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Technical Consulting in New Zealand
An independent opinion before you spend six figures. Cheaper than discovering the same thing halfway through the build, and far cheaper than discovering it afterwards.
$8k+
Typical project value
2 min
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What people usually mean by technical consulting
Most consulting briefs are one of three questions: is this quote reasonable, is this the right approach, or is what we have worth keeping. All three are answerable in days rather than months, and the answer is worth many times the fee.
Review a proposal before you sign
Someone independent reads the quotes and the scope, and tells you what the risks are and what is missing.
Decide an approach
Build or buy, which platform, one system or three. A short piece of work that shapes a large spend.
Audit what you already have
An honest assessment of software you own — condition, risk, and what it would cost to keep or replace.
What it costs
Indicative ranges from projects posted here. Use them to sense-check a quote, not to budget precisely.
Focused review
A specific question answered in a few days, with a written recommendation.
$4k – $12k
Options and approach
Requirements clarified, approaches compared, a costed recommendation.
$12k – $35k
Ongoing advice
A technical voice on call — often part-time and continuing.
$35k+
Questions worth asking a provider
·Do you also do the build? If so, how do we know the advice is impartial?
·What will we have at the end that we can act on without you?
·Have you advised against a project before, and what happened?
·Who exactly will do the work — and what have they built themselves?
·How long will this take, and what do you need from us?
Common questions
How much does technical consulting cost?
A focused review answering a specific question is $4,000 to $12,000 and takes days. Comparing approaches and producing a costed recommendation is $12,000 to $35,000. Ongoing part-time advice is usually a monthly arrangement starting around $35,000 a year.
Is it worth it before a build?
On a six-figure project, almost always. A few days of independent review costs a small percentage of the build and routinely finds scope that was missing, assumptions nobody had tested, or a simpler approach. The cases where it saves nothing are rare and cheap.
Should the consultant also build it?
There is a real conflict, and the honest ones name it themselves. A consultant who might win the build has an interest in the build being large. That does not disqualify them, but ask the question directly and weigh the answer.
What should we get at the end?
Something written that you can act on without them: the recommendation, the reasoning, the risks and the rough costs. If the deliverable is a conversation, you have bought an opinion you cannot circulate to your board.
What is a fractional CTO?
A senior technical person for a day or two a week, rather than a hire you cannot justify or afford. Useful when you have ongoing decisions and no in-house technical voice — and considerably cheaper than making the wrong call twice.
Related: Software Architecture · Fractional CTO · Software Project Planning · Technical Specification · Solution Design · Software Audit · Code Review · Technology Selection
Technical Consulting projects open right now
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The cheapest money you will spend
A few days of independent review before a six-figure build is a small percentage of the total, and it routinely finds one of the following: scope everyone assumed was included, an integration nobody had priced, a platform choice that will be regretted, or a simpler approach that costs half.
The asymmetry is what makes it worth doing. The downside is a modest fee and a short delay. The upside is not spending a large sum on the wrong thing.
Ask about the conflict directly
Most technical consultants also build software. If they might win the resulting work, they have an interest in that work being large — and in the answer being "build" rather than "buy the product".
This does not disqualify anyone, and plenty of consultants handle it scrupulously. But ask the question out loud, and listen to the answer. Someone who names the conflict before you do is telling you something useful. Someone who waves it away is telling you something else.
For the highest-stakes decisions, paying someone who explicitly will not bid on the build is worth the premium.
Insist on something written
The deliverable should be a document you can act on without the consultant in the room: what they recommend, why, what the risks are, and roughly what it costs.
That matters for two reasons. It has to survive a conversation with your board or your accountant, and it has to be usable by whoever eventually does the work — possibly not the person who wrote it.
If the engagement ends with a good meeting and nothing on paper, you have bought an opinion you cannot circulate.
Good questions to bring
- Is this quote reasonable, and what is missing from it?
- Should we build this or buy something?
- Is the software we have worth keeping, and for how long?
- Which of these three approaches carries the least risk?
- What would you be worried about that we have not asked?
That last one is the most valuable, and the most revealing.
Comparing quotes
- The deliverable. Written, and specific.
- Independence. Will they bid on the build?
- Who does it. The named person, and what they have built.
- Duration. Days and weeks. A review that takes two months has become a project.
Describe the decision you are facing and what is riding on it. Five people will tell you how they would approach answering it — and how they disagree is itself informative.
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