ABSTRACT
Private Sector consulting firms have commonly struggled to find the right balance between tailoring a solution to the client versus delivering standardized off-the-shelf solutions. The Business Model of the Public Sector remains RFP driven. As a result, IT consulting has become a rapid growth area not just for traditional Private Sector IT-based consultancies but for this Sector's strategy and operational management consulting firms which now offer comprehensive 'digital transformation' services. The management consulting industry is slowly developing from stand-alone firms to new organizational forms involving the combination of firms into networks and alliances. The most serious are the alliances between IT consulting firms and their vendors. Accenture with Hewlett-Packard, and SAP with several big IT consultancies, are just two examples. Historically, the consulting industry has been an influential player in shaping the evolution of a variety of industries and public agencies.
