Worldwide Consulting Services 2005-2009 Forecast: Redefining the Business Model and Setting a New Course

This IDC study answers the following questions:

What are IDC's predictions and assumptions relating to market forces affecting the business and IT consulting services markets, and what impact will they have on the market forecasts? Which assumptions are of sufficient importance that a change in the assumption would result in a change in the market forecasts? What are the key buyer and vendor trends that are expected to impact the global and U.S. consulting spending forecast? What is IDC's outlook on global business and IT consulting services spending by region? What steps should consulting vendors take to increase and maintain their competitive positioning?

Based on our analysis of consulting buyers' needs and behavior, market trends and imperatives, competitive landscape, and pricing dynamics, IDC believes that the consulting services market's transformation is far from complete. "In an environment of declining IT budgets, technology simplification and standardization, skepticism around consultants' value proposition, increased interest in business process outsourcing, and advancement of the global labor sourcing model, IT and business consulting services vendors are reinventing the way they market, sell, deliver, and make profits on consulting services business," said Anna Danilenko, program manager for Consulting Services at IDC.