Professional services companies need to practise what they preach : the need to fast-track digital transformation in the industry

Purpose: This paper aims to clarify the relationship between professional services companies and changing customer expectations. It proposes following the digital transformation process and outlines how companies can adopt agile, digital-first ways of doing business to tackle major long-term pain points. Design/methodology/approach: This paper’s author draws on the author’s deep domain expertise on delivering digital transformation projects to businesses and organisations in a variety of industries, including professional services. The author explains the crucial applications for technology to help industry leaders address key business pain points. Findings: This paper provides insights into how companies have an opportune moment to build long-term digital foundations for greater management, process efficiency and collaboration – with data-driven reporting, end-to-end business management solutions, dedicated HR modules and greater connectivity capabilities. This paper demonstrates that a digital-first approach can help companies achieve higher levels of customer engagement and secure their place in a highly competitive market. Originality/value: This paper fulfils an identified need to explain how professional services companies can embark on digital transformation journeys to tackle outdated and manual ways of doing business.