Analysts Show BPM Consulting Faring Better in Economy

SAP PartnerEdge Launches BPM Consulting Initiative – Webinar May 20, 11AM ET, 1700 CET

Since the bottom fell out of the economy in late Q3, IT consulting revenues have been shrinking. According to a recent forecast by Forrester, IT consulting revenues will continue to shrink through the end of Q2, 2009 with the balance of 2009 showing negative growth^1. 

While no one can be certain, the economy is showing signs of life, and Forrester’s forecast calls for increasing revenues for both IT consulting and software licenses in the second half of 2009 if there is even anemic growth within the US.  In their detailed comments, Forrester states that growth areas include business process management tools, and IT services that help companies improve their business processes.

Other correlating reports from analysts are suggesting that BPM demand remains solid despite overall contraction of IT spending.  Two separate adoption surveys from Gartner show increasing adoption of BPM, with one of the surveys showing 60% of interviewed customers will be increasing their BPM budget in 2009².  In this survey, 30% of the customers stated they hired consultants.  Another Forrester study states nearly 40% plan to hire consultants for BPM-related projects³.

The secret to this resiliency due to the fact that true BPM projects are management initiatives, not IT initiatives.  Well run BPM initiatives share these traits:

• Business quality goals such as faster cycle times, improved customer satisfaction, fewer errors
• Funded by line-of-business rather than IT, and accountable to line of business managers
• Rapid project execution and an iterative approach to continuous process improvement

As a result, these kinds of projects are easier to sell because they can be linked to specific business improvements for line of business managers with clear needs and available budget.  

To help SAP service partners improve their sales of BPM consulting engagements, SAP ParterEdge is launching a BPM Consulting Initiative on May 20.  Through this initiative, SAP service partners can:

• Enhance awareness of their BPM expertise among SAP customers
• Increase lead flow
• Gain closer cooperation with SAP marketing and sales

To learn more, register for the SAP PartnerEdge BPM Consulting Initiative Launch Webinar, Wednesday, May 20, 11AM ET, 1700 CET, featuring Ann Rosenberg SAP’s Global Head of BPM Consulting, and Greg Chase, Director of Platform Marketing at SAP.

Ann Rosenberg, Global Practice Head for BPM SAP Business Transformation Consulting	Greg Chase Director, Platform Marketing SAP

^1.  Andrew Bartels, Forrester, “US IT Market Outlook: Q1 2009”

^2. Rosser & Kerremans, Gartner, “BPM Adoption Survey”, March 2009 & Michelle Cantara, Gartner, “Market Trends: Impact of Business Process Management on Consulting and Development & Integration Services, Worldwide, 2008-2010”, December 2008.

^3. Matzke & McCarthy, Forrester, “The State of Enterprise IT Services: 2008”, Oct 2008.