This is marketing research on the Business Support Services industry and can include information on the background, market structure, definitions, competitors, trends and developments of business support services and is related to other topics such as outsourcing, staffing and human resources.

Table of Contents

[edit] Background

The professional service and business support services industries are undergoing enormous changes and experiencing a powerful surge in business around the world. Record revenue growth rates were reported for many U.S. professional services firms in the late 1990’s. The health of the U.S. economy, a return to relative stability in Asian, Latin American and other emerging markets, and a boom in the globalization of businesses around the world have created significant opportunities for professionals whose expertise is required in international business transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance and other support services.

Consolidation is on the rise among professional service firms, a trend that is reducing the number of companies in the field and combining the revenues of already huge multinational firms. The use of the web for marketing, sales and support is now a key strategy among professional and business services firms. Companies are using the World Wide Web to market their services, enhance communication with clients and between branch offices, and deliver services electronically.

[edit] Market Structure

Business support services have only grown modestly in terms of number of etablishments engaged in the industry. In five years, the number of companies has increased about 5 percent to almost 35,000.

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The number of establishments engaged in business support services does not tell the whole story of this industry, however. The trend to outsourcing support or administrative solutions in companies seems well on track as the number of workers in business support services had grown far more. Companies must be adding on staff to handle demand as the number of workers is up almost 30 percent in 5 years.

There still appears to be significant opportunity in this industry. It is only moderately concentrated. The four largest players account for about 10% of industry revenues while the top 50 still only control less than 40% if industry revenues.

Concentration of Revenue by number of firms in the industry is as follows:

Total Number of firms       % of all firms in the industry

4 largest                              11.3%
8 largest                              18.2%
20 largest                             29.4%
50 largest                             39.6%

[edit] Market Metrics

The industry continues to experience solid growth for the past few years. Since 1998, the industry has seen growth of approximately 50%, rising by 2004 to about $65 billion annually.

[edit] Industry Players

These are major players in this market, but not an exhaustive list of all key firms. Revenues, Net Income and Market Capitalization are expressed in US$ Millions.

Symbol  Company                 Location              Revenue  Net Income   Profit Margin  Market Cap    	

RRD	RR DONNELLEY SONS	Chicago, IL 	        10970	      243	2.22%	       7820  
TOC	THOMSON CORP	        Stamford, CT	         6641	     1143      17.20%	      24720
SNX	SYNNEX CORP	        Fremont, CA 	         6770	       58	0.87%	        635
IQW	QUEBECOR WORLD INC	Montreal, Canada	 5790	     -387      -6.27%	        303
FIS	FIDELITY NAT INF SVC	Jacksonville, FL	 4630	      491      11.41%	       8350

[edit] Recent Trends and Developments

The international consulting market is in the middle of a rapid expansion. International business services firms are actively pursuing new business and consolidation in many overseas markets, including central and eastern Europe, China, and India. The Asia-Pacific region is likely to afford significant opportunities for new business as well and there is a high demand for professional services among Asian and emerging markets companies that need help expanding.

The European market for consulting services is expected to expand in the coming years. Demand for electronic commerce services and information technology consulting in Europe is likely to increase because of the adoption of the euro.

Many U.S. firms have gained access to international consulting markets by integrating with national firms in other countries. More and more, local firms are under pressure to merge with global competitors, and as this globalization continues in many business sectors, customers around the world expect consulting and other business support services firms to have an international presence.

[edit] Sources

• Most current US government sources

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