As the person who will take the heat from the users it is up to you to make shore that you get the best value for money out of out side contractors. If you think their stuffing it up then you need to take charge of the situation.

Remember: they are their working for you not the other way around.

Just because some one is an ?Expert? doesn?t mean you should let them push you around or ignore you.

Be assertive. If your not they will own you. And at the end of the day their stuff ups will reflect badly on you ass well. On the other hand if you manage to solve the problem you just may earn their respect and your future dealings with them will be on a much more equal footing.

Never be afraid to look stupid and ask stupid questions if you think the answers will benefit you. It?s not a crime to look stupid in front of the heired help.

I spent a long time in a work place where I was the in house admin but at the time I was still green as far as server admin was concerned. Until I asserted my self as the person running the show our outside contractors were happy to do what ever they felt like.

Once I showed them that I wasn?t stupid and was willing to help them out as well things began to go a lot more smoothly.