The StoneHenge blog

In my various IT roles over the past 30 years I've hired a number of IT consulting firms of all sizes and capabilities, both on-shore and off-shore to help solve a variety of problems. The reasons for using a consulting firm are as varied as the companies that employ them, but a couple that come to mind are:

1. They possess a skill/expertise which is not readily available within your own company
2. They provide incremental manpower at a time when it isn't possible or economical for your company to provide

Over the last year, IT like other industries, has seen varying reductions in both headcount and project funding as companies have reduced costs to weather the economic downturn. Industry analysts say we can expect to see modest growth in IT spending in 2010, but I expect that companies will continue to constrain permanent headcount. The other trend is that companies will likely turn to IT to help drive bottom line improvement not only in "back-office automation" but also in areas such as web-portals to drive customer loyalty. The other reality is that management is going to want these projects delivered sooner rather than later.

Faced with these challenges, IT departments need to consider the use of third-party technology companies to deliver projects for them or in conjunction with them, to better contain costs, headcount and time frames. Regardless of your feelings about consultants or doing "strategic outsourcing," it's a trend that is going to continue and you need to avail your company of the opportunity.

Once you've decided to take the plunge, there are a variety of companies to choose from depending on the type of work you need done. There are lots of articles written about how to evaluate vendors. Those are good sources but one of your first steps is to determine what needs to be done and who has experience in this area. Talk to your friends and business acquaintances - who have they used and how did they like the work that was performed. Interview those companies that you think might be able to do the work, tell them about your project and what you're looking for. Listen to their ideas. They may have some concepts or approaches that you hadn't considered.

StoneHenge Partners is a local IT Consulting and Staffing company that has been in business in Tulsa for almost 11 years and has built strong relationships with a number of Tulsa companies in a variety of industries. StoneHenge has built its reputation around three primary service offerings; Professional services, Strategic Consulting, and Staffing. One of the things we've found is that many of our customers are only familiar with one area of our work, not the full breadth of our capabilities. Over the next few blogs I'm going to talk a little more about each of the offerings in more detail as well as highlight some of our engagements and customers.