Perficient, the Nasdaq-traded IT consultancy, wants to make corporate technology projects a bit easier for clients.

The company’s engineers have built an application called Envision Online that automates some of the heavy lifting involved in enterprise IT initiatives. The tool might cut Perficient’s hours billed in some projects, but could make its overall sales pitch more appealing.

When a company decides it wants to modernize one of its business processes, it has to find a software product that will perform the task well. That involves browsing through numerous software vendors’ marketing materials until a suitable product is found.

Envision Online can make the task a bit simpler.

It includes a module that offers data on more than 300 technology vendors’ products. Instead of using Google to manually find product descriptions and reviews, procurement executives can simply open Envision Online.

Customer experience (CX) optimization is another area where Perficent wants to help. CX is an industry term that encompasses all of a company’s client-facing assets, from its website and social media profiles to its ads.

Envision Online includes a module that can show a company what its competitors are doing to improve their CX. If, for the sake of example, the module shows that a company’s rivals have started adding video backgrounds to landing pages, executives can study whether they should do the same.

Envision Online also includes a project management tool. It’s implemented as a virtual canvas on which executives can visualize what tasks need to be carried out as part of an IT project, in what order and by when.

“Teams need real-time guidance to make ongoing decisions based on real-time changes in the market so they can compete more effectively, operate more efficiently, and exceed customer expectations,” remarked Perficient digital strategy boss Jim Hertzfeld. “Envision Online builds on Perficient’s industry IP to help clients reach strategic decisions faster and speed time to market.

To turn Envision Online into a competitive advantage, Perficient must convince customers to use the software on a regular basis. That will be a challenge given IT teams already have access to many project management tools and market research services with capabilities as Envision Online.

Perficient is not the first IT consultancy to complement its services with software. Many other players in the market, including larger competitors like Accenture, have taken the same route.

text

text