TBR’s Business Insights

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?

Manufacturing Growth Slows, But EMEA IT Services Vendors Find Lifeline in Public Sector Wins

07.16.25

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.

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Open RAN Adoption in 2024

02.20.24/by Chris Antlitz, Principal Analyst

Explore the slow development of the open RAN market in 2024. Despite vendor marketing and CSP interest, technological complexity and cost hinder mainstream adoption. Open RAN deployments remain limited to greenfield networks, while vRAN gains traction for its agility and cost efficiencies. Download TBR’s predictions for the telecom market in 2024 for insights into industry responses to challenges.

Expectations for AI PCs in 2024

02.15.24/by Ben Carbonneau, Senior Data Analyst

Discover the buzz around AI PCs reshaping the device industry. As hardware advances, software development lags, delaying potential commercial PC refreshes. Dive into predictions for 2024 with TBR Senior Analyst Ben Carbonneau.

GenAI Expectations for Enterprise Buyers in 2024

02.13.24/by Bozhidar Hristov, Principal Analyst

Discover how GenAI is reshaping enterprise landscapes in 2024. With heightened expectations, vendors must showcase tangible use cases and outcomes. Explore how GenAI intersects with digital transformation predictions and the imperative for preparedness in data architecture. Unlock insights into navigating the GenAI journey for sustainable growth. Download TBR’s Top Predictions for Digital Transformation in 2024 for a comprehensive outlook.

GenAI and the Power of the Use Case

01.26.24/by Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager and Principal Analyst

In 2024, vendors adept at collaboration in the GenAI space and substantiating their promises with actual client outcomes will lead the pack. Those lacking in either area may still ride the GenAI wave, but they risk lagging behind with subpar results and waning market relevance.

Service Providers: IT Modernization Isn’t Flashy, but It Leads to Tangible Savings. Here’s How …

01.19.24/by Chris Antlitz, Principal Analyst

AI (especially generative AI) is of particular interest to service providers f late following technological breakthroughs from OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform, which has demonstrated that generative AI has developed to a point that it is able to bring useful outcomes to businesses and consumers alike.

Infographic: Top 2023 Takeaways for the Federal IT Services Market

Technology Business Research, Inc.

Top 2023 Takeaways for the Federal IT Services Market [Infographic]

01.18.24/by John Caucis, Senior Analyst

This infographic contains the three key takeaways from TBR’s latest research on the U.S. federal IT services market and what these events mean for you. Infographic includes takeaways for stakeholders, including M&A prospects, resilient spending trends, and the rise of advisory practices, amidst unprecedented growth in federal IT services.

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TBR’s Business Insights

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

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

Human Capital Management in the Age of (Agentic) AI

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

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

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

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

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

Manufacturing Growth Slows, But EMEA IT Services Vendors Find Lifeline in Public Sector Wins

Our most-read analysis, free in your inbox each week!

Open RAN Adoption in 2024

Expectations for AI PCs in 2024

GenAI Expectations for Enterprise Buyers in 2024

GenAI and the Power of the Use Case

Service Providers: IT Modernization Isn’t Flashy, but It Leads to Tangible Savings. Here’s How …

Top 2023 Takeaways for the Federal IT Services Market [Infographic]

Product Innovation – How IT Service Vendors are Leveraging Competitive Intelligence

Strategic Synergy: Maximizing Technology Alliances in the Ever-Changing IT Landscape

Innovative Ecosystem Expansion: Leveraging Tech Startups for Sustainable Growth in IT Services

IT Infrastructure Vendors Leverage Analytics and AI to Enhance Sustainability Services