cognizant—hfs top 10 infrastructure and enterprise cloud ... · the infrastructure and enterprise...

HFS Top 10 Infrastructure andEnterprise Cloud Services 2018

HFS Research author: Ollie O’Donoghue, Research DirectorJamie Snowdon, Chief Data Officer

September 2018

© 2018, HFS Research Ltd 0537511d

“Traditional infrastructure revenues are in freefall as cloud and as-a-service models take over.”

–Jamie Snowdon, Chief Data Officer

© 2018, HFS Research Ltd

0537511d

Topic Page

What you’ll read

Introduction

Research methodology

Hyperscale provider profiles

Market direction and recommendations

Survey respondent demographics

Provider profiles

4

6

35

39

44

16

© 2018, HFS Research Ltd

0537511d

Introduction• The infrastructure services market continues to converge with other IT service areas, particularly application services—blurring definitions and forcing

enterprises and providers to shift the way they build out deals.• Hyperscale cloud providers continue to impact the market, although enterprises are recovering from the erosion in market share by building out brokerage

services and putting forward visions for richer hybrid cloud environments as platforms for wider, process-centric digital transformation.• Hybrid cloud takes up a significant portion of mindshare, with as much as 75% of some providers’ engagements comprising hybrid cloud elements.• Greater clarity around the role of infrastructure and enterprise cloud services as a foundation for digital transformation is leading to strong growth for

some providers.• Nevertheless, the industrializing effect of cloud is continuing to erode overall revenues—greater utilization of existing assets through cloud providers

means that fewer assets need to be purchased and managed and that some infrastructure spending is embedded within application services.• Talent is becoming a battleground but not in the traditional sense. The demand for high-quality cloud talent is leading to a war between major IT service

providers and the cloud giants—AWS, Google, and Microsoft—in some instances putting a strain on already challenging partnerships.• Partnerships with the biggest cloud providers are broadening. More firms are forming and deepening partnerships with Google, for example, as enterprise

clients become more prescriptive in the type of cloud provider they are willing to work with, especially as opinions are formed about the relative strength of each provider as a platform for value-lever technologies such as IoT, AI, and analytics.

© 2018, HFS Research Ltd 4

0537511d

The Digital OneOffice Framework is the end-state vision for transformation


Infrastructure and enterprise cloud services have an important role to play in the future of the modern digital organization. In the HFS Digital OneOffice concept, the digital underbelly is reliant on the cloudification of processes, IT, and software, alongside other important aspects that are reliant on solid infrastructure foundations, such as security and automation. As a result, more enterprises are taking a hard look at their digital underbelly and are sourcing deals that will help them build a foundation necessary for sustainable transformation activities.

0537511d

Research methodologyThis Top 10 research is based on interviews with 300 enterprise clients of IT services from the Global 2000 in which we asked specific questions pertaining to innovation and execution performance of service providers assessed. The research is augmented with information collected in Q1 and Q2 2018 through provider RFIs, structured briefings, client reference interviews, and from publicly available information sources.

IT Services providers were assessed on the following three main dimensions:

Voice of the buyer Ability to execute Innovation capability

• Vision and methodology• Automation and cloud strategy

• Scale and breadth• Cloud capability• Partnering and IP

33.3% 33.3% 33.3%


• Candid feedback from client references and the results from the IT Services customer survey.

0537511d

Providers covered in this report


0537511d

Executive summary• The infrastructure services market has had a turbulent few years. Traditional forms of infrastructure management

services underpinned much of the growth in the outsourcing and broader IT services industry. But with the inevitable rise of as-a-service and cloud computing, these safe harbors are safe no more. The major IT service providers assessed in this report have been forced to rethink their approach in the space and figure out how to shift their commercial models to accommodate trends, such as utility-based pricing, and the continuing encroachment of the hyperscale cloud providers.

• Furthermore, the shift away from deals comprising specific IT components and toward outcome-focused engagements is concurrently moving the focus away from infrastructure and toward other areas of the IT value chain, most notably business applications. Enterprises are less enamored with selecting a particular data center but instead want to outsource the whole process: “Here’s the app we want built, hosted, and managed. Off you go!” For infrastructure service lines, this has forced a rethink—and for providers as a whole, engagement channels are being rerouted to better meet the direction enterprises want to go in.

• Simply put, this means crunch time for a lot of providers in the space. Those that are siloed, or too committed to forcing traditional models down the throats of clients, will be swept away on the wave of as-a-service. Those that are nimbler and able to guide clients across their whole organization are the most likely to succeed. Enterprise technology is far more complicated and complex than ever it was before—clients need partners to help guide them through, and, sometimes, to realize that while they’ve approached them for “lift and shift” what they really need is staggered cloud migration to get the outcome they need.


0537511d

Major trends impacting the marketThe infrastructure and enterprise cloud services market is evolving and transitioning from a period of considerable change. Hyperscale cloud providers have challenged the superiority of the leading IT players, with some taking solace by leveraging broader management capability with hybrid brokerage models. Meanwhile, the enterprise drive for cloud services is causing its own challenges, with a fresh war for high-quality cloud talent shaping up in the space. Many of these trends are only starting to take shape, while others are firmly embedded and forcing the market to adapt.

• Hyperscale cloud challengers: The three largest hyperscale cloud providers—AWS, Google, and Microsoft—are by no means new entrants to the market. They have been on the radar of the large IT services players for many years. However, increased demand for scalable enterprise cloud capabilities is driving more revenue and market share into the hands of these three giant players. Moreover, each of these firms is now beginning to implement their own differentiation strategy, building out capabilities that businesses need for future growth—a move that will no doubt deliver even greater market share. This poses a problem for the major IT services players—the demand for these capabilities is focused; it’s not something they can challenge directly. So, from an infrastructure perspective, business models and engagement strategies need to shift considerably.

• Brokerage models take off: With such focused demand, and often a general inability for the market to provide challenger services, many IT providers are committing to develop their approaches to service brokerage. While not a new approach, there is a marked increase in the number of providers looking to expand and deepen partnerships to enable them to fully embrace the model. In the year since the first infrastructure and enterprise cloud Blueprint was published, the number of firms partnering with Google, as an example, has increased dramatically. This is a significant development because while many firms partnered with AWS and Microsoft, the market is continuing to shift in favor of hyperscale industrialized cloud capabilities—pushing firms to look beyond their traditional partners and connect with firms that their clients are asking for. The saving grace for many firms in this space is the lack of commitment from the big three to move into the professional services space. Neither Google, AWS, nor Microsoft has shown any real commitment to take on the major providers at their own game in professional services, from selection to implementation. Instead,they are leaving their partners to take on this large segment of work and simply providing the commoditized products and services.


0537511d

Major trends impacting the market (2)The brokerage paradox: But all is not rosy in the brokerage camp. Enterprise clients seem to have mixed feelings about the need for another link in the chain. The most mature IT departments are increasingly going to the major providers directly, something which the AWS business model lends it to—lower levels of capacity can be procured with a credit card, instead of lengthy procurement processes necessary for larger selection and brokerage deals. Many clients have advised us that they see brokers as a weak link in the chain, something that will inevitably move too slow for their needs. Others view it as a necessary evil—their environment is too complex for them to handle or they lack the skills and knowledge of key trends in the market. By and large, however, brokers seem to be held in high regard. Enterprises no longer want to get bogged down in the intricacies of a deal, they want expert help to pick the capabilities they need. A large volume recognizes they will need an agile and flexible multi-cloud environment and need the help of a large provider to get them a good deal. Usually, this happens because they require the high-quality talent that the leading IT providers can bring. The issue has also been getting access to full range of cloud services via brokerage and hybrid cloud platforms—avoiding the platform becoming the lowest common denominator solely focused on virtual machines, and storage units rather than enabling the use of more advanced services from hyperscale providers.

Talent war shapes up: It’s on this final point that the most potential impact sits. The quest for high-quality talent of any kind in the current market is creating small battlefields as enterprises and providers fight to get the cream of the crop. The same is true with cloud—multiple clients advise that the reason they have pushed for infrastructure services support is that they do not have the talent internally. But, perhaps the most interesting trend is the number of enterprises and providers alike that are advising they are struggling to compete for talent with the main cloud providers. Google, Microsoft, and AWS are attracting key talent from many of the areas the leading providers would have had first pick, causing challenges currently that will no doubt become major sticking points in the future. Should the talent war become more acute, it is highly likely it will put strains on existing partnerships and force providers to rethink their attraction andretention programs.


0537511d

Traditional infrastructure in freefall as cloud and as-a-service take over


OneOffice

Traditional -15.1%

21.6%

CAGR 2017 -2022

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

$10B$20B$30B

$40B$50B$60B$70B$80B$90B

$100B$110B

$120B$130B

$33B$46B

$57B$68B

$78B

$88B

$95B$85B

$74B$63B

$53B$42B

Source: HfS Research

Infrastructure and enterprise market sizing forecast» Traditional revenues are in freefall and

are estimated fall by more than a halfover the next four years.

» As-a-service and cloud revenues areexpected to grow and bring in enoughrevenue to fill this gap.

» Overall, the market size is unlikely toincrease or decrease in valuesignificantly; depreciation in traditionalrevenues will be replaced by growth inas-a-service and cloud.An

nual

Exp

endi

ture

($Bn

)

0537511d

Enterprises are looking to invest heavily in cloud capabilities


Source: HfS Research

How much investment/focus is your organization making in the following in the next year to help you achieve operational cost saving goals? » A large percentage of enterprises are

putting significant investment focus on the cloud.

» Forty-four percent of enterprise executives advises they are putting a significant focus on investing in the cloud, with 36% placing some emphasis on the technology.

» Only RPA is seeing greater commitments to investment than the cloud.

16%

19%

33%

33%

33%

37%

42%

44%

53%

32%

37%

48%

40%

30%

41%

35%

36%

28%

22%

20%

14%

23%

20%

18%

18%

14%

14%

31%

24%

5%

4%

18%

4%

5%

6%

5%

Driverless Vehicles

Drones

AI/ML/Cognitive

Blockchain

Virtual and…

Analytics

Internet of Things…

Cloud

RPA

Significant investment/focus Some investment/focus

0537511d

Research summary highlightsHighlight #1: Cloud investment is at an all-time high

Enterprise executives are investing heavily in cloud capabilities, accelerating the growth of the major hyperscale players, and the demise of traditional providers.

Highlight #2: The traditional market is in freefall

Traditional infrastructure services are continuing their freefall as enterprises look to the cloud and the as-a-service model for scalable, flexible, and cost effective services.

Highlight #3: There are major growth opportunities for providers

Providers building cloud strategies that resonate with the modern enterprise are driving considerable market growth, fuelled by an insatiable appetite for cloud as a foundation for digital transformation.

Highlight #4: Partner ecosystems continue to deepen

The number of providers that now hold strategic partnerships with the major hyperscale providers and an ecosystem of smaller players to help drive the services has increased enormously as enterprises push for end-to-end brokers.


0537511d

#18 Hexaware

#17 Syntel

#16 CGI

#15 Tech Mahindra

#14 Genpact

#13 Fujitsu

#12 Capgemini

#11 NTT DATA

#10 Wipro

#9 Unisys

#8 DXC

#7 Infosys

#6 TCS

#5 HCL

#4 Atos

#3 Cognizant

#2 Accenture

#1 IBM

Execution Innovation Voice of Customer

HFS Top 10 infrastructure and enterprise cloud services 2018

Compelling hybrid cloud narrative

Trusted Infrastructure with strong automation driveTrusted provider with a global delivery capability

Highly evolved capabilities in the space

Leviathan provider offering considerable scale

Strong brokerage credentials focusing on “cloud-only”

Security focused provider, with strong ITSM credibility

Source: HFS Research 2018


IBM continues to bring major cloud and automation capabilities

Strong credibility as transformation partner

Compelling hybrid cloud narrative

Trusted infrastructure provider, but needs a clearer narrative

Strong technical consulting capabilitiesLegacy of delivery, but needs to prove innovation capabilities

Smaller and agile player - holds a lot of trust in certain verticals

Competing with rivals with DevOps and hybrid cloud narrativeOutcome focused provider, but need clearer visionPure-play broker bringing cloud providers to client engagements

Asset-light firm committed to brokerage model

0537511d

HFS top five products by individual assessment dimensions

HFS Ranking

Ability to execute Innovation capability

Voice of the customerScale and breadth Cloud capability Partnering and IP Vision and

methodologiesAutomation and cloud

strategy

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Source: HFS Research, 2018


0537511d

Provider profiles


0537511d

IBM: Big Blue continues to bring major cloud and automation capabilities to deals

Operations and key clients• Total headcount: 397,800• Data center locations: US, Mexico, Brazil, UK, Portugal, Spain, Italy,

Netherlands, Germany, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Japan, Argentina, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Malaysia, and the Philippines

• Key clients include: Sysco, BNSF Railway Co., Etihad Airways, EVRY, Fortis Healthcare, BRF S.A., Danske Bank, Atlanta Falcons

Dimension Rank

HFS Top 10 position #1

Ability to execute

Scale and breadth #1

Cloud capability #1

Partnering and IP #6

Innovation capability

Vision and methodology #2

Automation and cloud strategy #2

Voice of the customer

#1

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:• Digital: Apple, Cisco, Citrix• Cloud: VMware, Box, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Akamai, DXC, HCL• Analytics: Juniper Networks, Twitter, Facebook• Service management: ServiceNow, Rittal, Schneider Electric, CA, CAST• Automation: IPSoft, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere• Mobility: Apple, Microsoft, ServiceNow, Citrix, VMware, Lenovo, Zebra,

MOBI, Druva, JAMF, MobileIron, AirWatch

Acquisitions: 2017: Ravy Technologies, Agile 3 Solutions, Cloudigo Ltd. (Cloudigo); 2016: Sanovi Technologies, Promontory Financial Group, The Weather Company, EZSource, Resilient Systems, Iris Analytics; 2015: Clearleap, Cleversafe, Gravitant, Strongloop, Compose, Bluebox, Blekko, AlchemyAPI; 2014: Lighthouse Security Group, CrossIdeas, Cloudant


Strengths• Trusted provider with a strong track record: From an enterprise trust

perspective, clients highlight IBM as one of the biggest safe ports they can anchor in to support them on their infrastructure-transformation journey.

• Cloud capability: IBM stands alone in the pool of providers because it has the assets to stand among the hyperscale cloud providers.

• Developing next-generation commercial models: IBM has been quick to respond to changing demands in the infrastructure and enterprise cloud space by adjusting commercial models.

• Strong proprietary automation engine: As the home of IBM Watson, the firm can push automation capabilities in new and existing engagements to levels beyond what many of its competitors are capable of.

Opportunities• Challenges with size: Size brings challenges, and for IBM this means

difficulties navigating among the different service lines and siloed capabilities.

• Competition from hyperscale cloud: While IBM can leverage its form of hyperscale cloud capability, this presents challenges—specifically difficulty forming deep partnerships and pushing a vendor-neutral narrative.

• Mixed financial performance. Part of the stability of an organization is its ability to have a sustainable business model—particularly with large, long-term transformational deals. IBM has struggled to find growth for its infrastructure business.

0537511d

Accenture: Strong credibility as a infrastructure transformation partner

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 38,000• Data center locations: Australia, Brazil, UK, France, Germany,

India, Italy, Philippines, Spain, USA• Delivery center locations: Brazil, Canada, India, Philippines,

USA

Key clients include: Accenture, Avalon Health Care, Banc, Sabadell, GRTgaz, Hess, Mercedes, Talen Energy, Towergate

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #5



Vision and methodologies #1

Automation and Cloud strategy #1


#2

Acquisitions and partnerships• Cloud: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google, SAP, Oracle Cloud• Data center and server management: VMware, HPE and Red Hat• End-user workplace management: Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, Dell, HPE• Network management: Cisco, HPE, VMware, Nokia • PaaS: Docker, Alibaba, Tencent, Pivotal, Cloud Foundry, Microsoft Azure,

OpenShift• Service management: ServiceNow • Automation: Ansible, Puppet, Chef• Analytics: Cloudera, HPE, Tableau, Splunk

Acquisitions: 2017: Arismore, Concrete Solutions, Focus Group Europe, Media Hive, Phase One, Solid-serVision; 2016: CRM Waypoint, DayNine, Defense Point Security (US-Federal), Maglan (Israel), Redcore, Nashco, New Energy Group; 2015: Agilex, Cloud Sherpas, EnergyQuote JHA, Fusion X, Solium, Tquila UK, Vlocity; 2014: Enkitec


Strengths• Strong cloud-first narrative: Accenture has built a compelling vision for

cloud in the modern enterprise, pushing a narrative that places enterprise cloud as the platform for digital transformation work.

• Track-record of transformative work: Accenture has one of the most evident track records of using infrastructure and enterprise cloud as a weapon in its arsenal for transformative work.

• Innovation roadmap supported by thought leadership: Accenture’s innovation roadmap is backed by real research and thought leadership.

• Developing outcome-oriented deals: Accenture has articulated that deals in the space continue to focus on the outcome.

• Developing cloud factories: Accenture continues to invest in the space and is working to drive more competitive deals.

Opportunities• Wrestling with high expectations: Accenture continues to wrestle

with often unrealistically high expectations from clients. This often hampers some satisfaction levels from clients who expect solutions far in advance of what the firm’s competitors have on offer.

• Pricing turn-off for some clients: The price tag for engagements is a turn-off for some clients. Many have told us that Accenture is usually on their shortlist of preferred vendors but often needs to be cut or have the remit of the engagement scaled down due to affordability. Accenture is addressing these challenges with new pricing options such as “percent of spend” where rates are driven by level of service and calculated as a percent of the public cloud capacity compute and storage spend.

0537511d

Cognizant: Strong capabilities but clearer vision needed

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 28,000• Delivery center locations: India, US, Philippines, UK, Hungary,

Singapore

• Key clients include: international hotel and resort chain based in the United States, international industrial service provider, British multinational energy and services company, American global telecommunications conglomerate, British multinational information and analytics company, American multinational technology company

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #8






#3

Acquisitions and partnerships• Infrastructure and cloud: Microsoft, Dell EMC, Cisco, NetApp, AWS,

VMware, Nutanix, Red Hat, Pivotal, Hitachi, ServiceNow, Hewlett Packard, Docker, PureStorage

• Technology partners: Ayehu, CA Technologies, SnapLogic, Rancher, Zenoss, Chef, BMC, Dynatrace, Citrix

Acquisitions: 2016: Kbace, Frontica Business Solutions, KIS Information Services; 2014: Trizetto Corporation


Strengths• Global infrastructure footprint: Cognizant can bring considerable scale and

reach to infrastructure and enterprise cloud engagements.• Verticalized specialism: Cognizant aims to bring a unique vertical flavor to

engagements and has been building out capabilities specific to key industries.

• Pricing flexibility: Cognizant continues to offer infrastructure services clients the opportunity to work through a commercial model that suits them.

• Building automation savings into deals: Cognizant advises that it is more regularly in discussions with its customers on the potential of building automation savings and efficiencies in deals.

Opportunities• Growing demand for hyperscale brokerage: Clients have advised that

they are increasingly looking for engagements with service providers that broker deals with major hyperscale cloud providers. While Cognizant has partnerships with key players, there are some firms, such as Google, that the market is showing an increased appetite for that Cognizant is not working with through a strategic partnership.

• Thought leadership and vision: The infrastructure and enterprise cloud space is becoming a key battleground for IT services firms, which is driving the level of marketing activity and thought leadership in the space.

0537511d

Atos: Compelling hybrid cloud narrative

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 47,000• Data center locations: Atos DC footprint spans five continents

in 31 countries; Atos has over 100 data centers including eight cloud hubs providing Tier 1 levels of service quality and security for both traditional and digital services.

• Key clients include: GasTerra, government of Western Australia, McGraw Hill Education, Rio 2016 (Olympics), Safran, Siemens, Société Générale, Solvey, Texas DIR

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #7






#5

Acquisitions and partnerships• Global strategic partners: Siemens, DellEMC• Cloud: ServiceNow, Apprenda, EMC, VMWare, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Cloud

Foundry.org, Red Hat, Google• Analytics: Clickfox, Nexthink• Monitoring and event management: BMC, CA• Virtual agent: Living Actor Solutions• Service management: ServiceNow• Automation and AI: IPSoft, Cognicor• Workplace: Intel, Genesys, Microsoft, Citrix, Xerox and VMWare• Collaboration: Microsoft, Syncplicity, Unify, Google, Box, Salesforce, ShareFile

Acquisitions: 2018: Syntel; 2017: Data; 2016: Engage ESM, Anthelio Healthcare; 2015: Unify, Xerox ITO, Cambridge Technology Partners; 2014: Bull


Strengths• Strong hybrid narrative: Atos has come to market with perhaps one of the

strongest narratives for the hybrid model. • Growing partnerships with hyperscale cloud players: Atos has recently

announced a partnership with Google, meaning it now has partnerships with all major hyperscale players.

• Orchestration capabilities: Atos has invested considerably in the orchestration capabilities of its infrastructure and enterprise cloud offerings.

• One Atos Voice: The firm is committed to drive consistency across its business and bring a single coherent voice to customers.

Opportunities• Investment in automation: Clients have advised that in their

engagements, Atos’ automation capabilities have progressed somewhat slower than planned. Unlike some of its competitors, Atos has not invested in proprietary automation capabilities—however, through partnerships and the Atos Codex platform, the firm can bring in automation capabilities when necessary.

• Lack of broader consulting skills: Atos consulting skills are strong technically but unbalanced across regions for business consultants, which means they may struggle to roll out similar services consistently, particularly outside of Europe.

0537511d

HCL: Trusted Infrastructure with strong automation drive

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 39,500• Data center locations: DCs in USA, Sweden, and India and 27 remote IIM

centers in India, USA, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Europe, Finland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Singapore, USA

• Delivery center locations: United States, Mexico, Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, South Africa, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, India

• Key clients include: U.S. Based Information management firm, A U.S. University, A major health insurance firm

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #2






#4

Acquisitions and partnerships• Cloud: IBM, AWS, Azure, Softlayer, Oracle Cloud, Vmware, Google• Hosting: Equinix, Sungard, Interxion• Storage and Backup: Hitachi, Netapp, IBM, Dell-EMC, HPE, Commault,

Veritas• Virtualisation: VMWare, Microsoft, KVM• Computing: HPE, Dell-EMC, Cisco, Supermicro, Quanta• Converged & Hyperconverged Infrastructure: Nutanix, Simplivity, Dell-

EMC, Cison, Netapp, VMware, Red Hat, OpenStack

Acquisitions: 2018: Actian, C3iS; 2017: Datawave, Urban Fulfillment Services LLC; 2016: Volvo IT, IBM Tools, Geometric, Butler America Aerospace, Point to Point LTD; 2015: Concept to Silicon Systems, Trygstad, PowerObjects


Strengths• Strengthening infrastructure business: HCL continues to post strong

financial growth amidst the development of its infrastructure offerings.• Investment in verticalized capabilities: HCL is continually developing

capabilities in particular industry verticals, including the creation of engineering labs and centers of excellence in areas such as industrial design, high-performance computing, and automation.

• Segmented transformation strategy: HCL has developed a strategy (Mode 1-2-3) to support customers on their transformation.

• Strong automation delivery: HCL advises that the majority of infrastructure engagements now includes considerable automation assets to drive additional client value.

Opportunities• Vision and thought leadership: On the whole, clients rated HCL’s

ability to deliver in the infrastructure and enterprise cloud space highly. However, the firm loses ground somewhat when it comes to vision and thought leadership. Clients have advised that while HCL has some compelling thought leaders, this is not always consistent across the organization and a clearer vision for the IT services space would be helpful in guiding client strategy and highlighting how the firm differentiated from competitors in the space.

• Scale of its broader consulting skills. Although HCL has a strong focus on digital and digital transformation consulting, it’s not clear that the scale of on-shore consultants is able to prove business value on top of its infrastructure management.

0537511d

TCS: Trusted provider with a global delivery capability

Operations and key clients• Data center locations: USA, Canada, UK, Nordics, Germany, India,

Japan, and Sweden, • Delivery center locations: 148 delivery centers in 46 Countries

• Key clients include: Virgin Atlantic Airline, M&G Prudential, Marks & Spencer, Transamerica, Randstad, Malaysia Airlines, Cargill, DNB Vipps

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #3






#16

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:• Cloud and infrastructure: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, IBM

Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Cisco, Dell - EMC - VMware, Nutanix, Hitachi, HP(E), HP(I)• Cloud management and support partners: CloudScape, DataDog, Puppet,

Dynatrace, CyberArk, Splunk, Qualsys, Symantec, ScienceLogic, CommVault, Platform9, Kubernetes, Pivotal, Docker, Apprenda, Mesosphere, HortonWorks, CloudEndure, CloudEra, RH Openshift, LemonGrass

• Service management and workplace services: ServiceNow, BMC, Remedy, CA Technologies, WWTS, SMS, Hammersbach

• Automation and analytics: WorkFusion, IBM Watson, RedHat, Appian, Alfresco, TIBCO, Blue Prism, Fico, Automation Anywhere, UiPath, K2, Pega, HIRO (arago), Splunk, Microsoft, SAP, Lakeside, Teradata, Hortonworks, Informatica, Apigee

Acquisitions: None


Strengths• Outcome-focused approach to engagements: TCS’ approach to

infrastructure engagements is to identify and hone in on critical business outcomes to drive business value.

• Cloud a key pillar for digital: TCS has developed a strong vision for the future of cloud as one of the key pillars in an organization’s digital transformation strategy.

• Thought leadership: TCS’ Business 4.0 thought leadership seems to be resonating with the market and driving greater traction in the space.

• Driving savings through automation: TCS is gaining traction with its IgnioTM

platform with a large number of clients using the toolset. • Partnerships: TCS has invested in strengthening partnerships with major

providers in the space, including the large cloud providers.

Opportunities• Fueling growth: TCS continues to grow and develop its infrastructure

capabilities and has announced some major wins. However, a challenge for many providers is attracting high-level talent in the infrastructure and cloud space. TCS has recently brought in key talent, but may encounter hurdles in the long-term as demand for resources in the IT outsourcing space converge on particular talent pools. Nevertheless, the firm has a strong brand in major geographies, partnerships with academic institutions and has embarked on a journey to reskill and upskill its talent pool to mitigate the impact of any looming talent wars in the space.

0537511d

Infosys: Highly evolved capabilities in the space, but must talk more about innovation

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 20,000• Data center locations: Over 100 data centers globally• Delivery center locations: India, Philippines, Mexico, Czech Republic,

USA

• Key clients include: A leading European banking and financial services major, an oil and gas major, a leading multi-brand retailer, a leading automobile giant, a leading pharmaceutical corporation

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #14






#9

Acquisitions and partnerships• Key partnerships: Cisco, Juniper, HP, DellEMC, Hitachi, F5, Check Point,

Symantec, Splunk, IBM, SuSe, RedHat, MongoDB, Oracle, MSFT, Google, CyberArk, Onapsis, Equinix, SungardAS, NTT Com, Telstra

Acquisitions: 2018: Wongdoody; 2017: Brilliant Basics; 2016: Tidal Scale; 2015: CloudEndure, Noah Consulting, Panaya, Skava


Strengths• Heavy investment in near-shore capabilities: Infosys has invested heavily

in building out near-shore delivery centers in key geographies.• Push toward outcome- and consumption-based pricing: Infosys has

developed and outcome- and consumption-based pricing models to support clients in driving more value from engagements.

• Redeveloping internal delivery: Infosys continues to redevelop internal delivery capabilities to ensure they offer the most value to clients.

• Pushing the reskilling of talent: At a time of considerable disruption in the IT outsourcing space, Infosys is working to retain and retrain talent through training and certification programs to help staff move from low-skill areas to high-skill areas, for example from administration to coding, and from ITSM to service experience transformation.

Opportunities• Building a clearer vision externally: Infosys has developed a keen eye

for spotting improvement opportunities internally; however, it needs to articulate these. The firm needs to set its stall out in the infrastructure space and push a much clearer vision of where it sees the infrastructure market headed and how it can support clients on their transformation journey.

• Scale of its broader consulting skills. As infrastructure services become more embedded within other service offerings, business consulting and change management credentials become more important.

0537511d

DXC: Leviathan provider offering considerable scale

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 80,000• Data center locations: 91 data centers distributed globally• Delivery center locations: Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Noida, Ho

Chi Minh City, Taguig City, Plano, Quezon City, Indore, Gurgaon, Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, El Paso, Pontiac, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Newcastle, Erskine, Warsaw, San Jose (Costa Rica), Cairo, Araraquara, Porto Alegre

• Key clients: AkzoNobel, All Nippon Airways, B&Q, Bluescope Steel, Everest Re, Kraft Foods, Lloyds of London, Owen-Illinois, Union Insurance, Zurich Insurance Group

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#18

Acquisitions and partnerships• Strategic partnerships: Amazon Web Services, AT&T, DellEMC, HCL,

Hitachi, HPE, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Micro Focus, Microsoft, Oracle, PwC, SAP, ServiceNow, Alibaba, Google, Pivotal, RedHat, Citrix, Fixnetix, Axon Puerto Rico

Acquisitions: 2018: Sable37, eBECS, M-Power; 2017: Logicalis SMC, HPE ES; 2016: Fruition partners, Xchanging, UXC, Aspediens, Tribridge


Strengths• Global reach and scale: DXC has an almost unrivaled reach and scale in the

infrastructure services and enterprise cloud space, offering access to over 90 global data centers supported by over 80,000 professionals.

• Trusted delivery partner: Multiple DXC clients advised that they viewed the firm as a trustworthy and consistent delivery partner, capable of bringing quality and highly scalable services to support them on their transformation journey.

• Track record of delivery: DXC, through its constituent parts, has an enviable track record of delivery in the IT services space.

• Strong workplace services narrative: Workplace services is an area where DXC has shown considerable flair for marketing and thought leadership, capturing significant mindshare in the space.

Opportunities• DXC’s path still unclear to clients: Clients advise that while DXC is

beginning to settle after a series of major acquisitions and mergers, the future of the company and its vision for its infrastructure and the enterprise cloud space is still somewhat unclear. Clients also advise there are challenges with branding consistency across the company, with some unsure if they are part of DXC or with CSC.

• Mixed financial performance to date. Part of the stability of an organization is its ability to have a sustainable business model. DXC’s growth has been mixed, even with a good start to 2018, it needs to deliver consistent growth if it is to appear as a safe pair of hands. It is capable of delivering the very largest of deals, but financial stability is a key component of winning at this level particularly with new clients.

0537511d

Unisys: Security-focused provider with a strong service management background

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 38,000• Delivery center locations: USA, Columbia, Brazil, UK, Sweden,

Netherlands, Hungary, India, China, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand

• Key clients include: Bytes Technology Group, California State University, Cencosud, Flowserve, Maimonides Medical Center, NEC7-Eleven, New Zealand Transportation Authority, NEXA Resources

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#13

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:• Microsoft, Amazon, Dell EMC, ServiceNow, Equinix

Acquisitions: None


Strengths• Strong security credentials: Unisys is recognized in the infrastructure space

for its security-focused products and services. The firm continues to invest in security capabilities as a differentiator, leveraging its experience in the space and in particular verticals such as financial services and banking where security is a major table stake.

• Partnerships: Unisys is continuing to invest in partnerships to support its infrastructure service line with scalability.

• Strong service management pedigree: Unisys has a great reputation for its service management capabilities, something valued by clients looking for full workplace services capabilities.

• High client satisfaction: Satisfaction metrics used by the firm indicate a high level of satisfaction with the firms delivery.

Opportunities• Perception as a hardware company: One of the biggest challenges

Unisys needs to grapple with is the unwavering perception that the firm is a product and hardware company rather than a serious services firm in the space. Unisys needs to work hard to shatter this perception.

• Marketing innovation capabilities: Similarly, the firm seems to struggle to articulate its credentials for innovation—clients rate the firm highly for delivery but struggle to articulate the firm’s vision and innovation capabilities.

• Seen as a pure desktop provider. Also, the companies services are seen as focused largely on desktop management where it has strong credentials.

0537511d

Wipro: Strong brokerage credentials driving a “cloud-only” philosophy

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 28,668• Data center locations: 15 data centers located in APAC, US, Canada,

and Europe• Delivery center locations: India, Australia, USA, UK, Brazil, Canada,

China, Germany, Mexico, Manila, Romania, Singapore, Ireland, Poland, and Switzerland.

• Key clients include: A large insurance firm, A major bank and financial services company, a global consumer goods company, A major pharmaceutical firm

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #9






#14

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:• Data center and cloud: AWS, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, HPE, Intel,

VMWare, IBM, BMC, Veritas, Commvault, Nutanix, Nexenta, HDS, NetApp, Pure Storage, Turbonomic, Densify, RISC Networks, CloudVelox, LivingPlanIT (IOT), Google, Pivotal Software

• End-user computing: Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, Nexthink, RES, 1E, Flexera, ASG, Asigra, Vayusphere, ParaBlu & Field Service Partners: WWTS, Compucom, Getronics, Hemmerdbach, A&O, Innoserv

• Open source and DevOps: Suse, RedHat, Cloudfoundry, Xebia Labs, Apprenda, CloudBees, Chef, Puppet Labs, Docker

• Automation: Arago, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, HP, BMC, Ayehu, UiPath

Acquisitions: 2017: Cooper; 2016: Appirio, Healthplan Services, InfoSERVER; 2015: Cellent, DesignIT; 2014: ATCO


Strengths• Hybrid cloud a major component of engagements: Wipro is pushing a

coherent vision for the role of the hybrid cloud in new and existing engagements.

• Cloud brokerage model: The firm is driving a strong brokerage model, where Wipro adds value by supporting clients in their selection of the right cloud capability for the outcome they want to achieve.

• Driving a platform approach: Wipro advises it is moving away from frameworks that are too constricted for the modern enterprise’s needs and is instead building out a platform approach.

• Cloud Only: A core component of the firm’s vision for the future of the space is to shift from a cloud-first to a “cloud-only” approach.

Opportunities• Talent: Undoubtedly an issue for all of the major IT services players,

clients mentioned that all of the big players are losing talent to the major ISVs, notably Google and Amazon, as demand for high-quality cloud talent increases. Like many, Wipro will need to invest in attraction and retention programs to ensure it can bring the right people into engagements.

• Scale of its broader consulting skills. As infrastructure services become more embedded within other service offerings, business consulting and change management credentials become more important.

0537511d

NTT DATA: Trusted infrastructure provider, but needs to push a clearer narrative

Operations and key clients• Data center locations: 240 connected centers worldwide including

USA, India, UK, France, Germany, Spain, South Africa, China, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Nigeria, Ghana, Japan, alongside 80 owned or leased by customers.

• Delivery center locations: USA, India, Mexico, Panama, Romania, China, Singapore, Morocco, UK, Brazil, Australia

• Key clients: Tenet Health, Russell Investments, Hilton, MetLife, Wolters Kluwer, KB Home, Wayne Fueling Systems, Owens & Minor, Experian, DuPont

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#17

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:• Cloud: NTT Comms, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, VMWare, Citrix• Service management: Service Now, BMC Remedy• Analytics: Microsoft, Amelia, Interactions, Lakeside, Aternity• Automation: IPSoft, Aptean, Puppet, Zenoss

Acquisitions: 2016: Dell Services; 2014: Everis Group


Strengths• Infrastructure services at scale: NTT DATA offers one of the largest

networks of connected data centers globally, which enables the firm to tackle the particular needs of enterprises looking for capabilities in certain geographies, or those looking for global scale.

• Trusted provider in the space: NTT DATA is a well-recognized provider in the space, with a strong track record of delivery.

• Increased consulting focus: NTT DATA continues to push consulting and advisory to the front of engagements to ensure the right solutions are designed and implemented to solve a customer challenge.

• Talent program to reinvigorate capabilities: NTT DATA is investing heavily in talent through partnerships with key academic institutions and the development of training factories.

Opportunities• Marketing and thought leadership: Historically, NTT DATA has

avoided investing in marketing activities and instead has relied on its reputation for delivery to win deals. However, the infrastructure space has become more competitive with new and innovative firms moving in with clever marketing activity to gain mindshare. NTT DATA may need to rival this activity at some point and should consider building out a clear marketing narrative now to help it attract and retain mindshare, a platform that it can expand as the market becomes more competitive.

0537511d

Capgemini: Strong technical consulting capabilities

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 22,000• Data center locations: Finland, France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain,

UK, USA, Brazil, Canada• Delivery center locations: India, Poland, Romania, Brazil, Belgium,

Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA

• Key clients include: environmental agency, Heathrow Airports, State of Texas Department of Information Resources, Credit Agricole, Ontario Power Generation, French multinational integrated oil and gas company, Nationwide, Airbus

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#11

Acquisitions and partnerships• Cloud partners: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, Cloudendure, Nutanix, IBM,

RedHat, Dell EMC, AppDynamics, PlateSpin, Racemi, RISC networks, HPE, Terremark, Cloud Bolt, Puppet labs, CHEF, Aryaka, Hitachi, Avai

• End-user services: Citrix, Microsoft, BMC, HP, Odigo, Dell EMC, Meridian, Ivanti, Lenovo, Atlantis, Google, Smart, Airwatch (VMware), Lakeside, Meridian, Flexera, Ilantus, NSC, Cannon, Kyocera, Kinetic Data, Amazon WorkSpaces, Konica Minolta, DecisionOne, Pomeroy

• Service integration: BMC, Dell EMC, Service Now, Sofigate• Cybersecurity: RSA, IBM, Oracle, Gemalto, Fortinet, Fortify, TrendMicro,

Cyberark Symantec, Palo Alto, PingIdentity, Appscan, Forgerock, Nokia

Acquisitions: 2015: Igate; 2014: Euriware


Strengths• Outcome-focused commercial model: Capgemini has evolved its

commercial model to ensure clients only pay for the services they use.• Strong business engagement: Clients advised that they place a high value

on Capgemini’s ability to engage with key business stakeholders and form meaningful relationships.

• Innovative modular design: In its latest data center design, Capgemini has driven a modular design throughout to enable clients to select services and capabilities with more flexibility.

• Strong vision for convergence: Capgemini has recognized that one of the biggest challenges when tackling legacy infrastructure set-ups is their siloed and detached nature.

Opportunities• Commitment to innovation: Clients have advised that Capgemini can

sometimes get a little too comfortable in an engagement, meaning its drive and commitment to innovate and continue improving reduces. Although they advise that the firm is highly successful at meeting pre-defined SLAs, there is often a gap between the expectation to go above and beyond and the firm’s appetite for doing so.

• North America: There are fewer large-scale examples than some competitors when it comes to infrastructure management with North American organizations requiring global rollout. This may inhibit the firm’s ability to pitch for similar deals in an environment where proof of delivery carries an increasingly high premium.

0537511d

Fujitsu: Legacy of delivery in the space, but needs to prove innovation capabilities

Operations and key clientsTotal employees: 159,000

The firm operates on a global delivery model with key data centers in Japan, Australia, Singapore, US, UK, and Germany

Key clients: First Citizens Bank, Virgin Money, HR Revenue and Customs

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#12

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:The firm has not provided any additional partnerships information; however, public records indicate the firm partners with the following companies:• Amazon, Cisco, Citrix, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, Oracle, SAP, VMWare,

Brocade, CA Technologies, Commvault, Quantum, RedHat, Symantec, Suse

Acquisitions: 2015: UshareSoft


Strengths• Strong technical background: Clients recognize Fujitsu for its strong

technical background and a wealth of experience in tackling enterprise technology challenges.

• Reputable IT provider: Fujitsu has a long history of delivery in the IT Services space, which contributes to the reputation the firm has for being a ”safe pair of hands” for tackling IT projects and initiatives.

• Global infrastructure capabilities: The firm has a reasonable global delivery capability spread out of key geographies including Europe, North America, and Asia.

• Hybrid cloud: The firm continues to push a compelling hybrid cloud narrative, supported by the firm’s service management capability and unified management platform.

Opportunities• Innovation agenda: It is challenging to gauge the firm’s roadmap and

agenda for driving innovation in its services. The firm has a track record for delivery, but it is perceived by clients to be falling behind competitors.

• Marketing: Compared to some of its rivals, Fujitsu has a relatively relaxed approach to marketing and messaging—with somewhat limited thought leadership.

• Legacy: The firm’s legacy of operating in the IT services space can be a double-edged sword in some instances. Many enterprise clients are looking for something new and innovative to help them out-accelerate rivals and disruptors in their own industry, so are looking to newer entrants to the market.

0537511d

Genpact: Smaller and agile player, but holds a lot of trust in certain verticals

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 4,500• Data center locations: India, US, Europe, Philippines, Mexico, China• Delivery center locations: India, Romania, USA, China, UK,

Philippines, Mexico, Poland

• Key clients include: Fortune 50 Global conglomerate, leading US retail chain of variety stores, leading American provider for digital cable television, telecommunications and home automation services, top multinational beverage corporation, one of the top three brewing companies in the world

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#15

Acquisitions and partnerships• Workplace services: Exis, Decision One, Avaya • Cloud: RISC Networks, CoreStack, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud

Platform Services• Service management: ServiceNow• IT process automation: Ayehu, Right Answers

Acquisitions: 2017: LeaseDimensions, Rage Frameworks, TandemSeven;2016: PMNSoft; 2015: Endeavour, Openwealth Platform (Citibank)


Strengths• Mature shift-left approach: Genpact’s clients value the firm’s developed

approach to shift left, which seeks to highlight and isolate recurring problems and move them out of the client environment.

• Flexible approach: Clients have also lauded the firm’s flexible approach to engagements, advising they are more than willing to bring in additional resources or more experienced professionals to support clients.

• Strong focus on key verticals: Genpact is focused on particular verticals.• Merging IT services lines: Genpact is closely following major trends in the

IT services industry by merging service lines to enable clients to secure seamless services.

Opportunities• Scale: Genpact is one of the smaller players in the space, with a

focused market in key geographies and industry verticals. As the firm solidifies its IT services offerings, it may need to expand into verticals and markets that will bring it into competition with more embedded competitors. To bridge this, Genpact should look to experiment and build proof of delivery and capability examples with existing clients to showcase the firm’s full capabilities.

• Commitment to IT services. Genpact is largely a BPO player, with strong process management skills. Although this may serve it well as IT and BPO service barriers start to fall—there is a question mark about its commitment to standalone IT infrastructure services and its ability to invest.

0537511d

Tech Mahindra: Competing with rivals with DevOps and hybrid cloud narrative

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 12,000• Data center locations: 13 data centers located in the USA, Denmark,

Norway, Romania, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia• Delivery center locations: India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia,

China, Hungary, Northern Ireland, US, Brazil, US, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Australia, and the Philippines

• Key clients include: a large telecom provider in North America, a leading service provider in Europe, a large bank in Australia, a leading airline in Australia, a large conglomerate in North America, A UK-based insurance major and a large automobile company in Europe

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#19

Acquisitions and partnershipsKey partnerships:• Workplace Services: Citrix, NetApp,Cisco,RES Software ,Microsoft ,

Infocare, Getronics, WWTS, DecisionOne, Verser• Cloud Services: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, Oracle, IBM, ServiceNow,

Office365• Data Center: Oracle, HP, Cisco, IBM, Dell, EMC, NetApp, HDS, VMWare,

Microsoft, RedHat, BMC, CA, PureStorage, CommVault, Cohesity• Automation: Cortex , ServiceNow, BMC, Arago, HP, RES, Nexthink, Ipsoft

Inc• Service Management: BMC, ServiceNow, HP, CAAcquisitions: 2016: CJS Solutions Group, Target Group, BIO Agency Limited; 2015: Pininfarina; 2014: Lightbridge Communications Corporation, SOFGEN, BASF, FixStream


Strengths• Vertical specialization: Tech Mahindra has an enviable history and track-

record of delivery in particular verticals—most notably telecoms.• Strong DevOps narrative: Tech Mahindra has built out its DevOps

capability to support a clear narrative and vision for merging business applications and infrastructure services.

• Productivity gains built into pricing: The firm advises it is moving away from FTE-focused pricing models, and it is instead moving forward with element or fixed-unit models.

• Partnerships and acquisitions: Tech Mahindra recognizes that the market is shifting heavily toward as-a-service engagements with a particular focus on public and hybrid cloud. As a result, the firm is deepening partnerships with major cloud providers; it is also working with start-ups.

Opportunities• Scale and reach: Tech Mahindra has built out significant capabilities in

the infrastructure space and, in some cases, has cornered markets as a trusted provider. However, the firm does lack some of the scale and reach associated with some of the largest providers in the space. In some instances, this is more of an issue of perception than capability, but it may hamper the firm’s capacity to tackle global transformation deals from enterprises looking for a heavy-lifting partner.

0537511d

CGI: Outcome focused provider, but must articulate a clearer vision for IMS

Operations and Key clientsTotal employees: ~70,000

The firm operates in over 40 countries with approximately 400 offices worldwide.

Key IMS delivery centers include: US, India, The Philippines, Malaysia, and Canada

The firm has not provided any further reporting information.

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#10

Acquisitions and Partnerships• Key Partnerships:

Global Partners: Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, IBMSpecialist Partners: Adobe, Akamai, BMC, Bocada, Cerner, CiRBA, Cisco, Citrix, Dell, EMC, ESRI, Hitachi, HP, Informatica, IPSWITCH, McAfee, Monetise, NetApp, OpenText, Qliktech, Paessler, Red Hat, Salesforce, Seamless Technologies, Sentry Software, Solarwinds, Splunk, Symantec, Tibco, Tier3, VMware, Ferranti

Acquisitions: 2016: Alcyane, Collaborative Consulting, JSL


Strengths• Outcome focused delivery model: CGI pushes an outcome focused delivery

model across its infrastructure services engagements which it underpins with strong governance models to drive consistency and secure results.

• Recognized player in the space: CGI, through the heritage of its acquisitions, is an experienced provider in the space with a strong track record in a variety of industries. The firm is recognized by some organizations as a trusted provider operating in there space.

• Access to IT Services talent: CGI has a strong spread across onshore, nearshore, and offshore delivery alongside talent distributed across core traditional IT service areas. This enables the firm to bring in key talent to support infrastructure engagements in a cost-effective and flexible manner.

Opportunities• Weak marketing: CGI struggles to articulate its offerings and

capabilities compared to other more entrenched providers. The firm needs to build out a clear and coherent vision for infrastructure and, crucially, what differentiates the firm from its rivals. While the firm has a reasonable reputation for delivery, the acknowledgement of its innovation capabilities is harder for clients to gauge and articulate.

• Perception as traditional IT: While there is still a major market for traditional forms of IT and infrastructure work, this market is shrinking. Enterprises are pushing towards cloud and as-a-service. As this trend continues, CGI may fall behind unless it clarifies its position and how it is adapting its business and engagement model to better resonate with the changing needs of the modern business.

0537511d

Syntel: Pure-play broker bringing major cloud providers to client engagements

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 1,000• Data center locations: Partner brokerage focused• Delivery center locations: USA, Scotland, Poland, India, and the

Philippines

• Key clients include: FedEx, American Express, State Street, a major US health insurer, a large private healthcare provider, a financial analysis and research company, and a Fortune 100 insurer in the US

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute


Cloud capability #6






#21

Acquisitions and partnerships• Key partnerships:Amazon Web Services, CA, Cherwell, Google Cloud Platform, IBM, Microsoft, Pivotal Labs

Acquisitions: None


Strengths• Client for life focus: Syntel focuses on building long-term engagements

with clients under its “client for life” approach. • Client partnerships: Syntel drives a partnership model with its existing

clients—shifting away from traditional engagement methods.• Pure-play brokerage model: Syntel does not own any data centers directly

and plays in the infrastructure services space as a pure-play service broker. The firm has partnerships with all major providers in the space to support this model.

• Customer profile attracts talent: Syntel advises it does not foresee any major talent issues in the near future as the nature of the work it does and its client profile attract the right talent for its business.

Opportunities• Revenue concentrated with a few clients: Syntel’s drive to deepen

existing relationships and engagements has allowed the firm to build long-lasting partnerships. But, it does come with risks—over half of the firm’s revenue comes from a handful of clients, which poses a potential risk should the clients terminate relationships or cease to exist. Syntel may benefit from breaking away from its approach slightly and diversifying its client pool to mitigate this risk.

• Lacks scale to take on largest deals. Syntel historically has not relied on scale to do the ‘heavy lifting’ in major transformation programs. Instead, focusing on leveraging cloud and automation in engagements.

0537511d

Hexaware: Asset-light firm committed to brokerage model

Operations and key clients• Infrastructure services FTE headcount: 1,500• Delivery center locations: USA, Singapore, Romania, UK, Germany,

Russia, and India.

• Key clients include: One of the world's 20 leading pharmaceutical companies based out of Germany, the largest non-bank private-sector life insurer in India founded in 2000, a global information services company based out of Netherlands, a Singapore-based manufacturer providing mechanical and electro-mechanical component solutions worldwide, a Fortune 500 US-based company and one of the world's largest staffing firms.

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#20

Acquisitions and partnerships• Partnerships: IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat, Fiorano, Kony, Site Core

International, Appian, Adobe, Mule Soft, Cignex, Cloudbyz, EvolveWare, BFSI Consulting, Cloudera, Informatica, LavaStorm, Xurmo, Blue Prism, NetSuite, Workfusion, UIPath, HPE, Experitest, SmartBear, Conformiq, RealTime TechSolutions, Passbrain, Kentico, Xamarin, Tzunami, PicturePark, WSO2, SAP, SuccessFactor, Oracle, Workday, Hunite, Talview, Salesforce, EMC, FireEye, Computer Associates, ServiceNow, OpexSoftware, AppZero, Nutanix, SimpliVity, Symphony Summit, AppDynamics, DecisionOne, Wikitude, Riversand

Acquisitions: None


Strengths• Automation focus: Hexaware continues to bring automation capabilities

into new and existing deals, working to automate processes and workloads regardless of whether that strategy cannibalizes the firm’s revenues.

• Focused growth: Hexaware ensures only two to three clients are onboarded each quarter so that growth does not inhibit the firm’s ability to provide consistent services.

• Solid vision and strategy: Hexaware has developed a coherent strategy based on the core principle of "Automate First, Self Serve Next, and Smart People Last."

• Cloud brokerage model: As Hexaware is not an infrastructure-asset-heavy provider, it has been able to develop a coherent and vendor-neutral brokerage and integration strategy for cloud.

Opportunities• Asset light: While the market moves toward brokerage models on the

whole, there is still a need from many client organizations for their providers to hold some assets to help them on their transformation journey. This may push Hexaware out of scope for some engagements.

• Concentrated growth: Hexaware has a growth strategy focused on driving consistent service while onboarding new clients. While this is laudable, it will undoubtedly inhibit the firm’s ability to scale quickly as the infrastructure market peaks and troughs.

0537511d

Hyperscale provider profiles


0537511d

Microsoft: Trusted cornerstone of the modern enterprise

Dimension Rank

HFS Top 10 position NA

Ability to execute


Cloud capability #4






#6


Strengths• Trusted enterprise provider: Microsoft has been a major name in the

enterprise technology space for most of the history of modern business. For many clients, the firm represents a trusted cornerstone of their technical estate. This has enabled the firm to position its cloud capabilities alongside other enterprise products, particularly the firms’ productivity suite.

• Scale and reach: Over the years, Microsoft has built enormous scale into its cloud capabilities and spread data centers and delivery centers over major geographies. This has enabled the firm to position Azure as an important building block of any hybrid agenda.

• Licensing model: Clients tell us that with the licensing model they currently have, other Microsoft products and services come in as relatively competitive—positioning the firm as a good first port of call for any migration conversation.

Opportunities• Thought leadership: Compared to AWS’ strong IT narrative and

Google's push towards analytics and machine learning capabilities, Microsoft has lost ground in the battle for thought leadership. For the most part, clients have questioned Microsoft’s commitment to innovating in the space generally. The firm needs to build a coherent marketing and thought leadership program to help differentiate the firm among its stiff competition.

#3 Google

#2 AWS

#1 Microsoft


0537511d

AWS: Unrivalled mindshare and strong techie followingDimension Rank


Ability to execute








#8


Strengths• Strong technical capabilities: Out of the three hyperscale cloud providers,

AWS gets the most plaudits from the technical and IT communities for removing friction and pain points. The firm continues to build out capabilities based on feedback from its strong technical communities that get to the core of enterprise challenges

• Scale and reach: AWS has one of largest networks of data centers in the world and has become synonymous with flexibility and scale. Clients including Netflix are a living testament to the firm’s ability to provide scalable compute capability even for client organizations that grow at an unprecedented speed.

• Thought leadership: AWS’ thought leadership captures significant mindshare in the space, but the firm also has a knack for bringing proof of concept swiftly by building out innovative capabilities and experimenting on new functions.

Opportunities• Perception of competition: The firm’s parent organization, Amazon,

is a double-edged sword. While the leadership and resources the mothership provides are important components of AWS’ speedy growth, the association is also a major turn-off for some clients. Amazon continues to expand rapidly, and new and existing AWS clients are questioning the wisdom of writing a check to a firm that will become a major competitor in their industry.

• Business language: AWS’ ability to woo the technical community is a lynchpin to the firm’s success. It also poses something of an inhibitor as the firm has done relatively little to translate its offerings into a language that senior executives are willing to digest. If the firm is to move engagement to the next level, it will need to start talking business language alongside its technical vocabulary.

#3 Google

#2 AWS

#1 Microsoft


0537511d

Google: Strong vision for analytics and becoming the platform of choice for data-intensive initiatives

Dimension Rank


Ability to execute








#7


Strengths• Analytics and machine learning: Where Google stands out in the

hyperscale space is its focus on developing a cloud platform to drive enterprise machine learning, AI, and analytics initiatives. This work is quickly gathering the firm’s mindshare and could see major growth for the firm as appetite for these initiatives increases in the coming years.

• Relative neutrality: Compared to some of the other major providers in the space, Google can tout some relative neutrality for the bulk of enterprises. As a result, the firm is swiftly making its way on to the short list of enterprises looking to avoid indirectly funding their competitors.

• Funding from the mothership: Google is another firm that isn’t playing in the cloud space alone. The firm’s mothership, Alphabet, presents the opportunity for the business to access funding and resources for quick growth should it need it.

Opportunities• Sleeping giant: In many ways, Google is a sleeping giant. The firm

has grown a little, but not by much in comparison to the other major players. This seems to be part of a strategic decision from the firm, which is more focused on the consumer market.

• Marketing: Google is part of one of the biggest marketing capabilities in the world but does relatively little to push itself as a major player in the hyperscale cloud space. Should the firm want to more aggressively compete with the other major players, it will need to invest in marketing to set out how it differentiates itself from major competitors.

#3 Google

#2 AWS

#1 Microsoft


0537511d

Market direction and recommendations


0537511d

Market summary• While the market is pivoting away from traditional engagements, there is still plenty of hands-on heavy lifting transformation

work to be had. It’s reasonable to expect some of the more traditionally focused providers to continue to hammer away at this market. Meanwhile, the more forward-thinking providers covered in this piece are building out partnerships and brokerage models to drive value-add services over the top of the hyperscale cloud wave.

• Surviving in this turbulent market is no small feat—as traditional revenues continue to freefall, we can expect not only rapid evolutions for the latecomers but also some players to move out of the market entirely—voluntarily and involuntarily.

• One thing is clear: Enterprises are showing huge appetites for getting their digital underbelly in order—no doubt to help support the deployment of other, more glamorous technologies such as AI and analytics further down the line. But, without internal talent and expertise, the demand for high-quality professional services to help select, broker, and deploy is a potential gold mine for providers with the right partnerships and offerings in place.

• Perhaps the most striking part of this increased demand is the impact it is having on overall market capacity—while the market is not expected to grow, the increased workload from the cloud will fill in the hole left by crashing revenues from declining traditional infrastructure work. This is significant because the increased utilization and industrialization of cloud technologies should lead to a drastic drop in overall market capacity. In the same way that if everyone started renting cars instead of buying them, the increased utilization of a single car from one person to five would lead to four fewer cars beingpurchased. The increased usage of infrastructure assets should mean less is needed. However, the insatiable drive for digitalmeans more and more cloud capacity is needed for processing and storage. The infrastructure market may not be the most glamorous in the digital economy, but it’s where all the action is happening today.


0537511d

What does the future hold for the industry?We’re almost certain to see more consolidation as the traditional market continues to be ravaged by the onslaught of as-a-service and hyperscale cloud. However, there is a clear path that the industry will need to tread before it’s out of the woods:

• Partnerships and brokerage: Simply put, providers in the space won’t be able to survive without developing a solid partner ecosystem. Undoubtedly, the big hyperscale providers will be the cornerstones, but there is still plenty of room to find innovative consultancies, boutiques, and providers to partner with. More and more, we’re hearing that clients pay close attention to the partners a provider can bring into engagements. Enterprises crave simplicity in a complex world, so if they can go with a single provider with an ecosystem of capable partners to bring into engagements, all the better.

• Utility and consumption pricing: The major cloud providers haven’t just eroded the market share of traditional firms, they’ve turned commercial models on their heads. The prospect of paying only for the cloud capacity you use is no longer a utopian business ideal; it is a standard offering—providers that are reluctant to step away from traditional pricing models won’t have much choice as enterprises force utility and consumption pricing to become the industry norm.

• Shift in focus to outcomes: Outcome-focused work isn’t a new concept, but it does stand to make a major impact on the infrastructure space. To many, infrastructure is the unglamorous activity that keeps the lights on and outside of this core business objective rarely finds itself as a topic of enthused conversation in the boardroom. But, with businesses focusing onparticular outcomes they want to achieve such as a new business application or automation implementation, infrastructure will find itself even further from the boardroom. Enterprises want outcomes. How the infrastructure supports those outcomes is the business of internal IT or an external technology partner. Outside of migration work, we can expect to see a major blurring between what we define as infrastructure work now and broader technology and IT initiatives.


0537511d

Enterprise recommendations• Be flexible: Depending on the nature of the engagement, bringing some flexibility can be enormously

beneficial. Allowing providers the wiggle room they need to scope out and design a roadmap that will get you where you need to be is a worthwhile tactic in the complex and fast-moving infrastructure space. This is particularly the case for large, complex engagements that require a full transformation roadmap.

• Come with a clear vision of outcomes: The bane of service providers is when enterprises don’t have a clear vision of what they want to achieve or the outcomes they expect. Without this, it’s like drawing out a journey without knowing the destination. Providing this clarity will become more important for enterprise clients as vendors become more selective over the types of engagements they are willing to engage in.

• Be realistic: Too often we hear the same mistake made when enterprises spec out their migration strategy—they believe many, if not all, of their services are cloud worthy. Unfortunately for many organizations, this is far from the case. Enterprises must be realistic from the outset and recognize that, particularly for older companies, migrating to the cloud may be a long drawn out slog rather than a quick flip of a switch. This realism must extend to application modernization. Don’t be surprised if you’re pushing an ambitious migration project if the budget comes under pressure as the amount of application modernization work takes up bigger chunks of the bill.

• Walk don’t run: Similarly, almost daily the media reports of a rushed infrastructure project gone wrong—ultimately the plumbing in scope for your initiative is likely to be the only thing holding up vital parts of your business. It’s important to take time, find out what’s important, and prioritize accordingly.


0537511d

Service provider recommendations• Build a clear vision: The turbulence of the infrastructure market is increasing the levels of confusion in the space—vendors

must build clear visions and narratives for how they see the market, how they can differentiate themselves from their rivals,and how they can help clients navigate their way through the chaos.

• Bring proof to engagements: Enterprises are now, understandably, more cautious and cynical about vendor promises. So it’s essential that providers bring proof of delivery to engagements to give potential clients a sense of their capabilities, understanding of the industry, and ability to get the job done.

• Experiment with clients: To get the needed proof, providers should work with existing clients and push the boundaries of innovation in experimental initiatives. This approach provides clients with innovative and cost-effective solutions while building valuable proof of delivery capability and commitment to innovation.

• Develop ecosystems: Increasingly, enterprises are expecting vendors to provide them more than their internal offerings. Clients want a provider that can support them directly through brokering deals with a broad partner network that includes the main providers and the “small and cool” startups and boutiques. It’s important for providers to build out partner ecosystems to satisfy this demand and extend the scope outside of the usual suspects by bringing in new and innovative players in the space.

• Build flexible models: Utility pricing has changed the game completely for infrastructure players—now more than ever you will be expected to provide a variety of pricing options, from traditional to consumption focused. To satisfy client demand, providers must evolve their business models to better align with the direction the market is going. Those who fail to do so may quickly lose traction as the hyperscale cloud players continue to set the pace.


0537511d

Survey respondent demographics


0537511d

About the survey

45 © 2018, HFS Research Ltd

Number of Respondents

US

Europe

APAC

180177

62

60

71

59

Geography


Other

Government

Insurance

Energy

Travel

Manufacturing

Utilities

Telecom

Banking

Healthcare

30

30

30

30

31

30

30

30

30

31

38

35

35

34

33

33

33

25

21

20

Industry


Between $1B and$5B

Between $5B and$10B

Greater than $10B

168166

83

51

85

56

Company size (Number of employees)


Director

Senior VicePresident, Function

Head

Vice President

CEO, C-Level orExecutive Vice

President

178185

64

55

60

62

5

Job Title

Survey20172018

0537511d

HFS Research authors

Ollie O’Donoghue is Research Director, IT Services. With over five years experience in the IT services industry —as both a practitioner and a research analyst—Ollie understands the impact IT services have in the modern business environment.

Before joining HFS, Ollie was the Head of Research

and was an Industry Analyst for an ITSM Practice . He provided IT service and support organisations with the resources to deliver greater business value. There he developed a comprehensive research portfolio for the industry. He has researched and presented on a multitude of topics including automation, innovative support models, and real-time analytics. In 2017, Ollie was named second on a list of IT and ITSM experts to watch.

Jamie Snowdon has primary responsibility for overseeing the development of HFS’ Quarterly Market Index, in addition to managing and developing the firm’s data-centric products and services. He works across the HFS analyst teams to define evolving services markets and create market size estimates and forecasts.

He also manages HFS’ quantitative survey and benchmark data. Jamie has over twenty years experience in the IT and Business Services industry. In that time he has worked in a variety of roles including sales, marketing, consulting and as an industry analyst. Jamie’s analyst career has largely been spent conducting data analysis including market size/forecast models, quantitative/qualitative survey analysis and competitive analysis.


Research Director| HFS [email protected]

Chief Data Officer | HFS [email protected]

Ollie O’Donoghue Jamie Snowdon

0537511d

Defining future business operations

HFSResearch.com | @HFSResearch

0537511d

cognizant—hfs top 10 infrastructure and enterprise cloud ... · the infrastructure and enterprise...

Documents