IT consultants as change agents in digital transformation initiatives

Abstract

Digital transformation (DT) is a broad field for IT and strategy consulting companies. It requires a special mixture of cross disciplinary competences and experiences. While pure IT consultants find themselves progressively in new situations of organizational change or ethical considerations (e.g. autonomous driving), strategy consultants are asked more often for support in technological problems. IS literature has elaborated socio-Technological concepts, but in terms of DT those models leave an open point regarding ideas to boost a complete digital shift of a corporation. This paper tackles the role model and skill shift of consulting firms with a multiple case study. We included well-experienced companies of the DT field and found why and how IT and strategy consultants can learn from each other to handle DT. Based on our case study findings, we provide a model for IS researchers and draw pragmatic recommendations for consulting firms.