Month: October 2016

EOA France — October 27 | Events

Vice president, Research, Sarah Burnett will discuss the potential challenges, cost savings and opportunities RPA brings providers at this October 27 event hosted by the EOA France, in partnership with Accenture, Everest Group and Redwood Robotics.

When
October 27, 2016
8:00 – 10:15 a.m.

Where
Axe France
118, avenue de France
75013 Paris, France

Speakers
Sarah Burnett – Vice President, Everest Group
Michael Cable – Chief Evangelist, Redwood Robotics
Eric Rigal – Executive Director, Accenture

Learn more and register

ASA Staffing World 2016 — October 25-27 | Events

Vice President of Research Relations Katrina Menzigian will co-lead a panel discussion on emerging global solutions on day two of the 2016 ASA Staffing World conference.

Attendees will dive into the competitive global staffing landscape with international industry executives to discuss critical developments within the global services industry that can strengthen and expand dialogue within the marketplace.

They will also learn from the panel how types of service providers, including recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and managed service provider (MSP), are tapping into existing industry market share. For established firms to be competitive in the future, their talent acquisition approaches must evolve and be agile.

Date and Location

October 25-27 in San Diego, CA at the ASA Convention & Expo

Who Should Attend

Attendees who want to learn how their firms can stay ahead of the curve that is changing the staffing and recruiting process forever

Panel Members

  • Katrina Menzigian, Vice President, Research Relations, Everest Group
  • Christopher Hartman, Global Development Officer, Allegis Group
  • John W. Healy, VP and Managing Director, Kelly Services Inc.
  • Rebecca Henderson, Group President, Talent Solutions Group, Randstad Professionals

Learn more

Infosys Promotes over 170 Top Executives | In the News

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Group, said Infosys has had a lot of executive turnover and this fills the gaps that have been left. “Second, they may be handing out promotions in an attempt to stem the talent loss and the hope is that a promotion will keep key talent,” he said.

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Procurement Analytics 3.0 – Leveraging Technology for Greater Business Outcomes | Webinar

Thursday, November 10 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET

Vice President of BPS Megan Weis and Senior Analyst Vatsal Gupta will be co-presenters at a November 10 webinar titled Procurement Analytics 3.0 – Leveraging Technology for Greater Business Outcomes. Paul Blake, Senior Manager of Product Marketing at GEP will also be a lead presenter during the webinar.

To thrive in today’s complex world, buyers of global outsourcing services are looking to their providers for next-generation models which not only lower cost, but leverage new tools and technologies to drive better business outcomes. In procurement, this next-generation model is squarely focused on analytics.

For many enterprises, procurement analytics begins – and ends – with spend analysis. Best-in-class procurement teams, however, are leveraging innovative analytics techniques and technology – in new areas – to drive greater value across their source-to-pay (S2P) processes. How can your procurement team do the same? In this session, experts from Everest Group and GEP will discuss how procurement organizations can apply next-gen analytics tools across S2P processes to improve their team’s overall reach and impact on the enterprise. They will also share key levers and best practices to help you successfully operationalize advanced procurement analytics.

Presenters

  • Megan Weis, VP Business Process Services at Everest Group
  • Vatsal Gupta, Senior Analyst at Everest Group
  • Paul Blake, Senior Manager of Product Marketing at GEP

Register to attend

Bots for Enterprise Collaboration: Why We Can’t Say No Anymore | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

Nearly every executive we speak with during digital services research bemoans the issue of enterprise-wide collaboration, and why, despite so many enabling platforms (one proudly counted 29), they struggle to get meaningful information out to the intended user in a reasonable time.

Indeed, enterprises have invested a fortune to ensure knowledge management platforms, collaboration platforms, messaging systems, documentation system, and what not make the required information available to the seekers. They have built extensive enterprise search functionalities across these platforms to help anyone looking for the information. But, it simply does not work. As enterprise search tends to be highly siloed, and CRM, HCM, F&A, Procurement, HR, and other platforms rarely talk to each other. This means information seekers need to query multiple systems, and/or multiple people, to unearth the needed information.

Enter the bots, without the hype. The key agenda of top enterprise collaboration companies such as Microsoft and IBM is to build artificial intelligence (AI) into their collaboration platforms to make it intuitive for users to receive information and jointly solve problems. Smaller but innovative tech companies, such as Slack, are trying to introduce more learning capabilities into enterprise collaboration and search platforms. And with Facebook and Google increasing their focus on this segment – with all players focusing on a massive cross application data crunching engine which can answer queries in a short time – the landscape will rapidly transform.

So, for example, an executive could simply ask an AI bot for the information she requires, rather than sending emails to ten different people. The bot could then crunch the massive data across the enterprise, in all the applications, and get the right answer. But the possibilities extend far beyond this. Think about bots acting not only as servile assistants that answer when the master asks, but also tell executives they are wasting too much time on finding requested information and suggest a remedy to move forward.

Now, think about executives needs that resides outside of the enterprise. Trends such as, IoT are clearly showing that partnership is the lifeline of any digital business. However, this necessarily implies close and fruitful collaboration between the partners. The existing enterprise collaboration and search platforms, which are struggling to meet basic demands, are just not geared to meet this cross application, cross team, and cross companies collaboration. With bots coming into play, there will be tremendous productivity gains for all stakeholders, including faster time to market and better collaboration.

While its true that most technology companies have just made initial plans to enhance enterprise search and embed AI+bots into their collaboration platforms, I still believe we’re not far from a time in which bots helping executives will become a reality in enterprises. Yes, there will be a lot of investments, change management, and user education required; however, this is nothing different than adoption of other technologies.

My sense is enterprises that adopt these technologies sooner than later are bound to reap healthy rewards. Those that embrace bot-enabled collaboration as a “must have,” without which survival will increasingly be difficult, stand to gain significant competitive advantage and innovation.

Future of IT Operations | Webinar

Thursday, November 10, 2016 | 11 a.m .- 12 p.m. ET | 8-9 a.m. PT | 3-4 p.m. GMT

Research Vice President Chirajeet Sengupta will be a lead presenter an upcoming webinar titled The Future of IT Operations and hosted by L&T Infotech. Amit Bhattacharjee, Global Head, Infrastructure Management Services at L&T Infotech will also lead the webinar with Chirajeet.

Recently, Everest Group and L&T Infotech worked on a joint PoV on Adaptive Converged Operations, which highlighted the challenge of balancing cost, speed and user experience. The one-hour session on November 10 will throw light on how this challenge could be possibly overcome by a shift in delivery, technology and talent models.

Presenters

  • Chirajeet Sengupta – Vice President of Research at Everest Group
  • Amit Bhattacharjee, Global Head, Infrastructure Management Services at L&T Infotech

Register for the webinar

 

Appirio to be Wipro’s SaaS Weapon | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

Wipro’s acquisition of Indianapolis-based Appirio – which provides cloud consulting services and helps organizations move applications to the cloud – will help increase its portfolio in the SaaS market and highlights a change in Wipro’s strategy from traditional outsourcing provider to new age company, placing a long-term bet on digital transformation. It will also add further steam to the cloud race among top-tier IT service providers.

Appirio Fast Facts
Appirio was founded in 2006 and has received US$111.7 million in funding from investors including Fidelity Management, General Atlantic, GGV Capital, Salesforce, and Sequoia Capital. It has around 1,250 employees, offices in Dublin, Indianapolis, Jaipur, London, San Francisco, and Tokyo, and renowned logos as clients – Facebook, HomeDepot, Honeywell, NYSE, Sony Playstation, Starbucks, and Toyota, to name just a few.

What can Wipro aim to gain?
Strategic Partner for Salesforce Implementation – Salesforce implementation contributes the most revenue in Wipro’s SaaS implementation services, and Wipro is known for its complex transformation-led projects in the CRM space. The Appirio acquisition will further strengthen its position as a leading Salesforce consultant.

Cloud Transformation Expertise – Wipro will be able to consolidate its existing Salesforce and Workday cloud application practices to launch a new practice with a comprehensive suite of cloud services under the Appirio brand. The new brand, if marketed well, can bring an uptick in Wipro’s CRM market share.

Enhanced Customer Experience – Appirio has established its name in the market by delivering an exceptional customer experience to its clients. Wipro’s global delivery capabilities combined with Appirio’s customer focus can help cross-sell CRM services to its existing client base.

Improved Market Outlook – The acquisition will help Wipro marginally move towards its highly aspirational target to exceed US$15 billion in revenue by 2020. Wipro forecasted a muted outlook for the July-September 2016 quarter, and a posted 2.6 percent rise in revenue in the previous quarter. Appirio has been a strong competitor to the likes of Accenture and Deloitte, which have gained considerable share in the cloud market, and joining forces with
Wipro will help it achieve its vision.

Acquisition Strategy – Including the Appirio acquisition, Wipro has spent US$1.13 billion in the last year on buying companies. It acquired Denmark-based design firm DesignIT for US$95 million, German technology company Cellent for US $78 million, and U.S.-based technology firm HealthPlan Services for US$460 million. Wipro’s strategy to enhance its portfolio of services by acquiring niche startups, a clear departure from its previous strategy of fewer acquisitions, will get a boost from the Appirio purchase.

What should Wipro be careful about?

Topcoder Marketplace Integration – Appirio in 2013 bought Topcoder, a leading crowdsourcing marketplace it combined with CloudSpokes to create a community of 1,000,000 designers, developers, and data analytics experts. It will be interesting to see how Wipro is able to integrate Topcoder and align to the interests of those in the community who are usually averse to working with an IT service provider.

Reaping long-term synergies – As exhibited by many unsuccessful acquisitions in the industry, it is not easy to reap benefits and synergies from a strategy acquisition. It will be worth watching how Wipro is able to expand its digital transformation capabilities with the integration of Appirio into its cloud transformation practice.

Race for Cloud Consulting Acquisitions
While acquisitions in the CRM space have not been as profound as in the digital space, providers are increasingly acquiring their cloud companies and partners to promote their cloud first agenda:

  • In September 2015, Accenture bought Cloud Sherpas, a leader in cloud advisory and technology services specializing in Google, Salesforce, and ServiceNow
  • In April 2016, IBM bought Bluewolf, one of Salesforce’s top partners and a global leader in cloud consulting and implementation services
  • In March 2016, IBM acquired Optevia, a U.K.-based SaaS system integrator that specializes in delivering solutions, specifically Microsoft Dynamics, to government entities
  • In January 2016, Accenture acquired Netherlands-based CRMWaypoint , a company that specializes in Salesforce cloud solutions for sales, service, and marketing
  • In January 2016, Capgemini acquired Oinio, a leading European Salesforce partner, to augment its capabilities in Salesforce solutions and platform across Europe and Asia
  • In January 2016, Cognizant acquired KBACE Technologies, a global technology company specializing in cloud strategy and implementation, and a leading Oracle Cloud partner
  • In September 2015, Microsoft purchased the key product and technology assets of its Dynamic CRM partner ADxstudio.

With the completion of this acquisition, what will the future hold for independent cloud consulting firms – and Appirio competitors – such as Acumen Solutions and Celigo? Will top IT service providers continue to quickly expand their capabilities through acquisitions, or instead make long term investments in reskilling their existing workforce? Only time will tell, but we’ll be sure to keep our eyes on this space.

Argentina’s Tech Sector on the Cusp of A Boom, but Obstacles Remain | In the News

Overall, Argentina’s outsourcing, or “near-shoring” sector boasts 105,000-115,000 full-time equivalent positions (FTEs) in global services, according to industry tracker Everest Group. That makes it the leader in South America and only about 20,000 FTEs behind Latin America tech services leader Mexico.

Despite macroeconomic instability in recent years, Argentina continues to witness new center set-up activity,” said Salil Dani, Everest Group’s vice president of global sourcing.

In the last 24 months, 12 new outsourcing service providers have opened there, matching Mexico and more than doubling the pace in much larger Brazil, Everest data shows, although still well behind India.

Read more

MACRA Nails it as the Next Big Bang of Reforms in Healthcare | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

On Friday, October 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the United States released a humongous, 2398-page rule to implement new value-based payment programs under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).

This release is a significant step forward in streamlining Medicare payments, and establishing what “value” will mean in the much debated Value-Based Reimbursement (VBR) programs.

Here’s our initial take on this release, in order of what I liked most about the rules.

CMS is making the right noises: As the CMS acting administrator, Andy Slavitt, put it, “…..changes to the rule were to help physicians focus on delivering care and seeing patients instead of performing administrative tasks.” The term in bold represented the point of conflict between a right thinking, efficiency-focused regulator and unnecessarily overburdened physicians.

How is some of this getting addressed?

Reduces confusion over quality improvement: The new set of rules consolidates three existing quality reporting programs — Physician Quality Reporting System, Value-based Payment Modifier, and Meaningful Use (MU))– and a new performance category into a single system through Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS.) The definition of “merit” or value was never clearer. Here is a snapshot of the scoring model that defines the four performance categories and their weights:

MACRA Healthcare

Pick Your Pace (PYP): In order to make the above operational, CMS is allowing providers to pick their own pace, (see Andy Slavitt’s blog for more details), and choose from three data submission options or join an advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM):

  • Test the program
  • Submit 90 days of data
  • Submit a full year of data

Enabling consortiums: CMS now allows MIPS reporting as a group, enabling smaller providers to get a better deal. What this means is that a group of clinicians sharing a common Tax Identification Number (irrespective of specialty or practice site) can group together to receive payments based on the group’s performance. This will foster necessary consolidation in the ambulatory space.

Relaxes exclusion norms through APMs: Providers not eligible for MIPS can still receive a bonus payment for meeting performance criteria through qualifying APMs. The inclusion criteria are clearer than before, and the nervousness caused by stringent exclusion norms is largely addressed.

Last, but not least, provides a further fillip to IT: While use of certified EHR technology will continue to give providers brownie points for performance, the following five required measures that CMS has mandated for providers will further boost technology adoption:

  • Security risk analysis
  • E-prescribing
  • Provide patient access
  • Sending summary of care
  • Request/accept summary of care

Net-net, this new rules release is a great move forward toward settling the debate on “value,” and will energize the healthcare industry to spend more on technology. As you wade through the 2398 pages, watch this space for more of our explanations and perspectives on this topic.

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