Professional Services Must Join the Digital Revolution Now

Never once has a business consultant told an organization “no, you’re fine- don’t ever change”.  Change is vital to relevance, in multiple aspects of your business. Here at Agile IT, we focus on technology- and as technology grows and changes, it is necessary to adapt.

The leaps and bounds that cloud computing has taken, even in just the last year, are astounding.  Are you still worrying about space on a hard drive, or making sure that you’ve emailed yourself the work that you want to do away from your desk, or having an outdated infrastructure?  With Microsoft Azure and Agile IT, you can stop thinking about your IT environment, knowing you’re in good hands.  Let us handle your IT, and let you do what you do best- continue to grow your business.

AgileDataCenter, Agile IT’s service that utilizes Azure, is designed to make it dramatically faster and easier to move the contents of your server to new hardware - whether on-site or in the Cloud - and to maximize your existing server(s) as you grow.  Contact us today to schedule a free discussion with our team, and see what AgileDataCenter and the Cloud can do for you.

No industry is immune from digital disruption. And any business would be foolish to think that it is a phenomenon limited to specific sectors or models.

The possibility of being ousted by an innovative startup is just as applicable to an industry like professional services as it is to, say, media and communications – or those that are impacted by models like the sharing economy, which has created success stories like Airbnb and car sharing startup BlaBlaCar.

It should be clear by now that to stay ahead, all businesses have to adapt. As clients become increasingly reliant on the digital world, services firms must innovate to meet demands.

This January, PwC published its annual Global CEO Survey, which revealed that a third of UK business leaders are concerned about a significant new competitor from the technology sector. Alongside the threats of new rivals and rapid technological changes, digital disruption in our own sector is being amplified by the biggest overhaul of the professional services market in living memory, as regulatory changes – such as mandatory tendering and new audit firm rotation rules – converge with increasingly fierce competition for talent. This new landscape brings challenges for the industry, not least for incumbents.

Yet this should not only be seen as a need to “adapt to survive.” The changes in the wider market are also producing opportunities, for both providers and clients, that far outweigh the challenges. Take, as an example, the ways in which SMEs are using professional services. Developments in technology have opened up communication channels and enabled seamless contact with clients. The use of cloud technologies, when blended with traditional services, means that big firms can now offer services at more accessible prices, providing a much wider range of options for SMEs.

One illustration of this rising tide of regional choice and access is PwC’s My Financepartner. Launched last year, it uses cloud-based accounting technology to offer new services to and build relationships with clients that we couldn’t reach in the past. For services firms, this opens up a completely new market. And for SMEs, it offers an unprecedented opportunity to tap into the type of professional services that were once perceived to be the preserve of major corporations.

These developments are redrawing market boundaries and intensifying competition in every area – with smaller players pitching for larger company audits, big firms targeting smaller opportunities, and new products and services emerging. And these shifts are creating a professional services market that is far more dynamic than ever before.

It is vital that incumbent firms seize the opportunities that are available. Otherwise, they risk falling victim to disruption, and losing out to nimble competitors. Whether it’s industries or regions, digital is removing the old dividing lines.

This article excerpt, by Stephanie Hyde, originally appeared here: http://bit.ly/1B0rQQy