Jit Goel, XCEL Corp Jit Goel

Recent Changes in Professional Services Automation

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Ever since our economy started recovering with the turn of the decade, the Professional services industry has got the attention of many. This attention was converted into growth in this particular sector and has made professional services automation one of the fastest growing industrial sectors in recent times. Why professional services have gained popularity is a question we have already addressed in a previous blog.

Any industry that is growing fast is also adapting and evolving quickly as well. Without adaptation and evolution to suit the needs of your customers, you would soon become outdated. So what are the changes in professional services automation? That’s precisely what we are about to find out through the course of this blog.

One very important aspect we should be looking at PSA is that a large portion of the growth in the industry world-wide actually occurred in the United States. In fact, USA contributes to over 40% of the growth in the industry since 2011. There are many things that are changing in professional work environments giving rise to the need for solutions that facilitate Customer Relationships, Managed Services, and Professional services.

Most of the changes that drive growth in PSA is directly influenced by two basic factors that have affected our clients in recent times. 1) Preserving their position in the market and 2) having a reasonable number of clients to sustain growth. Beyond these two factors however, increasing employee attrition rates have constantly affected the productivity of several organizations in recent times and these companies look towards PSA to bridge the gap.

Here are the top 5 most influential changes in Professional Services Automation in recent times.

1. Rise in Virtual Firms:

If you have been following our blog, we have more than emphasized on the changing dynamics of work spaces. There are increasingly numbers of staffs who work remotely instead of working from an office space. This same is true for Professional service firms as well. The increase of mobility in technology has given rise to this scenario and PSA firms are moving to be more virtual than actual office buildings. Technology has allowed PSA firms to host entire organizational infrastructure on cloud, use basic and small office spaces, and hire contractual workers. This has not just enabled these organizations to cut back on operation costs, but also have been able to serve their customers better with the added flexibility. Virtualization of PSA is one of the major trends to watch out for in recent future.

2. Management of Knowledge:

In many areas where Professional Services Automation firms work with, data management forms one of the core concerns. Addressing this particular pain-point it is the duty of the PSA solution provider to enable easier and efficient management of data. For example, in the legal services industry, the organization could very soon drown in the enormous amounts of data it collects. This makes it difficult to store and even worse to retrieve. This is where PSA firms are using technology to overcome these challenges. As an added advantage, PSA firms are also provide better business analytics helping their clients to learn from their past mistakes and optimize their processes for increased productivity and profits.

3. Catering to each Niche:

We all know that an organization has several different areas where professional services need to be implemented specifically. In order to achieve this, many organizations are providing a breakdown of their services into specific niche sections which could be hired individually by organizations. The modularization of the services has helped the service providers to specialize in their particular niche.

This also has several advantages. Clients now hire different PSA firms to manage specific areas of their organizations based on the specialty of the PSA firm. Now PSA firms are able to work closely with each other to learn and improve on their services and also the best practices to follow. This has increased collaboration between competitors where the other parties specializations are recognized and used productively.

4. Effects of Social Media:

Like all things in the digital world, social media has had a great impact on Professional Services Automation as well. There are three different things that PSA firms must do to sustain the growth rate they have achieved in recent times.

  1. Engage and connect with the customers
  2. Monitoring the competitors
  3. Market their services and find new customers

Social media is a great way to connect with your existing customers, find out what your competitors are upto, and most importantly advertise your services to potential clients through highly targeted digital advertising. PSA firms have moreover been able to divulge information to clients, establish thought leadership and improve their customer satisfaction rates through engaging actively on social media.

5. Focus on ROI:

Traditionally, PSA firms have always charged their clients by the number of hours they have provided the services. But increasing wages for the staff and pressure from the clients to keep the charges low have forced PSA firms to change the way they charge their customers. These days, PSA firms charge a particular percentage in the total increase in profit the client makes with the help of their services. The trend is moving towards a scenario where PSA firms are considered more like advisors instead of being considered as professional service providers. This would make PSA a lot more attractive and viable to many more organizations in turn contributing to the growth of this industrial sector.

If you are looking for a professional services provider, you could go through a previous blog here, to get pointers on how to choose PSA solution provider. XCEL Solutions Corp is one of the leading PSA firms in New Jersey. For more information on PSA trends and the services we provide, visit our website now.

Author: Jit Goel ( President/CEO )



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