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Kennedy Study Finds CSI Growing Field

October 16, 2009

Peterborough, N.H.-based Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory has reportedly released research detailing the failure of traditional customer relationship management technologies to act as the proverbial silver bullet for improving customer interactions, and how that has led to the rise of customer strategy and interaction consulting.


The report, "Customer Strategy and Interaction Consulting Marketplace 2009-2012: Key Trends, Profiles and Forecasts," defined the "burgeoning" CSI practice area as "the definition of customer-centric strategic goals and execution of operations processes that leverage information technology to capitalize on customer insight." 
 
That, and the desire to get a cool TV show named after it. "CSI – Peterborough."
 
This services evolution is evidenced by consulting practices centered on the concept of the "customer," which include market strategy, customer insight, experience, and strategy and pricing and customer segmentation.

Clients pursuing these services, in particular, should check out capabilities before committing to a provider, company officials say: Erick Burchfield, associate director, Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory and lead analyst, said as an emerging market, "CSI consulting comprises a relatively small portion of the global consulting market, yet demand is expected to grow approximately three times faster than the overall market over the 2008-2012 forecast period."
 
Kennedy's research found that the CSI consulting market is highly fragmented -- "one in which both large, multinational firms and niche firms have a stake. Larger firms tend to focus on customer-facing technology."
 
Research analysts say that there is "significant opportunity" for niche firms to capture market share from large, global practices, "particularly when it comes to the soft side of CSI, such as customer experience management."

Firms horning in on the CSI market include the usual suspects -- Accenture, A.T. Kearney, Bain, Deloitte, Fujitsu America, IBM, McKinsey & Company, The Boston Consulting Group, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, et al.

The research also details the competitive landscape, including top-five ratings by practice type -- global, niche, customer strategy, pricing, customer interaction management, marketing sales and service management, customer-based IT enablement, and customer intelligence (data) services.

Earlier this year, ContactCenterSolutions’s Brendan Read reported that since, according to CSI best practices, "anticipation is key to effective response," Chordiant released the Chordiant Cx Visual Business Director.


David Sims is a contributing editor for ContactCenterSolutions. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for ContactCenterSolutions here.

Edited by Amy Tierney



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