Purchasing organizations and teams responsible for procuring consulting services face two challenges.
1. Reliable and resilient comparison of providers & selection of consultants
Sourcing professional services is becoming increasingly complex: multi-layered service bundles, a lack of market transparency and low potential for standardization are just some of the difficulties that strategic and operational procurement for consulting services often has to struggle with.
«It's difficult to find the right consultant and identify real points of differentiation between providers»
At least that's what more than 60% of the customers we surveyed in our latest study of the consulting market say. The reason? The great heterogeneity of consulting providers and the services they offer are a challenge when it comes to procuring consulting services. The task is further complicated by a multitude of other differentiating and important "matching" criteria, such as the various collaboration and delivery models and project-related competencies such as industry, market, hierarchical target group or methodological expertise.
In addition, recurring or new consulting concepts and fields are emerging, and the competencies of the consultancies are steadily changing. Maintaining orientation here makes procuring consulting services more difficult. We recently demonstrated this using the example of ESG and sustainability consulting (Comprehensive Guide to the ESG & Sustaimability Consulting Market).
The lack of transparency and uncertainties are made even greater by market dynamics that the consulting market has been experiencing recently, triggered by new providers entering the consulting market, acquisitions, mergers or spin-offs of consulting companies, and realignments of business models and consulting portfolios.
«High-performance procurement organizations and remarkable results can only be achieved if the procurement team has the appropriate skills and capacity to stay ahead of the curve and build the appropriate market and process intelligence».
Our «4 Ws» of how to evaluate consulting companies and how to choose the right consulting company successfully
As extended workbench, we help purchasing organizations and teams procure consulting services on a modular basis and as needed: From requirements definition to long list to short list recommendation and selection of the appropriate consultant. We accompany tenders, make long list recommendations and offer market screenings and reports. In doing so, we draw on our experience of over 20 years and the execution of around 2,000 consultant evaluations. The following competencies are crucial for a reliable and successful consultant evaluation and selection:
Learn more about our services «Procurement as a Service» and «Evaluation & Matching»
1. Return on Consulting & Procurement Excellence
Procurement organzations are currently under even more pressure than usual. This is because procurement is increasingly expected to be a value driver within the company: procurement has not only to deliver cost savings, but also to make a substantial contribution to profitable corporate growth, to increase innovative capability, and to secure competitive advantage.
Dies erfordert eine klare strategische Ausrichtung des Einkaufs, eine agile, effiziente Einkaufsorganisation und Best-Practice-Prozesse auf strategischer, taktischer und operativer Ebene. Diese werttreibenden Hebel können nur adressiert werden, wenn der Einkauf konsequent Procurement Excellence anstrebt.
«It's about identifying opportunities and starting points on how to optimize the performance of consultants and the achievement of project goals.»
4 levers to increase return on consulting and procurement excellence
With our validated "Return on Consulting" model, we help purchasing organizations and teams to further develop their procurement excellence and realize substantial value contributions.
Source: Cardea AG
Learn more about our services «Procurement as a Service» and «Evaluation & Matching»
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