This joint project with Bernstein Research provides an understanding of the key drivers that influence the IT consulting market. Historically, factors like killer applications, economic cycles and IT mega-problems have been the key drivers of consulting. However, new factors like shortage of IT talent have become important drivers of demand. This has implications for all industry constituents, and key IT suppliers adopt distinctly different philosophies in their approach to the IT consulting market.

Scope

• Definition of the IT consulting market size, segments, and models
• Analysis of the historical drivers of the IT consulting business and recent changes in market growth and composition
• Analysis of the emerging market models and observations from interviews with 15 IT consulting companies

Contents

This report provides an understanding of the key drivers that influence the IT consulting market. Key Insights are divided into three sections: Everest definition of IT consulting, paradigm shift in IT consulting, and consulting market models and supplier landscape. Each section contains trends, which are discussed in detail (and illustrated with supporting data and analysis) to provide the reader with information in easy-to-apply, bite-size pieces. For example, the paradigm shift in IT consulting section talks about the following:

• Four factors that historically drove IT consulting business, i.e., killer applications (e.g., ERP), economic cycle, IT mega-problems (e.g., Y2K), and new business requirements of IT (e.g., regulatory changes)
• Changes in the relative significance of these historical and emergence of two new factors, i.e., shortage of IT talent and growing sophistication of offshore IT labor markets
• New industry paradigm driven by these changes in the underlying drivers of consulting re-energizing the growth of IT consulting market