InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
November 16, 1998
Sprinkle Delivers For Deloitte
"We want to have a golden brand name, to be considered, one of the best consulting firms and be recognized as easily and often as Andersen and McKinsey are today," says Sprinkle, who as managing director of service lines heads Deloitte's worldwide consulting business, including systems integration and outsourcing. "In the past, we haven't had great name recognition. If you asked a random group of business people, only 1% would know who we are."
Deloitte, with $1.76 billion in consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing revenue in fiscal 1998, still isn't as large as IBM Global Services, EDS, or Big Six rivals Andersen Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers. But it's growing faster than those companies, posting 45% higher services revenue compared with a year ago.
Sprinkle is considered one of the key contributors to that growth, investing vigorously in sales-force automation, call-center management, E-commerce, and data warehousing and mining technologies and expertise. Deloitte is also moving more aggressively into outsourcing, Sprinkle says, looking initially to leverage its strengths in global enterprise resource planning and customized applications to boost its current $100 million outsourcing business. "Will we go head-to-head with EDS to take over entire IS departments? I don't see us doing that," Sprinkle says, "although in the long term it's possible."
Though the company has sat out the recent merger wave that has swept its competitors, Deloitte isn't ruling out a merger to expand its outsourcing business. "We're keeping an open mind," he says.
Sprinkle moved from IBM to Touche Ross, which later merged with Deloitte Haskins & Sells, as an IT consultant in 1981 and was named a partner seven years later. He was named national director for business process reengineering in 1992, and two years later became national director for IT consulting. He was promoted to his current post in 1995. Sprinkle reports to Pat Loconto, CEO of Deloitte Consulting, and serves on the company's board of directors.
Those who work closely with Sprinkle emphasize his commitment to making Deloitte a major player in global IT services. "He's a workaholic," says Keith Ferrazzi, chief marketing officer at Deloitte Consulting, "very process and detail oriented, the kind of guy who, even though he runs 21 service lines, still intimately knows about detailed line items in the budget."
Bonnie Digrius, an independent analyst in Basking Ridge, N.J., who has followed the consulting business for nearly 20 years, calls Sprinkle "one of the most passionate and creative" senior executives she has met in this industry. "He's been one of the key contributors to Deloitte Consulting's increased market success during the past five years, and has helped make Deloitte more visible in the marketplace," Digrius adds. "He is very market-savvy, and also listens well to opposing opinions."
--Bob Violino
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