Are consultants a waste of money?

courtesy of WildRover

I've been an IA consultant for years, and I've often been dismayed at how companies are willing (and eager) to outsource activities that should be core to their company's mission. This isn't just companies where the web aspect is tangential to their biz, but internet-centric companies that will work with external contractors to develop what should be a mission-critical knowledge base within the organization. Consultants come and go, and the biz managers tend to view the product development as secondary to biz positioning, whereas the actual deep knowledge of how their system works (or should work) really should be the crown jewels of the company. This is especially true of companies within competitive spaces where UI / UX is a critical distinguisher. Why farm it out to others when you should be building this expertise in-house? Obviously there are situations where HR issues require short-term fixes, but again and again I've worked with clients where I want to shake them by the shoulders and say "I shouldn't be doing this because at some point I will go away, and you'll have to start from zero again." As iterative development becomes the norm, using consultants becomes less and less rationale for companies that should be thinking of long term product evolution lead by internal teams with deep knowledge of the tech / UX / biz requirements, rather than fiddled with by external consultants who are paid big money for lengthy discovery phases that produce no lasting expertise for the organization as a whole. It's tough enough using a domestic consultant team, and damn near impossible using a foreign team. I'm happy to take the cash, but as someone who has worked on both external and internal teams, I can't help but lament the short-sightedness of my clients who sacrafice short-term expense for long-term success.

source: http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-9589-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=35377&messageID=651771&start=-1