Consulting's march to mediocrity?

Tom Rodenhauser in his latest Inside Consulting newsletter takes a look at the state of the consulting industry today. He notes that the current hype over BPO is reminscent of the earlier hype over Business Process Re-engineering in the 1990s. His observations:

But in the old BPR days, no singular consultant bivouacked with clients
through the entire journey. The strategy folks like McKinsey and BCG would usher
their clients to the precipice and then offer a hearty backslap and cheerio for
a safe crossing. IT implementers, particularly the Andersens and PwCs, would
offer support and a sure hand as they steadied the ropes while crossing the
chasm. On the other side, hordes of outsourcing types like Unisys and CSC, stood
ready to soothe the clients’ weary feet.
BPO seems a natural progression of BPR … a sort of one-stop shop for
the sophisticated client. But it still remains to be seen whether one BPO
company can really cover the entire spectrum of services.None of the major
players have yet aligned all the parts into a cohesive whole, yet each one of
them is praising the miracles of BPO. The hypocrisy needs to be resolved or
consulting will become a middling mass of mediocrity.