SEEING IS BELIEVING: THE STATS THAT PROVE YOU NEED FORECASTING SOFTWARE. By: Patrick Fuller CEO, ForeIQ

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1 SEEING IS BELIEVING: THE STATS THAT PROVE YOU NEED FORECASTING SOFTWARE By: Patrick Fuller CEO, ForeIQ

2 It would seem perfectly rational to assume that IT consulting firms are tech-savvy and are likely to use several solutions to make their businesses run smoothly. But as logical as this assumption is, forecasting software is not used in this industry even a fraction as much as you would expect. And outside of the IT services field, it gets even worse. Too few consulting firms are tapping into the power of technology. And yes, you d expect us to say this because we re a SaaS provider. But don t take it from us; read on to get a better understanding of how the $615 billion consulting industry (source: Consulting Research) is desperately missing out on wildly beneficial tools. Let s start by taking a look at who is using professional services solutions, like forecasting software. According to PSA Research, it s the successful companies who are. The businesses known to be best in class are nearly 80 percent more likely to have forecasting software than others. Think that s a coincidence? Not in the least. After all, these solutions are designed to streamline and maximize a consulting firm in myriad ways. Furthermore, 83 percent of organizations that employ professional services-related software can evaluate a project s potential for revenue before ever committing to it. What does this boil down to? It s simple profitability. T he b usinesses kno wn to be b est in class a re nea rly 80 percent more likely to ha ve fo reca sting so ftware than o thers. Predicting your revenue and increasing your profitability are just one small piece of the puzzle, though. The services industry needs help in many more ways than these alone. In a 2014 survey of professional services firms conducted by research firm Aberdeen Group, leaders identified a lack of alignment between project plans and resource scheduling as their primary stressor. While it might seem like a small issue, it s the root from which countless other problems snowball. Before you can be profitable, you must gain control of and alignment between project forecasts and resource usage. To do this, Aberdeen found three areas that require attention. Here they are, along with their intersection between software solutions (like ForeIQ) and profitability.

3 IMPROVED RESOURCE ALLOCATION The first step to unite a project s plans and its scheduled resources is to better predict their usage. At ForeIQ, we like to say that the best way to protect your profit is to successfully manage resources in the future. If you use our software, you can easily do this because you ll have real-time insight into what your labor expenses are as they happen. If you notice that outsourcing a piece of your project is causing excessive cash outlay two weeks into the engagement, for instance, you can quickly adapt by bringing the remainder of that workload in-house. You ll also learn to pay better attention to how the skill level of your personnel impacts your revenue. Senior level folks should be reserved for complex and lucrative projects, so junior level staff can be assigned to projects that are scoped to be less profitable. That way, you re not losing money before you begin. And simply getting better about allocating your resources doesn t stop here. You also need to keep tabs on how your team is being utilized, because too few or too many hours worked can also mess with your profitability. This is all very important to the overall health of your business, and also a lot for one person (or even an entire executive team) to monitor. Instead, you can maximize your people and therefore your profit by using ForeIQ to track all of this for you. Aberdeen found that firms that use software are almost three times as likely to have visibility into resource workload across projects, as opposed to firms without it. This visibility can mean all the difference in your business long-term viability, from a cash perspective.

4 PROPER MANAGEMENT OF CLIENT EXPECTATIONS Firms often struggle to adapt to fluctuations in client demands. Show me a professional services company, and I ll show you a group of people who likely have trouble delivering projects that are satisfactory to their clientele and on time. This isn t a quality issue; it s a management issue. Do you want to be able to stop worrying about turning in subpar deliverables, later than promised? It s inevitable that changes will occur throughout a project, multiple times even. If you fail to plan for this, you will end up spending far too much money and time trying to meet your clients changing expectations in the spur of the moment. Aberdeen found firms that rely on software geared toward professional services (like forecasting) deliver 85 percent of their projects on time or even early. Do you want to be in that group? Do you want to be able to stop worrying about turning in subpar deliverables, later than promised? If so, start using ForeIQ. The projections you ll have at your fingertips by using our software will help you to scope your project with unforeseen changes already built into the time and costs. You won t be surprised when they crop up, and you won t be disappointing your clients or yourself with an inferior, unprofitable end result.

5 ACCESS TO THE RIGHT DATA Finally, what good would software be if it didn t give you all the information you may need at a moment s notice? Not much. Without a forecasting system, your business will always be prone to lacking visibility and runaway costs. Conversely, Aberdeen notes that those with software are roughly two and a half times as likely to have real-time visibility into all project milestones and schedule status. Think of the power this unleashes for you. Rather than relying merely on the big picture trends in your business, you ll have real granular data to inform your decisions. You can t forecast with broad brushstrokes when it comes to projects and people. Trusting ForeIQ to show you the aerial view, as well as the detailed day-to-day insights, will empower you to make adjustments as needed on the fly. The result? One highly profitable project after another. If you re in the professional services and consulting industries and operating without ForeIQ, you re doing yourself and your revenue an enormous disservice. Hopefully you now understand why, and how to change this. Still need to be convinced? Sign up for your free trial of ForeIQ today.