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Tuesday 11 February 2025

*UKHotViewsExtra* Corporate diversity at a crossroads

Diversity imageIn response to the changing US political landscape, big tech companies are rapidly re-evaluating, and in some cases abandoning, their Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The rules in the UK are obviously different, but this fundamental shift in corporate diversity will still leave its mark on the tech industry and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives (as DEI is typically called in the UK) in this country. 

Technology-focused companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Intel, PayPal, and most recently Accenture have been quick to announce plans to wind down or pare back their DEI initiatives (e.g. scrapping hiring targets, diversity reporting, and career development and training programmes focused on demographic groups) citing a need to align with the new legal and policy landscape. Others, such as Apple, Cisco and Microsoft, have defended their approach to DEI and the importance of diversity to business performance. 

UKHotViewsPremium logoThe situation in the UK is very different, which will inevitably create challenges for tech companies that operate across both regions. In this UKHotViewsExtra article, we look at the situation in the US and compare it with the approach being taken by the UK government and discuss the likely implications for the tech industry and its customers. 

TechMarketView subscribers, including UKHotViews Premium subscribers, can read ‘Corporate diversity at a crossroads’ here. If you aren't a subscriber—or aren't sure if your organisation has a corporate subscription—please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by: Dale Peters at 10:07

Tags: recruitment   policy   government   diversity   Inclusion   social+value   bias   DEI   EDI   equality  

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Tuesday 11 February 2025

Netcompany acquires SDC to expand Nordic banking services

NetcompanyNetcompany has announced the acquisition of SDC, a banking solutions provider in Scandinavia, that will create a new combined company – fully owned by Netcompany: Netcompany Banking Services.

SDC currently provides banking solutions and services to small and medium-sized financial institutions throughout Nordics. Netcompany’s aim is to use the new company to leverage its AI and digital expertise to deliver more personalised services to customers of the banks on SDC’s platform.

The move provides Denmark-headquartered Netcompany with a strong foothold in financial services across Scandinavia, with the announcement alluding to an ambition to expand services to “the rest of Europe”.

As we outlined in our HotViewsExtra article in December (following an interview with Netcompany’s UK Managing Partner, Richard Davies) – see Proof points and potential: Netcompany’s hyper-transferability mission – the company’s ethos is one of “hyper-transferability” between sector (and geo market) experiences. Even though the focus on Netcompany Banking Services may be restricted to Scandinavian financial services, for now – the company’s enhanced experience in delivering personalised self-service solutions in a regulated setting will likely help to inform its modernisation approaches across its operating base ("Transformation and modernisation" and "Tax and customs" being two of Netcompany’s four public sector focus areas in the UK).

Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 09:48

Tags: acquisition   banking   re-use  

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Tuesday 11 February 2025

The Access Group strengthens Malaysian operations

Access Group logoThe Access Group has started 2025 by enhancing its Global Operations Centre (GOC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, including appointing a new managing director and further investment in the region. 

The company has GOCs in its hometown of Loughborough and Timişoara, Romania, as well as in Kuala Lumpur. The centres are intended to deliver innovation and improve customer experience on a global basis, helping provide more localised support for customers. Last year Access announced a significant expansion of its Romanian operations (see The Access Group doubles the size of its Global Ops Centre) and followed that with the official opening of its GOC in Kuala Lumpur (see The Access Group expands APAC operations). 

Its Kuala Lumpur GOC is key to Access’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, supporting product engineering, customer success, and wider operations. The company intends to provide more than 1,000 roles in the region by 2027. To support this expansion, Access recently appointed Chee Gay Lim as the new managing director of this GOC, providing extensive experience of growing businesses in the region. He was previously Global Chief Human Resources Officer at TDCX, where he scaled the workforce from 3,000 to 19,000 employees and launched 10 new operational sites in seven years.

The company has also announced a strategic partnership with Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, helping to reinforce its position in the region. The partnership will see Access work closely with students across the University’s Information Systems and Data Analytics programmes, providing internships, academic development exchanges, and participation in industry-relevant projects. 

Access has grown rapidly in recent years through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. Revenue in FY23 was up 41% to £581m, with 95% of that coming from its UK operations; however, Access has big ambitions in the APAC region. It established a position in the Malaysian market through its acquisition of iCare in 2018 and expanded its footprint in the country through the acquisitions of Volcanic in 2019 and Sage’s APAC businesses in 2021. The partnership with Heriot-Watt University should enable Access to better understand and address market demands in the region, accelerate innovation, and provide a pipeline of talent for the business. 

Posted by: Dale Peters at 09:04

Tags: software   appointment   university   partnership   higher+education   expansion   APAC  

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Tuesday 11 February 2025

Finastra taps Microsoft AI to support trade finance

FinastraUK-based banking technology vendor Finastra has launched an AI-powered assistant designed to support trade finance operations. The new tool “Assist.AI” has been created using Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI Service and forms part of Finastra’s established Trade Innovation solution. The tool provides users with context-aware assistance to help bridge knowledge gaps in the complex trade finance industry.

The global trade finance industry faces the challenge of a diminishing knowledge base as seasoned industry experts gradually leave the profession and are replaced by less experienced newcomers. Finastra’s Assist.AI has been designed to address this issue by offering prompt-based assistance, that allows users to enter specific questions related to trade finance processes. The tool provides precise answers sourced from a variety of resources without the need to sift through extensive documentation. Finastra claim that Assist.AI will help to boost efficiency by enabling banks to focus more strategic priorities.

Finastra claim that Assist.AI was developed after the vendor identified a significant talent gap in the trade finance industry as a result of its client interactions. As experienced staff retire or transition to other careers, banks need to invest in training new staff on the latest developments in trade finance and the use of Trade Innovation. Assist.AI uses Microsoft Copilot technology to facilitate this training and support, making it a timely and essential addition to the industry.

In recent years, the complex trade finance ecosystem has benefitted significantly from the application of other emerging technologies such as DLT and the sector has been a key area of investment in recent years (see: Trade finance emerges as blockchain’s new sweet spot). Transactions typically consist of multiple global stakeholders and involve considerable inertia and exposure to risk. Even a single transaction can have numerous parties and points of interface, giving rise to significant potential for error, confusion, dispute and financial loss. As a result, AI is likely to have a significant role to play in the industry going forward.

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 08:39

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Tuesday 11 February 2025

Capita expands Royal Navy training by £97m

CapitaHaving lost out to a Serco-led consortium on the megadeal to run the Armed Forces Recruitment Service (AFRS) announced just last week, Capita will be pleased to have expanded its Royal Navy training contract, originally signed back in 2021 (see Capita wins £1bn Royal Navy mega deal). This morning’s contract expansion announcement marks the 10th service transition under the existing contract and is to provide training for Marine Engineering within the Royal Navy at HMS Sultan, the home of Marine Engineering Training Group and the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School.

The contract expansion is worth some £97m over eight years to Capita and will bring the total contract value of its Royal Navy training contract to £1.3bn. The contract expansion will start in May of this year and run through to early 2033. The expansion into marine engineering training suggests growing confidence from the Royal Navy in Capita's capabilities and training methods and helps solidify its position in this growing sector of the Defence market. Under the contract expansion, Capita will deliver a range of services including training design and media, delivery, support, quality assurance, and equipment management. 

From a market perspective, this contract expansion aligns with the broader trend of military organisations outsourcing specialised training to private sector partners with Capita's focus on integrating new services with existing training frameworks while maintaining quality, reflects the changing demands of modern military training.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:14

Tags: training  

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Monday 10 February 2025

NTT Data highlights AI priorities in banking

NTTNTT DATA has published the findings of its latest research exploring the use of generative AI (GenAI) in the banking sector. The report, entitled “Intelligent banking in the Age of AI”, highlighted a significant increase in adoption of the technology with 58% of the financial services institutions fully embracing GenAI, up from 45% in 2023. Interestingly, the survey indicates that only 50% of the banks surveyed are looking to GenAI as a method of improving productivity and efficiency, whilst 49% believe the technology can help to reduce operational IT spend.

The findings of NTT Data’s new research indicate that the use of GenAI technology in the banking sector varies in terms of the motivation behind the investments being made. The disparity between the drivers of GenAI adoption in banking vary globally, with almost 59% of US banks looking to reduce their IT budgets and 47% keen to cut operating costs. However, only 43% of European banks highlighted cutting IT budgets as a priority whilst 36% were focused on reducing operating costs. Productivity was highlighted as the most important factor for European banks by 46% of respondents. 

NTT Data’s latest research indicates that 51% of financial services organisations are focusing on collaboration between humans and AI or a hybrid approach with existing systems (47%). Meanwhile, 28% of banks indicated that they are looking to fully automate certain tasks and remove the need for manual intervention entirely. UK institutions appear to be taking a relatively cautious approach in this regard, with 25% of UK banks looking to fully automate processes, compared to 32% in the Americas and 35% in Japan.

The NTT Data research emphasises just how quickly AI adoption is increasing and confirms our own analysis that many within the UK Financial Services sector are looking to significantly accelerate their use of this technology. There is something of a sense of urgency around GenAI in particular as organisations pursue early mover advantage in an effort to avoid falling behind their competitors (see: AI in Financial Services – Where the Rubber Hits the Road).

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:55

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Monday 10 February 2025

TechMarketView’s Research Agenda in Q1

With January under our belt, the TechMarketView Research Agenda for Q1 2025 is now full steam ahead. 

Across the agenda, our team will this quarter be producing analysis that underpins our 3Ds: Data, Depth, and Disruption.

Data
Our analysts have already published some key pieces providing insight into the UK tech market as it currently stands and how we expect activity to pan out. Notably, see our Market Outlook Update, which brings our view of the UK market bang up to date. If you are also a member of our Public Sector research programme, you can read our analysis on the trends and opportunities in Public Sector SITS Market Outlook Update. Stay tuned for our view on the Financial Services market out shortly. 

Depth
An excellent example of TechMarketView’s depth of analysis is our Sustainability Technology Activity Index (STAI). It brings unprecedented depth of understanding to the actions taken by tech firms and their customers to roll out sustainability-related solutions. With a global watchlist of over 1500 suppliers, the STAI give a unique view of activity by use cases areas (for example, ESG reporting, supply chain optimisation, and carbon capture & removal). We also look at the most commonly used tech and analyse suppliers by levels of activity. Read the report later in Q1. 

Disruption
If you want to understand just who the ‘next big thing’ will be, TechMarketView’s Disruptors & Innovators series brings to life our understanding of the exciting start-up and scale-up players operating in the UK. This quarter, coverage includes those operating in AI in sustainability and front office BPO. But it’s not just the leading-edge players TechMarketView can help you to understand, it is also the market opportunities. In our Emerging Markets Briefings this quarter, we look at AI-enabled crime and also how new regulations, DORA and CTPs, will impact the market.

For a big picture view of how the market is expected to evolve in 2025, check out this quarter’s View from the Chief Analyst and our Tech Confidence Index (both out later this quarter). And for our tech buyer clients, the latest Market Readiness Index: The Road to AI part 2, goes live. This is the concluding part of our in-depth analysis of the largest 20 IT service providers in the UK and their ability to deliver AI solutions for customers. See Part 1 here. This is only for those on our tech buyer programme, but it can be purchased as a standalone report.

It is safe to say, January, February, and March will bring yet another quarter of analysis that demonstrates TechMarketView’s unique understanding of the UK tech market. You can see the full Q1 Research Agenda here. Remember, this may be subject to change and/or additions.

To find out more about our research and how to gain access, please contact our Client Services team.

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 09:24

Tags: ResearchAgenda  

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Monday 10 February 2025

Banga surfaces as new Virtusa CEO

virtusa logoMassachusetts headquartered Digital Engineering and IT Services firm, Virtusa, has announced its new President and CEO.

Nitesh Banga will take over from Santosh Thomas as the company’s President and CEO. During his time at the firm, Thomas pushed forward a new strategic direction and oversaw a range of investments, including strategic acquisitions.

Banga seems an excellent choice to succeed Thomas. Prior to Virtusa, he was President and CEO at GlobalLogic from 2022. GlobalLogic, also a Digital Services provider, was acquired by Hitachi in 2021 for $9.6bn, with Banga playing an important role in the subsequent integration. In the UK, Virtusa has a focus on the financial services sector.

GlobalLogic’s new President and CEO is Srinivas (Srini) Shanker, who joined the firm in 2023. GlobalLogic is led in the UK by Vivek Daga.

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 08:40

Tags: people   digitalengineering  

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Monday 10 February 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* UK Public Sector SITS Market Outlook Update 2024

UK Public Sector SITS Market Outlook Update 2024. A research poster outlining this report's key objective: to provide a revision to TechMarketView's outlook on the UK Public Sector SITS market from 2024-27. The graphic displays an abstract green-to-blue graded painting.

Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00

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Friday 07 February 2025

AWS breaks $100bn revenue barrier

aws logoFY24 results out overnight from Amazon showed its Amazon Web Services (AWS) segment pushing past the $100bn threshold to hit revenue of $107.6bn. Sales were up 19% over the prior year. Furthermore, the growth rate was stronger, up from 13% in FY23. Amazon itself, meanwhile, grew net sales by 11% to $638bn with Q4 profits up 60%.

Not surprisingly, there has been a tonne of activity in 2024 around AI, including with AWS’s Trainium2 chips and broader AI/ML capability progress - for example, the release of Amazon Nova foundation models and the launch of the Bedrock marketplace. Notable new AWS customer wins included US Army, PayPal, Reddit, and Hertz, while the company also launched new regions in Thailand and Mexico.

In spite of all this activity, AWS generated profits (operating income) of $39.8bn, meaning it accounts for nearly 60% of Amazon’s profits.

Guidance for Amazon’s Q1 suggest net sales will slow to between 5.0% and 9.0%. There is also expected to be an “unusually large, unfavorable impact” from FX. This was clearly not music to the ears of the market as shares dipped about 5% in extended trading.

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 10:00

Tags: results  

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Friday 07 February 2025

iomart feels the growing pains

iomart logoA full-year trading update from iomart illustrates the pains that can come from pivoting into new markets.

The firm’s heritage in data centre hosting means it has a very long tail of small customers taking self-managed services. Today’s trading update details an “acceleration in customer churn” in this area, alongside “lower renewal levels” in its private cloud managed services business. In both instances, customers are following their own evolutionary journeys to hybrid cloud and/or public cloud. It’s not a new trend by any means, but it is one that can bring lower margin levels – and this challenge can be amplified when multiple customer sets pick up their pace of change.

Encouragingly, iomart is growing in newer offering areas, which means revenue for the full year to end March is expected to come in “broadly in line with market expectations”. The hit is at the profit level, with the Board anticipating that adjusted EBITDA will be c.10% below previously expected levels. Shares took a bit of beating this morning as a result.

In October 2024, iomart announced the acquisition of Atech, a pivotal move in its progression into more complex IT services. Putting Atech at the centre of this transition significantly increases iomart’s Microsoft capabilities and its presence in higher growth markets, such as cybersecurity and Data & AI. Long term, this is a very sound plan.

As iomart moves through its transition, there will of course be painful aspects. What’s important is that Lucy Dimes, CEO, and team do have a clear vision for where they’re heading. But the challenge for Dimes, who became CEO in late 2023, is two-fold. Firstly, she needs to make up for lost time and pivot the firm into those growth market segments at pace. Secondly, this is all happening under the spotlight of a public listing, with every move closely observed and judged. Not for the faint-hearted.

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 10:00

Tags: cloud   cyber  

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Friday 07 February 2025

NHS England awards key digital contracts

NHS EnglandNHS England has published several significant contract awards for digital projects over the last few weeks, including deals with Accenture, BJSS and Hippo Digital. All contracts were awarded via the Digital Capability for Health (DCFH) framework (RM6221), which was introduced in 2021 to provide a procurement vehicle for development and management services in the public health and care sector. 

The largest of these awards went to Accenture for work to support the NHS Appointments & Patient Choice programmes. The call-off contract, which runs for an initial 30-month period (to July 2027), with the option for two 12-month extensions, is worth up to £124.1m. Accenture will provide run, maintain, and development services to support the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS)—the national digital platform used to refer patients from primary care into elective care services—and NHS Wayfinder, which provides services that enable patients to access details of their appointments, referrals and elective care in the NHS App. 

BJSS, soon to be acquired by CGI, was awarded a three-year call-off contract worth up to £37.5m. The work covers the delivery of digital services to support the development of NHS.UK—the ‘one-stop’ online resource for NHS England patients, which receives c. 50 million visits each month—and to work on other major digital services, including the NHS App and Login. 

Hippo Digital secured a two-year call-off contract (with an optional six-month extension) to provide discovery, development, and delivery services to help strengthen NHS England’s in-house capability. This user-centred design work is worth up to £26.5m. 

As we discussed in our recently updated review of spending via the Digital Capability & Delivery frameworks, DCFH has become a significant procurement mechanism in healthcare. In 2023-24, spending was up 61% year-on-year to £162.5m (2022-23: £101.0m). During that year, BJSS, Hippo Digital, and Accenture accounted for 47% (£76.5m) of spend via this framework, with BJSS accounting for 27% (£43.3m) on its own. All three suppliers were appointed to the recently expanded DCFH2 framework (see Digital Capability for Health expands to 22 suppliers) and will be hoping to build on their success via its predecessor.

Posted by: Dale Peters at 09:53

Tags: nhs   contract   health   framework   digital   development   healthcare  

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Friday 07 February 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* UK Financial Services SITS Supplier Prospects 2025

TechMarketView has published its latest Supplier Prospects report for the UK Financial Services SITS market. This report profiles the performance and prospects of the top 10 leading SITS vendors (by revenue) active in the UK Financial Services sector. It explores the recent progress of each of these companies, highlights some of the latest developments and discusses their potential in 2025 and beyond.

SupplierProspectsOur latest analysis shows that only six of the vendors in the top 10 grew UK Financial Services SITS revenue by more than 1%, reflecting softer demand for new technology initiatives. The average growth rate was 6.8%, representing a significant reduction over the prior year. Despite this two vendors enjoyed double-digit growth, with the performance of the top 10 varying widely.

Subscribers to FinancialServicesViews can download UK Financial Services SITS Supplier Prospects 2025 now. If you do not currently have acces to this report but are interested in learning more, please contact Belinda Tewson for more details.

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:52

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Friday 07 February 2025

SS&C delivers improved profit as revenue climbs

SSandCSS&C Technologies, the global provider of services and software to the financial services and healthcare industries (and the owner of RPA specialist Blue Prism) has published its latest annual results. The full-year financials highlighted a healthy improvement in profit, coupled with a small uptick in revenue for the acquisitive US vendor. For the year ended 31 December 2024, global revenue was up 1.4% to $5.9bn, whilst net income showed a sharp turnaround, up 25.2% to $761.7m following last fiscal's 6.6% decline.

Software enabled services contributed full-year revenue of $4.84bn (82%) to the total, whilst Licenses and Maintenance provided the remaining $1.04 (18%). Encouragingly, SS&C enjoyed a strong final quarter, with the $1.53bn earned in Q4 up 8.4% on the same period in the prior fiscal $1.53bn. Meanwhile, at a segment level, SS&C’s Wealth and Investment Technologies business was up 7% in 2024 on an adjusted, organic basis, Intelligent Automation and Analytics was up 5.8%, Global Investor and Distribution Solutions (SS&C’s platform provides transfer agency and investor servicing) was up 3.8%, Intralinks (M&A data platform) was up 13.9%, GlobeOp (Fund Administration) was up 7% and Healthcare was down 4.3%.

In January 2025, Omnis Investments, a UK asset management firm with more than £10bn under management, and a longstanding client of SS&C, extended its transfer agency relationship with the company. Prior to that, in June 2024, UK-based investment group, Marlborough, selected SS&C, to provide fund accounting, middle-office and transfer agency services. As a result of that deal around 90 staff were transferred to SS&C, with those affected moved to a new centre of excellence for fund administration in Bolton. The CoE uses SS&C technology to automate processes and increase the efficiency of the fund administration operations services delivered to clients.

The Marlborough deal signalled SS&C’s intent to enhance its capabilities within the UK fund administration space as the US vendor continues to expand its middle-office and fund accounting services. In line with its "land and expand" strategy, SS&C is looking to grow its market share within the UK mutual fund administration sector. Meanwhile the US vendor, which owns RPA specialist, Blue Prism, is expected to prosper from the increasing use of automation and AI across the wider financial services sector.

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:45

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Friday 07 February 2025

A strong start for Ingenta, after delays drag FY24 revenues down

IngentaOxford-headquartered Ingenta, a provider of services to the global publishing industry, has released a trading update for FY24 (ended 31st December 2024).

The company expects to report revenues for the full year of £10.2m (down 6%) and EBITDA of £1.8m (down 18%). However it reported a ”substantially improved cash flow” of £900k (three times FY23’s figure), providing closing cash balances of £3.6m and no debt. The direction of travel for revenue performance had improved by year-end, compared to the mid-way point in the year (when we reported H1 2024 revenue down 10.5% year-over-year).

In anticipation of the reduction in revenues from “certain legacy services”, Ingenta has spent 2024 focused on “implementing new projects based on new generation software platforms”, however – as it announced in September 2024 (see Continued project delays drag Ingenta revenue down 10.5% in H2) – the company is experiencing implementation delays in a number of these, and so was not able to fully offset the effects of legacy revenue reductions during FY24.

Ingenta has begun FY25 showing good momentum in new business however, winning four contracts already this year (broadly spread across its Edify, IngentaConnect, and Commercial platforms), with aggregate values of £1.9m over 2-5 years – equating to the total amount of new business won during the entire first half of FY24. However, as the company has seen during FY24, converting wins into revenue can be a slog when project implementation delays begin to bite.

The company expects to take a hit on its EBITDA for FY25 (despite an anticipated increase in revenues) as a result of a planned £500k investment in its sales and marketing activities during the year.

Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 09:33

Tags: results   new business   delays  

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Friday 07 February 2025

Genpact FY benefits from Q4 AI-driven uplift

GenpactGenpact's Q4 2024 results reveal a significant shift towards AI and technology services, with Data-Tech-AI revenues showing strong growth of 11.9% YoY, now comprising 48% of total revenue. This performance underscores the company's strategic transformation from its traditional BPO roots to a tech-led services provider.

The company's full-year performance, with revenues reaching $4.77bn (up +6.5%), demonstrates a solid performance given its slow start (Slow going at Genpact), though margins show some pressure with net income declining -19% YoY. However, record new bookings of $5.7bn (up +15%) suggest decent market momentum and sales performance.

Looking ahead to 2025, Genpact's guidance of 5.5-7.5% revenue growth indicates cautious optimism, with the continued emphasis on Data-Tech-AI services. The 11% dividend increase, and proposed $500m share repurchase reflect management's confidence in future cash generation - always a positive sign.

Under new CEO Balkrishan Kalra, Genpact appears to be accelerating its pivot towards AI-driven transformation services. The company's focus on industry-specific domain expertise combined with AI capabilities positions it well in the increasingly competitive digital services market. However, the margin pressure suggests ongoing investments in capability building and potential pricing pressures in its traditional services. This strategic repositioning, while promising, will require careful delivery to maintain profitable growth while managing the continuing transition from legacy operations to higher-value AI services.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:05

Tags: results  

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Friday 07 February 2025

Serco wins UK Armed Forces recruitment megadeal

Serco2025 is already looking up for Business Process Outsourcer (BPO) Serco with news out yesterday that it has won the deal to run the Armed Forces Recruitment Service (AFRS). In a landmark move that signals a significant shift in UK military recruitment strategy, Serco has secured a contract potentially worth up to £1.5bn to deliver an integrated recruitment service across all branches of the UK Armed Forces. Previously all three main services (Army, Royal Navy, RAF) recruited separately, sometimes competing for talent. In what is probably one of the world’s largest and most coveted Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) deals will also be a significant blow to rival outsourcer Capita which has run Army recruitment since that was first outsourced back in 2012 (see Capita trumps Serco for key Army recruitment contract).

AFRS marks the first time recruitment has been unified across the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, and Strategic Command. This integration suggests a recognition of evolving workforce dynamics and the need for streamlined military talent acquisition in an increasingly competitive labour market. The contract's structure, featuring a seven-year initial term valued at £1bn with potential extensions, indicates longer-term thinking in defence recruitment planning. A 21-month mobilisation period, beginning April 2025, reflects the difficulty of implementing such a major system transformation.

Particularly noteworthy is the emphasis on technology integration and candidate experience, suggesting a shift away from the more traditional military recruitment approaches. The blended workforce model, incorporating both civilian and military personnel, points to a hybrid approach that could become a blueprint for future defence support services and builds on lessons learnt from the Army recruitment experience.

Serco will lead a consortium of specialised partners for AFRS. Key partners include Pegasystems, providing recruitment technology and automation; Adecco, bringing workforce solutions expertise and defence recruitment experience; TMP, handling recruitment marketing; Optima Health, managing health assessments; PA Consulting, delivering defence innovation expertise; and MPCT, offering pre-military training. The team combines Serco as the prime contractor with specialist capabilities across technology, marketing, healthcare, and training to deliver an integrated recruitment solution.

For Serco, this contract strengthens its position in the defence services sector and represents a significant expansion of its existing relationship with the MOD. However, the extended mobilisation period and upfront cost structure may impact near-term profitability, with implementation costs being charged as incurred through early 2027.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:17

Tags: contract   defence   bpo   RPO  

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Friday 07 February 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* Plans and Progress of UK Government AI Adoption

Plans and Progress of UK Government AI Adoption. A research poster covering the report's main objective: to evaluate the progress of the UK government's AI pilots and plans to accelerate adoption across public departments and the civil service. The graphic displays an abstract green-to-blue graded painting.

Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00

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Thursday 06 February 2025

Cognizant sees momentum in FY24

cognizant logoCognizant's fourth quarter and FY24 results, released overnight, show the firm grew revenue by 1.9% (constant currency). Full year adjusted operating margin was slightly ahead of last year at 15.3% (20 basis points ahead, and above the firm's guidance).

Q1 guidance is for increased revenue growth (6.5-8.0% in constant currency) and an adjusted operating margin increase of 20-40 basis points.

Importantly, we've seen ongoing investments in Cognizant's portfolio. Notably, this has played out in its AI-led platforms; it was a Leading Pack supplier in last year's TechMarketView "Market Readiness Index: The Road to AI" for tech buyers. The firm's acquisition strategy has also been well executed, and we see great potential in the Thirdera and Belcan additions.

At the UK level, the figures don't reflect an accurate picture of performance. While the official data shows the UK declining in both Q4 and the full FY24, this is due to a technicality relating to a change in revenue recognition for a particular contract. The work is now being billed in North America. Indeed, our analysis of Cognizant's UK performance suggests momentum was building in Q3 and Q4, and the business is indeed growing. Recently announced deals include Home Office, McDonald’s, and HMRC.

UK customers should also take note of the potential of the Belcan and Thirdera acquisitions. These both hold notable potential for 2025, and we look forward to seeing how Cognizant uses them to support customers and strengthen its own growth further.

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 10:00

Tags: results  

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