IBM has patented a technique to allow users to dynamically choose or change the location where public and private cloud data is stored.This is clearly a very important development in legitimizing cloud use for production applications, where country and industry regulators can take a very strong view on the geographies in which data, particularly customer data, can be stored. Potentially th[...]

NelsonHall, the leading global BPO and IT outsourcing analyst firm, has today launched a new tool, the NelsonHall Self-Service Forecasting Tool” to assist organizations in downloading market forecasts customized to their business requirements. This new tool is aimed at assisting executives in accessing the precise market size, growth, and vendor share information they require rapidly and [...]

So why has Cognizant’s share price taken such a battering today, after such strong topline growth (16.5%, at the mid-point of prior guidance) and a non-GAAP operating margin of 21%, above the company’s target range of 19% to 20%? (see here). Quite simply because of the revised revenue guidance for 2014 from growth of at least 16.5% to at least 14%. This is a huge[...]

The H1 results from the European majors Atos, Capgemini, Sopra, all France-headquartered, are now in - also those of Sopra, about to merge with Steria. So what does this tell us, about the progress of these firms and the state of the European market and what should we expect in H2 2014? The average constant currency revenue growth experienced by these firms in H1 2014 was 1.4% with Steria and S[...]

At first glance, its Q4 FY 2014 results look like another impressive quarter’s performance from HCL Technologies (HCL), with the strongest y/y topline growth since Q2 FY 12 (to 14/6%) and ongoing y/y margin improvement (to 24.1%). (See here for full details). Look more closely, however, and, while the performance is undoubtedly very strong, it tends to be concentrated in a few service lines [...]

In addition to providing assessments of MPHRO vendor capability, the NelsonHall Evaluation and Assessment Tool (NEAT) for MPHRO, published July 29, 2014, http://bit.ly/1uDunOq supports an analysis of customer satisfaction within MPHRO by service line. Based on client interviews conducted globally covering vendors providing MPHRO across all regions, the analysis covers satisfaction within the [...]

Raytheon has partnered with the U.S. Army and General Motors to provide training to returning soldiers to be GM Service Technicians at GM dealerships. The GM dealerships hire ~2,500 technicians annually and often have difficulty finding the talent needed. The Shifting Gears: Automotive Technician Training Program, is a multi-year partnership between Raytheon, GM and the U.S. Army. The training,[...]

Genpact’s Q2 2014 results show similar mid-single digit (5%) top line growth to Q1 (4.9%), in line with prior guidance for the year of 4%-6% (this has now been adjusted to 5-7% to include a revenue contribution from its Q2 acquisition of Pharmalink). But it is substantially below the 12.1% growth seen in 2013.   EBIT margin was 13.0%, down both sequentially (-7 bps) and y/y (-157 bps[...]

NelsonHall, the leading global BPO and IT outsourcing analyst firm, has today launched a new tool to assist strategic sourcing managers in assessing vendor capability in multi-process HR outsourcing (MPHRO). The MPHRO tool is available to NelsonHall clients and is also available for a limited period free-of-charge to strategic sourcing managers. In addition to a comparison of overall ve[...]

Be it in support of healthcare, the London market or consulting capabilities, the U.K. insurance BPO market is seeing a lot of acquisitive action from four major players who have already made significant acquisitions in the H1 2014.  Starting with two of the most acquisitive vendors in insurance BPO: Innovation Group and Quindell continue to build operational scale Earlier this month, A[...]

Mastercard and Visa are taking very different approaches to the payments market, resulting in very different operating outcomes. Mastercard is focusing on growth in emerging markets and merchant acquiring (especially consulting services for merchants); Visa is pursuing mature markets with aggressive cost control and sales incentives to drive revenue growth.  Top line results for [...]

With like-for-like growth of 10.3% this is another strong quarter for Teleperformance although it continues to be challenged to its exposure to exchange rate fluctuations in the LATAM region resulting in reported revenue growth of 4.1%. Its Brazil business is contending with a stalling economy and a sharply depreciating currency, although it is still profitable and[...]

The NelsonHall Vendor Evaluation and Assessment Tool (NEAT) for Payroll Outsourcing is now available to NelsonHall clients, and is also available for a period free-of-charge to buy-side organizations through NelsonHall and through its partners SIG and SSON. The NEAT tool for Payroll Outsourcing is part of NelsonHall’s “speed-to-source” initia[...]

Xerox Services has had a challenging half year: In Q1 it announced it was taking an impairment charge ($80m for the year) related to HIX platform impairment (see here for discussion). In Q2 it lost the Texas Medicaid contract. The impact of this is significant (around 1.5% of revenues): Q2 2014 Services contract renewal rate was 63%, well below the company’s target range of 85% to 90[...]

Wipro announced its Q1 FY 2015 results today (for full details see here:). Bit of a mixed bag from Wipro this quarter, generally positive, but with a few areas where we would hope to see improve over the next few quarters. Looking at overall topline performance, revenues were towards the higher end of prior guidance of $1,715m-$1,755m, and the 9.6% reported y/y growth was[...]

Cognizant recently announced a F&A BPO contract award by facility management services group ISS, covering its operations in the Nordics. This is the third F&A BPO client win for Cognizant in the Nordics. The first award was with Volvo, announced March 2011, followed by one at Norway Post, in partnership with local partner Visma, in July 2011. Cognizant’s clie[...]

TSYS has announced Q2 2014 revenues, for the period ending June 30, 2014, of $538.1m, up 34.2% year-over-year. Revenues including reimbursables were $602.0m up 30.4% year-over-year. Q2 2014 revenues (and revenue change) by activity, excluding reimbursables, were: North America: $233.2m (+8.7%) International: $84.7m (+10.6%) Merchant services: $108.3m (-4.1%) [...]

EXL recently announced the acquisition of Albany, NY-based Blue Slate Solutions. Blue Slate, founded in 2000 by CEO Rick Barnett, has from its inception focused on data driven business consulting and services. Today, with a staff of 35, it focuses on developing simplified data models and business processes for health insurers (~85% of its business, including large insurers and Medicare contractors[...]

Tieto's Q2 2014 revenues were €386.4m, down 7.3% y/y, and down 1.3% y/y at constant currency. (for full details see here)  Q2 2014 revenue (and growth both on an actual and CC/organic basis) by service line was: Managed Services: €132m (+5%, +9%). Half of the CC organic growth this quarter resulted from hardware reselling as part of a large IT infrastruct[...]

In case anyone has missed the phenomenon that is TCS, it has achieved over 16% y/y growth in four of the last five quarters (with “just” 15.3% in the fifth). This quarter, it reported a y/y increase of nearly $530m in revenue. If TCS continues at this pace – and management commentary is of a strong pipeline – then revenues this fiscal year should be around $15.5bn. TCS has [...]