be able to discern others that are, but many of us have built a lifetime of quality work and commitment to education that makes us far more valuable than your average Google-searching server-rebooting monkey IT consultant. Yes, as with almost everything, you do get what you pay for.
Invest in yourself and never apologize for being worth.
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True dat. The original question is: "How do you find a good (Windows) IT consultant", which is a subset of "good Windows IT", which is, of course, the null set.
Which, while a popular opinion on Slashdot, is incorrect. There are plenty of senior Windows professionals. The problem is that not many companies are will to pay for expert advice. They want cheap service and they get what they pay for.
To find the best, find a company that has senior Windows professionals who are Windows NT experts. Why? Because the underlying Windows system hasn't changed much since Windows NT days. Windows has the same strengths and weaknesses that it had back then and they are well understood by the NT guys. The newer Windows guys are brought up with the philosophy that it's easier to re-image, but the worker loses a ton of downtime re-configuring all of their apps. The Windows NT guys were brought up with the philosophy of fixing the OS in place.
Windows "NT guy" here. Windows Update. System Restore. Apps. An infinite array of security policy options. The bloody UI that still gets even seasoned professionals lost. I can think of another dozen things that are vastly different with Windows 10 vs. Windows NT. About the only damn thing that remained was NTFS. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you better find a Windows 10 professional. More specifically a desktop support specialist who specializes in Windows.
See, that is the inherent problem with
Re:You don't. (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't claim to know it "all", but I can tell you, that I know a lot about enough, and a little about a lot.
Quality IT guys these days have loads of experience. I'm part of a team that manages 4,000 mostly Win 10 (a few Win 7, 8) and I have seen weird things on Win 10, but most (almost all) of them are stable and don't have problems updating. The rare few that do have problems updating, we simply re-image. I also realize that is not really an option for a Mom n Pop Store. On the other hand, spending $500 to repair a 5 year old computer having update problems with win 10 is also not really an option IMHO, especially when you can get a replacement for similar or slightly more. How much time / money do you spend fixing a random Win 10 update problem is up to you. But sometimes, it does take 8 hours to fix. And figuring 60/hr for quality IT support is close to that hypothetical/mythical $500 bill above.
And then after spending $500 it still might not work right. Those kind of bills are almost always able to be mitigated by proper backups (who needs those!) and understanding that data is actually more important that the Operating System. Most mom n pop outfits have to weigh the cost of having good IT vs not going broke. The problem is that is far too often a fools gamble. Don't bet against the house, it always wins.
Good IT is expensive, bad IT is costly.
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We have 150 servers, some are Linux. Some are BSD. Some are Windows.
4000 Desktop/Laptops.
We have automated so much, we do it all with a staff of 12 in the IT department. It is all about being able to manage systems effectively, efficiently.
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10 years? You might get 3 or 4 years out of an Apple computer before they compel you to upgrade.
I'm still running my late 2014 Mac Mini at the office...in fact, most of the 300+ team is on that era of Mac Mini (and all on Mac Minis).
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They said good, you said senior.
They said good, you said expert pay.
NT is only a few old DLLs at this point.
But I do agree with one thing; you pay for a Windows consultant, you get a Windows consultant.
I wouldn't touch it; my code is either non-platform-locked, or an embedded system that isn't windoze.
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-Implement a WSUS server, force all systems to go to it ONLY via GPO
-Have someone on-staff to do patch management, with scheduled times for releasing patches from WSUS
-Stay at least one "Feature Update" behind the most recent Win10 release. See the most recent 1809 screw-up.
Windows 10 "software as a service" means you can't just install it and let it sit there
Re: You don't. (Score:2, Insightful)
If you need an IT consultant, you can't handle Linux.
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Linux under the hood can be quite effective though. At 8-15 people, a Synology or QNAP NAS makes for a great server. You can automate backups with a simple GUI as well.
But, when your issues are desktop support, you need a different approach. 8 People should be around $500 per month on a managed services contract. Getting a better level of service would require you to spend about 2-5x that, with results largely proportional to the spend.
Most managed services shops I have interviewed outsource desktop suppo
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If you tell me you want linux, I'm skeptical that I want you as a client; because you'll probably want to choose your distro, and managing all the distros is a PITA. I'd much rather a client who talks about their use case, their business needs, and how much they want to pay.
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To be fair, I have worked at some fairly large companies that took a really long time to get a grip on their windows update issues.
They ended up installing some proprietary tool that was sold by our enterprise security vendor. It was not cheap and it was difficult to set up and required frequent attention, (like 2 people to implement over a month and 1/4 person to maintain).
Since then Microsoft has come out with WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), which allow you to stage updates to an internal server th
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Gee, what an ignorant, blatant assertion...no doubt by a chair occupier in a large corporation.
Small businesses always need competent consulting (which only a few actually get) to help them achieve their goals in business. And, Large Businesses use them as a "check" on their staff, who are often not as up-to-date as is the qualified consul.
I only did it for 20 years, and only to Fortune 500 companies...and no CEO ever complained about my deliverables. It's the insecure programmers and "analysts" who need
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Consultants cost more, though. Not less. And the good ones aren't willing to work for small business because the clients are ignorant, have a bad attitude, cry about the rates, and pay late. It is like HVAC repair; the only reason the boss isn't doing it "himself" (with the janitor's help) is because he'd get electrocuted. But its hard to kill yourself with a PC.
Small businesses don't need more IT consultants, they need to:
1) give their office assistants some "Information Systems" training (app support) and
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The cheapest is the most expensive (Score:2)
> . Don't go for the absolute cheapest solution, unless you're very comfortable with them and they have very strong references.
This in spades! The per-hour rate is negatively correlated with the total cost.
A low rate per hour means "I'm going to spend a lot of hours poking around trying to figure things out". Someone who knows their shit, who has seen this problem before and knows how to fix it correctly, can probably fix it in 15 minutes. They're going to charge for that 15 minutes. It's goin
Ps WHICH certs they have matters (Score:2)
I noticed someone replied poo-pooing certs. Every time I've talked to people who say that in order to understand their thinking, it comes down to "entry level certifications don't guarantee expert knowledge".
MTA and MCSA are explicitly entry-level certifications. They are evidence that the person has sufficient knowledge to BEGIN working with Microsoft products in whichever role they are certified in.
MCSD is evidence of "moderate* knowledge.
MCSE, Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert, is the expert certifica
Try memorizing your way through the CCIE board (Score:2)
Says someone who has clearly never achieved any significant certification.
Try memorizing your way through a CCIE. I'd love to see someone try the 8-hour CCIE lab based on memorization.
Let's say you got a CISSP by a) memorizing and b) deeply understanding roles. You still have 40 hours of CE to do every year to keep the cert.
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Sure, just eight people in the business. ? If I recall Disney started with about that number...but, they never achieved anything you'd respect, did they???
Dessler was replying to a Score 0 post which asked how anyone could give advice without knowing the size of the company. He was not mocking the size of the company, as you seem to imply.
Dessler would have done you and himself a favor by quoting the post he was replying to.
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Jump up and down until your balls drop!
Your consulting rate should be the highest number you can say out loud without giggling.
Millionaire is the new 'thousandaire', aim higher.