Why do you hire high-tech consultants?

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“Hi ...., Here are my thoughts on full-time employee vs. consultant decision making: - Some of the tasks are temporary, not permanent; it does not make sense to make investment for a full-time employee for a project that will last only 3 months. - Sometimes the resources are not that deep to cover the costs for an area specialist. Hiring a subject matter expert consultant is the only solution. For example if our clients have security experts but not ethical hackers on board, it is logical to hire a consultant who is focused on a very specific area. Hiring a full-time ethical hacker would be a waste of time for clients since there aren’t enough tasks or projects to utilize a hacker on board, and it is not a good practice to ask them to work on areas out of their focus. - Sometimes there is a deadline. There is no way with full-time hiring process to get the right team of people. Simply working with a consultant shop that already holds the right resources to complete your project is the only way. Even if you have unlimited budget you cannot find a full team of tested reliable team in limited timeframes. - Sometimes you have to work with a consultant because of a requirement. Some consultancy companies hold some certifications that you require (e.g. ISO, clearance etc). It may not be wise to go through full certification for a couple of projects - On some areas a 3rd party is a must for the segregation of duties... You have to hire a consultant. Like in accounting or security, a 3rd party consultant must verify your internal controls. Even if you have better internal resources , you still require a consultant - Consultants are unattached internal company politics, usually they have no history with the client’s internal politics, history of projects, and new full-time hires will not be able to escape from local drivers. Consultants can act more independent - Sometimes it is not the consultant, but the consultant company’s know how that matters. So hiring a full-time employee will not bring in the value of a large organization’s depth to client operations. Usually consultant companies accumulate a large chunk of intellectual capacity, and the clients can reach those reserves via hiring consultant companies’ resources. - Depending on the hiring organization’s structure, contracting somebody would be much faster and easier for the hiring manager when compared with a full-time employee; no benefits, no commission, no career plans etc. I may increase the number of the examples, as you see this is a pro-consultant view. As a consultant I can also write another batch of bullet points on why full-time employees are the right decision, depending on the client’s request :) Let me know if you have any specific questions cheers, - yinal”