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6 Reasons Why Using IT Contractors Doesn’t Always Work

 I’ve got nothing at all against IT contractors per se, and used in the right way they can be extremely useful parts of a team. However, we’ve seen far too many organisations where they’re a significant contribution to the failure of a project or service provision. The problem isn’t usually the contractors themselves, but the way they’re used. In no particular order, here are some common concerns.

1. Companies often seem to assume that contractors are experienced and can be relied on to manage themselves. This may be true for some but it certainly isn’t for all. After all, it’s not always in a contractor’s own interests to get a job done efficiently.

2. Having more contractors on a job than permanent staff rarely seems to work. Again, collective self-interest often ends up in projects being  “gold-plated” or inefficiently delivered, especially if the senior project members are contractors.

3. Some people seem to assume that because you are a contractor you must be good at what you do. This clearly isn’t always the case, so why do so many organisations fail to take as much care in recruiting a contractor as a permanent member of staff?

4. What happens when the project is delivered and the solution goes into maintenance mode? If much of the knowledge disappears when the contractor(s) leave then the lifetime of the solution will usually go down and the TCO (total cost of ownership) will go up.

5. Motivating contractors can be harder than motivating permanent staff; that’s just human nature. Contractors can sometimes also demotivate permanent staff if they perceive that contractors are paid more and are less committed.

6. There is a tendency for some contractors to hold on to their knowledge rather than share it with the others in the team to help protect their position. This can harm both the ongoing project as well as its future support.

I’m not suggesting that the alternatives of using permanent staff or engaging an outside company guarantee successful projects, but heavy or inappropriate use of contractors does seem to bring its own, additional risks. If you manage it right and have the right contractors then all can be fine - it just doesn’t seem to work out that way very often.