|
| | elements of Origin, KPMG
and the Sema Group via
Schlumberger) has
finally settled down.
Brown sees the main
competition for his firm
as coming from the
“IT-led” sector
comprising such players
as IBM, Capgemini and
Accenture, but with
increasing competition
from the resurgent “Big
Four” accounting brands.
“There’ll be numbers
of people rejoining the
Big Four;” he says “the
growth of the big 4 will
be the “next big thing”
in consultancy over the
next 6 months. The
reason for that is that
while consultancy
related to BPO and IT
outsourcing is growing,
so too is consultancy
related to compliance,
and both of those are
areas that we are
competing in.”
While the “IT-led”
and “Big Four” firms may
be going toe-to-toe in
terms of brand, quality
and end-to-end
capability, Brown also
sees complementary
areas.
“It takes many years
to build up capability,
over the next three to
four years it will make
sense for the Big Four —
excepting Deloitte of
course — to partner for
IT and outsourcing | |
|
| | capability,” he says.
“We are talking to a
couple of audit
companies to see if we
can partner with them to
add capability,
particularly in the area
of tax advice”
Brown believes that
as clients get used to
employing
multidisciplinary
consortia of
consultants, programme
management will become a
key consultancy skill -
as indeed we have
already seen in projects
such as the NHS national
IT programme.
For Brown one of the
keys to success in the
future will be focus.
“We are really,
really working hard to
get across exactly what
we represent,” he says.
“You have to define
exactly what it is you
do — if you try to
re-establish a
generalist consultancy
or a bodyshop, you’ll be
funneled into the
low-cost, 'pricefighter'
bracket.”
As part of this
drive, Atos has
redefined its service
offerings:
“We’ve renewed our
solution-set into what
we call 'second wave
solutions': more
refined, hard-hitting,
specific solutions | |
|
| | linked to the overall
business of cost
reduction and customer
revenue,” he says,
citing Atos’ appointment
as Vodafone’s mobility
partner as an example of
this second generation
of consulting solutions
in action.
Other strengths for
Atos include supply
chain work, which has
nearly doubled since
last year, and also a
renewed interest in
shared services “A lot
of the work is going to
Eastern Europe,” he
says. “People are
combining the offshore
principle with shared
services.”
Brown is also keen to
exploit Atos’ ongoing
relationship with the
Olympic Games, now
extended to the London
2012 event. The firm has
invested heavily in
training and staff
development over the
last year and part of
this process will
involve exposing its
programme managers to
the highly demanding
Olympics work; Atos is
also drawing on its
systems integration and
BPO strengths to grow a
technical consultancy
business based on its
business consultancy
model, and to extend its
BPO and IT outsourcing | |
|
| | skills into more back
office BPO.
As far as the general
prospect for the economy
and consultancy, Brown’s
favourite indicator is
the advertising
industry: “When I see a
dip in advertising I
know spend consultancy
is second on the list —
they’re at the edge of
the curve”.
Otherwise he will be
anxiously waiting with
the rest of us to see if
the chancellor can
balance his books, and
if not whether this will
lead to a rise in taxes
or public spending cuts.
“The consultancy
market in the UK is very
heavily driven by the
public sector
expenditure,” he says.
“We just have to wait
and see what happens in
the budget.”
The buoyancy shown by
Atos is encouraging, not
just because it
indicates that money is
once again flowing into
the consultancy coffers,
but because it indicates
an industry which is not
just becoming more
competitive and focused
but also more creative
in responsive to the
many needs of its
clients. | |
|
| | By Mick James
With more than a few
question marks hanging
over the economy, any
signs that recovery in
the consulting industry
is robust are certainly
welcome. So a good set
of half-year figures
from Atos Origin —
showing group figures up
by 8.1% (allowing for
disposals and
fluctuating exchange
rates) — is encouraging.
Even more encouraging
is the performance of
Atos Consulting within
the group, with revenues
up 13.5%.
“The consultancy
industry is growing
about 4% per annum on
average,” says Atos
executive vice president
Bernard Brown, who heads
the consulting practice.
“So we’re taking other
people’s market share.”
Combined with a
return to form by
Capgemini, the Atos
Consulting results
suggest that the
turbulence caused by
regrouping and
consolidation in the
consulting industry
(which in the case of
Atos brought together | |
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