Amongst the innovations that Indian-headquartered offshoring firms are bringing, the ability to distribute work between various locations and the set of benefits that come along stands tall. Now we are seeing the benefits that offshoring has provided for technology solutions are getting extended to consulting as well. It is an age where increasingly we are seeing that western firms are getting more and more comfortable with offshoring vendor's technical and business process outsourcing capability. This means engaging them for technical and management consulting tasks — at a fraction of the cost of blue blooded consulting vendors, for example the Accentures and IBM. (Note: Like all other posts this is my personal view and not in any way related to my employer.)
The truth of the matter is that technology's power and reach is becoming so entrenched that invariably it is becoming to be a case of technology and business consulting getting intertwined. As I wrote earlier, consulting is all about delivered value.Prabhat of Satyam wrote therein that output value as measured as how much more business value one can get and the input value coming from how to do the same with IT for less constitutes major blocks for adding business value. It is here that the Indian-based companies are able to leverage offshore and focus on business value in the process, providing support from concept to rollout with superior economics supporting their efforts.
So I was not surprised when I came across this interview with Stephen Pratt of Infosys Consulting, wherein he talks about linking people’s bonuses to the shareholder value created for clients. He details a method wherein a performance measure is created by adding up all the client fees and by buying the stocks of those companies, and then comparing the performance of that portfolio to the S&P 500. While this looks novel, the administration of this may be pretty tough - too often the ability to adjust for late entrants and early exits within the cycle.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Suds,
You should post this to DC as well - good post
2 - Saurin Shah
I am a consultant for the US-based Infosys Consulting. I have experienced first hand the transformation taking place both from a consultant's side and the reaction of our clients to our services.
So far the marketplace has responded well to the entry. Many of our clients value our competitive advantage as a truly, globally integrated consulting firm. Since many of our clients would like to emulate this strength, they often turn to Infosys Consulting (rather than IBM or Accenture) to help them understand and make this change.
Also Infosys Consulting has a rigorous recruiting process. Aside from recruiting either skilled industry experts and only at top MBA schools, such as Stanford, Berkeley, Univ. of Texas at Austin and MIT, Infosys Consulting places great emphasis on finding people that have the right balance of entrepreneurism, passion and skill. It really is trying to be a different breed consulting company internally as well as a disruptive force externally.
More about me:
More about Infosys Consulting:
3 - Christopher Rose
Aah, consultants.
"A consultant is someone who saves his client almost enough to pay his fee." Arnold H Glasgow
4 - Saurin Shah
Finishing up on my previous thought ...
Recruiting: While Infosys Consulting does look for talented MBAs, it really looks for those clients with the set of skills and personalities that will help clients fundamentally change to be competitive. Our consultants come from all walks of life and bring a variety of business experiences with them to their clients.
From the Infosys Consulting website on the evolution of the consulting industry:
We see a new game with new rules in the business consulting industry. To move consulting into the 21st century:
1.
We must change our business models to encourage global delivery.
Clients have been moving work to the best value locations for years; why haven’t we? Client counsel, project management, and work sessions should remain on- site, but research and technology development should be done where it is most cost-effective. The collective result will save clients billions of dollars.
2.
We must break away from the notion that a firm has to specialize in either strategy or technology
No longer can we have only a “top MBA school” perspective, or a “boot camp right out of undergrad” perspective. We all understand that modern business involves complex financial, operational, structural, and technical nuances. WE can significantly increase the likelihood of a project’s success if we approach problems from all these perspectives.
3.
We must train business leaders who are capable of leading in the 21st century.
If we are building the future leaders of business, our consultants must learn to lead remote global teams. They must be able to navigate the global economy, reach out across cultures, and manage diverse perspectives. If we give our people these skills, they will become the next generation of great leaders.
4.
We must lose the attitude.
Somehow, consultants have developed an air of superiority that serves no one. WE must build a respect for differences and unusual sources of insight. We have much to learn from our clients, from each other, and from people of different backgrounds.
We invite all consultants to join us in building a thriving new era in consulting. An era that embraces the heritage of our profession, beckons new talent, and prepares the leaders of the future. An era where all firms offer analytic thinking and technology savvy, business insight and delivery excellence, and high quality at low costs.
Because, if we can’t evolve our own business to meet the demands of the 21st century, what business do we have advising clients to evolve theirs?
5 - Christopher Rose
and "Consultants are people who borrow your watch and tell you what time it is, and then walk off with the watch." Robert Townsend
lol
6 - Christopher Rose
So Saurin, your idea of good responsible consulting is to come onto a blog and post long advertisements for yourself? Classic consulting behaviour!
7 - Suja
If you liked this review, you may also be interested in the new book “Offshoring IT Services: A framework for managing outsourced projects” [Publisher: McGraw-Hill, India]
More about the book: http://www.offshoringmanagement.com/theBook.htm