2011 Readers' Choice: Consulting
Demand for consulting services is picking up as the economy gradually rebounds. Yet, growth remains slow as consumer goods (CG) companies search for lower-cost alternatives and remain wary of making commitments to massive consulting engagements. We asked Kelly Matthews, managing director at Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory, a market research provider on the management and IT consulting professions, to assess this list and comment on some trends.CGT: Can you comment on the survey results in this category?
Matthews: The top three are exactly what we would expect from this industry. The addition of Wipro to the top 10 is telling of both the continued trend of leveraging offshore providers for lower-cost services as well as Wipro's momentum in the consulting business (particularly versus other offshore firms). BCG -- a consultancy that has performed well in the downturn and that has strong capabilities in demand analytics, supply chain and product development for the CG industry -- is noticeably absent from the list. A.T. Kearney is another consulting firm that has a strong CG business, especially in supply chain, but did not make the list.
CGT: What trends can consulting firms help CG companies follow in the near future?
Matthews: Information management, business intelligence and analytics will drive demand in the next one to three years. The movement of IBM to the No. 1 spot this year is likely reflective of their impressive investment in its Business Analytics and Optimization practice, which was launched in 2009.
Social media is another big thing in the CG space. Companies can leverage social media to better understand their customers, provide inputs into the development process and to market products. IBM, for example, has developed a tool that allows companies to harvest and analyze unstructured data (in the form of tweets, postings, etc.) from social media sites.
Sustainability remains of interest but is only a driver to the extent that sustainable business practices are associated with cost reduction efforts. In other words, no CG company is going green for green's sake.
BREAKOUT FAVORITES
Customer Experience: Booz & Company
Booz & Company is recognized by CPG clients and industry analysts for providing consulting teams that work collaboratively with their clients and provide objectivity, rigor and deep functional/technical expertise.
SMB Market: IBM
"Thanks to IBM and SAP, we are now fully prepared to compete in the global market. I think for any company looking at transforming their business, IBM and SAP should be in their short list."
-- Aju Jacob, Director, Synthite Industries (on working with IBM Global Business Services)