IT Consulting in the UK
Steve Warren
IT Consulting, sometime referred to as technology consulting, is the provision of services that help organisations utilise information technology in the right way to support business goals and outcomes. IT management consulting covers both IT advisory consulting services and the delivery of technology services. With digital transformation becoming commonplace and all industries being impacted by new technology the need for external expertise is becoming more apparent. Differentiation of consultancies is really driven by the people, their ability to understand your challenges, integrate quickly and provide value early.
In the UK, although the Big4+ dominate the market, there are a large number of smaller agile consultancies specialising in particular niche’s of this market. Whereas the Big 4+ have strong brands, deep pockets and global reach, more nimble providers have demonstrated that through a focus on customer service excellence they can carve out their own position in the marketplace. This is because most of the smaller players rely on word of mouth/referrals to grow their business and so the ability to reference strong credentials is critical to our future success.
Strategic IT Consulting
Strategic IT consulting focuses on helping organisations navigate a path to digitisation through the development of cloud and platform strategies, enterprise data management solutions, automation roadmaps and operational resilience. Strategic IT consulting should not only help shape thinking and set a clear future path but should also be there to aid investment and prioritisation decision making. Strategy has no value if it just remains a strategy with no clarity of intent or path to execution. In our experience the larger players in strategic IT consulting also use a cookie cutter approach – delivering the same strategy, models, frameworks in different organisations. For sure, it’s important to have best practice approaches but critically every organisation is different and it’s important to be “adaptive” - only taking the parts from standard approaches that will add value quickly to that organisation. Listening to your clients needs and challenges and responding directly to their needs (not repurposing work at other organisations) is what makes truly strategic consultancies stand out and ultimately provide real value.
Why Does your Company need IT Consulting Services?
Organisations need IT consultancy services to solve different problems and overcome different challenges. Typically though it’s all about transformation – transformation of the business using IT to enable that change. All businesses are reliant on technology, either as a differentiator or as a competitive advantage in some way. Hybrid Cloud, Data, Automation, AI are the latest buzz words but it’s equally important to focus on organisation, suppliers, ways or working, governance, compliance and resilience. Buying IT services is relatively easy, integrating, operating, managing and securing those services is more involved and using IT strategy consultancies can help you accelerate that learning.
Cloud & Platforms
Understanding how to implement a “cloud-first” strategy is fraught with challenges. From the promotion and assessment of cloud capabilities through to the protection and assurance of information we provide a path to successful adoption. Undertaking a holistic readiness review provides a view not only across the technology landscape but people, processes, commercial and operational aspects of successful cloud programmes.
Data & Automation
Data and process automation solutions form a key part of the engine that underpins successful digital business transformation. The opportunity data brings, from reducing waste and costs through to identifying new revenue from your IP can be leveraged relatively quickly through our adaptive data architecture approach. Automation outcomes such as process speed execution or enhanced organizational integration can be achieved through automation landscape readiness and process opportunity pipeline approaches (process mining).
Digital Architecture
Architecture should add value by providing business and technology synchronicity, enabling business outcomes and creating value through future proofing the organisation and focusing on enterprise agility. This can be achieved by delivering business insight, ensuring consistency, accelerating decision making and fulfilling the trusted advisor role.
Operational Resilience
With the growth in hybrid cloud adoption, connected devices and use of distributed services organisations can become exposed to a multitude of risks – from cyberattacks, pandemics, climate change to unnecessary exposure to regulatory risk. Organisations need a comprehensive plan to prepare for continuity of operations but also pro-active assessment and monitoring of risk exposure. Using expert knowledge in public cloud DR solutioning and programme execution provides the foundational resilience needed to sustain your business growth.
Sourcing & Contracting
Strategic sourcing initiatives are frequently pivotal to delivering transformational change. Focusing on all stages of the sourcing lifecycle, organisations should develop the right sourcing strategy and execute this by leveraging external experience and using the right tools and processes to select the optimal supplier, supported by the right contract to deliver enduring business benefit.
Supplier Review & benchmarking
Assessing the best value providing price reviews for clients, identifying the market price that should be expected and how this compares to current provision. Getting consultants to deliver actionable insights to support both near term savings and renewal plans.
Cost Optimisation
Realise opportunities to deliver more efficient and effective IT services by freeing up costs. You need experience and a detailed market knowledge to make substantial Capex and Opex savings for an agreed scope of services and commodities.
Operating Models & Ways of Working
Organisations looking to shape their teams around their ability to deliver the right outcomes for their businesses. Gaining access to consultancies proprietary frameworks and approaches to help CIOs and CPOs identify improvements and actionable steps to maturity. Whether the focus is on implementing cultural change or creating a step change in performance consultancies can help.
Programme Assurance & Recovery
Designing programmes adapted to your organisation is the way to make significant difference to your delivery outcomes. Buying in expertise to help shape and mobilise your programmes; look for specializations in programme assurance and recovering programmes that may have gone off track or need stabilizing.
Why Peru’s IT Consulting Services?
Peru practitioners are transformation experts, helping private and public sector organisations modernise and transform their teams and technology. We specialise in helping our customers digitise their business, source the right capabilities and deliver lasting change. Our people reflect our values, and we guarantee a collaborative, quality, agile and trusted service. We only hire experts in their fields; sector focused, customer led and technology agnostic. As Peruvians we differentiate ourselves through our “Triple A” consulting principles: Accelerate – Identify and deliver value early, Assure – the right things and provide certainty and Augment – be a part of the team and hit the ground running. The value we bring is through our market insight, our accelerator tools, our commercial focus and our flexibility.