I have touched several times on how AI is being used in the context of software testing for reducing the number of test cases, optimizing coverage, and estimating the number of defects in an upcoming release of an application. And, as AI technology is becoming pervasive, we are expecting more use cases to emerge for software testing soon. We recently had a discussion with Santa Cl[...]

    I recently talked with Wipro about its crowdtesting capabilities. Here, Wipro has a different positioning and service portfolio from crowdtesting pure-plays, with a stronger focus on automation frameworks (with its mobile website and app testing framework), and access to mobile device labs. QaaS: an aggregation of testing offerings at scale QaaS is an aggregation of s[...]

Accenture recently held a two-day symposium for the clients of its testing services to look at how testing services are changing, showcase its latest offerings, and allow successful engagements to discuss the keys to their success and lessons learned. Testing services are at a crossroads, as agile and DevOps have increased expectations around speed of delivery and driven convergence across [...]

The digital economy is significantly increasing expectations for speed of delivery as organizations strive to compete with agile, digital-native competitors.  In response, IT service providers and their clients are shifting to a continuous delivery approach that incorporates design thinking, agile application development & test, and DevOps – all connected and aligned with the desire[...]

In December 2015, we published two blogs about M&A activity in the IT services industry in 2015 (here are the links for Part 1 and Part 2). This blog examines M&A activity in IT services in Q1 2016 and sets our expectations for the rest of this year. In short, 2016 started off with a bang, with two very large IT services acquisitions announced in the first [...]

It is three years since Tech Mahindra finalized its merger with Satyam, a challenging journey of 18 months, to diversify its client base from BT (29% of revenues in Q3 FY 2013), the telecom services overall and from Europe (its then largest vertical by far, representing 46% of revenues). At the Tech Mahindra indicated several ambitious targets for CY 2015: Reaching $5bn in annual revenues by[...]

Three questions are commonly being aired these days about the delivery of IT services in support of digital transformation initiatives. Having heard each of these being raised several times, we thought it is a good time to put them through a bit of a reality check. First up for examination... Is “Fail Fast, Move On” the Right Approach to Digital Transformation Projects? The [...]

NelsonHall recently met with the management of Atos to discuss the acquisitions of Bull and Xerox ITO and the progress being made by Atos in adopting Indian offshoring. Note that this meeting took place before Atos' Consulting & Systems Integration analyst day. Bull: Is An Expanded Portfolio Relevant? With its acquisition of Bull, Atos has acquired an IT firm with a significant level[...]

This week NelsonHall held its quarterly IT Outsourcing (ITO) Index webcast to report on the latest developments in ITO contract activity and present an analysis of spending activity for IT services, professional services (i.e. consulting and systems integration) and ITO. Background ITO Index data shows a steady (but non-linear) decline in Total Contract Value (TCV) from 2002 onwards. The lev[...]

At Cognizant’s European analyst event in Berlin, the topic of digital transformation and in particular its Horizon 3 services dominated discussions. Horizon 3 services now represent a NelsonHall estimated 10% of revenues (~$1.0bn in 2014). Horizon 3 includes new services such as digital services as well as new business models and new sectors/new geographies. Digital Transformation Cogn[...]

This week NelsonHall held its quarterly IT outsourcing (ITO) Index webcast. We have conducted these calls for the last six years to monitor developments in ITO from a quantitative perspective. When we introduced the Index, ITO had largely moved from full outsourcing to a selective outsourcing approach, and Indian vendors were deploying their land and expand strategy with the occasional one-off meg[...]

This week NelsonHall held its quarterly IT outsourcing (ITO) Index webcast. We have conducted these calls for the last six years to monitor developments in ITO from a quantitative perspective. When we introduced the Index, ITO had largely moved from full outsourcing to a selective outsourcing approach, and Indian vendors were deploying their land and expand strategy with the occasional one-off meg[...]

Wipro has updated NelsonHall on its ServiceNXT initiative. ServiceNXT aims to increase productivity in both IT infrastructure management and application management contracts. ServiceNXT is based on: Usage of Wipro IP and recommended COTS tools across the client’s operation for various tasks including ITSM, change management, demand management, problem management Analytics, based on d[...]

Sopra recently updated NelsonHall on its application management (AM) capabilities. In 2013 Sopra generated ~€393m revenues from AM, or ~29% of its total revenues. The company is a top application management vendor in its domestic market, along with Accenture, Capgemini, Atos CGI, and IBM. Key AM clients of Sopra include Airbus, Orange, SFR, Crédit Agricole, EDF, Auchan, SNCF, BN Pariba[...]

In the world of IT services, professional services, e.g. consulting, systems integration and application development, are a cyclical business. Spending growth – or decline – depends very much on GDP growth, corporate moral and investment intentions. Professional services growth has varied since on a quarterly basis, since 2008, between -8% to +9%, on a worldwide basis. IT outsourcin[...]

Sopra Group is to acquire Steria for an all-share transaction valuing Steria at €722m. The acquisition is presented as a merger of equals. Sopra's rationale for the acquisition includes: Expanding its geographical presence from France to the U.K., Germany and Norway Gaining a new service portfolio in BPO services and IM. Sopra is to launch a public exchange [...]

CSC and HCL Technologies have announced a strategic partnership for application modernization and IT cloud migration services. The two companies are to: Offer application modernization services around migrating applications to the cloud. The service will rely on several IPs, including the recently CSC-acquired ServiceMesh Enhance their existing vertical-specific app modernization o[...]

NelsonHall recently attended an Infosys analyst event in Europe, where it was briefed by Infosys on progress in its ‘Infosys 3.0’ strategy. The company is looking to build its Consulting & Systems Integration (C&SI) and Product & Platform Solutions (PPS) businesses while further strengthening its core Business and IT Services (BITS) businesses; the intent remains to deri[...]

SQS management has recently elaborated on its recent H1 2013 performance. Revenues were €108m up 4.9% y/y and up ~5.9% (NelsonHall estimate) organic. Adj. EBIT margin was 4.6% up 50 bps y/y. Activities per Service Line Managed Services (MS) revenues were up 24% to €42m (39% of total SQS revenues). Growth continues, but at a decelerating pace (H1 2011: +247%, H2 2011: +89%; H1 2012:[...]