Marketing Spotlight - AccentureWhat were the key success factors for Accenture?A big success factor for Accenture was timing. “Accenture began as the consulting arm of the accounting firm Arthur Anderson… In 1989, Anderson Consulting split from Arthur Anderson to position itself against its IT services competitors” (Keller & Kotler, 1994/2006, 366). Accenture has been able to take advantage of its large parent company and use its massive support to focus on becoming an efficient and popular name in the consulting market. Leaving Arthur Anderson before the corruption with Enron became public may have saved the company from the same fate as many organizations that suffered from their ties to the accounting firm. By backing Arthur Anderson at a fortunate time, Accenture was able to visualize the direction of the consulting business and expand into the staffing industry. In this way, Accenture has successfully filled a niche by being able to provide the staff needed to realize the innovative ideas it offers to its clients. Ian Watmore, Accenture's UK managing director, says: "If you can't provide both transformative consultancy and outsourcing capabilities, you won't win" (Keller & Kotler, 1994/2006, 367).