Deloitte BTA vs. Accenture Strategy
I've received offers from Deloitte to be a Business Technology Analyst and from Accenture to be a Strategy Analyst. After having informationals with analysts/consultants/managers on both sides, weighing out the benefits of each, and scouring WSO for information, I'm still at a draw - I've decided to engage in the help of you all to help me decide.
Deloitte BTA - I'm not certain which practice I will be placed in until after I accept and am closer to the start date. It is primarily based on need so the type of work/length of project are up in the air. Ideally, IT Strategy & Architecture is what I have been pushing for - however, after doing well on a case interview that was around the data structure of a firm, the manager said I would fit in the Data Management group... kind of shot myself in the foot there.
Accenture Strategy Analyst - Under an Accenture engagement, they are the first to be on the project before handing it off to Accenture MC/SI for the implementation. Engagements are typically shorter than those roles as well. I will likely be in IT Strat but will work across all industries, though they stressed that I may be doing any kind of strategy work outside of that.
Other info
- Salary and signing bonuses are equitable - however, Accenture pays overtime.
- The BTA position had 30,000 applications this year. I heard they only hired a couple hundred. I was 1/3 who were offered the position in this office.
- Accenture has ~120,000 consultants, 18,000 of which are Management Consultants. Out of the 18,000, 1,000 are in Strategy. Makes me think that it would be hard to get into this practice if I want to later on.
- I've built a strong network at Deloitte after networking with them for the past couple of years. It will help on the job; it will also make rejecting those who have helped me harder. Conversely, Accenture Strategy is something I stumbled upon so the network is much weaker, especially on the Strategy side.
My priorities are:
1. Career progression
2. Exit opportunities into MBA school
3. Everything else
Thoughts? Thank you.
The BTA position had 30,000 applications this year. - just curious, where did you get that stats
That was according to the manager I interviewed with. I was curious how many people got offers so he told me some figures.
Repost
just went through the exact same decision process and selected Deloitte BTA.
First off, congrats. I'm curious, what was your thought process for that decision?
Was in a similar position. I'm biased, but take Deloitte BTA. Get onto strategy projects within or after your first year is done (if you don't get into TS&A automatically OR if your TS&A projects aren't as strategic as you'd like). Be clear about what you want to do with your counselor/network, and you'll get to the kinds of projects you want. You'll have a better brand name, and the option of GSAP.
You do understand that Deloitte BTA = Accenture SI = IT Implementation Consulting. No idea why you would pick that (if Deloitte S&O, ok I get that). BTAs aren't eligible for typical GSAP and the few people I know who got sponsored were more at manager level, 6 years out of college. This whole network and get staffed on right project is what everyone dreams of and rarely happens.
The above seems extremely inaccurate, at least from what I have seen and from what most of my colleagues have experienced.
BTAs are fully-eligible for GSAP. Plenty of BTAs take it. Most of the people I know have come here straight out of undergrad, completed two years and then applied. It is the exception (read: not the norm) for people who have more than 2-3 years of experience to take GSAP.
Do not underestimate networking. It's all about how you position yourself to the people doing the staffing. It's a big firm... If you expect S&O staffing to happen without effort, you will be stuck on implementations. Oddly enough, most of the second-year BTAs I know are doing IT strategy/S&O work.
Most start out doing an implementation gig to get experience. Some stay in those projects, and some leave. From my view, it's been about 50%/50%. However, for those that are interested in a different area of work, they network, do proposals for partners/SMs in the area that they're interested and eventually get staffed on those projects. It is really...really not that difficult if you have the initiative to introduce yourself or shoot a cold e-mail stating that "you're interested in the work" that a person does. This isn't a dream, at least for those who have decent/solid year-end review ratings.
Other Deloitters can feel free to chime in here, but this is what I'm seeing, what I have seen, and what the norm appears to be among my other BTA/Technology colleagues. There's certainly room for deviation in such a big firm, so I don't outright challenge the notion of the BTA position being a primarily implementation-focused role.... I do, however, believe that this view is becoming increasingly outdated as the firm (and project opportunities) have evolved. I literally don't know which area of strategy to continue in yet, because of the number of partners/SMs in TS&A and S&O that have offered to staff me or my other technology practitioners almost immediately.
Thanks for the input on both sides.
Is there anyone that can speak on Accenture Strategy?
I went to an mba presentation about Accenture strategy. It's a unique model -they seperate strategy consulting from management consulting. The strategy guys come in, and then hand it off to the MC team for implementation..so it actually ends up being more of a pure strategy role than firms like Deloitte s&o.
Anyone suggesting to take Deloitte BTA (Accenture SI equivalent) over Accenture Strategy is an idiot.
If it was Deloitte S&O, that's completely different. Even then, the decision would still be close.
Do not take a BTA position with the intent to move into S&O. It can be done, but it's better to just start in Accenture Strategy, which is Accenture's most selective group.
The decision between Accenture strategy and Deloitte S&O would not be close. They just formed a unique strategy group at Accenture..why on earth wouldn't you go to Deloitte which is more established all around? and the latter has established track records for high M7 acceptance rates. I think Accenture strategy will start to compete if they invest more and hire better candidates than what is existing. The biggest gripe my classmates had was that they would have subpar co-workers compared to more elite strat shops.
Nonetheless, I almost did pick ACN over BCG back in the day.
Well that is exactly my dilemma. The established practice and stronger brand of Deloitte or the strategy work at Accenture...
Does anyone here have any additional information about Accenture Strategy? How easy is it to get into top MBA schools/top consultancies? - especially when there is so much negativity expressed against Accenture SI practices on WSO. Progression? etc.
There's multiple Accenture people at Kellogg, so it certainly won't close doors..there's more Deloitte people - but there almost all S&O (I actually havent met one who wasn't).
Accenture Strategy has been there for years. Initially only they hired top MBAs and overall management consulting was a hodgepodge. Then the firm started hiring MBAs for most management consulting groups. From what I heard, recently they realigned people (Accenture also has people in different industry verticals) and moved them to Strategy, and some people are calling it the 'new' strategy group. It's not a brand new baby group of some sort w no past experience/credentials. But if you find Deloitte BTA branding to be stronger, go ahead (then again isn't Accentutre IT consulting stronger?). As far as MBA students go, there are more people from Deloitte S&O in business schools than Accenture management consulting, but that number is noticeably greater than Deloitte BTA/Technology arm. Again, if you can't differentiate between IT consulting and management/strategy consulting, you'll not make the right comparison.
Yes, Accenture "strategy" has been around for a while, but it hasn't been doing well (hence the rebranding and new ex-McKinsey partner leading the division). It's always relied on MBAs and experienced hires and is just now shifting towards more of a pyramidal structure instead of a diamond.
To a fresh college grad interested in strategy, Accenture strategy has been non-existent for a while.
Regardless, unless there is a fundamental shift in more qualified internal resources and a fresh approach, Accenture will never be as good as the elite strat shops or Deloitte S&O (which absorbed reputed Monitor).
Accenture rebranding for greater collusion with the tech part of the company is playing to its strengths but yet is further diluting the pure strategy bent the other firms like MBB have prided themselves on.
Experiences will vary by engagement. This will hold true across all firms it should be noted. If the near term goal is to work in strategy because its more personally interesting then take the Accenture Strategy offer. Accenture despite what's often claimed, does perform strategy work but it should be noted that it represents a fraction of the 300,000+ FTEs and therefore is quite rationally not outwardly recognized as a significant practice in relation to the firms service porfolio.
It can be argued that the transfer from BTA - S&O is achievable and therefore Deloitte is the better option based on reputation, admittance rates, etc. I would argue that while this might be true, this path presents may more unknowns. I would also argue that the admittance rates to top business schools between both firms strategy practices are driven much more by professional experiences, GMAT, and possibly undergrad academics.
The point I'm trying to make is that both paths are can be reasonably argued but that given the inherent variables that effect your long-term goals (which may change) the Accenture path presents fewer unknowns and the potential for interesting strategy work straight out of the gate (bearing in mind first engagements are a toss up).
I think we're going off on a tangent here. Accenture strategy is the obvious choice here given Deloitte BTA. Deloitte S&O right off the bat would be the obvious choice given Accenture strategy.
Accenture strategy is the better place. It seems you are undergrad. Go to Accenture, when you have 5-10 years, start thinking of specialization such as Deloitte BTA
Here's some background about Accenture Strategy: It has existed in some form for a very long time. However, it was and still is relatively small. Before Accenture Strategy was created, there were about 2,000 consultants aligned to strategy, and all of them were part of a bigger group called Management Consulting. All business analysts were cross-functional/cross-industry. In the re-org, MC people got split and people were re-aligned to Accenture Strategy, Accenture Digital, and industry groups. Half of the business analysts (1+ year at Accenture [pretty arbritrary, I know]) got moved to Accenture Strategy, the rest into the industry groups. The new Accenture strategy, which is composed of business strategy, operations strategy (ops, finance, talent and organization, etc.) represents about 8000 consultants.
So, regarding BTA at Deloitte and SA at Accenture, I think if you're interested in management consulting, it's a no brainer to pick Accenture Strategy:
(1) The Accenture Strategy brand is new--but just the brand. Accenture does and has done a lot of strategy projects (in absolute numbers), and you will have opportunities to work on many interesting projects across many industries. And if your interested in IT Strategy, Accenture definitely dominates.
(2) In terms of business school, I definitely believe Accenture Strategy will give you a richer, more relevant experience for a top school. Assuming everything else about your app is good (GMAT, grades, extracurriculars and leadership), you should have no problem getting into a top-7 b-school.
(3) Deloitte Technology and Deloitte S&O have a hard division, and the talent pool is very different (Similar to Accenture Strat/MC and Accenture SI). S&O has a more rigorous recruiting process, and on average, your peers will be smarter (at least in business) and more driven. It's also very difficult to move from Tech to S&O.
(4) If you're concerned about the parent brand name, Deloitte and Accenture are roughly equivalent, on average, such that they will not make a material difference in your life. Your individual performance will matter significantly more in determining entrance to b-school, exist opps, etc.
I think you have a wonderful set of options to choose from, so congrats. Personally, from what you described your goals are, I think Accenture Strategy will be a better fit for you, but if you genuinely enjoy the people at Deloitte Technology more, definitely go there. Best of luck.
Wow! That's pretty amazing!! Good job with your offers!! :D You're pretty awesome (:
As a quick chime in, I also recently had an Accenture Strategy offer. As you probably already know, they revamped the practice in December of 2013.
The good news is that there is an increased focus on the practice; joining it while it's (relatively) new could offer some significant growth prospects. I'll be graduating from a top 20 MBA program, and I can say confidently that Accenture or Deloitte will both get the job done. If you're shooting for Top 5, I can't speak with authority but you will certainly be successful in general with either decision.
I can second what previous posters said about going from BTA to S&O work; completely separate process AND different pay structure (latter is more rigorous and lucrative). I would not bank on a switch if you go Deloitte. I'd think most about where your interests truly lie; MBA will be there either route. If you truly care about IT, ask Accenture about a strategy/IT specialization. My discussions leave the impression that the "new" Strategy group is designed to give a generalist approach, but I could be wrong.
Just a quick update but I decided to accept the offer for Accenture Strategy. The biggest reason was being able to try out strategy work early on and find out if this is actually something I want to do vs. going to Deloitte and working as a technology consultant for a couple of years and getting an MBA before getting into S&O. It was a tough decision but I believe I made the right one.
Thanks all for the advice! Much appreciated.
Just a quick question, do BTA candidates Deloitte come from tech background? I'm an Econ/Maths major but with no tech experience and I wonder what's the possibility to get a BTA position? Thanks!
Shud-Li, as Blueapple and Voco90 have said, no tech background needed. On my last project, only one of the 5 BTAs had a tech academic background (comp sci). The rest were English, poli sci, psychology, and business. Personally, I'm a poli sci/history/crim justice major, although I also have a MBA and 5+ years experience in the tech consulting field.
@"Shudi-Li": From my knowledge, no, a tech academic background isn't needed. I know people with business and social science degrees who went through on-campus recruiting and received a BTA offer. However, your degree may influence which area of tech you get placed and your role on the team.
+1 on your background influencing the opportunities that you get. My peers have usually been a fairly even balance between Business + Arts and Sciences and STEM. You just need to show a strong interest in technology in some capacity, even if that capacity is doing technology strategy.
Accenture strategy has always existed. however, the difference is that they are intentionally strengthening the practice with the creation of their Strategy Analyst Development Program. This program is unique in that you'll be working with the same team for all your engagements--thus growing both your strategy and teamwork skills. It differs from Accenture's MC program in that you'll be working across all industries and engagements will be much shorter. Accenture Strategy also only recruits candidates from top schools. This past week, I went to a final round in Chicago strategy candidates were from Columbia or Northwestern. I think Accenture is really trying to become a one man shop, offering strategy and implementation solutions. It's a very interesting model that other firms are also trying to achieve (think McKinsey Solutions and the recent Booz and PwC merger).
Slight correction - as an analyst in the ASADP (Accenture Strategy Analyst Development Program) you won't necessarily be working with "the same team for all your engagements." Its possible that it could turn out this way but it really just depends on home office geography, business need, and your personal skill set.
Actually they will be. They're rolling out the new initiative in the next couple of months.
Deloitte BTA or Accenture Consulting Analyst? (Originally Posted: 10/26/2015)
Hi,
I'm currently a senior in undergrad considering my options in consulting. I have an offer from Deloitte as a BTA (SAP), and I'm interviewing with Accenture as a Consulting Analyst (used to be MCDP). These two roles are a little different, so I'm trying to see if I want to start my career in tech consulting or management consulting.
I'm not really interested in switching over to Strategy, honestly because I'm not a fan of 70-80 hour work weeks. However, I am considering a top MBA program.I'm interested in digital transformation, e-commerce, and customer engagement. My industry preferences are retail and consumer products, as well as communications, media, and technology. I see myself switching over to the Deloitte Digital Service line or Accenture Interactive Service line depending on the firm I end up at. I would also like to be able to do work abroad earlier on in my career.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
If going to a top MBA program is your priority then look into Deloitte's GSAP program!
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