Dear Customers,

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In the next decade, if they fail to keep pace with technology, 40% of the S&P 500 will disappear.  In fact, 90% of corporate leaders believe the digital revolution will have a major impact on their industry. Despite that awareness, only 25% have a plan in place, and less than 15% are funding and executing on that plan. 

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Right now digital transformation is all around us. Connected networks and in-memory platforms provide immediate access to a stunning array of data. Business processes can be harmonized across all functions and departments. You can respond in the moment. Because you are armed with real-time insight into your most pressing questions. Every CIO I meet is painfully aware that on the one hand, digital is the most ominous menace waiting to take them down. But on the other hand, if managed correctly, it can be the biggest opportunity they can leverage.

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Digitalization changes all the rules. It fires the imagination. Ignites creative energy. And drives the spontaneous order that orchestrates all industries so that they can produce the spectacularly vast assortment of constantly better goods and services demanded by customers in all the world's markets.

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For the global professional services industry, digitalization is transforming and reinventing the enterprise. It is forcing the emergence of a new breed of professional services firm. A newer, faster, more automated, more flexible, always-on, mobile-enabled, social-networked, and fully digitized professional services firm. 

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To survive, professional services organizations must adjust to constant price pressures, adapt to bidding on new, outcome-based fee arrangements, and manage competitive threats that did not exist a year — or even a week — ago. Success begins by reimagining your business.  You must put your customers at the center of all you do. They want more consistent and accurate billing. And soon they will expect the "business in the moment" service only digitalization can enable.

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In today's sprawling digital ecosystem, the challenge for professional services firms in reimagining your business, is to incorporate models that deliver the greatest possible value to your clients: support of outcome-based engagements, knowledge-as-a-service, productizing your expertise, and sourcing through talent networks.

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Digital technology gives today's services providers the ability to conduct business in the moment. To achieve true and sustainable growth. To achieve success.  To serve your clients in ever new and effective ways. To continually deliver greater value at lower cost. To extend your reach into target markets. And to access up-to-the-minute profiles and availability of talent pool networks, so that you can staff your engagements with digitized speed and ease.

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How do you get started? I respectfully invite you to dedicate some time to this white paper. We have committed to simplifying everything so that we can do anything. Moving to the cloud? We can help. Streamlining on a single digital core? We can help. Connecting the right talent at the right time to the right project? We can help. Reduce costs while maintaining standard practices and shared learning around the globe? Yes, we can do that too.

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The insights that follow are the building blocks required to make our commitment reality. It's an exciting time for professional services companies. It's a time for reimagining.

Run simple. Run live.

 

Patrice Cappello

North America Industry Lead,

Professional Services Industry

SAP America, Inc.