EY buys Society Consulting, adds 150 professionals in Seattle
Big Four giant EY has bolstered its technology portfolio with the acquisition of Society Consulting, a US-based analytics and big data consulting firm. The move sees around 150 professionals join EY’s Seattle office, with the bolted-on entity rebranded as EY Society.
Society Consulting was founded in 2008, quickly growing from a five-person startup to one of the largest specialised analytics consulting firms in the US. The IT consulting company is known for aggregating, organising and visualising companies’ data to improve the customer experience for its clients across a variety of media channels, and creating scalable, actionable analytics solutions that span all customer touch points. The Bellevue, Washington-based advisory provides service including web development, dynamic content strategy, content management, segmentation and campaign execution, and works for clients such as Microsoft and supply chain company Gist.
The purchase of Society Consulting by EY adds significant expertise, both in breadth and depth, to the Big Four’s technology service offerings, in particular in the area of digital analytics and big data. “With the Society Consulting team joining EY, we further enhance our ability to help clients maximize the value of their data for knowledge-based, insight-driven decisions that enable them to deliver exceptional experiences to their customers, employees, suppliers and business partners”, says Steve Watson, Leader of EY’s Global Performance Improvement practice (part of EY Advisory Services).
Saj Usman, EY Americas Advisory Data and Analytics Leader, adds: “Our clients want to become more data-driven and often ask for the best way to leverage all their data, how to make sense of it, and what capabilities they need to transform their company and drive consistent, sustained value by becoming a more data-driven business. With the Society Consulting team as part of EY, we can enhance clients’ digital experiences by harnessing world class technology delivery, data science and data architecture capabilities.”
The new entity, which operates as EY Society, will work closely together with a range of other EY practice areas, as well as recently acquired business units such as Seren, NorthPoint Digital, Intuitive Company, Bedrock Consultants, Bluestone Consulting and C3. “Through other highly synergistic combinations EY has developed a wide breadth of services in the digital space,” comments Usman.
Chad Richeson, formerly CEO of Society Consulting, says that the joining of forces will allow the digital firm to lift its service quality. “By joining EY, we can reach out to more clients, helping them to reach knowledge-based, insight-driven decisions and make the most of their troves of data to improve experiences across the board.”
