We're biased, so we'll steelman them properly. Here's when a Big-4 firm is genuinely the right call — and when you're paying £2,000 a day for slide decks.
Be honest about this: if your programme needs regulatory air cover in front of a board or a supervisor, requires 200 consultants across five countries by next quarter, or is fundamentally an organisational-change exercise rather than a build, the big firms exist for a reason. Their brand is insurance, their bench is enormous, and their partners know how audit committees think. Some transformations really are that shape.
The Big-4 sell time and people, so their economics improve when engagements grow and extend — the opposite of yours. The partner who wins your work is rarely the team who does it; delivery lands with rotating junior staff learning your domain on your invoice. Strategy and build are usually separate engagements, so the deck that recommends a platform is priced separately from the platform. And day rates around £2,000/day mean a modest build carries a seven-figure shadow.
Our model inverts those incentives: fixed price means overruns cost us, not you; the senior architect who scopes your work builds it; and the strategy phase is a two-week sprint whose fee is credited against the build — so advice and delivery are the same accountable engagement.
| 1Tech | Big-4 consultancy | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fixed price, quoted before work starts | Day rates (~£1,500–£2,500), time & materials |
| Who does the work | The senior architect who scoped it | Rotating teams; partners sell, juniors deliver |
| Strategy → build | One engagement; sprint fee credited | Separate engagements, separately priced |
| First working demo | Week 3, then weekly | Often after a multi-month discovery phase |
| Code ownership | Yours on payment, full handover | Varies; frameworks and accelerators often retained |
| Best for | 50–5,000-person firms that want systems shipped | Global programmes needing scale and brand cover |
If you need an army and a logo, hire one. If you need working software with a number attached, hire builders whose incentives point at shipping it. Weighing other routes too? See vs hiring in-house and vs offshore agencies.