The business and professional services (BPS) industry is at a critical inflection point. The BPS industry encompasses a wide range of service-oriented companies, including consulting, engineering, environmental services and specialty construction. As digital transformation accelerates across sectors, BPS firms—ranging from architecture and engineering to environmental services and specialty construction—are grappling with outdated systems, fragmented data and increasing pressure to deliver more value with fewer resources.
For middle market organizations, the stakes are even higher. They must modernize to remain competitive, but often lack the scale and resources of larger enterprises.
Enter RSM and its One Microsoft strategy—a comprehensive, integrated approach that leverages the full Microsoft technology stack to help BPS firms streamline operations, gain real-time insights and future-proof their businesses. At the heart of this transformation is a commitment to industry-specific innovation, strategic guidance and measurable outcomes.
Industry trends: From fragmentation to integration
One of the most pressing challenges facing BPS firms today is the rise of disconnected systems. Many organizations still rely on legacy platforms like Deltek or Timberline, supplemented by a patchwork of point solutions for project management, field service, finance and analytics. This fragmented approach leads to inefficiencies, data silos and delayed decision making.
John Annunziato, a director in RSM’s Dynamics 365 practice and head of the BPS vertical, says this is a common theme across the industry. “We often see companies using 10 to 15 different applications to manage their business. They’re exporting data to Excel, building pivot tables and trying to make sense of it all manually. It’s not only time-consuming—it’s risky.”
The result? Many companies don’t know where their projects stand financially until 30 days after the fact—far too late to take corrective action. This reactive posture hampers growth, erodes margins and limits the ability to scale.
The One Microsoft advantage: Unified, scalable, intelligent
RSM’s One Microsoft strategy addresses these challenges head-on. By unifying Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Azure and Microsoft 365 into a cohesive ecosystem, RSM helps BPS companies eliminate silos, automate workflows and gain real-time visibility into every aspect of their operations.
A key differentiator is RSM’s industry-specific accelerator, specifically focused on bridging the gap between Project Operations and Field Service—two functions that traditionally don’t integrate out of the box. The accelerator was born from real-world client needs and refined through hands-on implementation.
The accelerator was developed in response to a client implementation in the engineering industry, addressing their core critical business needs. “They were one of our first clients to really push the boundaries of what Dynamics could do in this space,” said John Annunziato, a director in RSM’s Dynamics 365 practice and head of the BPS vertical. “We took what we learned, generalized it and turned it into a repeatable solution that’s now available on Microsoft AppSource.”
