Finding the right Consultant

Question

We're trying to find a consultant to help us deal with problems that we're experiencing with our framework selection. How can we tell if a prospective consultant will provide the experience and knowledge we need?

Our particular framework is Seam, but any experience on selecting a consultant is appreciated.

Answer 1

I'll kind of add to what @edg says. Recent accomplishments evaluating and selecting software or frameworks, experience with the frameworks you are evaluating (as well as a well rounded view of frameworks in general), and political and social adeptness are important. If the environment is political, then the social and political adeptness carries equal weight in my book. Also, if the audience for the evaluation is non-technical, then they have to be able to explain techy things in non-techy terms.

You are also looking for a consultant, not a contractor. A contractor does what you tell them to do. A consultant works with you to come up with the best solution for your business needs. There is a distinction.

EDIT: experience in your particular industry would be important as well.

Answer 2

I've never used Seam, but I'm having a hard time believing that it doesn't have community support of some kind that you and your developers could leverage that meets your needs. It appears that there is an official JBoss Community site along with a Seam Framework site with a community section. That coupled with the documentation should be more cost effective than a consultant.

Perhaps, if there is a steep learning curve, you should start with a smaller project as a demo to learn the technologies.

Answer 3

Steps:

1. Create a budget, total & hourly rate you are willing to pay
2. Get resumes, Agency, consulting firms, job posting sites etc.
3. Review resumes/profiles (consulting firms will give profiles not resumes)
4. Phone Screen, talk rates job duration and expectations.
5. Interview, focus on the skills you need. Go over expectations in more detail, ask them how they would go about meeting them. This may be close to a normal job interview, but more focused on the skills you need.