The idea of looking at all options is too broad.

You may want to figure out what constraints you know so far, for example, which OS(es) do you want to use, or, not use. For example, is MacOS a viable choice?

Do you want languages/frameworks with broad support, or does it matter if only a small number of people really know it, as that will drive up costs. For example, Scala, F# and Haskell could be very useful, but these are not well-supported at the moment.

If you already have the UI designed, then that will also give you some constraints.

Once you know these constraints, then, then it will help you determine what to look for in a consultant, or a firm.

You can advertise on http://jobs.stackoverflow.com, since you will have a better idea what you are looking for.

The hard part is finding someone that can wade through resumes and help to find a diamond in the rough, as you need someone that could do this consultant work, if they were available, as someone like that can find someone that can do the analysis.

You'll certainly find someone in this HN contractor list: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlD_6iEb8Ed9dGs3clVJYi0yYVBka181Z0ZKRW9kQ0E&hl=en

I thought I would chime in and give you a link to the Microsoft Pinpoint Tool which may point you to a SaaS expert in your area.

http://bit.ly/bsF7q7 Pinpoint tool to help you find technology experts and special applications

Best of luck to you,

Best,

Deidra The Microsoft SMB Outreach Team v-dejow@microsoft.com

Yep, startup groups might be a good place to go, since they help stratups find the "partners" they need to get stuff done.

Another option is to do some sort of RFP to some vendors that use different technologies and then compare what they ask for it. This definitely takes much more time and effort, but it might give you some good insights of what each technology needs in terms of base requirements for your project.

Hope this helps and good luck! Michel

Tough one. "When all I have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" single solution type development houses are everywhere. Search out those groups that have wide experiences with different platforms (open source and commercial) and have them explain why they pick one environment over the other for particular projects.

Challenge is - you are asking in a startup group, so many of us don't have the luxury of engaging with a firm that has such a wide level of experience: our projects typically don't generate the revenue to support their attention.

Another option - engage with a experienced startup exec / serial entrepreneur to give you an opinion on the pros / cons of the different options. there are a lot of 'em here on this board.

Good luck!