Kurian brings enterprise smarts to Google Cloud

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During his tenure at Oracle, Thomas Kurian proved himself as a balance of technical savvy and business strategist at a company that serves the largest enterprises in the world. He reportedly left Oracle because he believed more fully in a strategy to coexist with the cemented leaders in the public cloud IaaS market. Both of these points fit Google Cloud’s aspirations well.

Creating its Google Cloud division and appointing Diane Greene as its CEO in November 2015 was the first step Google, Inc. made to tell a cohesive story around its managed cloud services and more effectively vie for share of the enterprise cloud market in competition with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, among others. Greene’s enterprise experience from co-founding VMware qualified her to start this transition, but potential Google customers have indicated to TBR that Greene’s empathy had not effectively trickled down the organization to complete the business messaging enterprises are looking for. TBR believes Kurian is a perfect fit to complete what was started by Greene, and he will be able to wrap Google’s technical abilities in a more clear and compelling enterprise story.

Customers care less, vendors buy more, and both sides become more intelligent

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An exclusive review of TBR’s 2019 Cloud Predictions

The entire cloud market is becoming more defined, consolidated and focused on the business value being delivered. This increasing maturity is prompting acquisitions by leading vendors, which will intensify in 2019. Not only are big purchases being integrated, but more large purchases will be announced in the race to meet rising customer investment in cloud solutions. Even as customers spend more on cloud, they increasingly care less about the specific delivery method, resulting in widespread hybrid implementations. Lastly, the rise of integrated analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will move customers further along in their journeys to transform their processes and technology to become more intelligent businesses.

Join Allan Krans, Cassandra Mooshian, Meaghan McGrath and Jack McElwee as they dig into developments in the cloud market through 2018 and expectations for 2019.

Don’t miss:

  • The risk and reward for additional cloud acquisitions
  • How customer decision making is evolving to focus more on outcomes than delivery methods
  • How the integration of emerging analytics and AI technologies is helping customers implement more intelligent solutions and growing revenue streams for vendors

 

TBR webinars are held typically on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous webinars can be viewed at anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

For additional information or to arrange a briefing with our analysts, please contact TBR at [email protected].

The pendulum swings: Customer demands reshape how infrastructure vendors do business

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Insights from TBR’s 2019 Data Center Predictions

The data center remains an evolving pillar of the enterprise ecosystem. Emerging technologies such as 5G, NVMe, quantum computing and blockchain are reshaping how these technologies work together, while rapidly rising demand for the cloud is causing data center vendors to rethink strategies such as go to market and investment.

Join Geoff Woollacott, Stephanie Long and Catie Merrill as they take a deep dive into how infrastructure vendors will support their clients’ digital transformation plans and the new strategies that will emerge.    TBR’s analyst team will provide a snapshot of how the data center market will evolve during 2019.

Don’t miss:

  • How infrastructure partnerships will enable rapid transformation
  • How R&D will shift as evolving customer demand pushes infrastructure vendors to the edge
  • What new technologies and trends will shape 2019 for infrastructure vendors

 

TBR webinars are held typically on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous webinars can be viewed at anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

For additional information or to arrange a briefing with our analysts, please contact TBR at [email protected].

Enabling stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to navigate the path to value-based care

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An exclusive review of TBR’s Healthcare IT Services Benchmark

Growth in the global healthcare IT services (HITS) market is accelerating as health IT investment converges around value, patient-centrism and innovative, next-generation healthcare technologies. The environment strongly favoring HITS vendors with the most ubiquitous and comprehensively integrated suites of legacy and emerging health IT solutions.

Join John Caucis March 20 as he discusses how HITS vendors are evolving their solutions and go-to-market approaches to effectively navigate the changing healthcare market. Additionally, John will review the results of TBR’s most recent Healthcare IT Services Benchmark and highlight the trends shaping the HITS market in 2019.

Don’t miss:

  • Revenue growth and profit drivers for HITS vendors
  • HITS providers that are emerging as market leaders, and why
  • Factors driving solution introductions, alliance formation and acquisitions by HITS vendors

 

TBR webinars are held typically on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous webinars can be viewed at anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

For additional information or to arrange a briefing with our analysts, please contact TBR at [email protected].

5G will be an evolution, not a revolution

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Insights from TBR’s 2019 Telecom Predictions

Communication service providers (CSPs) are focusing on network transformation, which is a key component of their broader digital transformations. CSPs will leverage 5G and other next-generation technologies, such as virtualization, artificial intelligence and automation, as part of their network transformations to reduce costs and build a foundation that can enable and support new business models.

Join Chris Antlitz as he provides TBR’s leading-edge thinking on where the telecom industry is heading and how the digital era will impact stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem.

Don’t miss:

  • 5G will be an evolution, not a revolution.
  • CSP spend on NFV/SDN will ramp up.
  • Wireless will begin to disrupt the traditional fixed broadband business model.

 

TBR webinars are held typically on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous webinars can be viewed at anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

For additional information or to arrange a briefing with our analysts, please contact TBR at [email protected].

Consulting’s robot army: How RPA changes the consulting business model

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Insights from TBR’s 2019 Professional Services Predictions

Join Principal Analyst Patrick M. Heffernan for a roundtable discussion with TBR’s Professional Services analysts as they review their market predictions for 2019 and beyond, diving deep into the role robotics process automation (RPA) will have on the consulting business model. Using case studies and details from specific IT services vendors and consultancies, the team will put RPA in context of other emerging technologies and IT services as a whole.

Don’t miss:

  • How RPA changes staffing models across IT services
  • Smaller digital transformation engagements’ impact on the traditional consulting business model
  • How emerging technologies and emerging trends, such as asset-based consulting, will impact IT services vendors in 2019 and 2020

 

TBR webinars are held typically on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET and include a 15-minute Q&A session following the main presentation. Previous webinars can be viewed at anytime on TBR’s Webinar Portal.

For additional information or to arrange a briefing with our analysts, please contact TBR at [email protected].

Services Weekly Preview: Nov. 11-16, 2018

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As we build toward the middle of the quarter, we’re wrapping up our periodic assessments of IT services vendors. Like last week, we also have some semiannual analysis on vendors in the management consulting space.

Monday: 

  • KPMG’s risk-averse culture pressured its performance, causing the firm to drop a spot in terms of revenue size among peers in the latest assessment of the management consulting practice. A potential KPMG and Bain marriage, however, could be a way for the firm to catch up with rivals and disrupt the management consulting space.
  • Continued expansion of its onshore presence, including the recent build-out of its co-innovation center in London, improves HCLT’s value proposition by enabling it to work alongside its clients to create larger-scale transformation engagements. However, HCLT faces some challenges in recruiting talent to support new centers, spurring the implementation of employee development programs.

Tuesday: Although Atos will grow revenues at a slower rate in 2018, the expansion of the company’s Digital Transformation Factory portfolio and recently announced acquisition of SIX Payment Services, which is expected to close in 4Q18, will enable the company to accelerate revenue growth in 2019. TBR’s 3Q18 Atos report analyzes the implications from Atos’ ongoing activities, such as the Syntel acquisition and investments artificial intelligence (AI) and security solutions and capabilities.

Wednesday:

  • Senior Analyst Jen Hamel examines EY’s strategy to provide clients with technological enablement of business transformation in her profile on the firm for our Fall 2018 Management Consulting Benchmark. One key takeaway: Increasing its investment in technology-enabled services, including those involving blockchain and AI, by $1 billion over the next two years will improve EY’s competitiveness with solutions-led peers IBM and Accenture.
  • We continue looking for signs Wipro will see improved performance, as its India-centric peers have, to align with its digital transformation strategy and expanded portfolio and capabilities. In this latest assessment, we’re still searching.
  • Capgemini has made changes to its portfolio, organizational structure and sales model to address rising demand from clients’ business side, rather than their technology side. In TBR’s 3Q18 Capgemini report, we will dive deeper into topics such as AI, digital marketing, and Capgemini Invent, the new global business line Capgemini launched in September.
  • In TBR’s 3Q18 Perspecta Initial Response, we will provide an overview of Perspecta’s second quarter as an independent company. Made up of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s former U.S. Public Sector business, Vencore and KeyPoint Government Solutions, Perspecta faces some challenging financial and resource-related issues as it works to find its footing as a stand-alone company.  

Thursday:

  • TBR’s 3Q18 Raytheon Intelligence, Information & Services (IIS) full report explores how the emerging geopolitical power struggle in space and cyberspace plays to Raytheon’s strengths in cyber hardening, computer network operations, advanced analytics and AI. The report examines how IIS was able to outgrow federal IT services competitors in 3Q18 and how its deep mission knowledge in the U.S. provides a strong foundation as it pursues riskier adjacent market opportunities in volatile markets such as the Middle East.
  • TBR’s 3Q18 Leidos full report examines the company’s first quarter of year-to-year organic revenue growth since it acquired Lockheed Martin’s IT services business in 2016. The report explains Leidos’ positioning across defense, health and civilian markets and how the company is adjusting to disruption amid the federal market’s shift from bespoke proprietary technology development to configurable commercial-off-the-shelf IT solutions.
  • In our 3Q18 results on Wednesday, TBR expects Cisco Services to continue to accelerate revenue growth during the rest of 2018 and in 2019, positively affected by Cisco’s ongoing portfolio investments in and acquisitions around next-generation and software-driven solutions that generate professional services opportunities. TBR expects Cisco’s recent acquisitions and partnerships in cloud, security and networking to generate increased professional and technical support services for Cisco Services during the coming quarters.

Friday:

  • The previous edition of TBR’s Management Consulting Benchmark Profile: PwC described the firm’s efforts to make its Business, Experience, Technology (BXT) framework a companywide endeavor. Six months later, we’ve seen signs the firm’s ambitions around BXT have evolved from aspirational to operational, with global examples of the framework becoming an on-the-ground reality in working with clients.
  • Partners enable Fujitsu to enhance its core services with cloud, software and digital capabilities, helping to ease clients’ transition into emerging areas while offsetting declines from traditional services. However, without expanding its client base outside of Japan, Fujitsu could face challenges in maintaining revenue growth.

Cloud repatriation follow-up: Do you really know the value proposition of cloud?

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A few weeks ago, I blogged my thoughts about cloud repatriation and how it feels like an over-emphasized trend. In my professional analysis amid researching various reports and interacting with data center vendors, one of the key pieces of the cloud repatriation narrative is that customers will move to cloud without a full picture of the costs and ultimately retreat to a more predictable environment. Seems like a reasonable hypothesis, but has this been tested? Also, is cost really the core decision driver?

A recent call with an enterprise IT buyer shone light on this topic, as much of their story about consuming IT didn’t align to the market generalizations. For starters:

  • The buyer is in the healthcare industry but is using cloud services, even migrating some critical applications like ERP to a SaaS-based solution. Generally, it’s thought that the industries with sensitive data will stay away from cloud solutions.
  • The company typically keep $500 million in the bank at any given time, meaning the perceived challenge of capex outlay associated with on-premises solutions isn’t much of an issue to drive it to adopt off-premises cloud solutions.
  • But the real kicker? The customer indicated its cloud-based solutions are at best cost-neutral and sometimes even more expensive than their on-premises counterparts.

This came as a bit of a surprise to me, as these elements are counter to the typical IT industry narrative. If an enterprise is investing in an off-premises solution already knowing they will pay the same or more than an on-premises solution, what’s the point?

Let’s look at this particular customer’s cloud journey. Their first foray into enterprise cloud was, like for many businesses, using Office 365 and products such as Exchange for email. Based on the value seen from this implementation, including reduced management overhead and end-user benefits, they started adopting cloud-based offerings in other areas of the IT stack.

When describing the organization’s process for making decisions around acquiring IT solutions, the buyer described a fairly complex, quantitative strategy for assessing the ROI of any given solution over a three-year period. The assessment includes four facets:

  1. Will it save time? This can include making IT employees more efficient or enabling business unit employees to improve their workflows.
  2. Will it save money? A detailed calculation considers elements like license costs, management overhead and how these will change over the three-year period.
  3. Will it make money? This particular buyer works for an organization that acquires other companies often. The buyer described a scenario where using cloud solutions helped integrate an acquisition target’s data within two weeks and enabled a new product to be launched within a month of the acquisition.
  4. Will it reduce risk? Risk can take many forms, from risk of an IT outage to risk of interrupted operations or compromised IT security.

This is one example from one enterprise, but it illustrates the point that cost is far from the only factor being weighed when making choices about how IT is going to be delivered. Or at the very least, cost is not simply what you pay for a solution; decision makers must consider the many risks and benefits that spider across an organization. A higher fee for an IT solution might be a small price to pay if it increases your time to market by three times or more. Moral of the story: Know what the actual criteria are for your customers’ decision making. You may be failing to sell to their most important buying points. Or, you may be sending the wrong message!

What Diane Greene’s Departure Means for Google Cloud

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“While the AI-centric strategy played to Google’s strengths, it didn’t help much with more boring workloads such as storage and website hosting that drive Amazon’s dominance and are the bulk of the cloud market. ‘They’ve been making the right moves and saying the right things, but it just hasn’t shown through in performance financially,’ says Meaghan McGrath, who tracks Google and other cloud providers at Technology Business Research. She says Google is still hamstrung by a perception that it doesn’t really know how to work with corporate IT departments—an area where Microsoft has a long track record.”

Atos expands reach in North America through the acquisition of Syntel

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On Oct. 9, Atos completed the acquisition of Syntel, adding close to $1 billion in revenues, 89% of which were generated in North America in 2017, as well as over 23,000 employees. This month, TBR analysts will travel to Dallas to hear further details on Atos’ plans with Syntel and further assess what this will mean for Atos and its competitors.

Syntel expands Atos’ transformational capabilities in North America

Syntel provides critical scale for Atos’ Business and Platform Solutions (B&PS) division in North America and enables Atos to expand its digital transformation activities in the region. As Syntel’s revenue is fully driven by B&PS activities, such as in digital, automation and robotics, the acquisition will enable Atos to diversify its revenue in North America, which has been largely reliant on Atos’ Infrastructure and Data Management (IDM) division. Selling Atos’ offerings in cybersecurity, big data and IDM to Syntel’s acquired client base as well as offering Syntel solutions to Atos’ global clients and pursuing large-scale holistic digital transformation projects will drive revenue growth for Atos through 2021.

Syntel’s intelligent automation tools enable Atos to deliver cost-effective solutions to clients

Atos expects to generate $120 million in cost synergies through the acquisition, which, together with the addition of Syntel’s efficient business model, will boost Atos’ profitability. While G&A rationalization, real estate management and procurement will drive cost synergies, the main lever will be the rollout of Syntel’s delivery model for Atos’ large B&PS accounts, which make up $1.3 billion in annual revenues and 36% of B&PS revenue. Notably, Atos plans to adopt Syntel’s delivery model and integrate its processes; tools, such as intelligent automation tools called SyntBots; metrics; and 18,000 employees in India to improve Atos’ cost base and augment B&PS operating margin, which was 7.4% in 1H18.

Atos increases cloud services opportunities

Reinforcing its cloud capabilities through the acquisition of Syntel enables Atos to expand client reach in North America and increase hybrid cloud orchestration activities. Atos has already rebranded Syntel to Atos Syntel, which is now a separate Atos brand, and Syntel’s Cloud Services offerings are being marketed to clients as Atos Syntel Cloud Services. Syntel provides Atos with added expertise from more than 50 cloud projects and cloud services offerings that better enable Atos’ enterprise IT solutions to deliver a “digital backbone” to clients. The Atos Syntel Cloud Services offerings are supported by Syntel’s IP-based accelerators and automation tools such as the SyntBots. TBR expects Atos will work toward a unified cloud services portfolio by integrating Atos Syntel Cloud Services with Atos’ existing cloud capabilities, such as Atos Canopy Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud.

Atos is an expert in integrating acquisitions, such as that of Syntel

Let’s look at Atos’ track record on acquisitions: Following its strategy to add digital technology capabilities and intellectual capital, and augment its position in e-payments, the company acquired seven companies during 2017 and announced three acquisitions in 2018, two of which — Syntel and Air-Lynx have closed — while SIX Payment Services is pending approval. The company has a history of successfully integrating acquisitions, some small and others large, such as Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS), which added approximately 28,000 people to Atos in 2011. SIS had experienced lingering revenue declines and low profitability levels; however, during the integration process, Atos was able to restructure SIS so that Atos’ profitability was not negatively affected and improved in the following years. TBR expects Syntel will have an overall positive affect for Atos in terms of client reach; expanded solutions capabilities, especially around digital, cloud and automation; and profitability. Syntel, which had an operating margin of 25% in 2017, driven by efficient and automated processes, will boost Atos’ profitability as Atos adopts Syntel’s model of operations in B&PS.