Consulting News

When one thinks of “hot” industries in the United States, typically manufacturing does not immediately come to mind.

As consultants, we have one thing in common regardless of the industry we serve or functional expertise we provide—we all have clients challenged with maximizing the value of their products and services. Doing so is increasingly a struggle due to the shifting balance of power in the world economy. The world is no longer dominated by the U.S., Western Europe and Japan. With the rise of developing countries, spearheaded by China and India, the world is moving from an era of geographically concentrated economic power to one characterized by multiple centers of economic and business activity—in short, a “multi-polar” world. Five mega-trends characterize the world in which our clients’ products and services now compete:

Can outsourcing continue to grow at the rate we have seen over the last decade or so, during which it has become the management tool of choice for many major corporations, as well as the engine of growth for an army of suppliers drawn not only from the traditional ranks of the hardware suppliers, systems integrators and consultants, but more and more from the new industrial heavyweights of India?

Sonny Singh, senior vice president of Oracle’s Products and Industries Business Unit, says resource management is the biggest issue facing consulting firms today. And as the driver of Oracle’s go-to-market strategy in the business consultant unit—and as a former vice president of Oracle Consulting—Singh knows a thing or two about what makes consultants tick. Joe Kornik, magazine’s editor-in-chief, sat down with Singh to discuss the industry’s biggest challenges.

Chicago based Navigant Consulting has acquired Chicago Partners, an economic and financial analysis consulting firm in Navigant's hometown.

Boston based energy solutions developer EnerNOC has acquired South River Consulting, an energy procurement and risk management services provider that primarily provides services in the Mid Atlantic region. South River is based in Baltimore. The $4.75 million acquisition, according to EnerNOC, strengthens its own position in the energy procurement services market and was a geographically strategic move, according to EnerNOC. South River's 12 employees will remain with the company.