By Anand Eswaran
Technology has long been associated with change. The market changes we're experiencing now are no longer just the technology, but how people and businesses are consuming IT. The convergence of so many technologies—cloud, mobile devices, big data, real-time analytics—is bringing profound changes to the market, affecting consulting as well as our clients. Businesses expect complete solutions and clear business outcomes at the onset of a project. Success is long past the point of delivering a project on time and on budget, running years to completion. Real business value is the mark of success – can the consultants deliver the business outcome promised? Business leaders expect quick time-to-value and a relatively simple implementation process.
Along with new technology, buying habits are shifting towards platform-based innovations designed to take advantage of breakthroughs such as in-memory computing, mobility, cloud and predictive analytics solutions. Combined, these capabilities deliver new and immediate business value. But before companies can reap the benefits, preliminary work is needed. While these technologies accelerate business decision-making and execution, they are complex solutions that require business process experts to determine which specific technology to leverage, deliver the software and train individuals to use it. Helping customers to assess, and then build a clear business case and roadmap, cutting across all required technologies and underlying services, are crucial components.
According to the analyst firm PAC, spending on IT services related to SAP mobility and cloud are expected to grow by over 20 percent (CAGR 13/17) globally through 2017 with more and more companies harnessing the power of services experts to tackle these breakthrough technologies. Companies are learning how critical the first steps in the IT process are, and are seeing the advantages of working with service experts who can simplify the process and reduce headaches. Here are five ways that IT services benefit customers:
1. Create Value in Every Customer Interaction
Consulting services are moving away from labor arbitrage and towards a portfolio focused on creating specific outcomes and value for the customer. When a new customer hires a consulting team for a thorough review of its IT systems, they rely on the expert consultants to draw on their previous project successes to create future value. Consultants are increasingly turned to offer more than troubleshooting to solve issues. Instead, they increasingly provide an aerial beginning to end view of the customer's situation, identifying key areas where customers can gain new business benefits. Focusing on delivering value will lead customers to apply business processes in ways they'd not considered. Customers depend on the consultants' expertise to help them understand how they stand to benefit from mobility, cloud and in-memory technologies, and what they mean for the customer's unique business demands.
2. Develop a Holistic Solution Addressing Customer Needs
Most companies have very specific business issues that they need to address, and they're able to articulate them to guide a project. But often these are voiced without understanding the possibilities that exist. Each industry – financial services, utilities, oil and gas – brings unique potential to achieve new gains. Each industry has a different range expectations that come into play, such as revenue goals, expenditures, number of employees and previously used technology.
There is no one catch-all solution to solve every customer's troubles. With solution and industry experts who possess a wealth of knowledge available, IT services provides customers with an opportunity for a solution that not only addresses their specific business problem, but creatively addresses an issue they perhaps hadn't considered. For example, we have a utility customer who we engaged, and in addition to the main business processes, the consultants proposed applying predictive analytics capabilities to predict which transformers were most likely to fail in their grid due to demands. The solution now in place allows this utility company to send technicians to service the transformer before it fails, leaving customers without power.
3. Consistent Delivery Methods
Since many consultants work across industries and companies of all sizes, they are exposed to different business challenges—yet can see similarities that are independent of different industries. With the insights gained from such experience, consultants can apply engineered services to customer projects, Applying engineered services ensures that customers receive a consistent delivery method, one that offers a predictable outcome. Customers benefit from the transparency, speed of delivery and lowered costs – the clear benefits of consistent delivery methodology.
4. Continuously Innovating Through Project Feedback
Service professionals are the backbone to technology innovation as they see and understand first-hand what works and what doesn't. Consultants serve as the liaison between the teams that develop the solutions and the customers that use them on a day-to-day basis. They understand firsthand how the technologies like in-memory databases, predictive analytics and public, private and hybrid clouds perform in real-world situations, bridging the gap between vision and reality. These insights help to fine tune the solutions and improve customer experiences.
5. The Human Touch
These are real people who assist in selection, implementation, training, and maintenance. The significant value of having service experts performing as a key member of the IT team is an invaluable asset, easily overlooked when things are running smoothly. Building a trusting relationship with a consultant allows the customer to provide an extensive background of the business, allowing the consultant to bring his or her full value into the mix, benefitting the overall business. Whether a company deploys a new cloud, mobile or other innovative solution, the IT services partner engaged will have experts who specialize around these solutions and provide personalized help.
The convergence of these new and powerful technologies – cloud, mobile, in-memory and predictive analytics—are introducing enormous changes to businesses and consultants alike. For as many companies who stand to benefit from them, there are companies who will misapply them. Likewise, consultants stand to benefit or be left behind. It's an amazing time and opportunity for businesses and consultants alike.
Anand Eswaran is Executive Vice President and head of SAP Global Services
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