The consulting landscape has changed significantly in the last decade, and as a result, there is an overwhelming need for subject matter experts that possess the type of in-depth understanding and experience that you simply cannot find in a textbook.
Brian Gubbins, business development director of EOH, says the rapid change in the technological environment and free access to the Internet has resulted in the need for a different set of consulting skills that focus on solution implementation as opposed to interview-based diagnostics.
Traditional lengthy engagements that promised to change the world have been replaced by specialised knowledge-based interventions. “The entire principle of pure management consulting in the form of strategy and process analysis needs to be divorced from its set methodologies and transformed into quick interventions that can keep up with the rapid pace of change. It is essentially a complete turnaround from the traditional change cycle consulting method,” says Gubbins.
Best practice is freely available on the Internet and no longer the draw card of previous consulting knowledge-based sales. The implementation of this with the underpinning technologies is where dedicated consulting needs to be focused. Following from this, companies are more prone not to employ specialised and commodity-based IT skills, but rather allow IT service providers to manage this on their behalf.
“The days of pure management consulting, general business process re-engineering and business analysis are no longer the consulting cash cows of the past,” explains Gubbins.
The parameters in which organisations operate are constantly shifting with trends such as social networking and consumer technology in the enterprise spurring every avenue of business to rethink their approaches and utilisation. “The need to implement enterprise systems that are backed by comprehensive support throughout the entire process is vital to safely steer the organisation through an ever-changing environment. The cloud brings with it new challenges and opportunities that blow previous ideas out of the water. The way in which we manage information, secure our organisations, access storage, platforms and applications are changing literally by the minute. Consulting needs to shift its mindset to quickly design and implement in this environment,” concludes Gubbins.
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EOH
EOH is a business and technology solutions provider creating lifelong partnerships by developing business and IT strategies, supplying and implementing solutions and managing enterprise-wide business systems and processes for medium to large clients.
EOH operates in the following three clusters of business units as a fully integrated business:
Technology - Through a number of subsidiary companies, EOH is able to sell, implement and support a range of world-class business applications, including ERP, CRM, business intelligence, advanced planning and scheduling, e-commerce and manufacturing execution systems (MES).
Consulting - Concentrated under the EOH Consulting brand are business units offering services ranging from strategic and business process consulting, project services, change management, supply chain optimisation and education.
Outsourcing - EOH offers comprehensive maintenance and support of client's IT infrastructure and applications through the rendering of full IT outsourcing, application hosting and managed services. In addition EOH offers full business process outsourcing (BPO) services.
EOH has a presence in all major centres in South Africa and operates in the rest of Africa.
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