--- title: "How to choose an IT consulting firm." url: https://www.hqsolutions.ro/en/guides/how-to-choose-it-consulting/ lang: en site: HQ --- > How to choose an IT consulting firm: what experience to ask for, what to ask before you sign, and how to check the advice is independent. # How to choose an IT consulting firm. A good IT consulting firm helps you save money and avoid the wrong decisions. A weak one sells you what it has to sell and leaves you with infrastructure nobody understands. The difference isn’t always visible in the first conversation, so it’s worth knowing what to look for and what to ask before you sign. ## What experience to ask an IT consulting firm for. The first check is whether the firm actually runs infrastructure, not just gives advice. Purely theoretical consulting can look good on paper, but the useful recommendations come from practice: from migrations done, incidents resolved, and hidden costs seen on site. A consultant who runs systems like yours every day knows what really works and what fails after six months. Ask for references and concrete examples. A firm with real experience can show you situations similar to yours and explain what it decided and why. Tenure matters, but what matters more is whether it has worked with companies of your size and in your field. > Look for a firm that runs infrastructure every day, not one that only gives advice. The useful recommendations come from practice. ## The questions to ask before you sign. A few questions quickly separate a serious firm from one that improvises: what you get at the end and in writing, who keeps the report and documentation, and whether the recommendations are independent of the products the firm sells. If the answers are vague or dodge the written part, that’s a clear signal. Ask, too, how the engagement runs after the audit. A good firm explains the steps, timelines, and estimated costs before you start, not along the way. Predictability at the quote stage is usually a good sign of how the whole engagement will go. > Ask what you get in writing, who keeps the documentation, and whether the recommendations are independent of what the firm sells. ## How to check the advice is independent. The most valuable sign of good consulting is that it also tells you when you don’t need an investment. If every conversation ends with a purchase recommendation, the firm’s interest isn’t necessarily aligned with yours. An independent consultant earns from the right recommendation, not from the commission on a piece of equipment. The engagement model says a lot. Transparent pricing, per user or per project, and public prices show a firm that has nothing to hide in its estimates. With us, for example, prices are public and start at €25 per user, precisely so the conversation begins from your needs, not from budget. > Independent advice also tells you when not to invest. Transparent pricing and public prices are a good sign. ## One-off consulting and long-term engagement. Not every company needs a permanent engagement. Sometimes a one-off consultation is enough: an infrastructure decision, a security assessment, a migration plan. Other times a long-term engagement makes more sense, where the same team knows your systems and helps with every decision as the company grows. A good firm recommends the option you actually need, instead of automatically pushing the largest contract. The simplest starting point is an audit: it shows you where you stand and what kind of support fits you, before any commitment. > Consulting can be one-off or long-term. An audit shows which you need, before any commitment.