IT Services & Consulting Industry Trends for 2025
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IT Services Consulting Industry Trends 2025
Author:
Aykut Cakir · NMS Consulting
Published:
• Updated:
Buyers are shifting from pilots to production and asking for cost, control, and compliance alongside GenAI and cloud value. Deal flow is healthy in the Americas with demand tied to core modernization, security, and AI enablement. Providers that prove weekly impact and risk control win in 2025.
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Signals and Benchmarks
- Global outsourcing ACV set new highs in Q2 2025, up 17 percent year over year to $29.2 billion, with savings often redirected to AI initiatives. source source
- Americas ACV hit a regional record $15.5 billion in Q2 2025, up 26 percent year over year. source
- Worldwide IT spending is projected at roughly $5.61 trillion in 2025, up about 9.8 percent versus 2024. source
- IDC expects server market value to reach about $366 billion in 2025, reflecting AI infrastructure buildouts. source
- IDC projects about $69.1 billion in GenAI spending in 2025, within a broader AI spend near $307 billion. source
- Analysts expect a pivot from experimentation to hard returns, with AI embedded across core modernization and operating models. source source
Foundations: Client Priorities and Service Lines
- Core Modernization: ERP and app renewal with platform engineering, API-first, and data contracts. Tie savings to a weekly benefits log.
- Cloud and FinOps: Commit to budget guardrails, show unit cost trends, and rationalize low-use services. Link savings to AI reinvestment.
- GenAI Enablement: Retrieval for trusted knowledge, small pilots turned into steady production support with safety and security checks.
- Cyber: Managed detection and response plus identity hardening; align with board risk reviews.
- Data: Product-based data ownership, lineage, and quality metrics that support analytics and AI work.
- Talent and Delivery: Skills uplift on AI and automation; use playbooks that reduce ramp time and defects.
30-60-90 Consulting Playbook
First 30 Days: Baselines and Guardrails
- Build a spend and value baseline across cloud, apps, data, security, and licenses.
- Set scorecards for cost, reliability, delivery speed, security, and AI use.
- Pick three use cases with clear cash or risk impact.
Days 31 to 60: Prove Value
- Run a GenAI or data assistant with retrieval and citations for a targeted group.
- Launch FinOps actions and app rationalization; report weekly unit cost and savings.
- Close security gaps that block production workloads.
Days 61 to 90: Scale and Industrialize
- Publish a golden path for LLM and data apps with logging, monitoring, and rollback.
- Expand managed services with shared metrics and runbooks.
- Shift savings to high-value modernization and AI use cases.
Offer Types and Metrics
| Offer | Outcome | Metrics | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud FinOps & App Rationalization | Lower run rate and capacity headroom | Unit cost, waste, rightsizing rate | Reinvest part of savings into AI and data work |
| GenAI Enablement | Faster tasks with sourced answers | Time saved, groundedness, policy hits avoided | Use retrieval with citations and safety checks |
| ERP and Core Modernization | Cycle time and defect reduction | Lead time, change fail rate, defects | Platform engineering and API-first patterns |
| Cyber MDR + Identity | Lower breach likelihood and impact | MTTD, MTTR, coverage, phishing failure rate | Board-level risk view with quarterly drills |
| Data Products | Trusted data for analytics and AI | Data quality score, lineage, reuse | Product ownership with service levels |
Frequently Asked Questions
Where Is Growth Coming From In 2025?
Americas outsourcing ACV reached records in Q2 2025, and global ACV rose double digits year over year, with AI-related work a major theme. reference reference
What About Budget Trends?
Analysts point to a near-ten percent rise in worldwide IT spend for 2025 and strong AI and server infrastructure outlays. Treat cost control and AI investment as a single plan. reference reference reference
What Themes Shape Consulting Plays?
Predictions point to a move from pilots to production with AI and data embedded in core work and governance. Providers that tie outcomes to weekly metrics perform best. reference reference
Related Reading
- AI Strategy to Value: Benefits of AI Business Consulting Services
- AI and Management Consulting: Definition, Value, and a Fast Start Guide
- Using AI for Strategic Business Consulting in 2024
- Capturing Value in the Cloud
- Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
- Management Consultants Fortifying Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Compliance
- How Management Consultants Implement Technology and Digital Transformation
- Digital and Technology
Sources
- ISG Index Q2 2025 Global ACV. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250710227200/en/AI-Driven-Cloud-Demand-Fuels-Q2-Growth-in-Global-IT-and-Business-Services-Market-ISG-Index
- ISG Index Q2 2025 Americas ACV. https://ir.isg-one.com/news-market-information/press-releases/news-details/2025/Americas-Shows-Strong-Demand-for-IT-and-Business-Services-in-Q2-ISG-Index/default.aspx
- ISG Index Q2 2025 presentation. https://isg-one.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2q25-isg-index-presentation.pdf
- Gartner IT Spending Forecast 2025 summary. https://www.channel-impact.com/gartner-forecasts-worldwide-it-spending-to-grow-9-8/
- IDC: Server market value outlook 2025. https://my.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS53643125
- IDC: GenAI and AI spending 2025. https://info.idc.com/rs/081-ATC-910/images/US-IDC-FutureScape-2025-GenAI_ebook.pdf
- Forrester Predictions 2025: Technology & Security. https://www.forrester.com/predictions/technology-2025/
- Deloitte Tech Trends 2025. https://www.deloitte.com/dk/en/Industries/technology/perspectives/tech-trends.html
About the Author
Aykut Cakir, Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer, has a demonstrated history in negotiations, business planning, business development. He has served as a Finance Director for gases & energy, pharmaceuticals, retail, FMCG, and automotive industries. He has collaborated closely with client leadership to co-create a customized operating model tailored to the unique needs of each project segment in the region. Aykut conducted workshops focused on developing effective communication strategies to ensure team alignment with new operating models and organizational changes.
