B2B Workforce's Siebel Practice continues to pull itself out of the recessionary doldrums of the past few years and experience the benefits of the new economic recovery. We have enjoyed great success over the past three months by growing our Siebel consulting base from the mid-twenties in mid February to the mid fifties today.
In large part, our success is explained by a renewed focused on larger, more complex projects where we can add higher-level value. We have further extended our relationships within the "Big 5" by establishing ourselves as their "trusted partner" whereby they frequently call upon us to provide sub-teams of five or more consultants. Today, we are assisting Deloitte at Home Depot with 12 consultants (and growing) and at Sprint with 5 consultants (and growing). We are assisting Accenture at the US Postal Service with 6 consultants. We are assisting IBM at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing with 5 consultants.
Furthermore, we will continue to leverage our existing relationships with Accenture, Deloitte, and IBM. We have recently enjoyed great success with Deloitte and will take advantage of every opportunity provided to us.
We aren't limiting ourselves to working just with the "Big 5". Our future success depends on our ability to establish long-term relationships directly with large Siebel customers. Currently, we have 10 consultants at Microsoft and a growing presence at AT&T Wireless. In the near future, we hope to build a larger presence at Convergys, Alltel, Roche Pharmaceutical, T-Mobile and BellSouth. Additionally, we will work toward building relationships within many large Siebel customers where we haven't yet established a presence. Examples of some of our larger Siebel prospects are American Cancer Society, AOL, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, etc.
In conclusion, we are extremely excited by the prospects over the next 12 months. However, there are still some challenges. The impact of near-shore and off-shore development is having severe impact on our bill rates. This will likely continue over the next year, or more. The only thing that will likely create some positive pricing power is a couple of high profile off-shore failures. While I am not "rooting against" the paradigm shift toward off-shore development, I can't exactly admit to being a fan of it either. My feelings for this trend of "low cost vs. quality" are best portrayed through a humorous horoscope that I read recently:
Cancer (June 21 - July 22)
The mythic asteroid Chaeron, in collaboration with the uneasy spirit of Atahualpa (the last Inca king), will act to produce a gastric upset of epic proportions, today. Keep your chakras clear, and carry some Immodium.
I'd like to personally thank each of you for your dedication, hard work, and support. I look forward to working with you more closely over the coming months. Please don't hesitate to call with questions or concerns.
Rick Joyce
Siebel Practice Manager
rjoyce@b2bworkforce.com
770-667-7227
