Technology consultants look to be in a good position for 2014 as more companies re-focus on internal IT operations after several years of economy-driven hunkering down. A survey of those responsible for hiring consultants, conducted by Source Information Services, found nearly all of them plan technology improvements this year, and most will use consultants to help. Half will spend more on technology consultants than they did during 2013 and of those, half plan an increase of more than 10 percent. Much – just more than 50 percent -- of this money will go into infrastructure and similar technologies. "Businesses are savvy enough to know that the latest digital technologies only work properly when grounded in a solid IT framework," wrote Source Senior Analyst BJ Richards in ComputerWeekly. Click here to find consulting jobs. Three sectors will dominate:
- Pharma and Biotech: More than 60 percent of decision-makers here plan to increase consultant spending. But since this is a small sector, the actual number of opportunities will be modest.
- Financial Services: New regulatory demands and consumers' increasing desire for online banking services are driving the industry’s needs.
- Retail: Clients want to bulk up their online offerings and develop more "omnichannel" approaches, which provide seamless experiences between technology-based and real-world outlets.
One area that doesn't look so promising: The government. "The proportion of organizations expecting to spend more is substantially smaller than in the private sector and the proportion expecting it to shrink is much larger – almost twice the size," said Source Director Edward Haigh.
