>Hi,
>
>I just got a quote from a consultant here in Trinidad for the following services:
>
>Configure Physical Network
>Configure Internet Services
>Setup and Configure Virtual Server
>- Setup and Configure Citrix XenServer
>- Setup and Configure Small Business Server 2008
>- Setup and Configure Untangle UTM/Firewall
>- Setup and Configure Windows Terminal Server
>Configure Application Services
>- File / Print Services
>- Email Services
>- Backup / Restore Services
>- Antivirus Services
>- Groups, Access Control List, Auditing and Policies
>Reconfigure Workstations
>- Standardize Workstations
>- Migrate User Data to Server
>Test Configuration and Internet Access
>User Training
>
>What sort of hourly rate would someone charge for this in the US?

Sounds like a pretty comprehensive quote, there's a finite chance they know what they're doing.

Setting up multiple virtualized servers on top of XenServer is pretty advanced, it wouldn't surprise me if North American rates were $150/hour or more. But there might not be a lot of hours if you get the right consultant - maybe installation from preconfigured images, running configuration scripts etc.

The rest of the stuff is less advanced, at a guess you might get that for $75/hour and up.

If the same person is doing all the work, and you have to pay them their high-end rate that could be expensive. OTOH hourly rate is not the only factor to consider - someone working at half the rate may take twice as long (or even longer), and may have fewer skills to overcome any snags that come up. There's a lot of value in having the same person (or very small, closely-knit team) do all the configuration work. Having two or more separate organizations doing this work loses lots of time in communication delays and arguments over jurisdiction (aka "finger-pointing" :-\)

One important question to ask is whether the consultant has set up environments identical or similar to yours before. You want to avoid the consultant learning at your expense