ChannelE2E spends considerable time covering IT services providers, managed services providers (MSPs) and their EBITDA profit margins. The top 25 percent of IT service providers have an EBITDA of about 18.3 percent. Median performers, in contrast, deliver an EBITDA margin of about 8.3 percent, according to Service Leadership Inc. data for 2015. (CEO Paul Dippell shared those data points and more in ChannelE2E Podcast Episode 063.)
Updated: The 2016 list is below. Find the 2017 list here.
So how do those IT service provider metrics compare to the overall professional services market -- involving consulting firms and service providers across all industries? Research from Service Performance Insight, based on a survey of 549 organizations, reveals some interesting data points (see chart below). Here's the list, compiled in early 2016:
Indeed, the typical professional services organization across all industries has a 14.9 percent EBITDA profit margin, and the top 20 firms in the survey have an average EBITDA profit margin of 20.4 percent. Also, average revenue per employee is $242,000 for the top 20 players, compared to $153,000 for the typical professional services firm.
The Top 20 Professional Services Firms
So which professional services firms generated the strongest EBITDA profit margins? Here are the top 20, according to SPI's research. Quite a few of them, by the way, are in the IT industry. Sorry, but specific EBITDA for each company wasn't disclosed. But if you roll them all together, the average EBITDA profit margin was that 20.4 percent figure.
1. CodeScience: The company focuses on SaaS application development services for customers. The company has built more than 70 custom solutions for customers that run Salesforce.com.
2. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services: The company offers specializes in software and professional services that manage risk, compliance, finance and audit challenges.
3. TOP Step Consulting: Ironically, the company offers implementation services for Professional Services Automation deployments -- particularly OpenAir PSA (from NetSuite) and FinancialForce (a fast-growing platform for Salesorce.com).
4. e4 Services: A a healthcare IT consulting firm specializing in clinical, hospital information management and revenue cycle services.
5. Bristlecone: Part of the $17 billion Mahindra Group. Bistlecone is a supply chain and business analytics advisor, serving customers across multiple industries. The company is among the top 10 system integrators in the supply chain space, Gartner asserts.
6. Logical Design Solutions: They design digital solutions for global organizations -- with a particular emphasis on business consumers.
7. Pariveda Solutions: A management consulting firm. Yes, sometimes businesses with generic descriptors can be big-time top performers.
8. Luxent: The company provides Salesforce and NetSuite consulting and deployment expertise to the manufacturing vertical.
9. ConsultCRM: Part of Advanced Business Solutions, ConsultCRM is a Microsoft partner focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
10. Box: Yes indeed, the cloud file sharing service provider has a professional services arm. And apparently it's quite effective.
Continue to Page 2 for companies ranked 11-20.
The Top 20 Professional Services Firms: Companies 11-20
11. Collaborative Solutions: Another Workday partner that promotes cloud-based Finance and HR solutions to global Fortune 500 companies, midsize businesses, and education and government institutions.
12. Anonymous: A large contract research organization from Australia was honored, but the company preferred to remain anonymous.
13. Fiserv: A global organization with more than 13,000 clients and 21,000 associates worldwide. The company specializes in mobile and online banking, payments, risk management, data analytics and core account processing.
14. Helmsman International: A management consultancy.
15. Stoneridge Software: The company manages ERP deployments involving Microsoft Dynamics.
16. Moorhouse: A "dynamic" consulting firm that helps customers to focus on long-term goals.
17. Imperva: The company develops cyber security solutions that protect business-critical data and applications.
18. Onesource Virtual: Focused on cloud-based business processing outsourcing. Among the company's areas of expertise: Workday.
20. Fruition Partners: Owned by CSC (aka Computer Sciences Corp.), Fruition Partners is a close ServiceNow partner.
Hmmm... Scroll through that list again and you'll notice quite a few professional services firms focusing heavily on Salesforce.com, NetSuite, Workday, ServiceNow and other cloud applications. We'll share more thoughts on that soon.
