Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Clients Demonstrate Preference for End-to-End IT Service Providers in the IT Strategy Consulting Marketplace

The downturn has driven clients seeking IT strategy and planning advice away from pure play strategy firms just at a time when they could use the business the most. New research from Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory, "IT Strategy and Planning Consulting Marketplace," shows that client organizations are now turning more to firms with a broader array of services and the ability to take on comprehensive execution of IT strategy recommendations.

In response, many consultancies are entering into strategic alliances to position themselves as end-to-end providers of IT services, strategy, consulting, systems integration, and managed business services. For client companies that desire "one-stop shopping," firms with ITSP capabilities vary in size from fewer than 500 consultants at KSA, acquired by MCG in 2007 to more than 90,000 at CSC.

"Client demand has fueled much of this trend toward one-stop shopping as organizations seek accountability for the IT strategy delivered," said Leslie Ament, Associate Director of Research, Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory. "Our research revealed that 60-70% of clients engage with firms that understand the global complications, implications and next steps in downstream execution of a comprehensive IT strategy."

This is in direct contrast to previous trends, in which customers wanted pure ITSP consulting advice from strategy firms such as Bain, BCG, Booz & Co. or McKinsey. Ament added, "Success will now come to those IT strategy and planning practices that change their delivery models, offer pricing alternatives, re-package services, and form strategic alliances with other vendors to increase services breadth on a global basis."

In "IT Strategy and Planning Consulting Marketplace," Kennedy assesses Accenture, Capgemini, CSC, Deloitte, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP/EDS, IBM, KPMG, KSA, and PwC as firms capable of delivering comprehensive IT consulting services -- from strategic planning through execution. The research ranks leading multi-service, end-to-end, and strategy firms serving the IT strategy and planning consulting marketplace in "The Kennedy Vanguard of Strategy Firms: ITSP Capabilities" and "The Kennedy Vanguard of Multi-Service Firms: ITSP Capabilities," respectively.

Twenty-nine firms are evaluated in total, by both their breadth and depth of services, including: Accenture, Archstone Consulting, Atos Origin, Bain, BearingPoint, Booz Allen Hamilton, Booz & Co., The Boston Consulting Group, Capgemini, Cognizant, CSC, Deloitte, Diamond Management, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP/EDS, IBM, IDS Scheer, Infosys, KPMG, KSA, McKinsey & Co., Oliver Wyman, PA Consulting, PwC, Roland Berger, Tata, Unisys, and Wipro.

About Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory

Since 1970, Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory, a division of Kennedy Information, has been the world's leading source of market analysis on the Management Consulting and IT Consulting industries, serving the most highly regarded professional services firms and Fortune 500 companies across the globe.

Kennedy provides accurate and reliable market sizing and forecasts for consulting services world-wide; needs analysis and vendor profiling for buyers of consulting services; timely and insightful intelligence on the top consulting firms in their respective markets; and operational benchmarks that measure consulting performance. Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory's research spans multiple service areas, client vertical industries, and geographies. Kennedy's stand-alone consulting advisory unit, Kennedy Information Advisors, provides results-oriented strategic guidance to buyers and sellers of consulting services.

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