4. The need for continual cybersecurity
upgrades
The massive collection of new digital products and services Driggs mentions need to be protected from a cybersecurity perspective. And while Driggs believes that consulting
firms’ growth-related services will differentiate them from
competitors during the coming years, he also asserts that
the demand for the “protection” work consulting firms deliver—related to assurance, risk management, internal controls, regulatory compliance and information security and
privacy—will sustain or increase (though how firms deliver
those offerings will change).
“Cybersecurity is a great example of a something that
there will always be a [consulting] need for,” he says.
“More of it may be conducted with the support of machine
learning, but it will always be around.” Kande agrees. “We
truly believe that in the future we will need to make sure
that cybersecurity is embedded into all the services that
we offer” he asserts. “The more data, the more things you
have connected to the internet and the more technology
is embedded in your business – the more you will have to
protect your business.”
Tending to Growth Services
Fourth industrial revolution matters also have consulting leaders thinking about ways to protect their own
firms in the face of the same disruptions rippling through
the industries they serve.
In response to 4IR disruptions and opportunities,
ALM Intelligence Analyst Laura Becker writes that
“global management consulting providers are shifting
their orientation out of necessity from pure manage-
ment consulting to a holistic, business-driven approach
focused on outcomes that are supported by a product ori-
entation with tools, analytics, AI, robotics, automation,
staff augmentation, and dare I say, managed services to
underpin the advisory work.”
During the past 24 months or so, firms also have
launched innovation centers, acquired technology com-
panies, developed new intellectual property, forged new
partnerships with technology companies and conducted
workforce upskilling initiatives.
“We are constantly building new offerings that lev-
erage AI and analytics to advance our core Maximo
and TRIRIGA products,” IBM’s Biller responds when
asked how his company has changed in response to
4IR. “We are providing the tools that enterprises need
to make their multi-year journey to cloud and open
standards that can reach across cloud, applications
and vendors with Red Hat [a huge 2018 acquisition
completed in July]. Additionally, we are investing in
research and focused on developing new technologies
to drive innovation in AI and help our clients navigate
their digital transformation.”
PwC has increased its investments in technol-
ogy and products, Kande reports, “to make sure that
most of our services are technology enabled.” Those
investments recently have gone toward data analy-
sis and data visualization software. Capgemini’s
Vergnolle notes that consulting firms are challenged
by the broad scope of technologies, techniques and
solutions that their offerings need to address. Among
manufacturing clients, “the technology is touching
nearly everything, from connectivity to data science,
cyber security, AI and AR as well as CAD simulation
and robot programing,” Vergnolle points out. “The
challenge 4IR posed for us was to organize our teams
to provide the various capabilities required as one
unified group.”
Some consulting leaders frame their firm’s, and their
profession’s, overriding 4IR challenge as a rebalancing
act that requires sustaining traditional offerings focused
on risk management and process improvement while
greatly expanding services dedicated to helping clients
foster innovation and achieve momentous growth.
Pointing to his protection, optimization, growth taxonomy, Driggs asserts that “it’s all about growth.” The
demand for protection and optimization services will
sustain, he stresses. However, larger portions of that
protect and optimize consulting work eventually will be
conducted via RPA, machine learning and other forms
of advanced technology, and that will likely reduce the
