CLIENTS' WOES ZAP TECHIES: Small-shop shake-up; Tech wreck rocks mid-tier consultants--but not as hard as the big boys.

Crain's Chicago Business, February, 2001 by JONES, SANDRA

For years, making money as an independent software consultant required little more than hiring a few techies and coming up with a catchy company name. Now, many of Chicago's estimated 430 mid-sized information technology consulting firms are facing an identity crisis. The ripple effects of the recent dot.com implosion have shaken all levels of the consulting industry, which had focused so much attention on e-business.

With the overall economy slowing and companies trimming their budgets, mid-tier consultancies now are regrouping, ramping up marketing and developing product niches to help them stand out from the crowd-and from the Big Five consulting firms that dominate the field. ``We did get hurt by losing projects to customers that ran out of money,'' says...

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