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Many small to medium business rely heavily on IT systems to successfully run their business.

If you find yourself spending more and more time managing your network and computers but you don’t need a full time IT person on staff then perhaps now is the time you should consider hiring an IT consultant.

When you start looking for an IT consultant you should consider the following:

Experience. It goes without saying that you need to hire a consultant who has experience in the IT industry.

You should ask the consultant the following questions:

1. Has the IT consultant got experience supporting the same type of business as yours?
2. Do they have any technicians on staff that holds valuable industry certifications, such as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) etc? In order to become certified by Microsoft, a Certified Microsoft Partner must prove their expertise in Microsoft technology and in specific business areas, such as financial management and supply chain management.
3. If you operate Windows Small Business Server onsite does the consulting company have a member of staff who is a Microsoft Small Business Specialist?

References. Ask the following questions to the consulting companies other clients:

1. How well does the company work for them?
2. Ask whether work is done on time and on budget?
3. Also ask whether the consultant responds quickly to problems.

Services. You need to ask the consulting company the following questions:

1. What services does the consulting company provide? If they don’t supply a particular service will they be able to recommend a professional organization that can?
2. What levels of support do they offer?
3. Do they offer offsite support solutions or do they perform all work onsite?
4. Do they offer preventative maintenance plans?
5. What does the preventative maintenance plans involve?
6. How many hours per month are included in the preventative plans?

Schedules and fees. Find out the answers to the following questions:

1. What is their response time?
2. Are you charged a call out fee?
3. Is their a minimum invoice amount?
4. Do they assure a No Fix No Fee policy?
5. What are their business hours?
6. What happens if you call out of hours?

Personality. It is important that a consultant be a technology expert, but it is also important that they be able to work with and talk to people who are not technology experts.

Final Words. Interview a number of potential consultants. Look for the information listed above. This is not a time to just go with the lowest bid: you want the best for the job. After all, isn't that why you hire a consultant?