COMATCH is a startup created in Germany in 2014. It is emblematic of this new generation of on-demand talent platforms that we mentioned recently in this blog. COMATCH’s specialty lies in management consulting, a market in full development in France and elsewhere.
A startup established in the third segment of the on demand talent pyramid
The analysis grid of the on demand talent pyramid distinguishes between three broad categories of talent. On the first floor, low-skilled talents that platforms have the function of sorting to determine those who perform best. Uber falls into this category. On the second floor, qualified talents, even highly qualified, whose deliverables obey standards easy to evaluate by the end customer. This is, for example, the case of the Kaggle algorithm competition platform. Finally, on the third floor, highly qualified talents in demand contexts do not obey standards directly assessable by end customers. This is the category to which Presans belongs. But also COMATCH. Indeed, the more strategic a management consultant is, the more difficult it is to evaluate differently than over time.
COMATCH has developed its own technological tools to manage a pool of more than 6,000 consultants covering all functional areas and industries across Europe. These tools are designed to facilitate automated matching between consultants and client projects. Until then, things are happening quite similar to Presans.
The needs to which the consultants present on the COMATCH platform respond meet the following changes:
Increasing needs with digital component: digital transformation,
latest technological developments affecting the company: blockchain, IA, RGPD, big data.
Companies are looking for more flexibility and external resources. The topic of start-ups is also very current. Companies are also in demand for consulting services to adopt the “start-up approach” in terms of innovation and agility. But they also want to be accompanied to improve how to interact with start-ups.
The specificities of a management consulting platform
Presans and COMATCH currently differ in their approach to relations with experts, on the one hand, and in the business development strategy, on the other.
The business of independent management consultant has a strong enough consistency, unlike technology experts who typically already have a primary organizational affiliation. The independent consultant working on a mission via COMATCH carries out its main activity. The technology expert hired via Presans brings its expertise to projects located alongside its main activities.
This point leads to different approaches to talent qualification. Where Presans hunts good experts where they are, starting with scientific or other publications, COMATCH relies on a pool of evaluation interviews to select suitable profiles, giving priority to profiles from large firms.
In terms of customer relations, COMATCH works with the highest decision-making levels, without restricting its customer base to large companies. Medium-sized and even small businesses are also consumers of management consulting.
The start-up supports its development on the following trends:
Increase in the French consulting market:
According to Consult’in France figures, the market grew by 10.5% in 2017 with total turnover of 6.5 billion euros. It also reveals that “for the second year in a row, French growth is even higher than that of Germany (8.5% in 2017)” and that “this market prosperity is, like last year, driven by the momentum of digital, which represents 29.4% of the missions carried out by the firms in 2017. “The study indicates that the sector plans to recruit 11,500 people in 2018.
– The status of self-employed person attracts more and more. The study “the DNA of an independent consultant” conducted by COMATCH in 2017 with its consultants, reveals that they are by choice (91% of them are happier than before becoming independent). An IPSOS study also indicates that one in two French people (49%) are concerned or interested in an independent professional activity. – In the future vision of COMATCH’s work, each area will require specialists and almost everyone will be a specialist. Therefore, a company that wants to innovate, grow, sell and promote itself will not be able to recruit all the experts it needs. On the contrary, companies will have to focus on their specific know-how and strategic processes and outsource the rest.
Conclusion: the ambition to give access to flash-organization
In a world where companies dream of being able to reorganize in a flash around new projects, companies like COMATCH or Presans have the opportunity to play a key role.
