CMap’s Latest Study Discovers More Than 80% of Consultancies Are Unwilling to Embrace Contemporary Technology

A huge number of consultancies are still struggling to make "patchwork" tools function as long as the world keeps developing and adopting technology.

03:13 16 March 2023

A huge number of consultancies are still struggling to make "patchwork" tools function as long as the world keeps developing and adopting new technologies. But will their refusal to adopt new technologies cause them to fall behind as more of their rivals adopt modern working practices over the coming years? 

Through the adoption of technology in the quickly expanding PSA market, CMap, a leading supplier of industry-tailored project and resource management software, in conjunction with Consultancy BenchPress, has discovered the enormous potential for consultancies to boost growth and profitability. 

Over 80% of consultancies are run using spreadsheets or a collection of standalone tools, according to a recent study from CMap and Consultancy BenchPress. Only 17% of consultancies use a Professional Services Automation (PSA) system to manage their business. 

A PSA system's main goal is to give professional services firms a centralized platform for managing all of their operational aspects. Project management, resource management, time and expense tracking, billing, and financial reporting are some of the tasks that fall under this category. PSA tools can generate invoices automatically based on billing rules and project status, doing away with the need for manual invoicing and lowering the possibility of mistakes. 

PSA tools can assist businesses in streamlining their operations, lowering administrative costs, and increasing overall profitability by combining these functions into a single system.

Despite this, the research also observed that consulting firms using a PSA system endure major growth, with higher consumption, a greater overview of margin, and an enhancement in revenue per partner, alongside PSA supporters producing 7% greater application compared to those advisory companies largely using spreadsheets. 

The research implies that over the next three years when the PSA market is anticipated to double, more than a third of non-PSA users will probably switch to a PSA system. The inefficiency of their "patchwork" of tools and solutions was the main defence offered by those who recently switched to PSA systems. 

Consultancies need to be willing to embrace technology in the current rapid business environment if they want to stay relevant and significantly increase their bottom line. Now is the perfect time for consultancies to think about the advantages of implementing a PSA system because of the projected growth. 

“Consultants are quickly realizing that it's time to stop using spreadsheets and begin integrating critical project and resource management workflows in a Professional Services Automation (PSA) system”, according to Jon Stead, Chief Strategy Officer, CMap. 

“It is clear that PSA supporters produce 7% greater utilization compared to spreadsheets, so it should come as no surprise that PSA adoption is predicted to double in the next three years.“