In a newly published study, International Data Corporation (IDC ) forecasts that the proportion of "digital related" consulting engagements will increase from about half of all business and IT consulting engagements in 2013-2015 to approximately 80% of all engagements in 2019, driving the total market for Digital Strategy services to over $97 billion worldwide by 2019.
Digital Strategy consulting services play an essential role in establishing the leadership and vision, the goals, the business architecture and organizational model, talent requirements, and data and technology priorities necessary to execute successful digital enterprise initiatives. Digital Strategy services align the adoption of social, mobile, analytics, next generation security, Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud technologies with measurable business value outcomes.
"As digitization alters the nature of business, competition, supply and servicing operations, a growing number organizations of all sizes and maturities will adopt elements of a digital strategy to create and/or maintain a brand, product, and operational advantage. As more firms adopt digital strategies, consulting engagements must contain a larger digital strategy services capability," said Michael Versace , Research Director, Digital Strategy research at IDC.
Some specific areas that are impacting demand for digital strategic services are:
- Agility and growth as fuel for Digital Strategies
- Technologies and data becoming strategic business assets
- Digital talent
- Slowing pace of IT productivity
"A big question in the digital strategy consulting services market is around business risk taking: Is now the time to execute more innovative business methods or operational 'experiments'? Or to expand and diversify digital services, offerings, and technical capabilities, as well as client demographics? The question remains one of how best to hedge against fluctuations in demand, execution risk, the broadening capability of digital pure plays, and the digital aspirations of traditional IT consulting and systems integrators," said Versace.