IT Consulting Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the IT consulting market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global IT consulting market reached a value of nearly $103.2 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $103.2 billion in 2023 to $181.8 billion in 2028 at a rate of 12%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2028 and reach $341.4 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from growing remote workforce, increasing adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence, increasing demand for data management and growing adoption of the cloud in SMEs. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were economic downturns and capital-intensive nature of it services.

Going forward, increasing adoption of cloud computing solutions, increasing internet of things (IoT) integration, increasing cybersecurity concerns and growing e-commerce industry will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the IT consulting market in the future include budget constraints.

The IT consulting market is segmented by type into operations consulting, security consulting and strategy consulting. The operations consulting market was the largest segment of the IT consulting market segmented by type, accounting for 51.1% or $52.7 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the security consulting segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the IT consulting market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 13.9% during 2023-2028.

The IT consulting market is segmented by enterprise size into large enterprise and small and medium enterprise. The large enterprise market was the largest segment of the IT consulting market segmented by enterprise size, accounting for 68.1% or $70.3 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the small and medium enterprise segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the IT consulting market segmented by enterprise size, at a CAGR of 14.4% during 2023-2028.

The IT consulting market is segmented by application into government, BFSI, telecommunications, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and other applications. The BFSI market was the largest segment of the IT consulting market segmented by application, accounting for 23.1% or $23.8 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the healthcare segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the IT consulting market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 14.3% during 2023-2028.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the IT consulting market, accounting for 35.03% or $36.1 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Western Europe, North America and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the IT consulting market will be Middle East and Asia Pacific where growth will be at CAGRs of 14.74% and 14.33% respectively. These will be followed by South America and Eastern Europe where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 14.28% and 13.40% respectively.

The global IT consulting market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 11.3% of the total market in 2022. Infosys Limited was the largest competitor with a 3.371% share of the market, followed by Fujitsu Ltd. with 2.918%, Capgemini SE with 2.874%, CGI Inc. with 1.021%, Tech Mahindra Ltd. with 0.930%, Coforge Limited with 0.116%, Accenture plc with 0.029%, KPIT Tech with 0.019%, Ernst & Young Global Limited with 0.018% and Hitachi Consulting with 0.011%.

The top opportunities in the IT consulting market segmented by type will arise in the operations consulting segment, which will gain $39.2 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the IT consulting market segmented by enterprise size will arise in the large enterprise segment, which will gain $47.1 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the IT consulting market segmented by application will arise in the BFSI segment, which will gain $22.2 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The IT consulting market size will gain the most in China at $15.2 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the IT consulting market include focus on strategic collaborations and partnerships, focus on launching innovative enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, focus on offering innovative advisory services, focus on developing innovative centers and focus procurement management solutions.

Player-adopted strategies in the IT consulting market include focus on expanding business capabilities through strategic partnerships, focus on new product launches, focus on new product developments and focus on enhancing business operations through technological advancements.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the IT consulting companies to focus on launching innovative ERP solutions, focus on offering innovative advisory services, focus on establishing innovation centers for generative AI technologies, focus on procurement management solutions, focus on security consulting segment, focus on small and medium enterprises (SMES), expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, focus on diversifying distribution channels, focus on value-based pricing strategies, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on targeting banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) applications.