In today’s world of rapid digitization, the words of the legendary venture capital investor Marc Andreessen resonate more than ever: ‘Software is Eating the World’.
When organizations in different industries have strategic meetings on the direction they want to move forward in the next five years, digitization is a key part of the roadmaps.
This is where software consulting services play a helping hand for these organizations to reach their digital transformation goals.
These software consulting firms provide specialized services that guide businesses with their expertise in various facets of software. They enable organizations to not only make informed decisions but also implement the solutions recommended to create positive change for organizations.
As per Precedence Research, the size of the global software consulting market was around $310.52 billion in 2023 which is set to steadily rise to $902.07 billion by 2032 with an average CAGR of 12.58%.
There are various Software Consulting Services that make the journey of digital transformation for organizations a reality. In this article, we discuss the Top 10 Software Consulting Services.
1. IT Strategy Development and Roadmap
Crafting a well-defined IT strategy with a clear roadmap is a crucial step for organizations in their business transformation through IT.
This process includes assessing the current state of IT along with scanning the external factors and technology trends that are present. Once this is done along with conducting a gap analysis within the organization, a viable and sustainable strategy is developed.
This strategy is then translated into creating a roadmap that helps in implementing the technology solutions. For example, this could mean a detailed plan for the next 5 years on the resources, people, and operating model that will help make the strategy a reality.
Above all, the IT Strategy Services make sure that the product goal and strategy alignment are achieved.
For example, a business that has been around for decades transformed its legacy connectivity systems through an in-depth study by an IT strategy consulting company which recommended legacy system changes that would help in $3M – $7M in immediate savings opportunity.
2. Software Architecture and Design Consulting
Over two decades ago, ‘The Chaos Report’ by The Standish Group revealed that 31.1% of software projects were canceled, and 52.7% exceeded their original cost estimates by 189%.
These challenges are still equally relevant today.
Creating software architecture and design for a system involves helping in tackling these problems. Such consulting services begin with an in-depth architecture audit followed by discovery workshops and scoping sessions to gain insights from the client’s team members.
Such consulting services can then proceed with developing the actual software architecture design. Following the design phase, rigorous testing ensures the system operates correctly, adhering to the initial design specifications. The result is a robust and scalable software architecture.
Companies also seek such services to evaluate their scenario of existing software designs and provide the necessary optimization recommendations. This might mean a complete architectural redesign or an upgrade.
A Software as a Service (SaaS) company took consulting services in creating a web platform that managed ESG data. The consulting firm helped in designing a cloud-based platform based on microservices-based architecture.
Their architecture design led the client to conveniently add incremental new features to the platform.
3. Software Development Consulting
Companies take the help of Software Development Consulting firms when they are in need of expert knowledge for their existing project or a project they want to start.
Such experts provide a concrete recommendation on what needs to be done based on the data and insights they have gathered regarding the problem.
Though the exact process may be different for different consulting services, they usually center around understanding company needs, pain points, and current software and IT infrastructure used. Based on the insights gathered from this process, they come up with recommendations for new software development.
Many software development consulting companies also collaborate together with the development team to coordinate the entire development process.
4. Mobile Application Development Consulting
We are spending more time than ever on smartphones and accessing different services. This is true for users of all ages today globally.
This has created a growing market for Android and iOS app development, emphasizing user-friendly and feature-rich mobile experiences.
Mobile application development consulting involves gathering the requirements of the client, helping in designing the software module, and then developing the mobile application. Such mobile software consulting firms also help in testing the software and making it ready for launch.
A case in point would be an application development consulting service helping in creating a fitness app, promoting healthy lifestyles through a mobile dashboard that tracked exercise for the four pillars of health: nutrition, movement, mindset, and rest.
5. Software Security Consulting
Data breaches and compliance problems haunt companies, posing severe risks like reputational damage and harm to users of their services. Organizations rely on Software Security Consulting for crucial security enhancements.
Software security experts conduct security risk assessments, ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards, and guide the organization towards adopting necessary new cyber security standards and frameworks.
A real estate developer took the help of a software security service to upgrade their cloud security defense. This helped to solve the real estate developer’s problem of scaling security to keep pace with the rapid growth they were experiencing in traffic.
6. Software Maintenance and Legacy Application Modernization Consulting
The world of tech is constantly evolving with new developments. Because of this, many businesses that have legacy applications come across pain points such as their system becoming outdated and performing poorly.
Without staying up to date with new technologies, such businesses might lose their competitive advantage.
This is where software maintenance and legacy application modernization consulting come into play.
Such services will pinpoint which areas of their existing system need modernization and propose a solution. Application modernization can improve the function of the application while not having to develop a new application from scratch which can be financially taxing.
Applications modernization services can propose rehosting the legacy application to a modern infrastructure or converting apps to a new programming language while ensuring the application features are maintained.
7. DevOps Consulting
The challenge of differences being present in the configurations of the development, testing, and production environments is a constant headache for many IT teams.
When these three stages of development are not in sync, it leads to many errors and unwanted manual hours of correction. Diving deeper, usually we find that there are barriers present such as the different teams from development and operations not having effective collaboration.
To address these kinds of common challenges, DevOps has become a standard practice. DevOps is all about aligning the development and operation teams to deliver high-quality software with speed.
By implementing DevOps practices for seamless collaboration between development and operations, organizations can minimize errors and faster time to market.
Top DevOps Consulting companies not only speed up and optimize the work processes through automation but also help in breaking down silos that can exist among the Development, IT, and Operations teams.
For example, a US-based global financial consulting company took the services relevant to DevOps, resulting in 4x faster deployments and 25% fewer defects.
Cloud Computing Consulting
Cloud computing has become a key pillar of organizational digital transformation today. However, integrating it within the organization requires a well-planned process with high stakes if things go wrong. Thus, to implement cloud computing, expertise is crucial.
Cloud Computing consulting is focused on advising on cloud adoption, migration, and infrastructure optimization. Cloud Consulting ensures that companies can handle key tasks such as migrating software and operations to the cloud while also streamlining cloud-native operations.
The benefits of moving to the cloud include lower operational costs along with ease of scaling while maintaining great performance. 47% of firms are now implementing a cloud-first strategy.
For instance, a hospital took the help of a cloud computing consulting firm in transitioning 54 applications and 53 databases to Microsoft Azure, saving $1 million in annual mainframe costs and achieving 95% cost savings.
8. Project Management Consulting
Organizations often encounter issues like missed project deadlines leading to budget overruns and diminishing team morale.
To address these challenges effectively, organizations hire Project Management Consulting firms.
There are different Project Management Methodologies such firms recommend which are based on the needs and challenges of the organization they consult.
This service includes providing training that covers the foundations for the selected methodology and understanding the right process in implementing it.
Furthermore, such consulting services also include ways of tackling poor collaboration or misconceptions that hinder organizations from implementing project management practices.
Some popular Project Management Principles and Methodologies include:
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Agile
Agile can be considered as a project management principle that has outlined the approach that methodologies such as Scrum follow.
Agile is based on the premise that there is uncertainty in projects and to combat it requires being adaptable.
This approach encourages having flexibility and iteration. Thus, development teams are able to adapt as per the feedback received in shorter cycles and get to a better product faster.
Agile transformation consulting also cultivates ‘agile heroes’—individuals trained in agile principles.
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Waterfall
Waterfall is the traditional methodology where projects are run in a linear and sequential way.
There are phases of the project such as requirements gathering, analysis, design, coding, testing, and deployment. Teams do not move to the next phase until the previous one has been completed.
However, it is more rigid than other methodologies and usually requires very detailed plans with fixed timelines.
This methodology can be effective if there are precise requirements that are not going to change in the project.
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Scrum
Scrum is a project management methodology that is based on agile principles. This framework is the most popular among software development teams.
Teams working based on Scrum usually have one-to-two-week sprint planning along with daily standups. Here, a Scrum Master facilitates the process and also ensures that any roadblocks are identified and removed.
Scrum places emphasis on time estimations as the focus is on what can be completed within the sprint.
After each sprint, there is a review where the incremental progress is shown which might be new features or bug fixes.
Yet organizations who aren’t familiar with Scrum but are interested in implementing it can come up with challenges of transitioning to Scrum from Waterfall or other methodologies.
This is where Project Management Consultants play a helping hand.
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Kanban
Kanban methodology is based on the power of visualizing the progress of the team’s work.
Teams use a Kanban board which has stages of the workflow. For example, a tech company might have To Do, In Progress, Testing, and Done as the stages of their workflow.
Team members are assigned specific cards i.e. tasks and move these cards from one to another to track the entire workflow.
Kanban helps to ensure clarity of tasks but also provides caution to team members on where the tasks are adding up and need focus.
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Lean
Lean is based on the concept of minimizing wasteful practices and was popularized because of its use in Toyota’s production system.
Teams who want to be more resourceful and ensure their time is leading towards great results opt for using Lean.
This is because Lean advocates to remove practices that don’t add value yet are consuming resources.
For instance, a tech company hired a project management consulting service to improve their delivery of software. The team did a detailed study of the development team along with interviews and statistical analysis.
They implemented recommendations such as reducing the cycle time of receiving feedback from customers on features and ensuring the workload didn’t go beyond the capacity of the system.
This helped improve the lead time to deliver software by 37% and defects by customers fell by 24%.
Dive deeper into The Complete Guide to IT Project Management Consulting to make the most informed decisions.
Hire Project Manager
An effective project manager ensures that the right project management methodology is chosen based on requirements, resources, and the culture of an organization.
They also have the expertise to drive results once this methodology is in place.
If you are looking to attract Project Managers who can deliver such results, Future Code has a large pool of experienced Project managers for your needs.
9. User Experience Consulting
Have you ever felt that an app just felt intuitive and easy to use? This probably made you a regular user of this app.
User Experience Consulting services work to ensure that users can consistently experience an amazing user experience and keep them coming back.
This entire process includes the User Experience consultant helping in understanding what the customer needs are and performing audits of the existing website or software of the company.
Upon a clear understanding of the user and the existing software, they create prototypes and rigorously test them on real users to see if users like the experience.
The User Experience consulting team develops a roadmap after this for implementing the user experience strategies. Research from Forrester shows every dollar invested in UX yields 100 in return, highlighting User Experience Consulting’s value.
For instance, an eLearning platform got assistance for their user experience. The consulting firm they partnered with helped in creating a unique UX/UI and design elements like fonts, color palettes, web components, and a style guide. The platform now boasts 2 million users.
10. Data Analytics and Business Intelligence Consulting
As per McKinsey, 21 percent of organizational leaders rank having a strategy for data and analytics as their number-one key to success.
Organizations are generating more data than ever.
This is an asset for these organizations but the problem is that many are not able to organize the data and generate actionable insights from them.
Data Analytics and Business Intelligence Consulting help to alleviate this pain.
They develop a data analytics strategy that is aligned with the company’s overall strategy and resources available. Additionally, key data analytics tasks such as dashboard creation and conducting detailed analysis are also undertaken.
For example, an emergency healthcare company got a data analytics consulting company to automate their manual reporting processes, helping to reduce month-end close reporting times.
Conclusion
It is clear that Software is going to continue to eat the world. Therefore, organizations will continue to require the expertise of specialized software consulting services.
Today, effective software solutions, or lack of it can make or break a company. Software consulting services provide the expertise needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
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