Accenture Leads Consulting Pack

A handful of CRM consulting firms qualify as industry leaders, and Accenture is in the pole position, according to Forrester Research's latest report, "Choosing the Right CRM Consultant." The report takes into account a number different factors in examining the level of expertise and knowledge offered by the various firms studied.

Forrester examined data on 11 of the top CRM consulting firms to determine which were providing the most comprehensive value for their CRM clients. The firms whose practices Forrester evaluated were Accenture, BearingPoint, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGE&Y), Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Deloitte Consulting, EDS, IBM Business Consulting Services (IBM BCS), Inforte, Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro Technologies.

Using a methodology called the Forrester Wave, the research group examined the firms' CRM practices across three areas: market presence, strategy, and current offerings. As part of that methodology, Forrester not only screened each firm for size and scope, but interviewed members of each firm, their clients, and representatives of major CRM vendors for their opinions on each individual consulting firm and its offerings.

The Forrester Wave rated Bearing Point, CGE&Y, and IBM BCS as leaders along with Accenture. The one major flaw Forrester found with Accenture's practices was its overall cost, the area where Accenture rated lowest among all other evaluated firms.

Other results of note from Forrester's findings show that while not listed among the overall leaders, Wipro, Infosys, and Tata rated highest for overall value. The fact that these Indian firms rated so highly indicates that the use of international CRM resources is not likely to diminish, Forrester suggests in the report.

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