TBR’s Business Insights

The U.S. doesn’t have a Spectrum Shortage — It has a Utilization Problem

01.13.26

The mobile industry continues to beat the drum for more spectrum, but it should instead focus on fully utilizing the spectrum already allocated. TBR notes there are vast tranches of spectrum in the U.S. market that are broadly underutilized, either for technical or economic reasons. And challenges will only worsen as the industry aims to bring upper midband frequencies into the fray, which have greater propagation challenges and are less suited for macro coverage.

Shutdown Ends, but Federal Contractors Face a Slow Return to Normal

12.17.25

The 43-day U.S. federal government shutdown, the longest in history, came to a welcome end on Nov. 13, 2025, but for some federal systems integrators (FSIs), the shutdown’s impact could linger well into federal fiscal year 2026 (FFY26). According to the Professional Services Council, the national trade association for federal technology and professional services contractors, it will take three to five days for agency functions to return to normal for each day of the shutdown, implying that operations at some agencies may not return to normal until March 2026.

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Partnerships, Not Products, Will Define How Consultancies and Native AI Companies Share Value in Agentic AI Era

11.03.25

Just like supporting startup programs, many traditional IT services companies and consultancies have struggled to adequately put themselves in their alliance partners’ shoes. And when those partners are startups or immature native AI companies, that struggle will be harder in the absence of leadership, strategic direction and sustained investment. But that’s the potential downside. The upside is that consultancies are perfectly positioned to be change management specialists, helping their largest clients adopt the best new AI.

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Human Capital Management in the Age of (Agentic) AI

10.07.25

Fundamentally HR management remains a back-office function that IT services companies and consultancies can use to drive managed services engagements. And TBR’s research shows that managed services can lead to additional consulting opportunities, particularly when managed services providers (whether a traditional IT services company or consultancy) partners smartly with technology companies, leveraging the data and insights generated through back-office platforms to uncover issues and opportunities.

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GenAI Outcomes or Autonomous AI Architecture: Where Should CIOs Focus?

10.01.25

What good are AI-enabled solutions if an enterprise’s IT environment and architecture can’t handle the data orchestration demands and IT becomes a roadblock to faster, better, clearer insights from AI, rather than the business accelerator expected of IT departments in the AI era? After more than a decade of consultancies and IT services companies helping IT departments become business drivers, will inadequate architecture slow down AI adoption and AI agents at scale?

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Amdocs Is Well Positioned to Continue Absorbing Market Share in the Telecom Industry; AI Is a Key Growth Vector

09.24.25

Although TBR believes it is very early days for agentic AI branding, Amdocs’ early foray into this emerging area and thought leadership underscore how the company is seeking to move into new and adjacent areas as it expands its offerings, especially around consulting, design and transformation enablement.

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HCLTech’s Expanding KYC Journey: From Technology Provider to Trusted Compliance Partner

09.11.25

By evolving its KYC offerings across platforms and clients, HCLTech has shifted from tech implementer to outcomes-driven partner.

DOGE drives civil sector slowdown; defense contractors gear up as Trump’s budget shifts billions to military priorities

08.04.25

The Trump administration’s recent “skinny” budget proposal for FFY26 suggests that nondefense spending will fall from around $720 billion in FFY25 to approximately $557 billion in FFY26, representing a 23% decline. Contractors with any level of exposure to the civilian sector can expect agency reorganizations, layoffs, budget reductions and in-depth contract reviews within civil agencies for the remainder of FFY25 and likely into at least the first half of FFY26. The pace of new awards has already slowed significantly at some civilian agencies, as has the rate of new bookings on existing civilian engagements.

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Geopolitics with Purpose: EY-Parthenon Drives Strategy, Not Just Awareness

07.17.25

TBR has long maintained that the Big Four firms have an inherent advantage against all competitors when it comes to understanding and advising on geopolitical risk. Perhaps only the U.S. government has the same global spread of talent, with professionals in nearly every country, most intimately aware of local business, economic and even political trends. When EY-Parthenon showed off its Geopolitical Advisory team recently, TBR wanted to know: Is this something special?

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Adapting to Market Needs: How Consultancies are Investing in Talent and Partner Ecosystems

08.06.24/by Kelly Lesiczka, Senior Analyst

While macroeconomic uncertainty remains across markets, the consultancies look to develop core services such as around AI, partnerships and networks of physical centers to strengthen client engagements and continue advisory discussions. Increasing technology complexity, operational cost-driven optimizations and data strategies will draw on consultancies’ core experience to successfully drive digital transformation programs.

How AI Is Revolutionizing Cost Efficiency and Customer Experience in Telecom

08.05.24/by Chris Antlitz, Principal Analyst

TBR’s latest telecom research indicates customer care, which includes contact centers, will be profoundly transformed by AI. Though traditional AI has been utilized in customer care for many years (e.g., chatbots and interactive voice response), GenAI will take customer care to an advanced state. TBR estimates that GenAI could reduce the costs of running contact centers by up to 80%, and this is an area telecom operators are keenly interested in as they remain focused on cutting expenses across their businesses.

Competitive Benchmarking: A Strategic Guide

06.28.24/by Elitsa Bakalova, Senior Analyst

Discover the power of competitive benchmarking in the IT services market. Learn how it can help IT services vendors outperform their peers and drive business growth strategies.

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Is India the Right Growth Market for Global Consultancies?

06.21.24/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

TBR looks at the question: If India is on track to become the third largest economy, will it also be the third largest revenue source for the Big Four, Accenture, IBM and Capgemini, or only for the firms that act first and implement the optimal strategies?

GenAI in Telecom: Transforming Operations from Front to Back Office

06.14.24/by Chris Antlitz, Principal Analyst

Explore the wide range of use cases for generative AI (GenAI) in the telecom industry and discover how CSPs can benefit from this emerging technology.

U.S. Telecom Market Outlook: Public Sector Revenue Growth for 2024 [Infographic]

05.14.24/by Steve Vachon, Senior Analyst

TBR estimates public sector revenue from U.S.-based service providers grew 6.1% year-to-year in 4Q23 to $5.4 billion. Total public sector revenue growth was driven by wireless revenue, which increased 9% year-to-year to an estimated $2.8 billion. First responder initiatives such as AT&T FirstNet and Verizon Frontline are the main drivers of public sector wireless revenue growth as these units are attracting public safety agencies seeking enhanced reliability to support mission-critical workloads and use cases.

IT Services Market in 2024: Key Success Factors for Vendors

04.22.24/by Elitsa Bakalova, Senior Analyst

While macroeconomic uncertainty challenges year-to-year revenue growth in the IT services sector, the trajectory beyond 2024 appears promising, largely due to the resilience of managed services bookings. Despite macroeconomic uncertainty the revenue growth trajectory beyond 2024 is promising, driven by the resilience of managed services bookings.

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2024: A Transitional Year for GenAI and PC Markets

04.16.24/by TBR

Explore how 2024 marks a pivotal year for GenAI and the PC market. Discover the latest AI applications, market trends, and the evolving role of AI PCs in driving industry conversations and addressing privacy concerns.

The Critical Role of Competitive Intelligence in Strategy Planning

04.11.24/by Kelly Lesiczka, Senior Analyst

Learn how competitive intelligence is essential for strategy planning. Discover the benefits, best practices and key considerations for integrating market knowledge and competitor analysis into your strategic framework.

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3 Ways AI Is Transforming the Cloud Industry in 2024

04.10.24/by Allan Krans, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

Hyperscalers and SaaS providers are clearly on the front lines of GenAI monetization, but the availability of GenAI services through cloud delivery methods will also accelerate the development of the market.

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