Belgian Consulting Industry
Belgian Consulting Industry
Belgian Consulting Industry
A 5-year study on the 29 leading firms in Business, IT & Engineering Services and their
performance
Introduction
Where is useful data when you need it?
What you are about to read is the result of analyzing the 29 most important consultancies of
Belgium for the last 5 years. This analysis was conducted using about 1500 pages of financial
and social statements made available by the NBB.
Some Context
According to the National Bank of Belgium, the Belgian GDP in 2013 was roughly 389,3
bn. The aggregate revenues of the 29 companies were aout to study accounts for 0,38% of
that amount that same year< (1,467 bn)
These 0,38% get a lot of attention from customers, prospects, researchers and candidates from
diverse industries and backgrounds. Why? The consulting industry is a destination of choice
for young graduates and experienced professionals who want to become a trusted advisor for
board members and managers of medium and large companies.
Despite the prominent role it plays in todays economy, very little useful information
usually perspires through mainstream media about consulting as a job, an industry, or even
as a group of competitors fighting for deals and talent.
We started this investigation with one belief: the economics of consulting are quite simple
to understand from an outside perspective, via the analysis of financial and social
statements. Consulting indeed is essentially a people business, making it easier to approach
than assets-heavy industries, where human capital is only a fraction of total costs. This will
hopefully answer the question some of my MBA professors and colleagues might have: Why
would you go through such trouble, financial statements are nothing but a photoshopped
version of the economic reality of a company!
This report will hopefully help rebalance the information asymmetry between Belgian
candidates and prospective consulting employers, or that it will better inform prospects,
journalists, policy-makers and researchers about how the leading intellectual capital firms
are doing in Belgium.
A study on 29 companies cant explain the whole industry, obviously. However, it gives a
good insight on its driving forces. Indeed professional services are a fairly polarized market:
on one side stand large, international consultancies, on the other stand the legions of selfemployed experts who chose freelancing over salaried employment. The top 29 firms are
thereby a fairly representative sample of the market trends and fundamentals. The search
for mid-size regional players did not yield large results. If anything, these are niche providers
who spun off (or out) from the larger branded consultancies that trained them.
Methodology
We have divided the Belgian consulting industry into 3 segments: Management Consulting,
IT consulting and Engineering Services. Each segment is made of 9 to 10 firms.
Although all its participants are called consultants, there can be gaping differences between
them, based on geographical reach, industrial or functional expertise, delivery and invoicing
models, customer engagement methodologies, business development strategy and sales
processes, etc. Some firms belonging to the same segment are hardly comparable in terms of
skills, client typology and issues solved. Some firms from different segments also happen to
meet on the field in bidding wars to win the same deals.
However, very simple questions can be asked to all of these companies, who despite their
differences can equally address the worries of prospective candidates, such as:
- How much do they pay their people on average?
- How much do they spend on training?
- Are they profitable?
- Do international consultancies use more local or imported staff to work on
assignments?
- How good are they at keeping people?
- Are they on a growing trend?
Each of our report chapter brings a factual answer to one of these questions
Disclaimer: This report is a fact-based investigation using publicly available data. It does
not proceed from an internal assessment of its performance and management teams
effectiveness. It has been assembled in good faith and its author should authorize any
utilization outside of this report. He can be reached at the following email address
adhubert@eidosinsight.com.
Disclaimer 2: McKinsey and Bain do not provide detailed accounts of their activity, hence
their absence here. We also made a choice to not include IBM, HP or TCS and Infosys, as it
would have been impossible to unbundle their Hardware-related business from their
Consulting business figures. This report is therefore about consulting pure players only.
BCG
118
108
101
97
96
Accenture
715
703
750
680
724
Roland
Berger
62
52
43
40
35
A.D. Little
25
27
30
33
35
AT Kearney
25
27
28
32
31
KPMG
Advisory
190
177
168
128
126
Deloitte
Consulting
497
515
473
432
403
PWC
Business
Advisors
58
56
55
42
43
E&Y
Business
Services
358
144
95
73
70
Kurt Salmon
25
28
36
45
31
TOTAL
IT CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
McKinsey Solutions
59
47
28
N/A
N/A
Capgemini
689
713
740
705
635
Sopra
71
71
60
56
59
Atos
768
832
882
591
647
Keyrus
87
92
83
66
90
Unisys Consulting
95
109
108
151
161
CSC
474
533
526
472
405
Adneom
137
146
114
37
13
Trasys
272
284
301
292
359
Ordina
499
488
486
482
528
TOTAL
3151
3315
3328
2852
2897
ENGINEERING
SERVICES
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Altran
564
595
618
634
694
Alten
244
281
323
358
204
Assystem
93
69
38
11
Akka
387
379
330
302
267
Belgatech
122
101
56
40
12
Pauwels
161
114
85
66
62
Matis
139
126
117
104
93
MCA
142
123
112
98
68
Intys
61
51
37
19
16
TOTAL
1913
1839
1716
1632
1417
Steady decline from Unisys and Trasys along the emergence of McKinsey Solutions raises
the hypothesis of a multidimensional IT services market involving heterogeneous growth
potential and business requirements.
Noteworthy is the fact that the IT consulting top 10 has declining FTE since 2011, which
raises the hypothesis of the growing usage of offshore-heavy managed IT & Telecom services
thus requiring less onsite presence.
Analysis - Engineering Services FTE Evolution
The Engineering Services top9 has grown every year since 2009 from 1417 to 1913 FTE,
which means a 35% 5-year growth rate. This growth has mostly benefited small entrants
whose size 5 years ago was only a fraction of what it is today (especially Intys, Assystem,
Belgatech, and MCA who have doubled in size or more) while incumbents have grown at a
much slower pace.
The outlier is Altran, who has in a 35% growth market lost positions to competitors each
year since 2009. Altran losing presence in such a dynamic market might mean that the new
entrants growth is happening at its expense. The question becomes: What do they do
better? and/or What is Altrans problem? (Which is roughly the same question)
II/ How good are they at keeping people?
Here now is a 2009-2013 overview of each companys yearly turnover. People turnover is a
measure of a companys ability to retain people. We have computed it as follows: Number or
FTE out that year/Year-end FTE. Another methodology was possible: Number of FTE out
that year/Average FTE for the Year but the results only slightly differed. If anything, the first
methodology the one we adopted - is more flattering due to end-of-year traditional
recruitment efforts to make the numbers before the fiscal year closes.
2009-2013 EMPLOYEE TURNOVER EVOLUTION
MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
BCG
33%
33%
46%
41%
24%
Accenture
17%
22%
23%
26%
36%
Roland Berger
11%
21%
19%
28%
23%
AD Little
28%
30%
33%
21%
17%
AT Kearney
28%
41%
57%
38%
48%
KPMG Advisory
15%
19%
17%
30%
25%
Deloitte Cltg
29%
22%
25%
26%
20%
PWC Business
Advisors
17%
23%
15%
33%
21%
E&Y Business
Services
15%
22%
34%
29%
20%
Kurt Salmon
72%
64%
56%
24%
10%
Average
27%
30%
32%
30%
25%
IT CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
McKinsey Solutions
19%
9%
0%
N/A
N/A
Capgemini
17%
20%
24%
15%
21%
Sopra
18%
18%
23%
14%
15%
Atos
14%
12%
15%
16%
13%
Keyrus
18%
12%
11%
52%
16%
Unisys Consulting
13%
15%
67%
23%
20%
CSC
19%
12%
14%
11%
11%
Adneom
62%
67%
24%
41%
46%
Trasys
15%
19%
23%
40%
19%
Ordina
17%
20%
26%
22%
19%
Average
21%
20%
23%
26%
20%
ENGINEERIN
G
SERVICES
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Altran
35%
34%
39%
65%
N/D
Alten
42%
56%
61%
34%
49%
Assystem
31%
26%
37%
18%
100%
Akka
25%
21%
24%
21%
19%
Belgatech
23%
12%
41%
23%
50%
Pauwels
16%
23%
29%
77%
31%
Matis
29%
29%
32%
38%
26%
MCA
42%
33%
35%
24%
15%
Intys
33%
35%
27%
42%
38%
Average
31%
30%
36%
38%
41%
We computed this KPI fairly simply by dividing the yearly formal training budget by the
salary costs. This gives us a good view of how much is spent in training for each euro of
employer costs. Each segment differentiates clearly from the 2 others in that respect.
2009-2013 TRAINING BUDGET (AS % OF SALARY
COSTS)
MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
BCG
2,3%
2,6%
1,9%
1,5%
0,8%
Accenture
2,3%
2,9%
2,9%
3,3%
1,1%
Roland Berger
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
AD Little
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
AT Kearney
3,1%
3,3%
0,0%
0,0%
2,1%
KPMG Advisory
5,8%
6,8%
8,3%
9,0%
6,9%
Deloitte Cltg
6,0%
7,7%
7,4%
12,9%
10,0%
PWC Business
Advisors
0,0%
5,1%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
E&Y Business
Services
1,2%
1,8%
2,4%
0,9%
0,2%
Kurt Salmon
0,1%
0,1%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
Average
2,1%
3,0%
2,3%
2,8%
2,1%
IT CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
McKinsey Solutions
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
N/A
N/A
Capgemini
3,3%
3,0%
3,8%
4,4%
3,7%
Sopra
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
Atos
0,4%
0,5%
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
Keyrus
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,0%
1,8%
Unisys Consulting
0,9%
1,3%
0,3%
0,1%
0,1%
CSC
2,0%
2,4%
2,5%
0,8%
3,1%
Adneom
0,2%
0,2%
0,2%
0,3%
0,0%
Trasys
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
Ordina
2,1%
2,5%
1,6%
1,2%
1,7%
Average
0,9%
1,0%
0,9%
0,8%
1,2%
ENGINEERI
NG
SERVICES
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Altran
0,2%
0,2%
0,2%
0,2%
0,2%
Alten
0,2%
0,2%
0,2%
0,1%
0,2%
Assystem
0,2%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
Akka
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
Belgatech
0,4%
0,4%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
Pauwels
0,3%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
Matis
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
MCA
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,1%
0,0%
Intys
0,0%
0,6%
2,7%
2,2%
0,2%
Average
0,2%
0,2%
0,4%
0,3%
0,1%
It is safe to say formal training budget is inexistent in the industry based on observable figures
and using benchmark provided by other firms claiming the consultant title.
At 0,2%, the top 9 Engineering Services training budget stands quite low compared to their
socio-economic raison dtre: fostering the professional development of an elite of scarce
R&D experts to change the world, save lives and improve daily life.
Aside from sporadic jumps in training costs from Intys, Belgatech and Pauwels, the top 9
surprisingly sticks to the 0,2% average as if it were a cross-industry policy.
Recommendation: Couldnt the marketing expenses (often bigger than training budgets by an
order of magnitude) be reduced to benefit the workforce and actually hold on the promise to
develop the skillset of the consultants?.
IV/How much do they pay their people on average?
Salary costs as declared in the annual income statement represent the all-incost of
workforce, including the employer charges, employee taxes and various subtractions related
to pension, health and social security. They provide a good proxy for average salary when one
knows the difference between the all-in cost (for the employer) and the net monthly salary
(for the employee).
We recommend the use of a conservative 2,35 multiplier to compute the all-in/net salary
difference. Example: the average all-in salary per person at BCG was 104.255 in 2012. This
gives 104255/(2,35*12)= 3@696 per month net per FTE on average.
(!) This multiplier is only a proxy that works as long as current Belgian Labor and Income
Tax regulations do not change.
2009-2013 AVERAGE SALARY COSTS
MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
BCG
114.422
104.255
116.710
110.935
123.773
Accenture
119.216
108.313
106.776
94.014
110.219
Roland Berger
112.749
112.779
101.615
103.801
116.736
AD Little
120.548
122.118
103.485
86.799
87.594
AT Kearney
147.001
132.974
161.288
179.611
153.391
KPMG Advisory
74.547
70.239
59.972
67.713
88.534
Deloitte Cltg
73.033
72.093
68.748
68.206
68.596
PWC Business
Advisors
70.124
68.948
64.383
63.742
66.431
E&Y Business
Services
73.030
75.336
78.883
88.011
76.341
Kurt Salmon
66.449
69.542
86.617
67.820
83.660
Average
97.112
93.660
94.848
93.065
97.527
IT CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
McKinsey Solutions
114.989
109.545
68.174
N/A
N/A
Capgemini
87.364
87.144
89.830
83.387
90.088
Sopra
77.217
70.795
74.490
79.952
76.197
Atos
110.266
106.440
80.456
89.382
86.150
Keyrus
81.380
70.149
70.833
66.953
59.444
Unisys Consulting
75.309
62.363
68.490
61.612
55.947
CSC
98.859
95.611
87.208
87.466
96.424
Adneom
57.246
59.399
39.469
37.096
21.421
Trasys
78.334
77.216
72.435
86.598
76.991
Ordina
73.310
72.464
71.758
74.456
72.565
Average
85.427
81.113
72.314
74.100
70.581
ENGINEERI
NG
SERVICES
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Altran
64.779
65.686
64.822
63.103
63.362
Alten
66.348
67.284
58.287
65.107
69.615
Assystem
53.502
46.821
35.616
24.367
63.647
Akka
58.756
54.211
53.460
53.077
52.241
Belgatech
54.645
43.068
47.814
37.753
58.831
Pauwels
49.311
46.287
47.065
53.905
54.418
Matis
63.474
60.776
60.259
51.796
53.781
MCA
49.983
52.805
51.746
44.559
45.021
Intys
64.829
61.506
52.603
59.010
53.168
Average
58.403
55.383
52.408
50.297
57.120
Although the highest amongst the 3 segments, management consulting salaries should be
considered under an hourly perspective. It all comes down to how many hours per week one
works to get the work done, and therefore how much is made by the company in terms of
invoiceable bandwidth. These attractive salary levels are also a warning that customers do
pay for a work swiftly done, no matter the sacrifices made in terms of private life and hours
worked.
After a 4-year declining trend, the Management consulting Belgium top10 has recovered its
average salary levels of 2009.
There is a clear divide between Big Four management consulting practices and 1St and 2nd
tier management consulting pure players, with the notable exception of Kurt Salmon, whose
salary costs per FTE stand closer to Big Four averages.
Big four salary costs revolve around 71500 per year while top players go as high as 120000
to 140000 per year.
Best in class for Belgian Management Consulting top10 is AT Kearney, although an average
salary doesnt necessarily mean all classes of staff get above-market compensation.
Analysis IT Consulting Salary Costs
Broad generalizations are more challenging to extract from the top10 IT Consulting firms
salary costs analysis, with McKinsey Solutions and Adneom standing at the extremes of the
spectrum (114000 and 57000 average salary costs in 2013).
However, one interesting fact is that IT consulting salary costs from the Belgian top10 are the
only ones that display steady year-on-year increase, even at the worse moments of the crisis.
The other two segments have suffered average salary costs reduction, Management
Consulting and Engineering Services recouping their 2009 level.
Atos, CSC and Capgemini have consistently above-average salary costs across the whole 5year period.
Unisys Consulting and Keyrus have consistently been below average from 2009 to 2013.
Analysis Engineering Services Salary Costs
Altran and Alten dominate the sample in terms of salary costs across 2009 through to 2013,
closely followed by Intys and Matis who both only underperformed the average once, in
2009.
The only consistently below-average player in the top9 Engineering Services firm is MCA.
Akka is the one consistently closest to the average. Other firms come and go above and
below the average industry salary costs across the 5-year period.
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
BCG
15.294
12.570
40.118
48.803
49.352
Accenture
8.408
4.669
-6.892
10.032
7.841
Roland Berger
34.360
28.270
18.204
18.661
41.772
AD Little
2.257
15.744
-6.318
-10.561
25.435
AT Kearney
21.125
1.286
-48.125
-26.709
-14.946
KPMG Advisory
3.737
4.168
1.417
1.124
5.001
Deloitte Cltg
6.344
1.118
363
1.953
2.633
PWC Business
Advisors
-69
649
905
1.279
1.571
E&Y Business
Services
-205
3.796
3.814
417
2.563
Kurt Salmon
3.002
2.928
-29.393
22.603
9.493
Average
9.425
7.520
-2.591
6.760
13.071
IT CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
McKinsey Solutions
59.187
N/A
N/A
Capgemini
5.418
-386
1.783
5.736
-4.475
Sopra
4.881
4.304
-7.988
-1.503
-360
Atos
8.859
14.233
3.832
4.952
-2.835
Keyrus
3.734
5.024
7.478
3.344
212
Unisys Consulting
5.247
6.975
4.350
13.691
9.772
CSC
18.140
15.330
12.106
12.704
19.410
-567.597 -637.976
Adneom
6.321
-2.196
6.431
1.835
320
Trasys
7.631
7.016
5.079
6.679
15.530
Ordina
-4.527
-4.835
-1.772
-5.085
-3.440
Average (excl.
McKinsey)
6.190
5.052
3.478
4.706
3.793
ENGINEERI
NG
SERVICES
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Altran
8.057
9.738
10.946
11.216
8.826
Alten
6.823
11.180
20.719
14.258
9.709
Assystem
12.580
13.511
22.137
23.471
-1.102
Akka
7.143
11.320
11.412
8.633
5.778
Belgatech
4.030
7.391
11.735
8.350
23.857
Pauwels
19.295
17.003
16.606
19.428
19.035
Matis
6.769
4.315
4.535
21
-3.977
MCA
18.274
27.924
25.045
12.443
16.875
Intys
14.517
11.000
12.385
-4.483
7.782
Average
10.832
12.598
15.058
10.371
9.643
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
BCG
233,2%
260,7%
227,4%
252,4%
171,0%
Accenture
149,3%
165,6%
138,0%
190,1%
179,3%
Roland Berger
160,2%
113,5%
132,4%
103,7%
115,9%
AD Little
145,8%
148,7%
151,4%
140,2%
155,7%
AT Kearney
196,5%
201,1%
148,1%
125,5%
186,0%
KPMG Advisory
123,7%
126,2%
126,9%
168,3%
125,8%
Deloitte Cltg
136,1%
135,4%
252,9%
215,0%
222,8%
PWC Business
Advisors
134,4%
136,4%
128,1%
153,0%
156,9%
E&Y Business
Services
98,9%
169,9%
193,8%
175,6%
234,1%
Kurt Salmon
89,6%
84,4%
93,4%
84,5%
87,4%
Average
146,8%
154,2%
159,2%
160,8%
163,5%
IT CONSULTING
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
McKinsey Solutions
676,9%
1484,1%
1949,8%
N/A
N/A
Capgemini
30,2%
33,4%
42,7%
59,2%
39,0%
Sopra
45,5%
37,3%
35,1%
37,2%
42,0%
Atos
44,4%
50,0%
45,7%
31,2%
30,1%
Keyrus
43,3%
49,8%
54,6%
70,0%
49,4%
Unisys Consulting
92,9%
80,6%
94,8%
101,6%
94,2%
CSC
26,2%
25,3%
26,9%
31,5%
28,0%
Adneom
29,9%
32,2%
30,5%
N/A
N/A
Trasys
218,4%
193,0%
163,2%
132,6%
137,1%
Ordina
73,9%
90,7%
93,4%
67,7%
56,5%
Average (excl.
McKinsey)
67,2%
65,8%
65,2%
66,4%
59,5%
ENGINEERI
NG
SERVICES
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Altran
69,6%
66,2%
66,2%
68,2%
57,1%
Alten
82,9%
60,9%
53,8%
43,3%
29,4%
Assystem
30,1%
37,5%
58,8%
111,9%
140,7%
Akka
33,5%
32,1%
31,2%
24,4%
24,0%
Belgatech
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Pauwels
107,8%
26,8%
29,6%
27,2%
132,8%
Matis
70,4%
75,4%
59,5%
60,4%
66,6%
MCA
63,8%
55,2%
47,8%
39,7%
42,3%
Intys
56,9%
64,8%
0,0%
0,0%
0,0%
Average
64,4%
52,4%
43,4%
46,9%
61,6%
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