Consulting Firms Ready For Carefully Managed Growth, Survey Reveals

Modern consulting firms must focus on increasing revenue through maximizing the value of customers, having more effective project execution, and hiring and retaining talent, according to a new survey commissioned by Deltek

HERNDON, Va. – July 8, 2014 – New research carried out by IDC, commissioned by Deltek, reveals that there is great potential for consulting firms to grow profitably. However, rapid growth has its own unique challenges and needs to be carefully managed to ensure firm profitability.

IDC’s survey, which interviewed more than 250 decision-makers within US and European consulting firms, shows that consulting firms are generally bullish for the future and rightly so, as revenue is up 42%, project size is up 30%, and firms see an increase in resource utilization of 22% across countries.

Despite the positive outlook for the consulting marketplace, firms listed common challenges across the industry: 35% identified increasing revenue as a challenge; 27% labeled maximizing profits as a key goal; and 24% needed better financial management across their organizations. Firms were focused on these key areas to take full advantage of the relatively positive state of the consulting marketplace. To answer these challenges, consulting firms are primarily focusing on three business priorities going forward: increasing revenue, having more effective project execution and hiring and retaining talent. Leading firms are meeting these challenges by implementing integrated project-based ERP systems to win the right projects, find and optimally utilize the resources, and manage projects on time and on budget.

The IDC survey also revealed the following about today’s consulting firms:

55% want to improve visibility into key business / financial metrics
46% want to improve / implement resource and project management systems
46% want to integrate front and back office systems
73% of consulting firms plan to move into the cloud

“It is encouraging to see that consulting firms are bullish about the future and at the same time aware of how to steer their firm in the right direction for profitable growth” said Michael Fauscette, Group Vice President at IDC, who led the survey and study development, “Consulting firms need to have the capability to manage their business lifecycle of clients, projects, and employees to profit from today’s positive business climate. Modern IT systems that are built with project at the core and can manage this lifecycle will give firms a single version of the truth which will allow them to find and grow the “right” business and ultimately, make better business decisions.”

Download the IDC InfoDoc, Managing Your Consulting Firm for Growth, sponsored by Deltek, for a look at the findings of the survey in more detail.

Tweet this: Consulting firms ready for carefully managed growth. Read survey from @IDC #consultgrowth14 @mfauscette @Deltek http://ow.ly/yKmrz

About Deltek

Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for professional services firms and government contractors. For decades, we have delivered actionable insight that empowers our customers to unlock their business potential. 18,000 organizations and 2 million users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek to research and identify opportunities, win new business, optimize resources, streamline operations, and deliver more profitable projects. Deltek – Know more. Do more.® www.deltek.com

For further information contact:

Lauran Cacciatori
Director, Corporate Marketing and Communications
Deltek
+1 703.885.9947
laurancacciatori@deltek.com