OREANDA-NEWS. September 24, 2015. “Demand for consulting is growing, but is also changing rapidly,” says Phil Dunmore. “Today’s clients are increasingly focused on the strategic execution of new technologies to take advantage of digital opportunities in their markets.” Excerpts:

“There is ever greater demand for the right people with the right expertise, but this is becoming more challenging for consulting firms to achieve and traditional business models are being strained.

Traditional management consulting businesses are challenged to effectively respond to the demand for real depth and experience in digital. “Partner-led consulting pyramids”, which have been fundamental to big consulting firms’ growth and profitability, are coming under strain and are unlikely to continue in a way we recognize today.

Digital is pervading all parts of our clients business. We would go as far as to say that every client of ours is investing in digital at the moment. This is driven by the need to understand how digital tools such as social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC), in addition to sensors and IoT, can transform their externally-facing business and engagement with customers, as well as evolving internal operations to drive effectiveness, efficiency and employee engagement.

These changes demand a different consulting engagement and delivery model: no longer do clients accept consulting teams going through a classical structured, methodical analysis and design process. They want a different culture, approach and team capability.

The art of consulting is more challenging than it has ever been before, with client expectations and demands increasing at an ever greater pace. As well as the different culture, approach and team capability, they are demanding assets and accelerators that can fast track implementation of digital solutions to either realize benefits or “fail-fast”, together with deep domain and technology experience to drive execution across the client organization.

Despite these challenges to the consulting industry, as clients respond to growing economic and competitive opportunities, demand for external consulting continues to increase. This is demonstrated by the growth we are seeing in our global consulting business, which is growing above company average.”