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Study Sees First Increases in Management Consulting Fees in 3 Years

Larger Project Sizes Spur Outlook for Growth in 2006

Consulting firms are crediting closer client relationships with the first real increases in fees in more than 3 years, according to the 2005 edition of Kennedy Information's annual benchmarking study, Fees, Utilization and Other Key Metrics: Managing Profitability in the Consulting Profession.

Larger projects will play an important role in the improved profitability outlook for 2006 in most service areas, according to the new research.

"In an effort to control costs over the last few years, clients have been breaking large engagements down into a series of smaller projects," said Tomek Jankowski, a Kennedy Information analyst and author of the report. "While this will continue, we expect overall consulting project sizes to increase over the next six months, in addition to the reported up tick in consulting fees."

The 168-page report provides the latest benchmarking data and peer analysis of the consulting industry's key billing and utilization metrics, including details on current and future fee levels, utilization rates, realized rates, hourly billing rates, book rates, and the distribution of consulting engagements segmented across career levels and firm type, size and service specialty.

About Kennedy Information, Inc.

Kennedy Information is the leading information source on consulting since 1970. The company publishes proprietary research reports on a wide range of topics including The Global Consulting Marketplace and Benchmarks in Management Consulting; the analytical news services Consultants News, Global IT Services Report, and Management Consultant International; as well as Consulting magazine and The Directory of Management Consultants. Kennedy Information also produces conferences for thought leaders in consulting and powers the Web portal, www.ConsultingCentral.com.

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