These are exciting but challenging times for consulting. Gone are days of smart people giving advice. Clients today want solutions that provide new positive and secure digital experiences for their customers, employees and suppliers. In an environment where new entrants without legacy assets are capitalizing on new technologies to leapfrog established market participants, incumbents are looking to consultants for solutions to become more innovative and responsive to changing customer needs driven by disruptive technologies, all while maintaining their existing businesses.
While company management teams may have the desire and even the mandate for change, they often lack the leadership skills, resources, technical knowledge and supporting culture to translate ambiguous objectives like "we need to be more innovative" into a concrete vision and plan to move forward.
Companies are looking to partner with consultants to lead, inspire, coach and support innovation in developing solutions that ensure their products, operations and business models remain competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace. As a result, the business of consulting is evolving into client partnerships in developing and delivering solutions that embrace new technology and the analytical methods they enable to drive measurable positive outcomes.
