Business Issues Facing Professional Services
Standardizing services & packaging
ProServ businesses have people as their core assets, therefore they are trying to maximize margins that are limited by incremental variable cost of labor. They need to engineer consistent services and package them to replicate timely delivery, and meet customer expectations while improving profitability. They can do this through standardized service delivery and support processes.
Increasing resource utilization
Firms are challenged with having the right people with the right expertise and connections at the right time to deliver their services. They risk resources being underutilized due to poor visibility (e.g. a consultant not staffed on a project but still being paid by the company). Professional services organizations need to maximize employee utilization by accurately forecasting demand, developing and managing their supply of internal and external resources, and properly assigning resources and subcontractors to projects.
Automating and integrate processes
When key processes like service delivery, accounting, and billing are not automated and integrated together, it creates revenue leakage, late or inaccurate customer billing, and lack of real-time information for decision making. Streamline processes to ensure timely, on-budget and effective execution. Service companies need solutions to manage the entire project and service delivery lifecycle – from the first customer contact to the final payment collection. Fragmented systems with individual components that are not synchronized cause unreliable reporting, excess rekeying, and lots of delays and inaccuracies.
Controlling project financials & risks
More than half of all projects are not delivered as planned, which directly impacts profitability and client satisfaction. You need real-time visibility into all aspects of project delivery, from initial scoping to final billing. Getting visibility into the entire project and customer lifecycle, from project planning and execution to project control, increases your effectiveness and improves the bottom line.
