The best consulting agencies for banks. How to choose the best consulting company, or what ratings won't tell you
Turning to consulting company, you pay professionals for advice, knowledge and experience that you and your employees do not have. And also for looking from the outside and identifying problems that are difficult to see and evaluate from the inside.
You can get advice today on almost any issue: increasing sales, optimizing taxes, automating business processes, implementing a quality management system, personnel management, and much more. If you hire competent consultants, this will help you achieve your goal at a lower cost and avoid many mistakes.
Example 1
The business owner is concerned about the lack of money in the company. Each individual transaction is profitable, but for some reason there is not enough money. We invited consultants who analyzed the business and found that the company lacks management accounting and management cash flows. Customers are given a delay, and suppliers work on an advance payment.
As a result, all the money hangs in the "receivables" and cash gaps are formed. The consultants advised to re-negotiate with clients and suppliers, as well as to sell unnecessary leftovers from the warehouse so that the money was not only on paper, but also "in the pocket" of the company.
Example 2
The organization is choked by taxes. Tax consultants were invited, who proposed a number of measures: to challenge the inflated cadastral value of the property in order to reduce property tax, to outsource some of the functions in order to save on insurance premiums, and to apply a depreciation bonus to reduce income tax.
Example 3
Employees of the company can not cope with the volume of work and there is a need to expand the staff. But organizations cannot afford to hire more employees, pay salaries, taxes and insurance premiums. The management decided to involve a consulting company in order to find a way out of this situation.
The consultants analyzed the work of employees, suggested automating a number of tasks, as well as eliminating some internal bureaucratic procedures that take a lot of time from employees, but do not make sense and are not useful.
With almost any problem or task, you can turn to consultants and solve it. A consulting firm can not only offer a solution, but also help implement it.
Professional consulting companies can save clients millions and billions of rubles, but in order for spending on consultants to justify itself, you need to be smart about choosing a contractor to solve a business problem.
Companies with multi-million dollar budgets can afford to hire world-renowned consultants. Take, for example, the Big Four. They work with big business and are rightfully considered the best consulting companies in the world.
But not everyone can afford to attract expensive and eminent specialists. And this is not always advisable, because the customer company simply may not have the resources to bring to life the expensive ideas of eminent consultants.
We should not forget about the so-called consulting fraud, when, having paid a lot of money, under the guise of an expert opinion, the client receives a set of general phrases in the style of “to earn more, you need to work harder”, or even copy-paste from laws, codes, articles from Internet or textbooks on marketing.
This problem has become aggravated with the development of the infobusiness, when, after completing a crash course and making loud advertising, newly minted entrepreneurs begin to “make money” on consulting. In fact, they have neither the appropriate education nor relevant experience behind them, but only the desire to earn money. They often know less than their clients and have little to teach. Therefore, in order to get the maximum from the money invested, one should not choose a consulting firm at random.
Rating of consulting companies
The list of the largest consulting companies in Russia is posted on the website of the RAEX rating agency (Expert RA). It is the largest rating agency in Russia with a 20-year history. Engaged in the assignment of ratings, as well as research and communication activities.
Rankings based on the results of 2018 are now available on the site in the following areas:
- financial advisory;
- tax consulting;
- legal consulting; consulting in the field of production of services and goods;
- consulting in the field of personnel management;
- consulting in the field strategic planning and organizational development;
- marketing and PR consulting;
- IT consulting (management consulting);
- IT consulting (development and system integration);
- appraisal activity;
- technical audit and consulting.
The ranking differs from the rating in that it does not contain an assessment; it is built on the basis of a clearly defined criterion, in this case, revenue. It will show you the leading players - the largest consulting companies in the Russian market, but it cannot be concluded that the first company on the list provides better services than the second, third, etc.
Major consulting companies in 2018
This is what the top consulting companies in the field of accounting outsourcing look like according to the RAEX agency in 2018:
- BDO Unicon Outsourcing
- "Sber Solutions"
- SCHNEIDER GROUP
- 1C-WiseAdvice
- TMF Group
- Unistaff Payroll Company
- BCG "Informauditservice"
- UCMS Group
- "RN-Accounting"
- Accountor Russia
1C-WiseAdvice has risen from eighth to fourth place in the ranking of the largest groups and companies in the field of outsourcing of accounting functions over the year. The company showed the highest rate of revenue growth among the market leaders and the largest increase in the number of specialists.
The ranking results are based on the total revenue that the company received from services for the regular provision and support of business processes related to accounting and tax accounting, payroll and personnel records, preparation of accounting and tax reporting on domestic and international standards etc.
The general list of the largest consulting groups and companies has been headed by the LANIT group of companies specializing in IT consulting for several years now.
1C-WiseAdvice rose to general list by 10 positions - from 34th to 24th place.
Of the largest international consulting companies in Russia, the so-called “big four” companies that provide audit and consulting services are more well-known:
- Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu;
- PricewaterhouseCoopers;
- Ernst & Young;
- KPMG.
The same companies top the Russian list of the largest audit organizations at the end of 2018.
The clients of these foreign consulting companies are large organizations with multi-million dollar turnover, who need audit reports from world market leaders with high level confidence among reporting users.
Among other leading consulting companies of the world, known in their field, we can distinguish:
- Accenture Consulting - consulting in the areas of strategic planning, implementation of IT technologies, optimization and organization of business process outsourcing, personnel management, customer relations, logistics processes;
- Capgemini Consulting - consulting in the field of IT technologies and management;
- Tata Consultancy Services - IT consulting;
- Cognizant Technology Solutions - IT consulting;
- McKinsey & Company - specializes in solving problems related to strategic management, and etc.
If the company is working on international markets, foreign experts can provide more competent assistance than those who work exclusively within Russia.
How to choose a consulting company
Every city has several consulting firms who will vying to offer their services and promise excellent results. We will give some recommendations on how not to waste money on consulting.
Evaluate the qualifications of employees
There is such a joke that only those who cannot do anything themselves go to consultants. The joke was born thanks to unfortunate consultants who pour from empty to empty and do not give the client measurable results.
In order not to run into such, do not hesitate to ask the consulting company for information about the experience and qualifications of employees. It’s good if there are graduates of reputable universities in the state and former top managers large companies, that is, practitioners, not theorists.
It is bad if the staff of a consulting company has only a few universal specialists without a narrow focus, who take on any tasks for any clients. You run the risk of getting an answer, not good advice. It may happen that the company does not have specialists of the required profile at all, and they are attracted from outside. It is better to know in advance who will be involved in your project, and what experience and merits give him such a right.
Evaluate cases and find real reviews
Professional consulting companies will always be able to show completed projects and talk about their role in successfully solving customer problems. Pay attention to the presence of clients from among well-known and large companies. If the company has nothing to brag about yet, consider whether it is worth being a "guinea pig". The longer the company has been on the market, the better for you.
At the same time, no company will publish negative cases and talk about a failed project when a client spent money but did not feel any benefit. So it's always good to find real reviews former clients. You can contact the clients listed on the company's website and ask about their experience of working with consultants. At the same time, you will find out whether real reviews are posted on the site or fictitious.
Among 1C-WiseAdvice clients small, medium and big business, including those famous brands, like "Megafon", "THE", SELA, etc. We have posted letters of recommendation on the site and provide customer contacts if you want to get first-person feedback on working with us.
Set specific goals
The more clearly you define the task, the more likely it is to get a specific result. For example, if you increase sales, then by how much and for how long. A well-defined problem is already halfway to its solution. In the case of consulting, this also works. In addition, without a strictly formulated task, it will be difficult for you to complain to the contractor if the result does not suit you. Write down the tasks and deadlines for their implementation in the contract.
Also decide in advance whether you need only ideas or help in implementing them. This will depend on the budget and timing.
Don't go cheap
Good specialists know their worth and are expensive. Keep this in mind when choosing an artist. If a company takes cheap, then it pays little to its employees, and this is an occasion to wonder why.
At the same time, it is better to decide in advance how much you are willing to spend on consulting. This will keep the performers within limits, will not allow them to inflate the budget and impose additional services.
Do not believe the promises of golden mountains
Miracles don't happen. Even the best consulting company will not solve all your problems for you. She is more likely to find the causes of these problems and suggest solutions. But the main work is yours. There will be no change without your participation. You may have to face the resistance and sabotage of employees who do not want to rebuild and accept the new.
If a consulting firm promises you mountains of gold at the first meeting, without even studying the company's business processes, this should alert you. Competent consultants will first look at how things are going with the customer, and only then decide what can be done about it.
Don't wait until the last
If the ship of your business is already sinking, it may be too late to hire a consulting firm, or you will pay a lot of money for urgency and complexity. Do not delay contacting consultants - call specialists as soon as you see that problems are brewing.
Let's summarize. A consulting company can help solve the problem if it has qualified specialists with relevant experience, and you write down the task in detail.
Order service
The company "UNIPRAVEX" invites companies providing consulting services to participate in the CONSULTING RESEARCH program. It is a single set of actions aimed at creating an extensive and stable client base among consumers of consulting services in all industries. National economy and sectors of the economy. One of the important factors in attracting the attention of customers to the services of consultants is their positioning in the market of business services. For this purpose, an integrated rating of consulting companies by federal districts is carried out. Russian Federation. The rating results will help Russian entrepreneurs- to heads, managers to choose as business partners the most professional, stable, having impeccable business reputation consulting teams.
The three-dimensional rating matrix developed by the Information Rating Agency (IRA) of the expert and analytical company UNIPRAVEX contains integrated basic indicators reflected in the rating index: quantitative and qualitative characteristics, assessment of internal and external corporate resources, comparative analysis competitive advantage. Market leaders, whose activities have a particularly significant impact on the state of the consulting services industry, are grouped into separate corporate categories (A, B, C). The Index is determined by special indicators Uni(Kon), which comprehensively reflects the positive (+) or negative (-) dynamics of the appraisal services market and the forecast for the development of the industry. The set of rating indices calculated for each company, in combination with other industry indicators, is the most reliable leading indicator (leading indicators) of the consulting services market.
The UNIPRAVEX rating is not based on mechanical ranking (ranking) of revenue (a parameter that changes from quarter to quarter). And on stable complex analysis corporate resources, specific geographical and sectoral coverage and a purely individual approach.
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Company name / corporate brand |
Main activity (specialization by types of consulting services) |
Number of years in the market |
Staff |
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International consulting companies / groups |
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(former KPMG Consulting) |
Moscow - Frankfurt (Germany) - McLean (USA) |
Consulting, development and improvement of business organization, building management information systems |
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A.T. Carney / A.T. Kearney |
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Consulting companies of the CIS countries |
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Law Finance Consulting |
Legal and financial consulting, tax planning |
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Art Capital |
Securities, investments |
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Seminars, consultations |
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Consulting companies of the RUSSIAN FEDERATION Moscow |
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consulting companies, licensed by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to carry out audit activities and the Ministry of Property Relations of the Russian Federation to carry out appraisal activities |
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INEK Group |
Complex consulting |
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Demb and Partners. CONSAUDIT |
Complex consulting |
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Audit and consulting group "RSM Top-Audit" |
Auditing and consulting services, including valuation activities |
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United Consultants "FDP" / AF "Aval" |
Consulting, audit, evaluation, information technology |
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Audit and Consulting Group "BalEN" (LLC "Balance LTD" / CJSC "ENPI Consult") |
Audit, evaluation |
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Audit, consulting |
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Gorislavtsev and K. Group of companies |
Audit and consulting, evaluation |
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Intercom Audit |
Audit, consulting, evaluation. |
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2K Audit - Business Consulting Independent Consulting Group |
Audit, assessment, accounting automation, tax consulting |
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Audit company HOLD-INVEST-AUDIT |
Audit and consulting services |
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FinExpertiza |
Audit, consulting |
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Auditing and consulting firm Modern business technologies |
Management consulting |
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Central Financial Appraisal Company |
Financial and tax consulting |
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OPTIMA-AUDIT |
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consulting companies, licensed by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to carry out audit activities |
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Audit and consulting |
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COSMOS-AUDIT (old name Rollover) |
Audit, consulting |
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International Auditing and Consulting Company (IACC) |
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Audit firm "Remida Audit" |
Audit and consulting |
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Consulting group "Mikhailov and partners" |
Consulting and audit |
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Pacioli. Auditing Company |
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Scott, Riggs & Fletcher (audit) |
Audit, consulting |
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SV-Audit, AKG |
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Consulting group EXPERT |
Consulting, assessment, audit, legal services |
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I.N.S. Audit |
Legal, legal consulting, audit |
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consulting companies, licensed by the Ministry of Property Relations of the Russian Federation for the implementation of valuation activities |
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Company GERMA-CONSULT |
Valuation, consulting |
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ABM Partner |
Valuation, consulting |
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ACC Department of Professional Assessment |
Valuation, consulting |
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Legal, tax consulting, arbitration |
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Legal consulting |
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Law Firm "VEGAS-LEX" |
Legal consulting in the field of business law, |
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Legal agency “YURKON” |
Consulting services, legal services, anti-crisis management of the enterprise, valuation activities |
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Tax Consulting U.K. |
Tax and legal consulting |
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OPTIMA-AUDIT |
Legal, tax consulting, arbitration, evaluation, audit, marketing, management consulting, IT consulting |
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Management consulting, IT consulting |
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Galaxy Corporation |
Development of an integrated enterprise management system “Galaktika”, performance of works and services for its implementation and support |
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System integration and consulting |
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Consulting, system integration, development of high-tech products, training of specialists and managers |
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IKT-CONSULT |
Consulting |
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Consulting and Information Technology |
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CROC Incorporated |
System integration, IT consulting |
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Sterling Group |
IT consulting: complex solutions managerial, financial, analytical, personnel tasks |
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OPTIMA-AUDIT |
Legal, tax consulting, arbitration, evaluation, audit, marketing, management consulting, IT consulting |
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Consulting |
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Engineering and technical center "YEDINSTVO" |
Consulting |
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Pro-Invest Consulting |
Strategic consulting, corporate finance |
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Consulting - Center "Step" |
Consulting |
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Management consulting (optimization of company management) |
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Investment and consulting group "ROEL Consulting" |
Management and investment consulting |
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Center for Economic and Financial Expertise |
Financial management, consulting |
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"Pioner" Professional audit company |
Consulting services |
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Consulting group "What to do Consult" |
Financial consulting (analysis of financial and economic activities, development of a strategic financial plan) |
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Group of companies "Top-Management Consult" |
Strategic and operational consulting |
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Veles Capital |
Investments, consulting, stock market |
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IF-Consult |
Financial and economic research and evaluation, investment design |
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SHERP-Consult |
Consulting |
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Investor Relations (IR), consulting |
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OPTIMA-AUDIT |
Legal, tax consulting, arbitration, evaluation, audit, marketing, management consulting, IT consulting |
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Saint Petersburg |
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Research and consulting firm ALT |
Saint Petersburg |
Management consulting |
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Saint Petersburg |
Management consulting |
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Audit and consulting group "Prime Advice" |
Saint Petersburg |
Audit, consulting |
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Lenstroy investment management |
Saint Petersburg |
Consulting (financial, legal, valuation activities) |
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Lenexpertiza |
Saint Petersburg |
Audit, consulting |
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Central Federal District (excluding Moscow) |
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Moscow region |
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Agency market research and consulting "Market" |
Marketing and sociological research |
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Smolensk region |
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Audit firm "Auditstroyindustriya" |
Smolensk |
Audit (consulting, evaluation) |
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Tver region |
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Tver Enterprise Support Center |
Management consulting |
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Northwestern Federal District (excluding St. Petersburg) |
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Republic of Karelia |
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Neosystems Northwest |
Petrozavodsk |
Creation Automated Systems Enterprise management on the 1C platform, development software for forest complex enterprises, 1C, IT-consulting |
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Vologda Region |
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Regional Information Center |
Cherepovets |
Consulting and information services |
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Pskov region |
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Psychology and Business |
Consulting and psychological services for organizational development and personnel management, trainings, selection and certification of personnel |
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Southern Federal District |
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Krasnodar region |
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Audit Alliance |
Krasnodar |
Consulting, audit |
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Volgograd region |
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Kulagin and partners |
Volgograd |
Management consulting |
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Volga Federal District |
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Republic of Tatarstan |
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Volga Anti-Crisis Institute |
Consulting services in the field crisis management and property management |
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Udmurt republic |
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Izh-engineering |
Audit, tax consulting |
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Nizhny Novgorod Region |
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T.M. Service |
Nizhny Novgorod |
Legal consulting |
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Orenburg region |
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promotion |
Orenburg |
Valuation, consulting |
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Perm region |
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Consulting group "ER-Capital" |
Consulting |
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Inform Consulting |
IT consulting |
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Saratov region |
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AFINA consulting |
Audit and due diligence |
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Ural federal district |
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Sverdlovsk region |
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Association "Taxes of Russia" |
Ekaterinburg |
Audit, consulting, arbitration, evaluation |
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Center for Mechanical Engineering Economics |
Ekaterinburg |
Consulting |
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FINEKS Consulting |
Ekaterinburg |
Management consulting |
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Audit Group "Capital" |
Ekaterinburg |
Auditing services |
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Tyumen region |
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CONSULTING GROUP "LEX" |
Legal, managerial, tax, financial consulting, assessment, audit, anti-crisis management |
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Chelyabinsk region |
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Nilan-Audit |
Chelyabinsk |
Auditing services |
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Audit-Classic Audit firm |
Chelyabinsk |
Audit, consulting, evaluation |
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Siberian Federal District |
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Altai region |
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Valuation and consulting |
Valuation and consulting |
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Irkutsk region |
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VostSibAudit |
Audit, evaluation, consulting |
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Novosibirsk region |
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Research Design Center AVIAMANAGER |
Novosibirsk |
Research and project activity, management consulting, educational activities |
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Novosibirsk |
Sale of software and computer equipment, software implementation services, consulting services |
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Group of Companies Siberian Society |
Novosibirsk |
Audit, evaluation, legal services, consulting |
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Consulting group "BALANCE" |
Novosibirsk |
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Saibicon Company |
Novosibirsk |
Audit, tax consulting, share capital support, valuation, legal services, arbitration management |
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Far Eastern Federal District |
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The Vault website has released a ranking of the most prestigious consulting firms. It's a bit like the Oscars in the film industry, rankings are based on a survey of consultants who rate their peers and competitors. Vault conducted its study over six weeks, in March and April, and collected votes from 9,000 consultants from 65 US firms. For the prestige of the rankings, consultants were not allowed to vote for their own firms, but were asked to rate only those consulting firms they were familiar with. The consulting company is rated on a scale from 1 (least prestigious) to 10. The rating has been compiled for 14 years in a row, and every year McKinsey comes out on top. Indeed, the top four places are unchanged from last year: McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Bain and Deloitte Consulting. Fifth place this year has shifted. In 2014, Booz & Company was at the site, but last spring, PricewaterhouseCoopers bought it and gave it the unfortunate name "Strategy&" Suddenly the firm lost its name, even though Booz's history was confusing even before the acquisition. Booz & Company was founded in 1914 and grew into the government consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton (where Edward Snowden worked under contract to the NSA before he leaked classified data). Booz & Company, a corporate business consulting company, spun off in 2008 and was acquired by Carlyle Group in 2008. Are you confused yet? In fifth place this year: Booz Allen Hamilton, up from sixth last year. Strategy& dropped to 19th place. Why is prestige so important in the consulting business? For job seekers submitting their resumes to McKinsey or Boston Consulting, this can open up new opportunities, it's like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal for a journalist. Also, people just care about prestige. For many people, it defines their career. They want to work for the most prestigious consulting firms. The ranking of consulting companies is dominated by huge firms with several thousand employees and several offices. Exception: Bridgespan Group, which is located in Boston's Copley Place. The company has 158 employees and its direction is non-profit sector. She spun off from Bain in 1999 but retained her ties to the firm. Bain consultants can take time off work from six to 12 months at Bridgespan. Top 10 most prestigious consulting firms:1. McKinsey & Company 2. The Boston Consulting Group 3 Bain & Company 4 Deloitte Consulting 5 Booz Allen Hamilton 6. PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC 7. EY LLP Consulting Practice 9. KPMG LLG (Consulting Practice) 10.IBM Global Business Services The latest annual ranking of leading consulting groups and companies prepared by the RAEX agency (Expert RA) shows that this market has moved from contraction to stagnation. He was supported by orders from authorities, state-owned companies and defense industry enterprises.
At the end of 2016, the growth in the total revenue of the largest consulting groups - members of the current, already eighteenth ranking, amounted to 5% (hereinafter, the rates are calculated based on comparable data from the participants in the current ranking, including due to the change by the organizer of the ranking since 2017 approaches consolidation of data from audit teams - Ed.), and its volume reached 97.5 billion rubles. If we introduce an adjustment for inflation (5.4% according to Rosstat), then we can state that this market has left the negative zone. Indeed, in previous years, formally large growth rates actually did not keep pace with price increases (in 2015, the revenue growth of the rating participants was 7% with inflation of 12.9%; in 2014 - 9% and 11.4%, respectively). Ranking participants earned 8.6 billion rubles from financial consulting (an increase of 7%) The reason for the protracted failures is obvious: the demand in this market is directly and closely dependent on the general economic situation. Companies start saving on third-party advice in the first place. Competition also makes its contribution, which inevitably intensifies in a shrinking market, and this is a direct road to dumping. According to Irina Vishnevskaya, CEO of Berkshire Advisory Group, average check on consulting services is steadily declining. "More and more companies are switching to procurement in accordance with Federal Law 223 on public procurement, where the price of services remains a key criterion." Nevertheless, going to zero after two years of decline is quite a worthy reason for optimism. Long gameLike for many years in a row, the largest amount of revenue of ranking participants comes from IT consulting. In 2016, it accounted for as much as 64%: in total, public and private customers provided groups and companies of the ranking with 53.27 billion rubles: 13.64 billion rubles - management consulting (an increase of 3%) and 39.63 billion rubles - consulting within development and system integration (growth 2%). In general, the segment of IT consulting last year amounted to 3%. Ranking leaders continue to implement complex and complex megaprojects for business and government. " It's about on the implementation of solutions for automation of design and technological preparation of production at the enterprises of the United Engine Corporation, the Russian Helicopters holding, etc. Also last year, our group specialists implemented business process automation systems at Sberbank of Russia, as well as anti-skimming protection systems for ATM networks of large banks, participated in the construction and equipping of data processing centers for telecommunications companies for the World Cup. Consulting services are an integral part of all these projects," says Vladimir Gribov, Vice President and Executive Director LANIT. The Technoserv group spoke about the tangible positive dynamics of projects for the financial and transport sectors, where customer loyalty is extremely important for business. "From a technological point of view, projects in the field of Big Data and iBanking were the drivers. For example, the project to introduce a dynamic segmentation system based on Big Data technologies at Aeroflot. Such a system helps the air carrier to actively develop online sales and increase the number of new passengers for the airline. As for iBanking, it is a comprehensive system of remote banking services. Projects based on this technology have been implemented for several largest Russian banks," explains Sergey Korneev, president of the Technoserv group of companies. According to the segment leaders, the vast majority of customers in the current economic conditions wants to ensure the smooth functioning of the IT infrastructure and its development under minimal cost. "In this regard, a comprehensive examination and audit of computing power is in demand, which allows you to understand how you can improve the performance of databases and applications without increasing the server base. The recommendations received enable customers to optimize the costs of maintaining an IT infrastructure and plan investments in such a way as to fully utilize the potential inherent in equipment and software with a horizon of up to three years," shares his experience Stepan Tomlyanovich, CEO FORS - Development Center (GK FORS). As for the slowdown in the IT consulting segment, it is explained, among other things, by an increase in the share of projects with a duration of more than a year. More and more tasks arise in projects related to the transformation of the business as a whole (for example, the creation of shared service centers), rather than individual business processes. There is no pronounced industry specificity here. "In our current portfolio, the share of such "long" projects is approximately 2/3," explains Igor Zimnenko, Deputy General Director of I-Teco and head of Witte Consulting (I-Teco Group). Practicing small thingsFinancial management and evaluation. The volume of revenue from financial consulting and valuation activities in 2016 amounted to 13.42 billion rubles, an increase of 8% over the year. Ranking participants earned 8.6 billion rubles from financial consulting (an increase of 7%), and 4.82 billion rubles from valuation (an increase of 8%). "Now the initiative or investment appraisal has been replaced by a mandatory appraisal, primarily commissioned by government agencies and state corporations. The appraisal of state property and blocks of shares for various purposes (rent, sale, privatization, contribution to authorized capital) is in demand. There is also a growing demand for appraisal and judicial valuation in the process of forcible seizure of property," says Kirill Kulakov, First Deputy General Director of Center independent expertise property". Orders for evaluation are also growing due to B2C. "It was in 2016, when the regions switched to a new system for calculating property taxes, not only legal, but also individuals began to actively apply for the possibility of challenging the overestimated, in their opinion, cadastral value," says Irina Vishnevskaya. Legal and tax consulting. Total turnover by sector legal services amounted to 3.69 billion rubles in 2016 (an increase of 26%). Another 2.77 billion rubles of the revenue of the ranking participants is accounted for by tax consulting services minus 8% per year. Apparently, the crisis factors were superimposed on the consequences of the stabilization promised by the authorities in the field of taxation, as well as the steady improvement of administration in this area. The total revenue in the sectors of strategic planning and consulting in the field of marketing and PR at the end of 2016 amounted to 3.74 billion rubles (growth rate of 4%). In 2016, the attention of the domestic industry, including the defense industry, to the creation and launch of products on the market civil purpose. This desire has led to a significant increase in demand for services in the field of strategic marketing and developing strategies for "civilian diversification" of the product portfolio industrial enterprises", - explains Alena Fomina, General Director of the Central Research Institute "Electronics". Moses Furshchik, Managing Partner at FOK (Financial and organizational consulting"): "the federal law N 172 on strategic planning makes it mandatory to develop a strategy at the regional level, and at municipal level this is advisory. Therefore, if earlier strategies were ordered only by the largest or "oil and gas" cities, which did not experience a lack of funds, now orders have also begun to appear from problem municipalities that are trying to form a long-term plan to overcome the crisis." Consulting in the field of personnel management brought the participants of the ranking in 2016 1.4 billion rubles (minus 2% per year). The sector is supported by large customers. "In the oil industry, electric power, metallurgy, banks and trade. The stage of initial process automation has already been passed, and we are seeing a transition to new technological platforms - cloud technologies. Clouds in the future will provide analytics, Big Data and the most the main thing is "smart data" (Smart Data)," says Mikhail Panchenko, CEO of MOLGA Consulting. The demand for HR consulting from business is also told at Talen Q: "One of the most important trends in 2016 is A complex approach to staff appraisal. We are also seeing a rise in the popularity of remote valuation tools. Sales of adaptive ability tests, personality and motivational value questionnaires, ability tests and competency questionnaires, and 360-degree assessment solutions increased by more than 30%. We also provided consulting services on the formation of competency models, the preparation of individual development plans, the development of "success profiles" for specific positions based on HR analytics, and so on," Elena Kadyrova, CEO of Talent Q, spoke about trends in the field of personnel management. Interview - Please describe the current state of the consulting services market. What factors, in your opinion, continue to slow down the development of the market? And what, on the contrary, favors the development of consulting practices? Julius Somsikov, Managing Partner of Swiss Consulting Partners: The crisis had a multidirectional impact on the consulting market. As expected, some customers picked up the trend to reduce costs by refusing some services, in this case - consulting, others, on the contrary, began to turn to consultants to help optimize their business. Consulting is needed, but the demand for it is not so great. They save on it, but its revenue is gradually growing.
Julius Somsikov, Managing Partner of Swiss Consulting Partners The slowdown and uncertainty in the economy remain the main factors negatively affecting the consulting market. However, both private and state companies of the real sector remain active customers of consulting services. The rate of change is why Russian market consulting is lagging behind. As a business, it appeared in Russia relatively recently, and its young age leads to the fact that experience based on the use of the most effective approaches, with rare exceptions, is inherent only in international companies. Naturally, clients and consultants alike may feel that now is not the right time to innovate and experiment, and that a "conservative" business plan is best. Such a judgment is quite fair, however, as practice shows, in a crisis there will always be some new idea, which can "shoot". In the 21st century, the consulting market has not only economic challenges. It is no secret that in our time almost any information can be found on the Internet, and in the near future there will be more and more data on the network. From here, a huge delusion grows in a potential client: "Why should I contact a consultant and pay him for help in business planning, if there is Google?" But it is important not only to have access to the ocean, but also to be able to swim in order to stay on the water, not drown and move in the right direction. For consultants, the main task is to be able to analyze large amounts of information, accumulate experience of best practices and find the most effective solution for the client as quickly and accurately as possible. Yes, there is actually a lot of useful and accurate information on the World Wide Web, but for a client, the risk of stumbling upon unverified, outdated and publicly available data is, of course, very high. Therefore, a consultant who is "live" and able to build work with an individual approach will be much better than clicking on a result in a search engine. What are the prospects for the development of consulting in the current economic situation? In your opinion, is there an increase in competition between market players? Julius Somsikov: First, the number of customers representing small and medium-sized businesses will continue to grow. Secondly, as in the past year, the operational improvement review service will attract more new customers in the near future - it does not hit the budget of companies and, at the same time, is implemented in the shortest possible time. We are also seeing a growing interest in consulting services from government customers: they need advice on the content and support of innovation and industrial policy, investment, and regulatory impact assessment. In general, the difficulties in the consulting market cannot be called neglected: Russian consultants are doing their best to meet the challenges of both the economy of our days and the time in which they exist in general. There is always competition between market participants. And the statement is absolutely true that during the crisis period it only gets worse. At the same time, in the struggle of consulting companies, not only those who offer the best price for their services win, but also those who have a unique approach to the customer, a high level of work performance and access to international competencies. What, over the past year and now, is the demand for marketing and strategic planning services related to? Which areas of work from these areas are most in demand by customers and why? Are current customer needs different from those of the past? Julius Somsikov: If we talk about marketing and strategic consulting, then we again run into the topic of the crisis. During such a period, these services may become the best way take the company to the next level. The most demanded direction is the complex study of the project. Customers understand that it will not be possible to implement any specific functional strategy in isolation from the development strategy of their company as a whole. Your group has a fairly strong position in the consulting market. What advantages of your business could you identify? Julius Somsikov: A prerequisite for a worthy position of a consulting company in the market is its readiness for transformations. The main concept of our work today can be called the principle: "If today the market is only thinking about the need to improve something, then tomorrow morning the consulting company should offer the market New Product or a solution." A good consultant must inspire and lead the client, so you always need to be half a step ahead of the market. No less important for Swiss Consulting Partners is the issue of creating effective team: we have created a team that thinks quickly, we are revising it in favor of more experienced and multifunctional employees, we are attracting specialists who are well versed in the latest technologies, both in their technical and informational components. In today's consulting, the principle of Agile, which appeared at the beginning of the century, is gradually being introduced. In essence, he is integral part customer focus and flexibility. In other words, a company working with a client according to this principle always puts his opinion first and pays great attention to changes in the situation, instead of strictly following the plan. Swiss Consulting Partners is committed to supporting this approach. Popular
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