March 2021 EXTRACT The US Consulting Market in 2021 Market Trends Programme Cybersecurity consulting Risk & financial management HR, change & people strategy Operations Strategy Technology & innovation 6 7 8 9 5 10 4 11 3 12 2 13 1 14 Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q 28 15 27 16 The US Consulting Market in 2021 26 17 25 18 24 19 23 22 21 20 What’s included in this report Our reports offer a wealth of market sizing, growth, and forecast data alongside engaging, in-depth analysis of the trends that matter. Using our highly flexible, multidimensional model we provide firms with robust, trusted data to make informed decisions about strategic investments and plan for the future. US 2 3 1 4 F E D C B A A B C D E F 9 5 8 6 7 Geography model Region in this report Regions in other reports Albania Canada Germany Kenya North Macedonia Saudi Arabia Tanzania Sector model Algeria Chile Ghana Kuwait Norway Serbia Thailand Angola China Greece Lebanon Oman Singapore Tunisia Sectors Cybersecurity consulting Sub-sectors Argentina Colombia Hong Kong Libya Pakistan Slovakia Turkey 1 Energy & resourcesRisk & financial management1 A Energy Australia Côte d'Ivoire Hungary Luxembourg Papua New Guinea Slovenia UAE 2 Financial servicesHR, change & people strategy1 B Primary resources Austria Croatia India Malaysia Peru South Africa Uganda 3 Healthcare 1 C Utilities Bahrain Cyprus Indonesia Mexico Philippines South Korea Ukraine 4 ManufacturingOperations 2 A Banking Belarus Czech Republic Iran Morocco Poland Spain United Kingdom 5 Pharma & biotechStrategy 2 B Capital markets Belgium Denmark Iraq Mozambique Portugal Sri Lanka United States 6 Public sector 2 C Insurance Bosnia Egypt Ireland Myanmar Qatar Sudan Venezuela Technology & innovation 7 Retail 2 D Investment and wealth Brazil Ethiopia Israel Netherlands Romania Sweden Vietnam 8 Services management Bulgaria Finland Italy New Zealand Russia Switzerland Zambia 9 Technology, media & telecoms 2 E Private equity Cameroon France Japan Nigeria Rwanda Taiwan 3 A Healthcare 4 A Aerospace 4 B Automotive 4 C Construction 4 D Consumer electronics 4 E Consumer packaged goods 4 F Industrial products 5 A Pharma 6 A Defence 6 B Education 6 C Not-for-profit 6 D Public sector 7 A Retail 8 A Business services 8 B Leisure 8 C Logistics 8 D Real estate 8 E Transportation 9 A High-tech 7 8 6 9 9 B Media 5 10 9 C Telecoms 4 11 3 12 2 13 1 14 Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q The revenue-earning model 28 15 1 Consulting 2 Managed service 3 27 16 3 Contingent fees 26 17 25 18 24 19 23 22 21 20 2 Line of business model Market segments 1 Cybersecurity consulting Risk & financial management HR, change & people strategy Operations Strategy Technology & innovation Line of business Capabilities 1 Cybersecurity 1 A Cybersecurity advice 7 D IT training 11 G Market analysis & strategy 14 A Purpose-led strategy & change 2 Risk 1 B Cybersecurity incident response 7 E Programme management 11 H Policy formulation 14 B Resource-efficiency implementation 3 Forensic 1 C Penetration testing & wargaming 7 F Vendor selection 11 I Pricing 14 C Resource-efficiency strategy 4 Financial management 2 A Technology & security risk services 11 J Strategic sourcing/offshoring services 14 D Social impact & trust 5 Design & UX 8 A Advanced analytics 2 B Operational risk 12 A Corporate, occupier services & facilities 14 E Sustainable workforce 6 Innovation 8 B Data visualisation, business 2 C Programme risk management 14 F Sustainable supply chain 7 Technology intelligence & semantic layer 2 D Responding to regulation 12 B Integrated real estate developer services 14 G Clean technology 8 Data & analytics 9 A Customer feedback 2 E Risk management 12 C Real estate deal/transaction services 14 H Green IT 9 Research 9 B Customer segmentation 12 D Real estate strategy 10 Deals 3 A eDiscovery 9 C Employee feedback 15 A Benefits, compensation & pensions, 11 Strategy 3 B Forensic accounting 9 D Environmental & social impact research 13 A Benchmarking excluding actuarial & investment advice 12 Real estate 4 A Budgeting/financial planning process 9 E Macro/microeconomic research 13 B Business continuity & recovery 15 B Change management 13 Operations 4 B Debt advisory 9 F Market research 13 C Cost cutting 15 C Diversity & inclusion 14 Sustainability 13 D Customer service 15 D Employee engagement 4 C Finance function 10 A Capital allocation strategy 15 HR & change 13 E DevOps 15 E Governance & board effectiveness 4 D Financial advisory 10 B Commercial due diligence & valuation 16 Architecture 13 F Distribution strategy 15 F HR strategy & effectiveness 4 E Financial restructuring & insolvency 10 C Financial due diligence 17 Audit & assurance 13 G Lean & Six Sigma 15 G Leadership 5 A Corporate identity 10 D M&A transaction strategy 18 Business process outsourcing 13 H Operational review 15 H Organisational design & culture 5 B Customer journey & UX benchmarking 10 E Operational due diligence 19 Civil engineering 13 I Outsourcing advice 15 I Organisational training & development 5 C Graphic & UI design 10 F Portfolio & investment strategy 20 Legal 13 J Post-M&A integration 15 J Outplacement 5 D UX & service design 10 G Public-private partnerships 21 Litigation 13 K Process design, re-engineering 15 K Pension fund evaluation & advice 10 H Technology due diligence 22 Marketing & creative 6 A Ideation & automation 15 L Performance management 23 Network engineering 6 B Innovation management 11 A Business & financial modelling 13 L Procurement/purchasing 15 M Stakeholder management 24 Product engineering & R&D 6 C Innovation strategy 11 B Category management 13 M Property & estate management 15 N Talent management 25 Recruitment 6 D Strategies for growth from innovation 11 C Channel management 13 N Sales & distribution planning 15 O Team effectiveness & collaboration 26 Software engineering 7 A Cloud advice 11 D Corporate recovery & turnaround 13 O Sales force effectiveness 27 System integration 7 B ERP consulting 11 E Corporate restructuring 13 P Supply chain management 28 Tax 7 C IT strategy, planning & review 11 F Corporate strategy 13 Q Target operating model © Source Information Services Ltd 2021 2 REPORT EXTRACT: non-exclusively licensed for internal use only The US Consulting Market in 2021 Contents Market overview Explores the key trends that were front of mind for consulting firms in this market in 2020. The US consulting market in numbers 4 The US consulting market in 2020 6 Market segments 9 Sectors 9 1 The client perspective What clients tell us about their plans for the year—and where they’ll be asking consultants for help. Looking beyond short-term challenges, clients see long-term opportunities 10 The desire to keep the best changes emerging from the crisis will reshape clients’ priorities in 2021 16 Clients will make more use of consulting support in 2021, but what they buy and how much they’re prepared to pay for it will change 20 We’ve identified five key actions US consulting firms should take in 2021, ranging from being able to lead with data and expertise to the importance of having a social purpose 229 Insights from consultants The US consulting market in 2021 The views of consulting leaders in the US. Our forecasts for growth through the end of 2021. Interviews with consulting leaders3 36 Forecast for 2021 465 About this report Our report draws on four main sources: - Our global data model covering the professional services market - Our annual global client perception survey of senior end-users of consulting firms - Our interviews with senior management consultants from a range of consulting firms - Our in-depth desk research on the market A detailed view of our methodology and more information about Source can be found below: Methodology 66 Definitions of sectors and market segments 69 5 Contributors 71 About the authors 72 Programme schedule for 2021 73 Our custom work 74 About us 75 © Source Information Services Ltd 2021 3 REPORT EXTRACT: non-exclusively licensed for internal use only Contents The US Consulting Market in 2021 The US consulting market in 2020 After a promising start to 2020, the US consulting market was unable to maintain that momentum in the wake of a pandemic that severely hampered economic activity for much of the year. Add in a hugely consequential November election that had some clients adopting a wait-and-see posture, and it’s little surprise that US consultants1 found themselves in rough waters. As a result of the very challenging year, consulting revenues in the US fell 12.5% in 2020, having grown 7.4% the previous year. Many of the worst blows consulting suffered happened in the earliest days of the pandemic hitting the US, when many clients put spending on hold as they dealt with the immediate impact of the virus and waited to see how long the pandemic would last and what the longer-term implications would be. While some elements of broader digitization and technology work continued—often with a focus on helping companies operate through a variety of lockdown scenarios—the vast majority of consulting work deemed non-essential was paused if not shuttered. By late summer, however, it was clear that COVID-19 was here to stay—at least for a while—and clients who figured they couldn’t wait around forever started to dip their toes back in the consulting waters.