Shaken by the Roots: Why Professional Service Firms Must Evolve
The professional services industry has a long and illustrious history. The roots of today’s legal profession lie in ancient Athens, where “orators” would write speeches for the accused to read out at their trials.1 The accounting profession goes back even further: scribes in the warehouses of ancient Sumer developed cuneiform, the world’s first written language, in order to manage their stock.
Professional services firms, whose business was driven by intellect, education, experience and relationships, were left relatively untouched. That is no longer the case. In recent times the professional services sector has found itself at the nexus of a number of era-defining forces that have shaken the foundations of its long-established business model.
This report from The Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Deltek, examines the forces that are reshaping the sector and assesses their current and future impact. It also identifies, with reference to realworld examples, how professional services firms must adapt in response to these trends.
The key findings are as follows:
- Global forces, driven in large part by technology, are reshaping the market dynamics in the professional services sector
- One response to these forces is to build a global scale.
- Professional services firms are also expanding their areas of specialisation
- Effective use of technology is helping firms to compete on a global level.
- To weather the current upheaval, firms must be absolutely clear what value they offer clients.
Download this Report below:
