Cost Comparison
Traditional Consulting Firms
vs. the Catalant Expert Marketplace
vs. the Catalant Expert Marketplace
Flexible access to strategic capabilities is more important than ever. Traditional consulting firms aren’t right-sized for the work many companies need right now, and can no longer camp out in clients’ offices due to public health concerns and an increasingly digital workplace. At the same time, your organization still needs similar capabilities — and results — to keep the business moving and to execute your rapidly evolving strategies.
Optimizing Consulting Spend
Traditional consulting firms often take too long, cost too much, and are too hard to use effectively.
Leaders across top global companies — including more than 30% of the Fortune 100 — tell us that there are least three ways that Catalant’s Expert Marketplace, as a tech-enabled marketplace for elite independent consultants and firms, helps them optimize their consulting spend.
Introduce Competition
Use competitive bidding dynamics among firms and consultants to drive quality and value.
Right-Size Consulting
Streamline consulting spend with experts and firms more willing to map engagements to needs.
Eliminate Redundant Spend
Increase visibility and centralize ongoing projects to avoid wasteful spending on similar work.
Blind Study
Typical Savings vs. Traditional Consulting Spend for a Fortune 50 client
Approach
A Fortune 50 client asked the Catalant team to provide quotes on project prices for 10 live engagements that they were currently working on with traditional consulting firms and agencies. The client then compared those prices and team specifications with those from their incumbent service providers.
Market Research
Percentage (%) of cost of incumbent provider
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
Individual Consulting Workstreams
Percentage (%) of cost of incumbent provider
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
Project Management
Percentage (%) of cost of incumbent provider
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
Team-Based Engagements
Percentage (%) of cost of incumbent provider
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
- Catalant Expert Quote
- Avg. Cost Savings
Calculating Your Savings Potential
Calculate your own estimated savings for similar projects, based on the savings outlined in the blind study above.
Catalant’s Expert Marketplace, delivered through its world-class technology, has become an enabling resource for GE. It empowers our employees by giving them streamlined and efficient access to the right expertise, helping us work smarter and faster.

Sue Siegel
Former Chief Innovation Officer at GE
Former CEO of GE Ventures
Former CEO of GE Ventures

Case Studies
Case Study 1
Utilizing unbundled providers: $760,000 in savings
The Challenge
A Fortune 200 Industrial Conglomerate needed a team for a C-level initiative to streamline product configurations, enable market growth, and minimize downstream operational complexities in an industrial equipment business.
The Firm
A small specialized firm composed of one Former Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Co., PHD in Materials Science, and two former Business Analysts, McKinsey & Co.
The Work
The firm was tasked to deliver a market assessment, VoC study, product configuration, value chain analysis, and process optimization (supply chain) set of deliverables.
The Result
Significant efficiency gains and cost savings for $250+M BU, and C-level support for multiple repeat engagements for the firm through the Catalant Expert Marketplace.
Direct Savings
The Fortune 200 client would have originally spent $1M on a similar project from an incumbent firm provider. By using the Catalant Expert Marketplace, the client was able to connect quickly with high value, unbundled talent at 75% savings ($240K).
Case Studies
Case Study 2
Competitive Bidding: $134,000 in savings
The Challenge
A Fortune 200 Diversified Industrial Manufacturer had limited bandwidth and was experiencing an increase in deal volume in corporate development.
The Expert
The expert, founder of Brick Street Partners, LLC, had several years of experience at Goldman Sachs and Madison Dearborn.
The Work
The expert was tasked to evaluate several global opportunities, support business case development, and quarterback the diligence process.
The Result
The client achieved a better quality output, faster — all while avoiding the overhead cost of engaging a major firm.
Direct Savings
The Fortune 200 client would have originally spent $250K on a similar project from an incumbent firm provider. By using the Catalant Expert Marketplace, the client was able to connect quickly with previously untapped, top-tier talent at 50% of the price ($116K).
Case Studies
Case Study 3
Eliminate Redundant Spending: $340,000 in savings
The Challenge
A Fortune 100 Consumer Packaged Goods Company needed an assessment of new distribution opportunities for a signature product.
The Firm
A bespoke team was comprised of an e-Commerce lead, former BCG consultant with operating experience at Target, a mall-retail expert, and a CPG marketer with former roles at Mattel, Kraft, and Pepsi.
The Work
The team was tasked with delivering market sizing, unit economics analyses, and consumer insights research.
The Result
The client experienced its most commercially successful holiday season ever in its 50+ year history
Direct Savings
The Fortune 100 client would have originally spent $400K on a similar project from an incumbent firm provider. By using the Catalant Expert Marketplace, the client was able to connect quickly with top-tier, flexible talent at 80% savings ($60K vs. $400K).
Complimentary eBook
Learn how Anheuser-Busch InBev, Highmark Health & Shell are leveraging a flexible workforce to accelerate strategy execution.
A flexible workforce enables leaders to tap into the skills and resources their organizations need to accomplish a goal at the right time, overcoming barriers like organizational silos, geographic distribution , and skills gaps. Learn how leading organizations are leveraging a flexible workforce to access, allocate, and reallocate the right people to mission-critical work.
3 Ways to Get From Strategy to Execution Faster
Leverage our Expert Marketplace
in a more programmatic way
Get access to our pre-configured SaaS platform and program support
Roll out our platform and program at scale, tailored to the needs of the business
Take a look at your full-time employees as a potential source of cost savings from using the Catalant Expert Marketplace.
Traditional employment models aren’t well suited for flexibly meeting the demands of a world in flux. Widespread uncertainty and volatile markets are compelling leaders to reduce and variabilize fixed labor costs.
Complimentary eBook
Rethinking Cost Management in Uncertain Times
Today’s era of unprecedented economic uncertainty compels business leaders to focus on productivity and efficiency. But traditional cost management tactics are ill-suited for current operational and market conditions. Short-sighted strategies, silos of information and decision-making, and incremental approaches are unlikely to produce results.
Download this complimentary eBook — full of fresh data, real case studies, and counterintuitive insights from experts — to learn how intelligent organizations are thriving by reimagining costs as capabilities.
