In a recent NelsonHall survey of IT services buyers, the most highly-sought benefit of digital transformation engagements was improving customer experience and customer satisfaction (highly important to ~68% of buyers globally). This focus has driven IT services vendors to invest heavily over the last several years in expanding their experience consulting and design capabilities. In [...]

  In the world of testing services/quality assurance, data testing has in the past been somewhat overlooked, still largely relying on spreadsheets and manual tasks. While much of the current attention has been on agile/continuous testing, data testing remains an important element of IT projects, and gained further interest a few years ago in the context of big data, with migration o[...]

  Back in early 2018, we discussed with Accenture how the company had created its Industry X.0 unit to address client demand for product engineering services along with Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies such as AR/VR and digital twins. In Industry X.0, Accenture grouped its capabilities around digital manufacturing, embedded systems, PLM services, MES services, and other units. [...]

  We recently caught up with Tech Mahindra’s QA practice, Digital Assurance Services, to assess recent progress with their IP strategy. Digital Assurance Services’ test automation strategy is based on IP and accelerators in its LitmusT platform. The company has been aggregating and integrating automation artifacts within LitmusT and intends to automate the full testing l[...]

Unisys recently held an analyst/adviser meet in New York; shortly before, it had reported another set of very encouraging quarterly results, with its Services business delivering its sixth consecutive quarter of organic (CS/CC) topline growth. The double-digit organic growth Unisys has achieved in Services this year is market leading (its much smaller Technology business is lumpy by nature) an[...]

  In NelsonHall’s 2019 survey of IT service buyers, when asked about the key capabilities sought in vendors, a significant majority cited a range of digital consulting capabilities. More than 65% of respondents placed high priority on capabilities such as the ability to take a business perspective to apply digital, provide a roadmap for adoption of digital, and undertake a digita[...]

  We recently chatted with Amdocs about how the company has been progressing with its automation framework, ‘Ginger by Amdocs’. Amdocs launched Ginger four years ago, initially as a test automation framework designed for use by non-automation engineers. Since then, Amdocs has aggregated some of its test IP around Ginger and has become its main test automation platform, with[...]

  We recently talked to Infosys about its analytics and big data capabilities in its Data and Analytics (DNA) practice. DNA is a significant practice within Infosys, which we estimate represents ~8% of Infosys’ headcount. It continues to enhance its portfolio, expanding from technical services to business services, and segments its portfolio around three themes: Modernize, Mon[...]

  We recently talked with Cognizant’s Salesforce Consulting & Solutions Group (CSG) unit, recently set up in Europe. The unit reflects ongoing investment by Cognizant in its Salesforce capabilities, with a more vertical focus, accommodating Salesforce’s growing product portfolio.   CSG complements the capabilities of Cognizant Interactive and Cognizant Consultin[...]

The tone at the recent Infosys Confluence Americas event in Arizona was, unsurprisingly, quietly confident: Infosys has delivered five straight quarters of strong CC growth, with its largest sector Financial Services delivering improving topline growth (having been affected by market softness in some areas), Digital now representing over 38% of total revenues, and the order book looking strong[...]

Infosys is undergoing an internal transformation to become what it calls a Live Enterprise with the objective of accelerating its service delivery and adaptability to changing client needs. The core of Live Enterprise entails the expanded use of data and automation to support an evolving workforce. Infosys has introduced a number of tools and accelerators to orchestrate its services and facili[...]

  Deutsche Telekom (DTAG) recently announced it is moving T-Systems’ communication services activities with enterprise clients (TC division) and Government clients (Classified division) to Telekom Germany. Accordingly, T Systems’ TC and Classified divisions will be folded into Telekom Germany’s B2B Communications division that currently services small businesses and m[...]

  NelsonHall has commented several times about the role of platforms in quality assurance (QA) and how these are playing a central role in functional testing in the world of agile methodologies and continuous testing. Platforms take a best-of-breed approach to software components and rely, by default, on open source software, sometimes including expert functionality from COTS. In th[...]

  Tieto recently announced its intention to acquire EVRY. The company is offering 0.12 Tieto share and NOK 5.28 in cash per EVRY share. EVRY shareholders will receive €0.2bn in cash and 37.5% of Tieto’s capital, valuing EVRY to ~€1.4bn ($1.6bn). Also, Tieto is taking over the net debt of EVRY (NOK 6bn/$0.7bn). The acquisition will give birth to the largest Nordics-he[...]

  In the world of testing services, crowdtesting stands out. While efforts towards automation are accelerating in testing services/quality assurance (QA), the perception that crowdtesting is labor intensive and relies on communities of tens of thousands of testers seems at odds with this. This perception is no longer valid: the crowdtesting industry has changed. Managing crowdtestin[...]

  We recently talked to DXC Technology’s Analytics business line about its work with German premium car OEM BMW, its positioning in autonomous vehicles, and its differentiation strategy. BMW recently provided some light on the dynamics behind its Vision iNEXT autonomous car due to launch in late 2021. Vision iNEXT, BMW’s first autonomous vehicle, will offer Level 3 auton[...]

  This week Capgemini announced its intention to acquire Altran in an all-cash transaction of €14 per share. The €5.0bn transaction, which includes €3.6bn in cash and Altran’s net debt of €1.4bn, provides a 30% premium over the last month. Capgemini has secured the 11% stake from Apax Partners and expects to close the acquisition by the end of 2019. The acq[...]

  NelsonHall has recently completed compiling and analyzing data from a survey of over 1k IT services buyers globally. This research is being published in a series of sector reports (all are available to subscribers here), spanning the 18 sectors analyzed, with geographic breakdowns incorporated within each. While completing these individual reports we noted several themes that were[...]

  NelsonHall recently completed an in-depth analysis of advanced digital workplace services (DWS). This blog looks at some of the key findings from this research, in which we spoke both to leading IT services vendors and clients of their services. Changing workforce expectations are driving DWS transformation Organizations are deploying digital workplace services to improve produ[...]

  At the recent TCS Innovation Day held in New York, NelsonHall had an opportunity to talk to TCS about how it approaches its research and innovation function, balancing longer-term open-ended research and more immediately applicable innovations to evolve how it delivers services. (For more on the event itself, see the blog by Andy Efstathiou here). TCS has developed an overall appr[...]