Large IT vendors commission market reports from time to time to find new sales opportunities and stay updated on the competition. Typically, they don’t carry out such studies on their own but rather entrust the task to a research firm. Boardroom Insight caught up with executives at one such firm, Parks Associates, for a look at its recent move into consulting. Plus, business updates from Power Digital, Net at Work and Connors Group.

Parks Associates appoints Cliff Raskind as consulting director and contributing analyst. The research firm, which focuses on the Internet of Things market, recently launched a consulting practice that helps clients with tasks such as identifying product line expansion opportunities. Raskind will help lead that division in his new role.

“Earlier this year, Parks Associates formally expanded its business with the launch of a dedicated consulting division, building on its long-standing role as a leading market research and analyst firm,” Jennifer Kent, the vice president of research at Parks Associates, told Boardroom Insight. “Cliff’s role is key to shaping our needs assessment process and strengthening engagement with key companies in our core markets, while also extending our reach into new consumer and brand agency segments.”

Raskind is a former Nokia executive who spent more than 15 years as an analyst at another research firm before joining Parks Associates. In that role, he focused on the mobile device, Internet of Things and wireless networking markets. He helped clients with tasks such as evaluating the competitive impact of emerging technologies.

“Parks Associates has always been grounded in solid research and trusted data, and the rigor and timespan of that foundation is what makes our insights so valuable,” Raskind said. “I am incredibly excited to be a part of unlocking the full potential of the depth, breadth, and strategic foresight of Parks Associates experts to serve the custom data and advisory needs of business units launching new products and assessing growth in the market, as well as the boardroom, C-suite, and investment and banking partners.”

Samantha Kress is Power Digital’s new chief client officer. The San Diego-based marketing firm assists large consumer brands with advertising, public relations and other go-to-market activities. It also has a business-to-business practice. That unit works with companies to identify leads and launch account-based marketing campaigns.

A Power Digital press release stated that one focus of Kress’ work will be the firm’s Power Circuit framework, a marketing assessment it carries out as part of client projects. It’s designed to help companies determine if their campaigns align with industry best practices. Power Digital spots areas for improvement and identifies which ones should be prioritized.

After the firm completes the assessment, it helps clients operationalize the findings. “When we talk about operationalizing findings, it’s about taking what we uncover in the data and bringing it to life through strategy and execution,” Kress told Boardroom Insight. “That means aligning channel strategy, creative, and financial outcomes so our clients see measurable growth. Across every vertical, marketing and sales are becoming more unpredictable, and that volatility demands precision. At Power Digital, our teams are built to translate complexity into clarity, helping brands protect margins, scale revenue, and uncover new opportunities in real time.”

Kress joined Power Digital more than a decade ago. Before her promotion to chief client officer, she was the firm’s senior vice president of activation. She earlier managed teams responsible for earned, paid and owned media campaigns. “”As Chief Client Officer, my role is to make sure our teams have the clarity, resources, and accountability they need to turn insights into action,” Kress said.

Net at Work buys ACS’ Acumatica practice. Net At Work is a nearly 30-year-old IT consultancy that helps companies set up and manage business applications. It can also host those workloads on clients’ behalf. Net At Work’s consultants mainly work with backoffice software such as CRM platforms, HR tools and ERP systems. The acquisition of ACS’ Acumatica practice will bolster its capabilities in the latter segment.

The newly sold business unit helps clients implement Acumatica’s ERP platform, which is geared toward small and midsize businesses. Net At Work will absorb not only the unit’s personnel but also its client base. Additionally, the consultancy is gaining a number of custom software components that ACS developed to extend Acumatica’s core feature set.

Connors Group partners with Logile to make grocery chains more efficient. Connors Group is a management consultancy that works with retailers and manufacturers. Logile, in turn, makes software for brick-and-mortar stores. Connors Group will use the software to help grocery chain clients manage their fresh item inventories.

Retailers can use Logile’s platform to predict fresh item demand and adjust supplier orders accordingly. The software also streamlines certain adjacent tasks. A retailer’s compliance teams, for example, can use it to manage products’ ingredient and nutrition labels. Connors will help grocery chain operators set up Logile’s platform in their stores and implement the internal processes needed to put the software to use. 

An exclusive briefing with MarketSource president Jennifer McNelley. MarketSource is the sales services division of Allegis Group, a recruiting and consulting firm with more than 25,000 employees. McNelley recently gave us a look at three of the trends that are unfolding in IT sales ecosystem.

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