There are plenty of articles about the benefits of deploying a Professional Services Automation solution in a growing consulting business – not least from the platform vendors themselves. The challenge is often choosing the right time to do so: do it too soon and you risk selecting a solution that fails to keep pace with your growth; do it too late and you risk missing out on some of the key benefits the right solution can deliver to your growth trajectory. 

In this article, we’ll revisit the key benefits, consider the tell-tale signs for optimum timing and look at some of the businesses that have worked with Garwood Solutions to prepare for and implement a PSA solution. 

Core benefits:   

To the professional services business, from accountants to consultants and lawyers, the right PSA solution delivers a 360° view and the potential to better manage the whole gamut of important business functions: projects – both sales and delivery; resources; budgets; time and expenses; billing and invoicing.  

In short, a PSA will cut administrative tasks and root out duplication, thereby delivering better visibility, more control and ultimately, better decision making.  Where there are other deployed solutions (e.g. CRM, Email, Calendar) the PSA platform should be integrated to maximise efficiency. 

Timing: 

If you answer yes to any of these questions the time could be right for a PSA solution for your consultancy.

According to SPI’s latest benchmark report, an effective PSA implementation can deliver higher profitability, notably higher revenues per project and consultant (in some cases up to 33% higher). Despite this, almost a quarter of professional services businesses do not currently have a PSA solution in place, though this is down from 50% five years ago. 

Which platform or solution? 

Originally written in 2020 and just as relevant today, we explored some of the elements to consider when choosing a PSA partner. If you’re trying to find the Professional Services Automation tool that’s right for your business, this article is the place to start. 

Experience

We have worked with many businesses to help them select and deploy a PSA. Here are just two examples:

A fast-growing UK consultancy, with a focus on the Health sector, wanted to double the size of its business in two years. Having recently completed a Management Buy Out, the Management team identified a need to overhaul the technology infrastructure and operating model to support and facilitate growth and drive operational efficiency at scale.  Starting with Business Preparation (understanding the status quo and planned processes and User Stories for the PSA), we worked together through procurement and deployment of a CMap solution.

The Partners of a fast-growing, disruptive, consultancy based in the UK and Netherlands, wanted to standardise and industrialise their business processes to support future growth and greater efficiency – and in particular to improve scheduling of their talent pool, client billing, Associate self-billing, and time & expense capture. Garwood brought our proven PSA deployment methodology and toolset to ensure an efficient and successful 6-month Kimble implementation project – from foundation assessment, through iterative Sprints, integration, data migration and post-go live adoption support. 

Next steps

Procurement: PSA selection is a long-term strategic decision that you need to get right. We know and understand PSAs. We can assess what your business needs are, and pinpoint which solution meets those needs most effectively.

Implementation: We will support you to deploy your solution throughout your organisation, integrate it with your existing systems and advise you on how to encourage its use across your organisation. Once it’s up and running we’ll help you realise its full potential and report back on the value that it’s creating.

Business Value Assessment: If you are already using a PSA solution we can make sure you are getting the most from it. We’ll assess how well it’s working, and how widely it has been adopted. If improvements can be made we will identify what they are and how they will benefit you.

If you want to find out more about any of these areas for your consulting business, please get in touch.