Is it advisable to hire an IT consulting firm to maintain a company's IT system?

Some of my friends are telling me that building and maintaining optimal IT systems is greatly enhanced by the outside expertise and perspective of an IT consulting firm. Is it more practical to hire an IT consultant to appraise and identify the best hardware, software, and technology solutions for our business’ unique needs?

That's exactly why consultants exist! If your company's business is IT related, it may make more sense to staff/build your own IT organization, but if your core business is not related to IT and you simply need IT services to run your business, a 3rd party or consultant approach may make more sense.

Plenty of example of both large and small companies that have taken both approaches, so there's not one choice that is better than the other, it depends on your current needs and IT staff's skills and experience.

I will say that if you do decide to look at a 3rd party company to run your IT or hire an IT consultant, get several references and check them out. Like most things, there are good and bad examples of both and going with the least expensive options you may find you get exactly what you paid for.

Good luck.

P.S. If your company is just starting up and you don't have legacy IT systems, look at Linux, it rocks. Avoid Windows Server like the plague unless you want security patching to be in your wheelhouse, that's just my opinion of course :)

Thank you for sharing your opinion. My friend has recommended Parachutetechs which offers IT consulting and managed services. We are not yet decided but we are continuously searching for other IT companies which offer similar service. We also have Equilibrium and Citiscape in our list. We're trying to look for some reviews about these 3 so to help us decide. If any of you can name a few, surely appreciate. Thanks!