Philipp Harper is a veteran freelance writer who writes about small-business management and finance issues.

By Philipp Harper

Donna Varnum knows firsthand how important a good information-technology consultant can be for a small business.

Varnum, chief executive of Varnum & Associates, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based civil engineering firm, also knows well the pitfalls of a bad IT partner relationship.

She experienced the downside in September 2004 when the server in her firm's satellite office lost one of its three drives. An audit of the system revealed that the other two drives were running at only 7% of capacity. At that point, she recalls, the office's ability to back up data was at best "iffy."

Since the satellite office was responsible for handling millions of dollars in contracts with Florida's state department of transportation, fixing the computer problem quickly was an absolute necessity, Varnum says.

Her company, which has 20 employees and annual sales of around $2 million, turned first to the consultant who six years earlier had designed the system. The consultant, a lone operator, had custom-built the network of five servers and a dozen or so workstations to run Linux, the operating system he was most familiar with.

Time for a change

For the upgrade, however, Varnum wanted to go with a Microsoft operating system, in part because it would be compatible with the new peripherals — a Hewlett-Packard 9000 printer and a Kyocera 2530 copier — she planned to install.

But the consultant had other ideas. He once again built a Linux-based server, and then, Varnum says, "tried to make Linux mimic Microsoft to get the new hardware to work with it. And he couldn't."

With the problem still unresolved in that December, Varnum, who describes herself at that point as being "very upset," decided to make a change.

After soliciting bids from a handful of IT consulting firms, Varnum settled on Aegis Computer Services, also based in Tallahassee. Varnum says she selected Aegis for two primary reasons: The consultants were willing to do the work in the time-frame demanded by Varnum & Associates and, more importantly, they effectively communicated what they thought needed to be done and how they intended to do it.

Communication is key

"They came up with a game plan and laid it out for me," Varnum says. "I guess that's what won it for them." She adds: "I can talk to them. Some of these guys just talk down to you."

Aegis CEO Pam Butler says it was obvious that Varnum relished the attention and the straight talk. "The whole idea of putting her in the driver's seat really appealed to Donna," Butler says. "You could tell she'd been burned."

Varnum was so comfortable with the new relationship that she quickly expanded the scope of the contract to include replacing the firm's entire network, not just the server at the satellite office. By January 2005, the new network — three Dell servers running Windows Server 2003 instead of the five "white boxes" that ran Linux — was up and running. Aegis also changed out about half of the workstations, replacing them with more powerful Acer 1000s that are better able to handle the firm's AutoCAD needs.

Varnum also entered into a monthly service contract under which she's billed about $100 an hour for assistance. So far, she says, the company requires about 20 hours of service a month and she has been impressed by the promptness with which Aegis responds to service requests.

Develop a high-level perspective

For her part, Butler credits Varnum with having a high-level view of technology's role in her business. Says Butler: "You have to think about you business and how it can best employ technology and then hold the technology accountable to deliver what it's supposed to."

More than just farsighted, such an attitude is becoming necessary for business owners and managers who seek to line up competent IT help. Many small and midsized businesses find it more efficient to partner with an IT provider than to hire an in-house technology staff. Such a partnership can be formed in several ways: (1) working with a vendor who provides the business system and software; (2) contracting with a third-party IT consultant; or, in some cases, (3) both.

In any case, the bottom line is this: A good IT partnership, like a good marriage, depends on both sides meeting the expectations of the other. This is especially so for companies that, because of their small size or limited resources, aren't considered preferred clients by larger IT consulting firms.

Why smaller companies face challenges securing IT partners

The problem, says Janet Shaver, founder and co-owner of San Francisco-based Synergy Business Solutions, a business-process design and analysis firm that has gotten out of IT consulting, is that the revenue potential isn't as high when working with smaller businesses. Not only do such companies often lack resources to devote to their IT problems, but they're unwilling to commit to an ongoing relationship with a consulting firm.

"The overhead is the same" when working with small companies, Shaver says, "but the potential for profit is less." Consequently, consulting firms tend to focus on a better-heeled clientele.

Mark Roberts, chief executive of the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses (NACCB), an Alexandria, Va.-based organization representing nearly 300 member firms, says the vast majority of members work with larger companies. Typical services provided include custom software development or help-desk staffing.

As for smaller businesses that need assistance with a hardware or software problem, if they can find help at all, it usually comes from a sole operator.

How to be a good IT client

Still, by adopting the kind of mindset displayed by the owners of Varnum & Associates, a smaller company can find comprehensive and ongoing IT support. What's required on the part of management, Butler says, is a willingness to:

What to look for in an IT partner

A business owner who's willing to do what's necessary to be a good client deserves quality, effective IT services in return. Knowing what to look for in an IT consultant can dramatically improve the odds of receiving good service.

The NACCB's Roberts says the following criteria should be applied in the search for a consultant:

Ultimately there's nothing mysterious about a good IT partnership. Like those between two people, a strong partnership is characterized by mutual understanding.

For help in finding a small-business technology consultant in your area, see the Microsoft Small Business Partner Finder.