Market conditions

Big data, analytics, cloud, mobile: they’re all now converging on a single point – digitization.

Although cynics may argue this is simply the latest in a series of ideas hyped by consulting firms, our conversations with clients tell us that they're as keen on the concept as anyone.  The idea that easier, cheaper and more accessible data and technology could provide new ways to engage customers and to work with colleagues without raising costs is just too tempting a prospect for most organizations, especially when all other avenues of growth appear to have been exhausted.

Big data, analytics, cloud, mobile: they’re all now converging on a single point – digitization.

Although cynics may argue this is simply the latest in a series of ideas hyped by consulting firms, our conversations with clients tell us that they're as keen on the concept as anyone.  The idea that easier, cheaper and more accessible data and technology could provide new ways to engage customers and to work with colleagues without raising costs is just too tempting a prospect for most organizations, especially when all other avenues of growth appear to have been exhausted.

We’re a cynical bunch at Source Towers.  Last year, when we heard consulting firms talk about transformation, we suggested it was the latest in a long line of grandiose posturing unlikely to sway clients’ views, let alone their budgets.

We were wrong.  It turns out that clients have been far less dismissive than we anticipated – to the point where we estimate that between one third and two thirds of organic growth among big consulting firms in 2012 came from large-scale transformation projects.