Professional services companies are evolving as the demands from clients changes, technology provides new opportunities, and new business models become necessary. As seen in the recent post, Top Enterprise Cloud Computing Trends of 2018, cloud-based tools are changing the way many industries operate today, with professional services being no exception.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are one way that professional services firms are responding to these changes and developing new solutions that drive operational efficiency and revenue growth.
Here are the 6 top professional service cloud trends to watch.
1. Automated marketing solutions
The growth of automated marketing has allowed companies to develop robust measures of lead generation and outreach. However, the proliferation and easy availability of these trends are causing some to question the efficacy of using these solutions alone, according to a recent medium.com article.
Instead, companies are pairing the powerful automated marketing tools in cloud ERP solutions with more narrowly defined, 1:1 relationship-building efforts. Marrying the two provides a disciplined approach to lead growth.
2. Predictive analytics
Your cloud ERP solution allows for deeper understanding of the underlying data from sales, project management, employee performance, billing, and personnel. Firms are using the business intelligence and analytics tools to find new patterns and make better decisions about markets, marketing, hiring, and deployment resources.
3. New delivery models
Cloud ERP solutions allow companies to deliver new services beyond the individual and team advising work that has typified the industry for decades. A la carte, web-based services can be delivered via cloud platforms, allowing clients to access research databases, white papers, data on demand, and those same insights on an as-needed or as-wanted basis.
4. Team management
Cloud tools allow companies to better manage their deployment of teams, maximizing utilization rates and billings per consultant. With better planning tools that integrate the deployment of consultants and support team members, along with freelance or contractual talent, companies can maximize their most valuable and expensive commodity. These same tools allow for the maximization of billable work.
5. Project management
Firm leaders need to understand the key performance indicators related to project engagements. With ERP tools, firms can easily gain real-time information on project progress, timelines, deliverables, and costs. Firms can get a better handle on customer comments, concerns, and issues. Document management, revision tracking, data sharing, and billing can be integrated, transparent, and efficient.
6. Automated work solutions
An ERP solution lets your professional services firm automate certain research and document creation functions to think differently about questions from clients and how solutions are formulated.
Complex assignments can be parsed into component parts – contract development, research, analysis, document creation, and project management – using automated tools that reduce the risk of errors, keep information and progress centralized, and provide differentiation to clients.
At Denovo, we offer a cloud ERP platform that allows companies to develop apps, host apps, store data, and deliver services. We help clients maintain a competitive edge through by offering hosted services that drive innovation and efficiency among professional services firms. To see how Denovo can help transform operations and services for your firm, schedule a free consultation.
See how professional services companies are using cloud technologies to deliver innovation solutions and improve operational efficiency @DenovoCloud #CloudERP.