The opportunities and applications of generative AI are the most pressing topics for IT and CX managers alike. Movate is moving aggressively in the space by developing a set of offerings and platform accelerators and then piloting with enterprise brands to gain first-mover advantage. I spoke with Movate last week to discuss their generative AI journey and the first business outcomes [...]

  Cognizant's non-U.S. business, Cognizant Global Growth Markets (GGM), recently held an analyst and advisor day and discussed its regional priorities. New CEO Ravi Kumar has initiated a restructuring plan ('NextGen Program') to reduce Cognizant's cost base to fund investments. While Cognizant had guided on flat topline growth in 2023, Q1 saw a 9% y/y growth in LT[...]

  We recently talked with TCS’ Salesforce practice about its verticalization initiatives. Product verticalization has been one of Salesforce’s key strategies (along with Customer 360/cross-selling and geographic expansion) since 2014, when it launched its Industries business unit. Like SAP, Salesforce acknowledges that organizations spend time and effort customizing thei[...]

  IBM Consulting recently held a two-day analyst event for its European business (a significant region for IBM Consulting). Against an ongoing backdrop of uncertainty for client organizations in many sectors, the tone overall is quietly confident, buoyed by recent client wins and progress in a number of internal initiatives. At a similar event seven months ago, there were clear emph[...]

  Capgemini has partnered with Microsoft to develop and market a dynamic hyper-personalization offering for the financial services industry. This blog explores how hyper-personalization capabilities can be adapted to the unique needs of the financial services industry. Background Enterprises want to increase the personalization of their offerings to customers to increase CSAT an[...]

  Atos recently held its Capital Market Day for Tech Foundations. It is a year since the company announced its intention to spin off its high-growth units into a new company, Eviden, and keep its historic IT infrastructure services (and U.K. BPO capabilities) in an entity called Tech Foundations. Alongside the spin-off, Atos initiated a massive €1.1bn restructuring plan for Tech F[...]

  NelsonHall recently attended Unisys’ Analyst and Advisor Event 2023 in New York. The tagline for the event was ‘Imagination to Realization’ and reflective of the new Unisys branding. Mike Thomson, President, and COO, started the event with Unisys’ new NetZero Goal by 2030 and its vision to provide a single pane of glass for clients to manage their ESG and s[...]

  Automation Anywhere recently announced new capabilities for its platform powered by generative AI: Automation Co-Pilot for Business Users and for Automators, plus Document Automation. Here I take a look at these new capabilities and how they compare with those of other providers, and consider the wider implications of generative AI solutions for automation developers. Automation C[...]

  In the HCM technology and HR services market, delivering a rich employee experience is often associated with having the most user-friendly UI, seamless digital processes (zero touch) with field validations and single-point-of-entry to ensure high quality data. As discussed in NelsonHall’s recently published Cloud HR Transformation report, the next frontier of employee experienc[...]

  In our recent discussions with suppliers about procurement transformation, a recurring topic was how the procurement function can help organizations meet their sustainability goals. While sustainability has become an integral business theme for organizations, many recognize they have much to do over the next few years. This blog looks at the current state of sustainability in procure[...]

  NelsonHall recently attended an IBM Security analyst day in London. This covered recent developments such as IBM’s acquisition of Polar Security on May 16th to support the monitoring of data across hybrid cloud estates, and watsonx developments to support the move away from rule-based security. However, a big focus of the event was the subject of risk. For the last few years[...]

  The IT services industry has entered a new growth cycle, with increased emphasis on portfolio management and vendors increasingly divesting their low-growth, low-margin businesses. IBM was an early example of this trend with its Kyndryl spin-off. Several of its competitors are also following this pattern, including Atos. At the same time, in the Nordics, Tietoevry will go one step[...]

  The securities industry is moving towards shorter settlement cycles to reduce risk and increase efficiency. The last reduction in settlement windows in the U.S. was in September 2017 when settlements moved from T+3 (three-day settlement) to T+2. In February 2023, the U.S. SEC announced that all companies trading securities on U.S. exchanges needed to move to T+1 settlement by May 28,[...]

  The lending business is highly cyclical due to its sensitivity to interest rates, economic cycles, and capital availability to fund loans. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, these factors are currently driving down mortgage originations, which have fallen 60% y/y in the U.S. in Q4 2022. The decline in originations pressuring the margins of this high-cost activity is th[...]

  In the last week of March, Teleperformance made two significant announcements. The first was the planned acquisition of 100% of Majorel shares for a total consideration of €3bn, including €1bn of Teleperformance shares in exchange. The transaction will create a company with $12bn in annual revenue (end of 2023 estimate). The second statement came during the Q1 results, wher[...]

  Travel and hospitality are among the fastest-growing CX services sectors in 2023, with the market recovering to pre-pandemic levels. However, while vendors and clients are trying to adapt to the increased demand, they face higher costs, changing customer requirements, and more IROPs. In February, Conduent was awarded a CX services contract by Virgin Atlantic to manage rebookings a[...]

  In the financial services industry, there was an initial expectation that demand for intelligent automation (IA) would fall off as clients changed platforms and moved to a microservices architecture. Instead, the application of IA in financial services has grown rapidly. The initial evidence from my current study shows that despite challenges deploying the technology effectively, the[...]

  NelsonHall recently completed a market assessment and forecast report on Transforming Financial Services with Cloud, SaaS, and BPaaS Services. It reveals that the financial services industry is responding to the industrialization of cloud services from hyperscalers and IT services vendors by transforming its platforms to microservices architectures and then moving them to the cloud. [...]

  We recently talked to Qualitest about its latest acquisition, Q Analysts, its sixth since 2019. Qualitest has been on an accelerated transformation journey under the ownership of PE BridgePoint. Q Analysts further strengthens Qualitest’s capabilities in next-gen digital QA, with expertise in testing AI-based devices such as AR/VR/MR headsets and generating data for training AI [...]

  This week, Concentrix announced the planned acquisition of Webhelp in the largest CX services deal yet. The total transaction value for Concentrix is $4.8bn in the form of cash, stock, and a seller note for 100% of Webhelp. Upon closing the deal by the end of the year, Concentrix shareholders will own ~78% of the combined company, with Webhelp shareholders ~22%. Number 1 CX servic[...]