Setups of Global Business Services centers increase in India and China, providing evidence of post-COVID economic recovery
In its latest quarterly report on the global outsourcing industry, Everest Group revealed outsourcing demand held steady from Q3 to Q4 2021, with 404 transactions reported in each quarter. Activity in offshore locations experienced an increase, providing evidence of post-COVID economic recovery, particularly in India and China; however, offshore activity has not yet reached pre-COVID levels.
Notable Global Services Trends in Q3 2021:
Key Service Provider Developments:
Everest Group’s Market Vista Report
In its newly published report, “Market Vista™: Q1 2022,” Everest Group highlights the key trends and developments in the fast-evolving global offshoring and outsourcing market. The study provides data, analysis and insights on major outsourcing deals, Global Business Services (GBS) market dynamics, trends in offshoring from emerging destinations, and service provider developments (including latest developments on next-generation technologies such as digital services). The report includes assessments of 29 leading service providers, including 4 engineering services providers.
In its on-demand webinar, Key Global Services Trends Shaping 2022, Everest Group experts break down key global services market developments and explore trends in outsourcing and the global in-house market. The speakers also report insights on talent, location activity, service provider M&A activity, and the key trends likely to shape the global services industry in 2022.
About Everest Group
Everest Group is a research firm focused on strategic IT, business services, engineering services, and sourcing. Our research also covers the technologies that power those processes and functions and the related talent trends and strategies. Our clients include leading global companies, service and technology providers, and investors. Clients use our services to guide their journeys to maximize operational and financial performance, transform experiences, and realize high-impact business outcomes. Details and in-depth content are available at http://www.everestgrp.com.
The National Retail Federation, industry analysts, and economists alike have debunked the idea that the retail industry is struggling, dying, or on the verge of an apocalypse. While some retailers and CPG manufacturers have sung their last swan song, many are dramatically transforming their businesses to effectively compete – and indeed, thrive – in the dynamically changing marketplace.
As part of this transformation, retail and CPG firms are evolving their sourcing strategy for: industry-specific processes including sourcing and procurement, merchandising and inventory management operations, sales and marketing, and customer experience; and horizontal processes like IT services, digital services, compliance and quality, and corporate functions such as F&A, contact center, and HR.
Our recently released Industry Insights – Retail and CPG report looks at the changing shape and flavor of sourcing in the industry.
Here are the four key takeaways from the report.
Historically, retail and CPG firms leveraged third-party service providers to deliver a broad range of services such as IT, F&A, and HR. However, in the past several years, many have invested in building what we call Global In-house Centers, or GICs. These in-house shared services centers (SSCs) give them more flexibility and control over the quality of work and reduce their costs. And they’re not only delivering standard back-office processes; they’re also building strong capabilities in areas such as store layout management, pricing optimization, custom application development, financial planning and analysis, customer sentiment analysis, predictive threat monitoring, and other digital services. For example, a US-based retail SSC in Bangalore, India, is developing a new order management system to scrape competitors’ websites for pricing data.
Just like SSCs, third-party service providers in the retail and CPG stage are also upping their game. They’re not only delivering rules-based and transactional tasks, but also much more advanced services like cybersecurity, blockchain, ERP implementation and maintenance, and legal services.
Retail and CPG firms choose their sourcing delivery destinations based on their competencies, just as enterprises in other industries do. They typically leverage locations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), such as Poland, for marketing and analytics, and India for business process services – including those specific to the retail industry – IT and digital services. The Philippines and other APAC countries offer capabilities such as customer service (both voice and non-voice) and regional language delivery of accounting services, while LATAM primarily supports the U.S. market.
As is the case with most industries, India has emerged as the most popular offshore location for retail companies’ SSC setups, delivering both business process services and IT/digital services (product analytics, application design and development, R&D, etc.) to North America and Europe. In fact, a U.S.-based retailer’s GIC in Bangalore, India, provides it a full suite of solutions including technology, marketing, HR, finance, merchandizing, supply chain, property development, and analytics and reporting services.
To help make sure their digital strategies are up-to-date, CPG and retail firms are opening dedicated R&D and innovation labs in offshore locations with the help of third-party providers and GICs to support them in automation, analytics, cloud, and social media services. And with the spread of e-commerce and mounting competition, some retailers have started employing engineering talent in India to build pricing systems that determine how demand would respond to a change in price.
As part of the broader digital agenda, some centers have also started exploring the use of AI for certain activities within operations and sales/marketing, such as store layout and pricing optimization, as well as RPA solutions for automating rule-based processes. For instance, Tech Mahindra signed a contract with a Nordic retailer for end-to-end managed services, wherein it will automate and consolidate the retailer’s existing IT infrastructure and enhance the end-customer experience through digital solutions.
Going forward, we expect both service providers and GICs in the retail space to evolve their capabilities with an increased focus on the use of digital technologies such as analytics, automation, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality, and IoT. These advanced capabilities will help retailers stake their claim in the highly competitive marketplace.
To learn more about sourcing in the retail and CPG space, please read our recently published Industry Insights – Retail and CPG report, or connect directly with the authors Bharath M and Sana Jamal.
Enterprises increasingly outsourcing engineering services, including software engineering, mechanical engineering, and embedded engineering.
The global sourcing industry posted a decline in transactions in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to Q4 2018, dropping from 551 transactions to 501, according to Everest Group. Conversely, Q1 saw Global In-house Center (GIC) activity increase vis-à-vis Q4 2018, with the number of new GIC setups and expansions increasing in onshore as well as offshore and nearshore locations.
Everest Group also identified these Q1 global sourcing trends in its recently released Market Vista™: Q2 2019 report:
Large financial services firms, especially banks, are increasingly looking to expand their in-house IT teams and insource parts of their outsourced IT services portfolios.
The United Kingdom witnessed a significant decline in outsourcing activity, primarily due to a decline in contracts signed by banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) enterprises in anticipation of Brexit.
Western Europe saw increased activity driven by an increase in set-ups of engineering-focused GICs in Germany by manufacturing firms and an increase in IT-focused service provider delivery centers in the Netherlands given its skilled and multi-lingual talent pool and well-developed digital infrastructure.
Indian-heritage service providers increased product-focused investment, mainly driven by next-generation technologies and competition from global majors. For example, Genpact acquired RiskCanvas to access its suite of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solutions, and Tech Mahindra partnered with Rakuten Mobile Network to open a next-generation (4G and 5G) software-defined network lab.
Market Vista™: Q2 2019 features a profile of enterprise spending on engineering R&D (ER&D) and the increasing adoption of outsourcing services in this industry segment. Business ER&D spending stood at over US$739 billion in 2018, with global engineering sourcing constituting 10.9%, or approximately US$80.5 billion. Engineering service providers command a 51% share of this sourcing segment, while GICs account for 49%.
“Since 2016, engineering service providers have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5%, while GIC activity expanded only 6.8% in this same three-year period,” said H. Karthik, partner, Global Sourcing, at Everest Group. “We’re definitely seeing a trend here as enterprises such as Google, Samsung, and Ford explore engagement with engineering service providers and reap the benefits of offshoring. We’ll see this trend continue as service providers invest in building their capabilities in software engineering, mechanical engineering, and embedded engineering.”
Market Vista™: Q2 2019 also addresses major outsourcing deals, Global In-house Centers (GICs) developments, location risks and opportunities, and service provider developments (including latest developments on next-generation technologies such as digital services).
***Download a complimentary 20-page abstract of the report***
About Everest Group
Everest Group is a consulting and research firm focused on strategic IT, business services, engineering services, and sourcing. We are trusted advisors to senior executives of leading enterprises, providers, and investors. Our firm helps clients improve operational and financial performance through a hands-on process that supports them in making well-informed decisions that deliver high-impact results and achieve sustained value. Our insight and guidance empowers clients to improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness, agility and responsiveness. What sets Everest Group apart is the integration of deep sourcing knowledge, problem-solving skills and original research. Details and in-depth content are available at http://www.everestgrp.com.
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So you’ve decided your procurement function needs to “go digital” with its software solution needs.
But where to begin? How do you buy this stuff?
“You start with having your business challenges in mind,” says Michel Janssen, one half of the “CRO-to-CRO” discussion pairing we’ve been spotlighting with a series of videos over the last couple of weeks.
Read more in Spend Matters
In an age in which sustainable advantage is increasingly transient, organizations need to adapt endlessly – to the point of embedding innovation in their business DNA. Consequently, the historically predominant CXO “delivery” mindset is shifting to a “business outcome” mindset. Firms that fail to adapt to rapid technological advances, constantly evolving customer expectations and intensifying global competition may find themselves unable to compete.
Rohitashwa Aggarwal and Parul Jain explain more about innovation in an article in Intelligent Sourcing
Global Sourcing Map 2018
India and the Philippines continue to dominate the global services market with followers in nearshore locations rapidly evolving
Sourcing center setups at all-time high in Q2, driven by increased location activity in Nearshore Europe, Middle East
The global sourcing industry experienced a lucrative Q2 2018, marking notable rises in outsourcing demand, setups of global in-house centers (GICs) and service provider revenues compared to Q1, according to Everest Group. In addition, Everest Group reports that overall location activity was at an all-time high (87 setups of delivery centers by GICs and service providers during the quarter) due to significant increases in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Middle East.
Everest Group discusses these and other second-quarter developments in the sourcing industry in its recently released Market Vista™: Q3 2018 report. The quarterly report highlights the trends in the fast-evolving global sourcing market, exploring the key developments across outsourcing transactions and Global In-house Centers (GICs), as well as location risks and opportunities, and service provider developments.
“We’re coming off a great second quarter for the global services industry as a whole,” said Salil Dani, vice president at Everest Group. “For starters, location activity was at an all-time high and transaction activity rose in comparison to Q1. More than two dozen of the world’s leading companies announced plans to expand or set up new centers, which is a strong indication that enterprises anticipate that the market will continue to validate their sourcing strategies in the near future. We expect that this positive momentum will continue through the remainder of the year, which suggests the global sourcing industry will post significantly improved metrics compared to 2017.”
***Register for Complimentary Webinar***
Everest Group will review the findings of the “Market Vista: Q3 2018” report in a webinar to be held on Wednesday, August 29, at 9 am CDT. In addition, Everest Group presenters will address the results of a brief survey the firm recently conducted with leading service providers to gauge their market perspectives for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019. Register here for the complimentary, 60-minute webinar, “Service Provider Vantage Point, Plus Q3 2018 Market Vista™ Briefing.”
Additional highlights from the Market Vista: Q3 2018 report:
***Download a complimentary 14-page abstract of the report findings here.*** (Registration required.)
Adoption of digital services is crossing the line from pilots to large-scale programs; will require knowing how to build portfolios of the future, according to Everest Group
Everest Group’s predictions that 2017 would see continued market slowdown and technology-led disruption in sourcing were right on the money. Growth of outsourcing services slowed in 2017 and, for the first time ever, digital-focused outsourcing deals surpassed traditional transactions in Q4 2017.
Other key market trends witnessed in 2017 include:
So, what does 2018 hold for the sourcing industry?
On Thursday, February 15, at 9 a.m. CST, Everest Group experts, including CEO Peter Bendor-Samuel, Salil Dani, H. Karthik, Michel Janssen, and Eric Simonson, will host a complimentary webinar to review 2017’s industry shifts and share their predictions for 2018.
***Register Here for Complimentary Webinar***
The webinar—“Q1 2018 Market Vista™ Briefing: 2017 in Review & 2018 Predictions”—will cover the key forces and metrics defining the market, including trends in outsourcing, digital adoption, and the Global In-house Center (GIC) market, as well as insights into location activity in offshore and nearshore geographies.
Research analysts will also provide findings from the Market Vista™ quarterly report series. The most recent report, Market Vista: Select Findings Q1 2018, was released yesterday and covers key developments in Q4 2017, such as:
“As reflect throughout 2017, outsourcing transaction activity in Q4 was driven by an increased adoption of digital services, and we are certain the trend will continue in 2018 as more enterprises move beyond pilot projects to large digital programs,” said Michel Janssen, chief research guru at Everest Group. “This continuing trend will have implications for all stakeholders – and will only be buoyed by positive economic factors and other geopolitical dynamics at play.”
***Download a complimentary abstract of “Market Vista: Select Findings Q1 2018” here.***
About Market Vista™
Market Vista —a subscription-based service of Everest Group—provides the research, analysis and insights that enable Global Sourcing professionals to navigate the complexity of today’s sourcing market and make informed and impactful decisions. Market Vista research includes developments related to service providers, locations, processes and sourcing models, as well as a comprehensive outlook of the fast-evolving global offshoring and outsourcing market.
The engineering services industry is one of the most interesting segments in the global services landscape today.
Compared to IT and business process services, the global engineering services market is much smaller, at approximately US$ 90 billion. It is also growing much faster, at approximately 15 percent per year.
The bulk of the growth is going to be driven by a need to reimagine global sourcing of engineering services, in line with the progression of enterprise digitalization strategies.
Everest Group believes there are four distinct objectives behind digital engineering strategies:
Everest Group recommends enterprises follow a “3E” approach to shaping their engineering services global sourcing strategy:
Visit our engineering services page for more insights on engineering services global sourcing strategies.
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