How to choose a technology consulting firm, starting with how each one gets paid
Search for technology consulting in Australia and you get global consultancies, integrators, resellers, managed service providers, staffing firms and a few independents, all using the same words. What separates them is where the money comes from, because that shapes what they recommend. This guide sets out the five kinds of firm, the questions that tell them apart, and what a good engagement should leave you holding.
Written by Beyond Technology, an independent technology consultancy. We sell advice and nothing else, and we say where we sit in the list below.
Five kinds of technology consulting firm, and what each one earns from
Any of these can be the right choice for the right job. The point is to know which one you are talking to, because a firm’s revenue model decides which answers come easily to it.
Global consultancies and Big Four technology practices
Strategy, risk and large programmes, with deep benches and international reach. They suit large, multi-year change where scale matters more than cost.
Large engagements, and often the delivery programme that follows the strategy.
Ask them
Who from the pitch team will work on our engagement each week, and would your firm bid for the implementation?
Systems integrators and technology resellers
Implementation, licensing, cloud and platform projects. They know the platforms they partner with in depth and can build quickly.
Product margin, licences and the build.
Ask them
Which vendors are you partnered with, and what do you earn when we buy from them?
Managed service providers
They run your IT day to day, and many add a strategy or virtual CIO layer on top of the support contract.
The monthly service contract.
Ask them
If a review found we should change provider, who would be the one to tell us?
Contractor and staffing firms
Project managers, architects and analysts supplied on day rates, to add capacity to a plan you already have.
The hours placed.
Ask them
Who sets the direction, and who is accountable if the outcome falls short?
Independent technology consultancies
Advice only: strategy, reviews and audits, procurement and fractional technology leadership. They do not sell or implement the technology they recommend.
The advice, and nothing downstream of it.
Ask them
How senior is the team, and will we get a plan our own people and providers can deliver?
Beyond Technology sits in the last row. We do not sell hardware or software, we do not resell vendor products, and we do not deliver the implementation work we recommend. That is why we can review your current IT provider or run a telecommunications procurement with no stake in who wins.
Six questions that tell technology consulting firms apart
Ask all six in the first meeting. A firm that is comfortable with its answers will give them plainly, and a firm that hesitates has told you something too.
Do you sell, resell or implement anything you might recommend?
This is the question that matters most. Ask about referral fees, partner rebates and sales targets tied to vendor status, as well as direct sales. A yes does not rule a firm out, but it means the advice and the sale come from the same place.
Who will do the work, and how senior are they?
The partner in the pitch and the people on the job are not always the same. Ask for names, and how many hours each of them will spend with you.
Would you take over our provider’s contract?
If the firm reviewing your managed service provider would bid for that work, the review is part of a sales process. An independent provider review has to come from a firm that will never be on the other side of the table.
What will we be holding at the end?
A good engagement ends with a prioritised plan you can act on within your real budget, capability, legacy systems and risk appetite. A polished vision you cannot afford is not a deliverable. Ask to see an anonymised example.
Can you show work for an organisation like ours?
Sector and size both matter. Ask for case studies, then ask what went wrong on one of them. Ours are on the case studies page, described by sector and region rather than client name.
How do you price it?
Look for a fixed scope and price agreed before any work begins. Open-ended day rates move the risk of a slow engagement onto you.
What a good technology consulting engagement looks like
Whoever you hire, the shape should be similar: a short conversation, a written scope, evidence gathered by senior people, and findings you can take to the board. This is how ours run, usually over four to eight weeks.
Initial conversation
A 30-minute call with a partner, at no cost, to understand the situation and whether independent advice is the right next step.
Scoping and proposal
A written scope with clear deliverables, a timeline and full pricing, usually within five business days. Nothing starts until you agree it.
Diagnostic and assessment
Senior consultants run interviews, technical analysis and benchmarking, typically over three to six weeks, and keep you informed throughout.
Findings and recommendations
A board-ready report with prioritised recommendations and a realistic roadmap. Then we step back, and you choose what happens next and who does it.
What technology consulting covers
Most engagements start with a review, move into strategy, then into ongoing advice, and you only pay for the next step you need. These are the services organisations most often bring us in for.
IT audit and review
Cost, contracts, providers, risk and governance across the IT function, scoped to what the board is asking.
See the IT audit
Strategy and planningIT strategy and roadmap
A plan that ties technology investment to the business strategy and survives a change of executive.
See IT strategy planning
SecurityCyber security audit
Security controls assessed against the Essential Eight, with Microsoft 365, identity and response planning.
See the cyber security audit
ProcurementICT and telecommunications procurement
Requirements, market approach, evaluation and negotiation, run by a party with no stake in who wins.
See telecommunications procurement
LeadershipFractional CIO
Executive technology leadership on a subscription, for organisations that need the judgement without a full-time hire.
See fractional CIO services
Change programmesDigital transformation
What is worth changing, in what order, and how to tell whether the programme is working.
See digital transformation
Running a smaller organisation? See IT consulting for small and mid-sized business, which starts with a free initial assessment.
Technology consulting by city
Beyond Technology’s head office is in Sydney, with offices in Brisbane and Perth, and we work with organisations across Australia. Each city page covers what we see locally and where an engagement there usually starts.
Technology consulting in Sydney
From our head office in Crows Nest, for regulated businesses and national head offices.
Read more
BrisbaneTechnology consulting in Brisbane
An office in the Brisbane CBD, for Queensland organisations that grew one site at a time.
Read more
MelbourneTechnology consulting in Melbourne
For Victorian organisations whose systems have outgrown the people looking after them.
Read more
PerthTechnology consulting in Perth
Remote sites, thin connectivity and systems that cannot stop, with an office in Perth.
Read more
Looking for something narrower? Our IT audit, cyber security audit and fractional CIO pages each list their own cities.
Technology consulting by sector
The method stays the same. What changes is the regulation, the risk and who is asking the question.
Professional, accounting and legal firms
Client data, client security questionnaires and, for accounting and legal practices, AUSTRAC oversight under the AML/CTF tranche 2 reforms. Partners usually want an independent view of their own providers.
See the independent IT review and vendor assessment for board assurance.
Health and aged care
Several sites, clinical and care systems that cannot stop, and sensitive personal information throughout.
See the IT review and strategy for a health and aged care organisation.
Local government and the public sector
Procurement rules, audit committees and long contract cycles, with ratepayers or taxpayers watching the result.
See IT advisory for local government and the telecommunications procurement for a government organisation.
Mid-sized and growing organisations
Organisations that have grown faster than their IT function, often with one provider doing everything and nobody inside whose job is to judge it.
Schools and universities
Boards want an independent view before a major technology commitment, and the work has to fit around the academic year.
See IT advisory for education and the IT strategy review for a Queensland university.
Advice is only independent when nothing else is for sale
Beyond Technology maintains absolute independence from every vendor and technology. Every consultant combines engineering qualifications with an MBA, so technical recommendations are grounded in commercial reality. What you get is Actionable Advice: accurate, written for people without a technical qualification, and sized to your budget, capability and risk appetite. Read more about our independent technology consulting.
Common questions about technology consulting firms
What does a technology consulting firm do?
It advises organisations on how to choose, buy, run and govern technology: strategy, reviews and audits, procurement, security and technology leadership. Some firms also sell or implement the technology. Independent firms advise only.
What is the difference between technology consulting and IT support?
IT support keeps systems running day to day. Technology consulting decides what the systems should be, what they should cost and who should run them. Many organisations need both, from different firms.
Can our managed service provider give us independent advice?
It can give you useful operational advice. It cannot give you an independent view of its own performance or contract, because it has a stake in the answer. Our article on IT strategy consulting covers where that line sits.
How much does technology consulting cost?
It depends on the scope. Our reviews, audits and strategy work are quoted as a fixed proposal before work begins, and ongoing fractional CIO and advisory work runs as a subscription. Be wary of open-ended day rates, which leave you carrying the risk of a slow engagement.
Do you implement what you recommend?
No. We hand over a plan that your own team, your existing providers or a firm you choose can deliver, and we can help you select that firm. We do not take on the delivery ourselves.
Do you work with smaller organisations?
Yes. We work with organisations from around $20 million in revenue through to ASX-listed enterprise and major government. Smaller organisations usually start with a free initial assessment.
Where is Beyond Technology based?
Our head office is at 119 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest, in Sydney, with offices in Brisbane and Perth. We work with organisations across Australia, on site and remotely.
Talk to an independent technology consultant
Tell us the question you need answered. The first conversation is 30 minutes with a partner, at no cost, and by the end of it you will know whether independent advice is the right next step. Or see how our technology consulting works first.