Rödl & Partner attaches great importance to digitisation – winner of the "Digital Champion” award

Nuremberg/Cologne, 14 March 2018: Digitalisation is unstoppable. It affects almost all enterprises and branches of industry in equal measure. Lawyers, tax advisors, management consultants and auditors are also tackling this challenge with vehemence.
 
Successful management of digitalisation means not only making investments in technology and software but, above all, focusing on people and client needs. "To this end, digitalisation competence should be widely promoted. In addition, we must further empower people in areas where computers are typically weak. What is needed in the first place is empathy, interdisciplinary thinking and decision-making power", explains Prof. Dr. Christian Rödl, Chairman of the Management Board of Rödl & Partner. It is vital that this also applies to multiple professional qualities. Especially in the consulting professions, intellectual sharpness of consultants must be further developed hand in hand with digitalisation, since the machines cannot replace humans in this respect.
 
IT is increasingly becoming an integral part of work of every lawyer, tax advisor, management consultant and auditor and some of the entrusted activities will no longer be needed due to automation. Digitalisation has had the greatest impact on the business area of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) so far, and this process will continue. Services that are highly efficiency-driven are being automated. "Everything that can be automated should be automated. On the other hand, highly qualified consultants should identify consulting services that may not be automated in the foreseeable future, and increase their expertise in such areas", says Martin Wambach, auditor, Managing Partner and Chief Digital Officer at Rödl & Partner.
 
In order to withstand competition, for example, in the very competitive audit business, the so-called "Digital Fit" is an absolute must. It offers a technical interface to interact with the client in order to optimise the joint communication, data and workflow processes, while taking into consideration the applicable data protection rules at the same time.
 
"This clear position must be combined with products and services that help clients tackle the digitalisation process while creating value. This applies not only to audit services, but also to legal and tax advisory", emphasises Martin Wambach.
 
"All service offerings that require creative, innovative thinking and personal judgement as well as personal assessment and connection with data will not be automatable in the future, either", emphasises Prof. Dr. Rödl.
 
Rödl & Partner is aware of these specific requirements and is successfully advancing its digital transformation. The Focus Money "Digital Champion Award 2018" is one of the best examples of the success of our efforts. Already in the previous year, Rödl & Partner received the prestigious Digital Champions Award of the WirtschaftsWoche magazine and Deutsche Telekom in the category of "Digital Customer Experience".