#4: Five big numbers for 2017

That’s how big we think the global digital transformation consulting market is now, which means that it represents about 15% of the entire market. It’s a market that’s changing all the time, both in response to changing technology, but also as clients’ understanding of the potential for digital transformation moves from front to back office.

Right now we think that the largest part (about $9.7bn) of the digital transformation market is related to the technology itself, while another very significant portion (about $5.3bn) is essentially strategy work.But, as the market matures, we see other more traditional services lines like operational improvement becoming more prominent: the proportion of the digital transformation market that is operational improvement becomes greater, and so does the proportion of the operational improvement market that is digital transformation.

Unsurprisingly, then, the winners in this game could end up coming from anywhere. Although firms with a technology and strategy heritage seem particularly well-placed at the moment, it’s far from certain that they’ll end up being the biggest winners. Indeed, our data shows that it’s actually Deloitte – which we estimate to have about a 12% share of the global market – that’s currently leading the charge. And to reinforce the point, we think the next two biggest shares belong to Accenture (10%) and McKinsey (9%). The message is clear: No firm can rest on its laurels, assuming that its past business makes it well suited to a digital future, but neither should any firm assume that it’s never going to be able to win in this game. Digital has levelled the playing field and the game is on.