Sometimes a CIO has to bring in a tech consultant to upgrade a system. It might happen when there are no people in the IT shop who can handle the task. But there is always a risk in doing this. The consultant may not be on time, the job may be far more complicated than expected, or the consultant and CIO may not be on the same page for efficiently achieving success. In order to protect your company, make sure you have a way out when hiring a consultant. Know who you are hiring and, if at all possible, bring in a trusted consultant that you've worked with before.

To read more on why consultants get axed:
- see this Baseline article