The trends of the consulting industry will entirely be molded by the impacts and influences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global management consulting industry is expected to experience a drastic downfall by 14% as a result of the upcoming global recession in 2020.
In 2021, the disruption caused by the novel coronavirus will impact the industry, with a shift towards value-based performance, virtualization, and digital disruption. Here are some of the instances of existing trends, which are expected to witness a momentous rise in the coming year:
1. Acceleration of Digital Disruption
The ceaseless technological advancements and digitization are expected to reimagine and reshape the consulting industry entirely. Boston Consulting Group has observed that digital disruption is going to be the most significant factor for business resilience in near future. They observed that the businesses that are vulnerable to financial risks should consider investing in digital resilience as soon as possible. As per this model, consultancy firms will develop digitally trained teams, and analytics teams will be analyzing the data. Digital disruption is expected to be one of the most important trend for the industry in 2021.
2. Remote Process of Consulting
Working remotely is nothing new for consultants. Even before the pandemic hit the world, they were already offering their services working virtually or online. Still, the consulting firms will require to adapt to a totally new approach as businesses are also shifting towards the work from home culture.
3. Quantifiable Results
Many businesses are looking forward to consultants after the devastation caused by the pandemic. In this catastrophic scenario, clients will seek for cost-effective solutions from the consultants and hence, they should refrain from prioritizing expensive analysis. Businesses should be assured that the strategies are lined up with their operational realities which will lead to quantifiable results.
4. Strategic Partnerships and Joint Ventures
These are the times of uncertainty and businesses are in need of strategic planning more than ever. Most of the clients will invest in consultants for proper emergency planning, new business strategy, or scenario planning. However, many businesses are taking the risk of change programs by getting into partnerships with consultants and developing multi-year collaboration so as to develop deeper perspective and enable transformation. LevaData’s recent strategic partnership with Bain & Company to deliver next-generation supply management technology to manufacturers is one such instance.
