By Sam Engram, Executive Vice President
The IT Professional Services Industry is ever evolving. Whether it be in value perception, organizational engagement, differentiation, or competition, by always looking forward (and backward!), here is some insight as to how Professional Services Firms should shift focus and strategy to exceed ever-changing customer demands.
No evolution is free of obstacles, however making the shift from change management to managing change is key in developing long-term relationships supporting the constantly changing demands of customers. The need to understand their goals and the problems they solve weighs heavily in the success of maintaining customers.
How do IT Services Firms differentiate themselves effectively as they cannot survive on only product or pricing differentiation? Having your customer engaged by understanding your value proposition and then driving consistent business value isn’t just beneficial… it’s critical in the professional services industry. As budgets shift from IT to the Business, understanding how a technology issue will solve a business problem is key to a consultant’s success.
In just the last few years, the industry has seen important changes impacting IT Services Firms. Customer knowledge has SOARED – their understanding of Digital and IT services makes the entire landscape more competitive. They’re looking for more knowledgeable consultants and specialists, not just good generalists.
Understanding the customer’s market is key to adapting quickly to this changing landscape and providing specialized services gives the greatest opportunity to succeed. Digital experiences are enabling greater transparency and competition. Not having the agility to be organizationally nimble by learning and adapting to new products, services, and talent leads to missed opportunities and the competition beats you.
Economic, political, and industry decoupling continue to disrupt the future landscape of IT consulting. This gives other upstart consulting firms the ability to enter market segments with products and services at a faster pace where barriers to enter are greatly minimized. In order to stay ahead of the pace of change in this hyper-competitive market, an IT Professional Services Firm must adapt and evolve in order to succeed today’s business climate.