Why Not All Digital Transformation Companies Are suited For SME & SMB ?

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All digital transformation companies are not the same

A recent article titled “Top 10 Digital Transformation Companies 2022” on eWeek caught our attention.

The article covers the benefits of hiring a digital transformation company (which we agreed with) and how to select a digital transformation company (which we partially agreed with) before providing their top 10 list. The Top 10 list of companies, in alphabetical order includes, Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, EY, HCL, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, and PwC. These are all great companies, and at Valenta we have a profound respect for all of them. Many of our staff come from these same companies. These companies are all huge. While this List of Top 10 companies make a great match for the Fortune 1,000 looking to launch digital transformation, … they are a poor match for any SMB wanting to leverage digital transformation. The companies on the list would agree themselves that they are a poor match for SMB. Luckily, there are companies like Valenta focused on this space … but more on that later. Let’s review some of the topics covered in the article here in this blog including, the benefits of hiring a digital transformation company, how to select a digital transformation company and pros and cons of the Top 10 companies. We can wrap things up with what we think is important for SMB when it comes to digital transformation for small and medium enterprises.

Benefits of Hiring a Digital Transformation Company

The eWeek article lists the benefits of hiring a digital transformation company or consultant as, faster transformations, gaining an outside perspective, consultants having experience with unfamiliar technology, consultants having industry and regulatory knowledge, bringing innovation and new ideas to a business, and relieving employees of the burden of strategic work. All these benefits ring true for the Fortune 1,000, and the huge consulting firms listed in the Top 10 List. They also ring true for digital transformation for small and medium enterprises executed by companies like Valenta. The speed of digital transformation can be greatly enhanced by bringing in outside help in large, mid-sized and small businesses. The likely success of any project is also dramatically improved with outside counsel. For us it always comes down to having the best people on the right jobs. Digital Transformation Consultants know RPA, IPA, Conversational AI and all other aspects of digital transformation. Business owners and executives at SMBs and SMEs know their business and how to run it. Each party should focus on what they do best and know best.

How to Select a Digital Transformation Company

When it comes to how to select a digital transformation company or consultant, the eWeek article suggested that companies, expect to make a partially subjective choice, read white papers, get to know the team at the digital consultant, consider the funding model, and finally brace for sticker shock. We agree with all those points except the last one. In fact, we take great exception to the last point. Our experience with digital transformation for small and medium enterprises demonstrates that there is always an ROI achieved for digital transformation and that projects pay for themselves. In our experience the impact of digitalization on SMEs and SMBs is profound and that it does not break the bank. This may not be the case in the Fortune 1,000 segment and with the mega consulting firms that serve them and make up the Top 10 List in eWeek. Those companies may indeed need to brace for sticker shock… after all there is a lot of overhead to pay for at the Top 10 companies.

Companies in the Top 10

Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, EY, HCL, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, and PwC are all very capable companies with impressive credentials and talented staff. As we have stated earlier all are huge companies as well. Accenture revenues were 50.5 billion USD in 2021 and they have 624,000 employees. Capgemini had 2020 revenues of 16 billion Euro and they have 290,000 employees. Deloitte had 2021 revenue of 50 billion USD, EY revenues were 40 billion, and PwC revenues were 45.1 billion. These companies are not geared to serve SMB and SME, nor would they want to. The eWeek article provides some pros and cons for each of the companies in the Top 10 List. We found those pros and cons telling and saw a consistent theme in each category. On the pro side most of the strengths listed for the Top 10 included lots of human resources, deep experience, and wide ranges of capabilities. On the con side they included high fees, not suited for small projects, potential cultural mismatches, and slow responsiveness. At Valenta we believe we deliver all the same strengths without having any of those weaknesses. We like to start small and knock off the most painful or annoying process at an SME / SMB first, and then move on to additional projects. The impact of digitalization on SMEs and SMBs can be the same as it is at the Fortune 1000.

What is Important for SMBs when it comes to Digital Transformation Companies?

We authored another blog titled “What to Look for In a Good Digital Transformation Consultant?”. Some of the points we mention were having technology and industry experience as well as having strategy and not only a technology perspective. We also mentioned being vendor agnostic and having good change management skills. These are all important. For SMB and SME, a flexible commercial model is also super important. When it comes to digital transformation for small and medium enterprises, companies are best serviced by not just using a consultant but also having access to an MSP that can launch RPA, bots and the like in a SaaS model. The ability to study, propose and then offer solutions as a service is key for SME and SMB clients. The ability to roll out aaS offering also helps to provide flexible fees and the ability to start with small projects which is critical. Responsiveness is also especially important for SMB clients. Working with a digital transformation company that is solely focused on SME and SMB clients (like Valenta) helps to ensure responsiveness.

Have a Digital Transformation Project?

When it comes to digital transformation solutions there is a lot to keep in mind and get right. We are here to help. Valenta is a multifaceted digital transformation company offering consulting, integration, and managed services. We can provide digital transformation as a service in a SaaS model making it easy for small and medium sized businesses to get started with automation. We can also provide offshore or near shore virtual staff for digital transformation to companies that want to staff their own Center of Excellence or COE. If you would like to get in touch with us on any of these topics, please feel free to Contact Us

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