http://www.redcommerce.com/blog/CommentsRSS.aspx?Page=06891257485Blog Entr Comments - delivering the latest comments to your desktop15en-gb4mat.com DV3http://www.redcommerce.com/blog/the-emperor-s-new-clothes-blog-06891257485Posted by: <a href='http://www.redcommerce.com/blog/the-emperor-s-new-clothes-blog-06891257485#comment66' >Alan Hunt</a><br><br>OK I have a confession to make. I used to work for some of the consultancies that you seem to be uncomfortable with! And I did sell things to clients!! My point of view is that some clients are at a point in their journey where they want to buy a solution or a service and to feel that they are managing the risk associated with their project. Others simply want to have access to great people and skills without some of the wrappings. In both cases actually they expect to see top drawer experts. As for brands, well it seems to be human nature to be attracted to brands and labels which is probably good for everyone in the SAP market as many of the leading global brands use SAP. We are fortunate at Red that we provide our services to clients of SAP directly but also to some of the leading consultancies as they recognize, given the breadth of SAP that some of the expertise they need to provide a quality service to their clients, that they need to come to Red Commerce to supply them the right deep expertise. The SAP market is strange as there is such a rich pool of experts in the freelance market and often in fact the deepest experience exists with the independent consultants rather than those employed by the traditional consulting firms. I guess this is part of the frustration that you feel. It seems that the recent economic cycle has changed some of the market dynamics quite rapidly, with greater cost pressure and more focus from clients on buying high quality solutions at a reasonable cost. This has been great for Red Commerce and also for some of the focused consulting companies that we provide expertise to in the market. I think some of the consultancies you allude to may find selling services that are not well thought through or irrelevant to be a progressively harder thing to do. If the consultants from the traditional local consultancies are trying to sell services it is only because that is what they are targeted to do! As always, ‘caveat emptor….’ Kind Regards, Alan Hunt Business Development Director Red Commerce Ltd <br>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:38:54 GMT