DACH consulting market grows by one billion

Strong German demand for consultants led to growth of the DACH consulting market by €1 billion to €8.7 billion in just two years.

The consulting market in Switzerland approached the 1 billion euro mark in 2015, growing by 5.7 percent to 943 million euros. Austria saw growth of just 2.9 percent to 265 million euros.

These findings were published today in the new DACH report from Source Global Research, an internetional analysis company.

According to the report, although all sectors of the economy in the DACH region recorded growth in 2015, individual sectors such as financial services, with growth of 7.1 percent to three billion euros, and manufacturing, with growth of 8.9 percent to 2.2 billion euros, stood out clearly from the rest.

Strategy Consulting remains the largest service in DACH, with growth of 6.1 percent to EUR 2.8 billion. Risk & Regulation, however, is the fastest growing service, with an increase of 8.9 percent to 707 million euros due to growing concerns about cybersecurity.

Edward Haigh, director of Source Global Research, clarifies:

"Consulting expenditures in the manufacturing sector were largely made by the automotive industry. This sector awarded almost half of the consulting contracts in the entire manufacturing sector in the DACH region and reveals a significant and growing interest in Industrie 4.0.

In 2015, companies wanted to get to grips with the practical aspects of Industrie 4.0, move away from theoretical strategic discussions and turn ideas into reality."

Source's report notes that there is nothing in the financial services industry to suggest that the regulatory burden is easing. Consulting firms should definitely apply the right model to operate in this market segment if they want to profit from it.

Digitization seeks consultants

2015 was the year when employees in the DACH region took action instead of just talking about digitization. Companies finally moved from the discovery phase to the implementation phase.

While this was not true of all industries, digitization is of interest to most companies not only in the front office to improve customer interaction, but also to improve back office performance and drive the business model, particularly in the form of Industry 4.0.

In the wake of this, consulting services in the technology sector in the DACH region grew by 8.2 percent to EUR 2.4 billion. At the same time, the slump in "traditional" technology contracts such as SAP and ERP initiatives continued, and contracts were awarded primarily in standardized areas with high competitive pressure, causing prices to fall further.

According to Source's report, close relocation, particularly to Eastern Europe, is an increasingly important mechanism for DACH consultants in their attempts to parry the worst effects of commoditization.

Close relocation is now often seen as a much more attractive proposition than relocation to remote countries, such as India, due to geographic proximity, language capabilities, and availability of relevant industries and expertise.

Convergence was also an important factor in the DACH consulting market in 2015. The consulting companies were eager to convince their customers that they are able to fulfill all wishes in order to get large, particularly sought-after transformation projects.

Despite the desire for simplicity and responsibility when working with consulting firms, customers remain skeptical of service providers that offer everything from a single source.

Consulting firms are responding by partnering with other firms to bring in different expertise to combine the best of both worlds.