Consulting: Strategy Projects

Within Celent's Strategy Consulting practice, we regularly assist senior executives in better defining their strategies and maximizing their market impact. Some of the areas in which Celent is active are outlined below.

Competitive Intelligence, Benchmarking, & Analysis

Celent provides its clients with detailed information and analysis on the competitive landscape, whether the client is a financial institution looking to gauge its positioning vis-a-vis other financial institutions or a technology vendor looking to compare its solutions to competitors. Celent evaluates:

  • » Technologies used
  • » Functionality supported
  • » Products supported
  • » Performance metrics
  • » Future plans and strategies

Recent projects include:

  • » Benchmarking study for a top-25 life insurer on advisor workstations. Celent performed in-depth primary research of competitors' offerings and presented recommendations based on client's current position, goals, and capabilities.
  • » Detailed benchmarking study of teller and platform technology for a top-five US bank. Celent obtained the participation of ten top banks for which we collected detailed data on the technologies used in the branch, functionality and products supported, performance metrics, and future plans of these peer banks.

Market Sizing & Market Positioning

Celent is available to analyze the overall size of various markets, today and looking ahead several years, along a variety of criteria, including:

  • » Overall spending estimates
  • » Adoption rates
  • » By country, by region
  • » By size of financial institution
  • » By technology platform

Celent evaluates how firms can best position their products/solutions to compete in various markets going forward. Celent suggests product enhancements and modifications, identifies tiers of target clients, and outlines the strengths to emphasize in sales conversations and how to address weaknesses. Celent also develops detailed market entry strategies for firms considering new markets.

Recent projects include:

  • » Analysis of online personal lines insurance market for a top-50 US insurer, including projected adoption rates, detailed competitive information, and best practices. Results presented to CMO were key to determining strategy for online unit.
  • » Review of the market for global equities trading for one of the largest investment banks in the world. Celent analyzed volumes of institutional order flow, determined source of orders, and helped the investment bank revamp their equities trading offering and target new markets.
  • » Market analysis of P/C technology market for spin-off technology unit of a top 10 international P/C insurer. Celent's analysis and assessment of market potential, which were presented to the CEO, were instrumental in determining launch strategy and target market.
  • » Preparation of a market study for a capital markets vendor providing portfolio optimization and monitoring tools to buy-side firms in the managed account space. Celent conducted extensive interviews with buy-side firms in order to assess interest levels, uncover the most promising customer segments, determine an optimal pricing strategy, and help position the product against competitors in the market.

Product Feature Requirements/Gap Analysis

Celent identifies gaps in product and service offerings that should be addressed in order to compete more effectively in the market, whether the client is an established player that would like to enhance its competitive edge or a firm seeking to enter a new market with an existing solution or service. Celent extensively reviews features, functionality, technology, connectivity, ease of use, and other aspects of the solution that affect its effectiveness and perception in the market. We compare solutions and services to competitors in order to identify areas of strength and weakness and identify new market opportunities.

Recent projects include:

  • » Gap analysis and product positioning for a leading French software vendor of transaction processing solutions for the capital markets industry that had not met with success in the US market since its entrance several years ago. Celent identified technical areas of weakness in the solution that should be addressed in order to compete more effectively in the US market, suggested which tiers of broker-dealers the firm should target with its solution, and suggested an approach for molding its market perception.

Strategy Review

Celent works with financial institutions and other clients to review and advise on strategies for product development, product or service introduction, customer acquisition, and operations. In addition to strategic thinking, Celent provides market context and independent perspective.

Recent projects include:

  • » E-business strategy review and consulting for specialty liability insurance unit of a top-10 international insurance group. Celent advised the e-business team on relevant trends and competitive activities, facilitated strategy development, and gave them the tools they needed to present to senior management.
  • » Financial services go-to-market strategy for a top-five international IT hardware vendor. Celent reviewed strategy, plans, and organization, and provided market data and guidance on focusing resources and messaging to position horizontal technology offerings to vertical financial services markets. Celent's advice helped shape vendor's positioning.
  • » Development of a business strategy for a major hardware vendor in the financial services industry. Celent identified the areas of greatest opportunity for the vendor's offering on a global basis, including Europe, North American and Asia-Pacific. In addition, Celent determined the best way to penetrate these markets and evaluated independent software vendors to act as partners.
  • » Creation of a business strategy for electronic trading for one of the largest securities brokerages in Japan. The project analyzed the potential market, segmented both the customer base and competitors, and assessed the technical architectures of competing firms.

New Market Entry

For clients seeking to enter new markets, be it a new geographic region or with a new product, Celent is available to help in a variety of ways:

  • » Market overview (size, composition, key trends)
  • » Competitive analysis
  • » Discuss and obtain feedback from financial institutions and/or prospective clients
  • » Product positioning
  • » Recommendations

Recent projects include:

  • » A thorough market entrance strategy for a leading Indian software vendor looking to enter the market with both a retail Internet banking solution as well as a Web-based cash management solution. Celent reviewed the current market opportunities for these applications, provided an exhaustive competitive analysis, recommended the best approach for entering the market according to the parameters of the client, discussed upcoming trends to address in these markets, and gave recommendations.
  • » Market analysis and product positioning for a large international payments processor looking to enter the business-to-employee (B2E) market. Celent analyzed the size of the potential market on a global basis, payment options available to enter the market, and current competitors. Celent recommended the best products and positioning for the client to enter the markets of interest.

Vendor Selection for Financial Institutions

Celent provides its insight, assistance, and project management skills to financial institutions seeking to select a new vendor solution. We are available to help in a variety of phases:

  • » Requirements gathering and generating a short-list of vendors
  • » Preparation and distribution of a Request for Information (RFI) and/or Request for Proposal (RFP)
  • » RFI/RFP process management, including analysis of responses
  • » Vendor selection assistance, including participation in vendor meetings and due diligence efforts
  • » Final discussions and recommendation

Recent projects include:

  • » Vendor selection project for a top-five US life insurer. Celent assisted in identifying and evaluating vendors for an outsourced business process, enabling faster decision-making by client.
  • » Vendor selection assistance for a top-25 global bank in the market for a replacement solution for its Web-based corporate banking/small business banking application. The bank had narrowed its search down to three vendor solutions and engaged Celent to review the information they collected, supplement it with our own insight, and provide a recommendation given their requirements.