The wide application of Internet has given more meaning to consultation than ever before. Based on the comprehensive meeting the needs of customers consulting industry not only to transform itself, but also to help customers keep up with the trend, the correct response to the challenges of the Internet.
At the same time, in order to meet the increasingly complex needs of customers, consulting companies and it vendors are increasingly closely related. Consulting, or an important part of its business, can be said to have been incorporated into the value chain of the IT industry.
In the past decade, the consulting industry has been developing rapidly all over the world. In the United States, the overall annual turnover of the consulting industry has been growing sharply, and some of the oldest consulting firms have held the top seats in Fortune 500 companies.
At the same time, it technology, especially the wide application of the Internet, has brought new opportunities and challenges to enterprises. In the face of environmental change and technological progress, enterprises urgently need to strengthen information system construction, to achieve enterprise transformation, so, based on a comprehensive meeting the needs of customers consulting industry will have to go out of the inherent business model. Not only do they have to transform themselves, they also need to help customers keep up with the trend and respond correctly to the challenges of the Internet.
Information technology, the new fulcrum of consulting industry in the rapid development process, the consulting companies gradually realized that the simple written policy consultation can not meet the needs of customers, enterprises look forward to more diverse and complex services. This is the fundamental starting point for all changes in the consulting industry.
Traditional consulting firms follow the trend some management consulting firms, known for providing strategic advice, have long been aware of the opportunities and challenges that the Internet and E-commerce bring. So in time to strengthen the Internet and e-commerce on the impact of economic and business research, at the same time actively adjust themselves, earlier into the field of E-commerce Consulting.
McKinsey and the Boston Consulting Company (BCG) are leading the world consulting industry, with the core competencies of the two companies providing strategic advice to help companies make decisions that affect their development direction and performance, but the business share of E-commerce has increased year by year.
As early as the tide of E-commerce in 1994, the McKinsey company took the lead in setting up the E-commerce business center-@ McKinsey, actively carry out e-commerce direction of the project. Its regular launch of "McKinsey senior management Monographs" constantly put forward a series of practical e-business model, the first proposed "information media" concept caused a large number of start-ups have been established. Today, McKinsey has 1/3 of the world's 6,000 consultants in the business of E-commerce. Provide strategic design and implementation from creative concept to launch business, from management growth to global promotion. In 2000 alone, McKinsey completed more than 1000 E-commerce-related consultancy projects, up 3 times times from 1999.
Also in the industry's prestigious Boston consulting company has been actively engaged in E-commerce consulting business. It carries on the research to the electronic commerce through the customer service, the investigation and the establishment electron enterprise three kinds of complementary ways. Provide flexible services to customers through the incubation and acceleration of electronic commerce, the creation and initiation of e-business, and the way in which projects are conducted in consultation. The company now invests more than 10 million dollars a year for cutting-edge research. In addition, venture capital is also an important aspect of BCG's attention, it set up many electronic enterprises in such ways as sole proprietorship, joint venture and even the idea investment of employees. February 2002. In the survey conducted by the company of early Forrester, BCG obtained the highest score.
In addition to these two companies, other companies that offer more comprehensive consulting, such as Deloitte and Purdue, are also looking at E-commerce-related advice in keeping with their traditional audit, tax and management consulting. On the one hand, they increased their research input in E-commerce, and set up a group of information consulting and e-business solutions to provide services covering the entire e-business transition, from strategic planning to selective installation. "Deloitte International has always been concerned about the Internet and the new economy," said Ningyu, a Deloitte consultant at the Beijing branch. The regular e-view of Deloitte is what our researchers think about the many factors that affect the new economy. At the same time, Deloitte International set up a double high center (High-tech, high growth) reflects Deloitte's concern about the new economy. ”
China's consulting industry is still in the early stages of development, facing the challenges and opportunities of the Internet industry, the domestic traditional consulting industry, subject to its own conditions, it is difficult to invest a lot of human and financial resources for E-commerce and IT consulting research, but they do not stop catching up with the pace of foreign consulting enterprises. Continuous expansion of new business, the efforts to provide E-commerce related consulting is its ongoing effort. Perhaps information technology is the best opportunity for them to catch up.
The current annual turnover has reached tens of millions of Xinhua letter Company is the domestic private consulting company leader. Facing the impact of the Internet, Xinhua President Zhao Min that the development of the traditional consulting industry must be combined with the Internet, "Xinhua letter will be the original advantage of the traditional business of Internet, in order to improve efficiency, reduce costs", while "efforts to expand E-commerce-related management consulting." ”
At present, Xinhua letter on the one hand in the enterprise actively using the Internet as the core of it technology, actively engaged in the intranet and the Internet integration. On the other hand, taking into account the needs of customers, Xinhua letter increased business investment, and strive to provide early, including ERP and CRM package of E-commerce Consulting.
The new consulting enterprise is different from the above management consulting company, and also has a kind of consulting company, which provides the management consultation focused on technology. They not only participate in the implementation of software, but also participate in the development of customized software. These companies are either independent from the companies that originally operated a variety of consultancy businesses, or they are the product of enough, or simply startups. In general, working closely with it vendors to provide a comprehensive e-business solution is a common feature of these companies.
Ketiayan (Cap Gemini Ernst&young) is a company that provides management and IT consulting. was established by Gemini Consulting, Cap Gemini IT services and the consulting firm of the Ernst and the Firm (formerly the Ernst and the Accountants). Ketiayan in addition to providing management consulting, but also for customers to develop personalized software or hardware, as well as software and hardware enterprises to carry out system integration projects, but also to provide outsourcing services to participate in the ASP market competition. From the proportion of its business, the traditional management consulting business is no longer the main source of income. As the head of Ketiayan Shanghai said, "What we want to provide is similar to EDS, technology-biased management consulting." "It is clear that Ketiayan has gone beyond the traditional advisory category and become the pioneer, designer and incubator of the market in the new economic era."
At A.t.kearney, the head of the consulting industry of per capita income in 1999, the company is also known for its strategic advice. As early as 1995, Kearney merged with Integrator eds. Unlike MCKINSEY,BCG, Kearney did not take the e-business solution as part of its business, but worked with EDS to set up Kearney Interactive company to provide E-commerce solutions. In this way, there is no need for Kearney to deviate from its strategic consulting business, and EDS, Kearney Interactive combined to provide a comprehensive consulting service from strategic consulting, e-business solutions to it continuous services.
There are also some enterprises that have started to provide management technical advice. They try to establish a management consulting model that goes beyond the traditional consulting category, providing comprehensive service from the integration of hardware and software, management consulting to training. The Hampshire consulting firm is one of the representatives.
