Thank you for posting the link. It is interesting to think of the minds that effected the wonderful task juxtaposed to the minds arguing the role of 'god' in the matter.

I'm not surprised how many 'beat the horses into submission' suggestions appeared in this thread, but it's really a low-level way of thinking, imho. There were a couple of good suggestions but i think they were kind of read-between-the-lines things that should be re-iterated. You have to look at yourself and be sure you want to manage the two consultants and not just plug along in your comfort zone of analyzing and fixing code yourself. You have to know yourself. As regards the consultants, this is a wheel that has been invented a few times before. Make the end objective clear, make the incremental objectives (mileposts) clear, and get absolute unequivocal buy-in from the consultants and from your manager that this is the path to run. Then, set them free to earn their money. You want to focus on the goals more than how they are achieved. When (not if) they do not meet goals, find out why and facilitate. (I always like 7am meetings until a crisis is resolved.) Treat them the way you would want to be treated, but do not assume that their methods and values are the same as yours. Embrace the differences. Good luck and welcome to a new level in your career. Good luck.

Learning how to negotiate your way thru bonehead managers is WAY more important than the language de jour. ymmv

Fit programmer? Military intelligence, jumbo shrimp, peace force, constant variable,... good grief! The only choice is to be clearly confused.