Future of IT consulting

This article from HBS on "Future of IT Consulting" was something worth going through:
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3402.html

On a side note, I am trying to catch up with my reading, as I get settled with my new job and the new place where I've relocated myself.

One of the interesting notes which I already experience in the market-place is:

Many CIOs say they will do less outsourcing in the future. This is driven by several factors, including a decrease in the number of new, "gorilla" ERP and CRM initiatives and the increasing need for rapid and flexible modifications to existing systems. What they do outsource will be the "body shop" activity when they need more capacity, but they plan to keep the deeper expertise in their companies.

The companies having intensive IT functions want to keep outsourcing to
Where will the IT consulting arms of the Big Four in audit go from here?

a. The headcount-increment predictions are flattening out, as seen from their projections for the next year.

b. Most of the functions performed by the consulting arms of the Big Four are geared towards the above mentioned "body-shop" activities. For instance, if you look at the IT consulting arm of a leading Big Four firm, it has huge chunk of ppl (more than 50%) devoted in their Systems Dev arm and barely, a few in their IT Strategic Management arm.


What do I suggest for my regular readers?

One must work towards developing one's own skill-sets. Do not go behind the names of the companies. Within those companies as well, you are evaluated based on the work you've done in the past and the work you are doing now. Thus, one must remain highly selective in the work one does. You will automatically be picked up by one of these firms, if you are working in a niche area as an expert. I say this because they want ppl as they are operating (20%) far above their healthy attrition levels (which are 12-13%).

Also, it makes logical sense to load up one's skills at one's own consent than what the firm's want. Most of the body-shops want only one skill - working hard on whatever you are put onto. Thus, specialization is only a matter of chance and not a pre-meditated, strategic play. As Ayn Rand puts it: "Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think."

The future is apple (contd)

Sometime back, I had posted a log by the title "The future is Apple!"

In line with the same argument, I want to update my visitors with this piece of news.
Domination - but - only of the multimedia segment! With movies on iPods and iTV as the next big thing along with IPTV, Apple will compete with other players such as 2wire who have got big business for their STBs (Set top boxes). IPTV is going to be a big business and Apple will ensure that under the leadership of Steve Jobs, they get a good chunk of it.

So, here's a thing - Jobs is not an original guy but has the ability to see the markets well and execute a project to the finish and sell his product. Gates beat him at that but Gates is out of the game now. I hope Jobs will be able to at least get over Ozzie...if not, then that's sheer lack of competence . However, I do not want to sound as if I am writing him off completely. He still remains a legend in this industry for reasons such as the flair he possesses, the effect he creates, etc.

Letsee what next he brings in.