Analyst Acclaim
Hitachi Consulting is one of only a handful of consulting firms to be consistently honored in Gartner Magic Quadrants for North American Solution Providers
- Business Intelligence & Performance Management
- CRM
- ERP
- Supply Chain
Ranked in the top six consulting firms who provide solutions for the High Tech industry by Kennedy Research 2007
Listed as a key provider in reports by AMR Research
Analyst Acclaim from Gartner
The world is moving at an increasingly fast pace. Business cycles are being compressed by an increasingly global economy and networked world. As the pace of external dynamics accelerates, the need for business to respond quickly also accelerates. The key forces driving change from a business perspective were identified by Hitachi Consulting by analyzing a multitude of studies from organizations like Gartner, among others. The seven forces listed are not equally felt across all enterprises, but most organizations are responding to at least three of the key forces. Overall, the biggest challenge for most enterprises is knowing how to respond to rapid change and aligning all the enterprise's resources to respond in a world with shortened business cycles.
Integrating the Transformation of Business and IT
John Mahoney, Ellen Kitzis May 2009
Hitachi Consulting is a $450 million Tier 2 CSI with management and technology consulting capabilities. Its BPM customer references focused on the classic BPM and business-driven process automation usage scenarios. One solution was specifically designed so that the business analyst could revamp processes monthly in response to external events. Another involved advisory and mentoring services for setting up a BPCC.
Getting the Right External Resources for Classic Business Process Management Means Looking Beyond the Usual Suspects
Michele Cantara, David Norton August, 2008
Point of View: Enabling Market-Responsive Companies
Hitachi Consulting believes that companies need to be market-responsive. According to Hitachi Consulting, a market-responsive company:
- Knows how to respond to stimuli and compete in a short shelf-life/short business-cycle world
- Competes on technology, collaboration and decision making
The notion of market responsiveness is aligned with one of the key tenets of the discipline of BPM - namely, that business processes should be designed for change.
Vendor Focus for Hitachi Consulting: BPM Consulting and System Integration Profile
Michele Cantara August, 2008
Analyst Acclaim from IDC
A key feature of Hitachi's go-to-market approach is to be more market responsive than its competitors. IDC believes Hitachi is trying to take advantage of its size to build a more flexible company than can outperform competitors in terms of short life-cycle decision making, collaboration, asset allocation, pricing and profitability, and in making adjustments to the changing requirements of clients. Hitachi is striving to be known as the most market responsive provider in the following five areas:
- Advanced business planning
- Revenue management
- Responsive asset management
- Field service excellence
- Enterprise information management
As the smallest of the top 10 worldwide service providers, Hitachi uses a niche focus strategy and staff-to-client proximity as ways to attract and retain professionals. By focusing on a few key areas, individuals can more easily see if they might be a good match for the organization. Hitachi tries to minimize travel for its staff (a perennial source of dissatisfaction) by hiring near major client locations.
Hitachi: Vendor Profile Series for Top 10 Worldwide Service Providers in 2007
Gard Little, Alexander Motsenigos, Oct 2008
Analyst Acclaim from Kennedy Research
Building Expertise to Serve FS Clients
Hitachi Consulting acquired JMN Associates in March 2008. The deal was hailed as furthering Hitachi Consulting's penetration into the financial services consulting market. One might wonder why a consultancy would pursue financial services clients in this fragile economy, but a strategically oriented firm tends to invest in growth and in diversifying its capabilities at all times.
When Hitachi began its migration to a client industry go-to-market approach, financial services was one of the verticals on its list of target markets. Initailly, however, the business consisted of only a few incidental engagements. The firm had neither the team, nor the expertise,nor the industry knowledge needed to launch a strong pursuit of those clients.
Getting into Financial Services
The first step in correcting that situation was the acquisition of Dove Consulting. Dove had a strong beachhead in the payments area, and there were some cross-over financial services clients as well as other services companies and retailers. Although the Dove acquisition has lead to steady business for Hitachi, it did not enable a broader attack on the financial services opportunity in the US. Nor has work with financial services clients in the business intelligence space evolved into industry expertise.
Meanwhile, the firm began to do business in Europe and realized success with financial services clients in the region. Its Iberia practice has enjoyed some encouraging wins and is building relationships with leading financial services providers in Spain and Portugal. Success was even more pronounced in the UK, bolstered by the acquisition of Impact Plus.
Hitachi had a strong desire to replicate those successes in the US. The firm had held occasional discussions with JMN Associates, and recognized the JMN could contribute strategy and business consulting offerings that were needed in order for Hitachi to launch a legitimate financial services practice.
Management Consultant International, March 2008
Hitachi Consulting's Solid Growth
Of all of the major Japanese conglomerates that have pushed consulting services, Hitachi Consulting (HC) has been the most diligent. Sixteen months ago, Hitachi CEO Kazuo Furukawa claimed that "we will make the Hitachi Consulting brand a global leader in providing IT and business consulting services." The company has backed that declaration by growing to more than 1,800 professionals and $400 million in revenues, with 15% growth and a series of strategic acquisitions.
The genesis of HC came from Hitachi's acquisition of Grant Thornton's consulting practice. But HC President and CEO Michael Travis and COO Philip Parr are both veterans of Arthur Andersen Business Consulting, elements of which HC acquired in 2002. Like the old AABC, Hitachi Consutling maintains a focused and balanced approach to advisory services. Leveraging the parent company's areas of emphasis, more than half of HC's revenues come from three vertical industries (high-tech, communications, and manufacturing). The goal, according to Travis, is to be a top five provider in these industries.
While HC very much competes in the operations management (OM) space, its primary competition going forward will come from the former Big Four firms that have reconstituted consulting through business advisory services (BAS). These two key service areas overlap the due diligence type services offered by BAS providers.
HC will continue its geographic expansion as well. Currently, 65% of the revenue comes from the US and 29% from Japan. The company's European footprint constitutes the remainder - and most of that is derived from the acquisitions of UK consultancies Dove Consulting and Impact Plus in 2006. HC is still actively seeking additional acquisitions in Western Europe.
Consultants News, July 2007