growth strategy Archive

The Illusion of Services Growth in the Midmarket

As the services industry struggles more and more with growth, providers naturally think: “We’ve saturated the large clients, so let’s go to the midmarket clients. After all, there are so many more midmarket companies than large ones. So if we can sell to midmarket companies, happy days are here again. We can reignite our

Trends Reshaping the BPO Marketplace

The BPO segment of the services marketplace has been undergoing significant change in its growth trends. As we lean into 2015, here’s a look at how and where BPO is experiencing the biggest growth. Industry-specific offerings lead growth, and horizontal BPO growth comes from newer segments.  Industry-specific segments The industry-specific segments are growing significantly

IBM Takes Steps to Ensure It Will Be Relevant for the Future

IBM is taking some bitter medicine right now in its series of divestments. Big Blue recently exited the chip manufacturing business by spinning off that division to Globalfoundries. The move comes on the heels of having exited its server business and voice and transaction BPO business. There’s a lot of media attention to “IBM’s

Mobile Apps Start to Generate Real Revenue in Services

The mobile app space offers service providers the potential for new growth platforms. However, these are often small projects that are delivered quickly and are not a great revenue stream. But recent studies we came across reinforce our growing opinion that the mobile app space is changing. Mobile apps are costing more and taking

Internet of Things Opens Up Intriguing New Growth Opportunities for Service Providers

Code Halos: How the Digital Lives of People, Things, and Organizations are Changing the Rules of Business, by Cognizant’s Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring, discusses the impact of the already huge and ever-increasing amounts of data surrounding individuals and our environment. The authors point out today many pieces of equipment or devices

Service Providers Struggle Using Big Data and Analytics to Drive Growth

Observing service providers’ much talked about efforts to provide new levels of value and create new growth opportunities through big data and analytics reminds me of a quote often attributed to Yogi Berra, the great NY Yankees coach. “In theory it’s simple, in practice it isn’t.” Yogi captures, as only he can, the timeless

Accenture and IBM Playing from the Same Playbook in Shaping Their Future

Accenture appears to be picking up its pace of acquisitions and making a series of big moves. This is not a new tactic for Accenture; historically nearly every time you turned around there was another Accenture acquisition. But clearly the pace has quickened and the size of the acquisitions has increased. It’s important to

Why BPO Providers Are Disappointing Investors

Out of 22 outsourcing stocks, a few have outperformed the S&P to date this year: EXL Service, Global Payments, Star Tek and UEPS. But 18 have underperformed by an average of 9 percent so far. Why is this trend happening? First, investors are always forward looking, and stock disappointments or exuberance are relative to the

EXL Positions Itself for Growth with Acquisition of Blue Slate

Earlier this month EXL acquired Blue Slate Solutions and positioned itself for growth through transformation services. But the move also reflects a broader industry move. Blue Slate is a consulting firm that drives operational transformation. The acquisition looks to be a move to buttress and increase EXL’s ability to add value to clients through

Tech Mahindra Puts Satyam to Bed

Tech Mahindra has run the gauntlet of stabilizing after its acquisition of the corrupt-ridden Satyam. The fully integrated companies have a unified leadership team, the client base is satisfied and stable, and Tech Mahindra has a robust brand. The provider is now turning its focus to growth. When Satyam imploded through a well-documented set