BOSTON—Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was named a leader in innovation consulting services in a report by Forrester Research, an independent research firm. “Boston Consulting Group’s innovation journey approach supports holistic offers to help clients build human and tech capabilities that deliver high-impact outcomes,” said the report, titled The Forrester Wave™: Innovation Consulting Services, Q2 2021.
“While technology has always been a key driver for innovation, access to technology and the related skills has become ubiquitous,” Forrester noted. According to the report, “[BCG’s] ‘One BCG’ approach aims to eliminate silos and bring the right skill sets together to support clients with their end-to-end innovation journeys.” A client told Forrester that “working with BCG was great because the provider acted as a catalyst to drive things forward.”
Recognized for Current Offering and Strategy
The report provides an in-depth look at the nine most significant providers of innovation consulting services, evaluating them against 25 criteria clustered into three categories: current offering, strategy, and market presence. Participating vendors were deemed Challengers, Contenders, Strong Performers, or Leaders. Based on its performance, BCG was placed among the Leaders.
BCG received the highest score in the “strategy” category, with the highest possible score in six out of the seven criteria within the strategy category, including innovation vision; innovation terminology, processes, and metrics; methodologies for innovation; innovation go-to-market approach; innovation roadmap; and innovation partner ecosystem. BCG also received the highest score possible in three criteria within Forrester’s “current offering” category: innovation strategy support; data analytics, AI, and insights; and innovation labs.
"We are honored to be recognized by Forrester as a leader in innovation consulting services," said Justin Manly, a managing director and partner who leads growth and innovation for BCG globally. "We believe that building a world-class innovation system is a transformative journey that starts with a clear vision and strategy, that stands up an effective organization and governance, and that then comes to life and gets continuously refined through innovation projects. BCG is able to partner with its clients at any point along this journey.”
BCG’s offering covers a broad spectrum ranging from strategy to business model evolution, with support for scaling and iteration to help clients differentiate through innovation.
“Innovation has long been a top priority for most leaders, and the global pandemic has only accelerated the drive for it across organizations,” said Charles Gildehaus, a managing director and partner at BCG Digital Ventures, the firm’s corporate innovation and digital business-building arm. “The most successful CEOs embed insight-based innovation in their company’s culture, pushing it to frontline teams across their businesses and effectively making continuous, everyday innovation a primary source of their competitive advantage. We call this concept the innovation flywheel, and it’s just one of the many ways we’re helping leading corporations drive the next wave of digital transformation.”
To be included in this Forrester report, vendors must have a dedicated and standalone innovation practice, a strong global footprint, and revenues from innovation consulting services of at least $1 billion annually. Vendors were evaluated using materials provided by April 8, 2021.
Access the full Forrester report here.
To learn more about BCG’s latest insights on innovation, read BCG’s Executive Perspectives, “Edition 25: Race for Innovation,” “The Most Innovative Companies 2021: Overcoming the Innovation Readiness Gap,” and BCG Henderson Institute’s new book, “The Imagination Machine: How to Spark New Ideas and Create Your Company’s Future.”
To arrange an interview with one of BCG’s experts, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com.
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