Consulting News

Had time machines existed way back in 1999, telecommunications consultants who dialed up 2009 on the controls might have a hard time believing their eyes: cable companies providing voice service, video streaming over cell phones, a company called “Google” competing against phone companies, and massive new wireless markets in India and China—not to mention those obnoxious-looking thingies clipped to their colleagues’ ears.

Traditional management methods, including project management, came of age over the course of the 20th century, evolving hand in hand with certain bureaucratic assumptions—assumptions about power, control, centralization, and linear problem solving—most of which do not work very well anymore.

Shunted aside in the rush to the Internet, enterprise research planning software is now experiencing a dramatic resurgence as enterprise application software, or just enterprise software, returns to consulting’s high ground with speedy implementations that marry technology with client strategies.

Some of the technology world’s largest players are mounting an aggressive drive to move the open source operating system known as Linux into the mainstream — at the expense of the more established Unix and Windows software encampments. It’s a battle any technology or strategy consultant can’t help but love.

There isn’t a whole lot clients should be doing right now when it comes to unlocking the strategic capabilities of Web services, but for those consultants and vendors who plan to garner a stake within this quickly maturing market, a growing menu of skills and standards is now showcasing fare that will someday be required dining.

As more clients seek to optimize their operational environments, technologies that promise better results with fewer people are drawing more consultants into the storage arena — where consulting engagements routinely revolve around the client’s return on investment.