Expanding into the midmarket has been a recurring theme for GSIs for many years, and some are dusting off that strategy yet again. This time, platform-led operating models that are less linked to FTE-based pricing may change the game. When looking at Accenture, Atos Group, Capgemini and Deloitte, which company could reasonably enter or expand into the midmarket? More importantly, which should?
TBR’s professional services team looks at which trends across IT services, consulting and AI will continue through 2027 and the strategies and business model changes leading companies will adopt in the next year
TBR Fourcast is a quarterly blog series examining and comparing the performance, strategies and industry standing of four IT services companies. The series also highlights standouts and laggards according to TBR’s quarterly revenue projections as well as its geographic and segment estimates. With discussions about sovereignty in Europe only becoming louder, TBR thinks it is worthwhile to examine Atos Group, CGI, Fujitsu and Kyndryl. Our intent is to shine light on these similarly sized companies that have a strong presence in Europe and/or a strong presence in ITO and consulting and to discuss where each company’s opportunity lies.
TBR has consistently highlighted hyperscalers’ professional services units, despite their relatively small revenue streams, as potentially credible threats to IT services companies. Hyperscalers do not intend to displace global system integrators (GSIs) in consulting or managed services, but their growing services capabilities create more margin pressure for (and anxiety among) the GSIs each quarter. This report examines where hyperscalers’ professional services units overlap with GSIs’ and how their roles continue to evolve, beginning with comparison of the companies’ services operating models.
Reengineering applications accelerates time to value and augments service quality; however, advanced AI capabilities evolve quickly. Over the next five years, HCLTech needs to protect margins, perhaps through fostering more value through IT consulting. The company also needs to protect itself from competition from other India-centric vendors, and TBR believes this will require persistent innovation and, most importantly, execution.
TBR professional services experts share an exclusive look at TBR’s newest forecast research, the IT Services Market Forecast and the Consulting & Systems Integration Market Forecast, as well as insights into the factors that could accelerate IT services revenue growth and disruptions that could bend the growth curve into negative territory.
This quarter, TBR FourCast looks at Accenture, Capgemini, HCLTech and IBM Consulting, comparing how their underlying data strategies, especially related to engineering and integration, prepares them for advanced AI adoption.
Advanced AI may be front and center in IT services strategy, but execution challenges remain a familiar story. Despite ongoing hype around unlocking new efficiencies and nonlinear growth, IT services firms continue to grapple with the reality of needing labor arbitrage in the short term and meeting client expectations.
Aligning alliance, acquisition and industry strategies around AI and then executing on that alignment should be one of HCLTech’s strengths. Taking full advantage of the breadth and depth of HCLTech’s AI Foundry should be another. HCLTech’s efforts in these areas have positioned it well in a wildly fluctuating market. TBR has written extensively about challenges in the AI space, particularly for IT services companies and consultancies. Based on TBR’s research, 2026 should be a pivotal year for HCLTech.
This quarter, we look at Accenture, Atos, Capgemini and IBM Consulting in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market, and compare how their industry diversification, portfolios and localization strategies position them for revenue growth. Atos and Capgemini, the two IT services companies whose EMEA revenue makes up over half of total revenue, experienced a steady decline in trailing 12-month (TTM) year-to-year revenue growth in recent quarters. Yet, Accenture and IBM were better able to maintain growth as macroeconomic conditions deteriorated in recent quarters.