Consulting for digitalisation redefined
Lothar Leger, Managing Director at B&L Management Consulting GmbHPublished in: DiALOG - THE MAGAZINE FOR DIGITAL CHANGE | 2021
10 years ago, the phrase "consulting is a people business" applied. To a large extent, it depended on the appearance and personality of the consultant. The chemistry between the client and those responsible on the contractor's side simply had to be right. Of course, the consultant also had to have the necessary experience and expertise. Although attempts were made to base solutions on standard applications as far as possible, in the end a great deal was customised. After all, the rule was that IT support had to be adapted to the individual processes and not the other way round.
Since then, the digitalisation of processes in companies and organisations has gained significant momentum. Many processes are and have been digitally mapped. The current situation, caused by the pandemic, has given this an additional, powerful boost.
This raises some interesting questions. Will increasing digitalisation have an impact on the design and implementation of consulting mandates? Will we only be using apps and avatars in 10 years' time when tackling new topics? Or will the individual person continue to play an important role in consulting? Will there perhaps no longer be any individual solutions at all because we all access the same IT solutions in the cloud?
The 10th anniversary of DiALOG magazine provides an opportunity to reflect on these and similar questions in relation to consulting and to venture a look ahead. The following comments reflect on some current trends in order to take a cautious look at the consulting market of the future.
"Off to the cloud"
CIOs and IT managers have been under pressure for some time now. That is undisputed. They are expected to support the ever faster pace of change in IT and company processes and, if possible, reduce costs at the same time. At the same time, the change in internal structures often lags behind because people cling too tightly to familiar and well-worn processes. True to the motto: change is very welcome, but first with the others. It is therefore not surprising that the process of moving IT and IT applications to the cloud, which began a long time ago, will continue to increase over the next few years. After all, it offers the opportunity to access services and solutions in line with demand without having to constantly invest a great deal of effort in customised solutions. The fear that data protection cannot be guaranteed here and that people will no longer be in control of their data is increasingly fading. According to surveys by Statista, sales of cloud computing increased approximately six-fold between 2011 and 2021. Approaches that can be operated in the cloud as SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) or PaaS (Platform as a Service) will win.
10 years ago, the phrase "consulting is a people business" applied.
"All that glitters is not Scrum" Gabler's Business Dictionary describes agility as the "agility, manoeuvrability or flexibility of organisations and people or in structures and processes." Agility, particularly in the development and customisation of software, will continue to increase. However, it remains to be seen how this agility will cope with the fact that people need structures in order to complete tasks successfully. How do a well-structured file plan or a sophisticated organisation chart fit in with the constant change that is required? What does the learning curve and therefore efficiency in the company look like when processes and procedures change on a daily basis? Perhaps this is a little exaggerated, but the very agile rules in the pandemic and people's reactions show what happens when change is too constant: no one knows what is right or wrong anymore and everyone does what they think is right. This will be a major challenge for IT and organisational projects. Agility is important, but please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater and only think scrum. Because that translates as "scrum".
"Skills before personality"
As mentioned at the beginning, consulting has always been something with a strong personal connection. Simply a matter of trust. Simply something tailored to the individual situation. That's why it was important for both sides to be able to build up this personal relationship. However, even 10 years ago there was a movement to buy consulting services via a catalogue. Larger companies in particular concluded contracts with a few large partners in which they could buy according to skills. This opened up opportunities for both sides. The buyer was able to purchase the skills that were currently required at very favourable conditions. The provider was able to improve its margins through economies of scale and by bringing in low-cost staff from abroad. However, it was underestimated that significantly more controlling was required internally at the client because in many cases there was simply a lack of personal involvement and commitment. Even if these constellations were not always successful, they nevertheless mark a trend that will continue: The personal relationship will increasingly take a back seat when it comes to selecting consultants. The skill card is the winner.
"Next level"
The developments listed can only reflect a small section and by no means represent all facets. However, they may give an initial impression of what consulting will look like in 10 years' time. The current pandemic has shown us how quickly everything can change and how pragmatically some things suddenly work that were previously unthinkable. While we were still predominantly on site with our clients in 2019, we are now almost exclusively connected to our client teams online. However, it is more difficult to build a customer relationship via web conferences. If there is no direct personal contact, it is also more difficult to build the personal bond that is necessary for many project situations. You become more interchangeable.
Various developments are conceivable. On the one hand, consultants can be used to supplement the internal team: on a temporary basis, as "external internals", integrated into your own organisation. On the other hand, consultants can be brought in for a short time to build up and transfer knowledge and for special issues (consulting on demand). In any case, online conferences will be used much more than they are today. Checklists and mind maps will gain in importance. We may even see the development of multi-client consulting (share a consultant). In all cases, skills are primarily purchased via platforms or framework agreements. You simply tick what you need on the internet and pay as required. The personality of the consultant is becoming less and less important. Increasing digitalisation is forcing and enabling other forms of consulting. Consultancy firms like B&L are therefore well advised to think about new approaches. Whatever the case may be. At B&L, we have made it our principle to always see change as an opportunity. In this respect, we are relaxed about the "next level". How do you deal with it?
Dipl. Wirtsch.-Ing. Lothar Leger is Managing Director of B&L Management Consulting GmbH. B&L Management Consulting GmbH sees itself as an architect for ECM and DMS and as a pioneer of digital change. The company is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021 and is one of the leading vendor- and product-neutral DMS/ECM consulting firms in Germany. B&L supports companies from the digitalisation strategy, through analysis and technical conception, provider selection and system implementation to the handover to operations, with a focus on future-oriented topics such as the digitalisation of processes, the development of ECM and DMS solutions, the automation of invoicing processes and the creation of electronic files. The focus here is on the process-oriented integration of the organisational and technical aspects of the solution approaches.
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