A business and technology consulting services firm that’s been operating as a largely virtual company for 20-plus years, Centric Consulting can guide businesses on their journey to success in today’s environment.
With nearly 75 percent of chief technology officers saying that remote work will be the norm after COVID-19, many companies will never function in quite the same way again.
But remote work is just the beginning.
Gig workers are becoming an even bigger part of the economy. Customers now expect brick-and-mortar businesses to deliver the same ease-of-use they enjoy with giant retailers. Meanwhile, the explosion of data generated by billions of new online transactions and remote work environments demands new thinking about data management and cloud computing.
As you navigate what’s next, Centric Consulting, a management consulting firm that’s operated largely as a virtual company for 20-plus years, can guide you to sustain your business, become more resilient and embrace renewal.
“We are committed to helping organizations chart a course of health and stability in our new reality,” says Jeff Lloyd, Centric’s National Partner for Strategic Growth & Operations. “We have the people, tools and expertise to guide businesses on their journeys, and we are here for them.”
Sustaining Your Business
As cities began to quarantine, many companies found themselves implementing work-from-home models to sustain their businesses and meet current needs. However, adopting the technology comes with its challenges, as does putting the infrastructure and company culture in place to build a successful virtual workforce.
Centric’s experience with remote work and the technology that enables it, primarily Microsoft Teams, uniquely positions the company to help others deploy, govern and adopt remote work options in today’s rapidly changing environment.
In fact, Centric President Larry English has written an entire book about it.
“Coronavirus created a sudden experiment that has turned business leaders into believers with many now planning to permanently adopt remote work strategies,” said English. “My book, Office Optional, provides a guide for having a remote workforce and a great culture.”
Gina Heffner, Vice President and Columbus Practice Lead, adds, “Being a remote company hasn’t always been easy, but the challenges we have overcome give us a wealth of knowledge to draw on. Our consultants’ skill sets and deep knowledge base uniquely qualify us to guide companies through the uncertainty and disruption they face today, and to come out stronger on the other side.”
Building Business Resilience
Before COVID-19, Centric introduced a delivery model that assembles the best talent from its 12 U.S. locations and Centric India to deliver for clients on-site, off-site and offshore, at any time, based on their unique needs.
This model has proved beneficial as many companies focus on building business resilience and quickly shifting operations or resources for the unexpected. It’s a flexible approach that allows customers to scale resources up or down as they need to.
Clients also benefit from the diverse industry knowledge, domain expertise, and intellectual capital of these resources who are experts in areas such as operational excellence, people and change, data and analytics, modern workplace, and customer experience and design.
“Technology is important, but it’s only part of the story,” says Tom Ujvagi, Director and National Operational Excellence Practice Lead. “Until robots take over the world, people are going to be pretty important, because automating a bad process just gets you bad results faster.”
Renewal Is Key
Beyond the horizon of whatever crisis is at hand today, Centric’s consultants encourage businesses to operate in a state of renewal by thinking today about tomorrow.
Perhaps the most critical step for a company to embrace renewal post-pandemic is to become a digital-first organization. A modern, digital-first organization is one that has fully optimized its customer experience, operating model and employee experience for digital execution.
Centric’s founders built the company with a digital-first mindset, and its experts can partner with your organization to analyze your readiness for the future and help you do business anywhere.
As Lloyd says, “It’s almost become a cliché, but it has never been more profoundly true to say, ‘We are all in this together.”
About Centric Consulting
Centric Consulting is a management consulting firm that guides you in the search for answers to complex digital, business and technology problems by asking tough questions, leading crucial conversations and blending our experts with yours. As you navigate what’s next, we can help you conquer change, optimize processes, elevate your technology, and compete in a digital world.
Headquartered in Ohio, with locations across the country and India, Centric has earned annual recognition by Forbes as one of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms since 2016.