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TechMarketView’s new report on the use of Cloud in the Financial Services sector, is available to FinancialServicesViews subscribers here.
Pressure to act to solve legacy issues, reduce costs and meet the ever-growing demands of end customers is expected to result an acceleration of the use of Cloud Services in this important sector throughout 2014. The sector is a special case with respect to Cloud Services with the presence of large complex legacy systems, intrusive regulation and extended partner ecosystems. Currently the Cloud Services business in the sector is dominated by IaaS, either in private clouds or increasingly in public clouds as sector companies cope with growth in mobile channels and begin to explore the opportunities in Big Data.
The move to a greater use of cloud will be difficult and will take some time. Customers will want to know that their vendors can provide good strategic advice, take responsibility for security, data integrity and reliability and deliver to exceptionally high standards. TechMarketView considers that companies that can take over the role of strategic advisor in this move to cloud will be in the strongest position in terms of securing long-term relationships and good margins.
The use of Cloud Services is still in its early stages within the sector and it is difficult to predict exactly the timing of a real breakthrough or the eventual shape of the market. However, we consider that the market overview and the company profiles within the report will give you a clear understanding of the issues and opportunities within this vital sector.
If you are not yet a subscriber to FinancialServicesViews, please contact Deb Seth of our Client Services team. Also – look out for our forthcoming study of Cloud Services from InfrastructureViews.
Posted by Peter Roe at '08:49'
Just a reminder that registrations are now open for the fourth in our series of Little British Battler events, to be held in London on Wednesday 23rd April 2014.
This time we are particularly seeking to meet companies that are playing to our main theme for 2014 – Race for Change. The theme alludes to a challenge that companies face today more so than ever before – to embrace technological change before nimbler competitors eat their lunch!
We want to hear from CEOs of small, privately-held, UK-owned software and IT services companies that can demonstrate that they are ‘in the race’ – either because of the way they are using technology to change their own businesses to disrupt incumbent players in their market; or because their technologies are transforming the way their customers do business to disrupt their established competitors.
As usual we will select twelve CEOs to meet the TechMarketView research team in central London in closed session to present their company and its market propositions. In return we will give unbiased, constructive feedback based on our extensive knowledge and experience of the UK software and IT services market. Each session lasts 50 minutes and there is no fee or commitment involved.
The twelve companies will also be featured in UKHotViews, the most highly regarded and widely read source of opinion and commentary on the UK IT scene, and in a special research report distributed to selected ‘movers and shakers’ in industry and government.
Many of the CEOs who participated in previous Little British Battler events have seen real benefit to their company in terms of increased market visibility and access to new business opportunities (see here for just a sample). This is an unparalleled chance to get your company on the radar of the UK’s premier software and IT services research firm.
Candidate companies must be headquartered in the UK (i.e. not subsidiaries of foreign firms), privately held (though may have accepted external funding), with annual revenues under £25m. Companies must derive the substantial majority of their revenues from software and/or IT services and/or IT-enabled business process services.
If you want to apply, please click here and fill in the registration form (you may apply again if you were previously unsuccessful).
The closing date for registrations is Friday 14th March. We aim to notify successful applicants by Friday 28th March.
Should you have any questions, please email us at lbb@techmarketview.com.
The TechMarketView Little British Battler programme is run in association with corporate finance firm MXC Capital.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:24' - Tagged: lbb
The first quarter of 2014 is shaping up to be an exciting time in the SITS market meaning the team here at TechMarketView have been very busy keeping abreast of the latest developments. This has caught the eye of the press and here are just some highlights of what we had to say.
Chairman, Richard Holway, was quoted in the Financial Times article Tech groups lead London IPO revival. Richard is also cited in The Times article IBM deal turns Lenovo into a bladerunner, while FinancialServicesViews research director, Peter Roe, is quoted on Demis Hassabis in The man with his fingers on the future. Elsewhere Peter is also featured in ComputerWorld UK article UBS outsources fixed income trading technology platforms.
In ChannelNomics, ESASViews research director, Angela Eager, is quoted in Channel Nutty Over New Microsoft Boss Nadella and again in ComputerWorld UK article England's largest NHS Trust rolls out cloud-based workforce management system. In the Financial Times Angela is called upon for her opinion on WANDisco in Fusionex profits rise shows appeal of big data.
PublicSectorViews research director, Georgina O’Toole, gets several mentions this month starting with Forbes article The Loophole In UK Government's 'Unashamedly Militant' IT Strategy. Georgina is quoted in CRN article ACS heads north with Compass buy and Digital By Default article Dorset County Council criticised for not using CloudStore. Fellow PublicSectorViews research director, Tola Sargeant, is quoted in Computer World on the latest BT developments in BT signs strategic partnership deal with leading children's hospital and again in Computer World on the NHS Scotland contract in NHS Scotland awards £110m network contract to Capita.
Kate Hanaghan, research director for InfrastructureViews, is quoted in the Daily Telegraph on IBM announces $1.2bn cloud data centre investment. Also in the Daily Telegraph Richard Holway comments on Google’s acquisition of Nest in What is Nest and why has Google bought it?. Richard is further quoted in both The Financial Times and The Times profering his opinion on Blinx in Investors dump Blinkx shares after critical blog and Critical blog sparks rout at Blinkx respectively. Also in The Times he is quoted in Microsoft on the threshold of deleting 'appalling' Windows 8.
For further updates on our press coverage visit our new In The Press webpage which gives a full listing of news and quotes from the TechMarketView team.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '00:00'
TechMarketView is delighted to announce that the fourth in our series of Little British Battler events will be held in London on Wednesday 23rd April 2014.
The deadline for registrations is Friday 14th March. We aim to notify successful applicants by Friday 28th March.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '10:00' - Tagged: lbb
2014 is destined to be a pivotal year for Serco as it attempts to rebuild trust with UK Central Government (see here and work back). Serco's response has been a corporate renewal programme and senior management changes, which are now showing signs of progress (see Serco beats Agilisys and Lincolnshire).
Serco’s troubles offer some important lessons for other big outsourcing suppliers to UK Government like Capita, Atos, HP, Capgemini, IBM and CSC as they too face similar challenges, driven by increasing pricing pressure, expectations to bear greater risk, and growing demand for contractual innovation and service investments.
Government is now demanding greater transparency and accountability from its outsourcing suppliers. This means important changes need to be put in place to ensure procedures are fit for purpose and suppliers meet the right criteria to engage.
Subscribers to TechMarketView's BusinessProcessViews research stream can read the analysis and implications for Serco and other suppliers here.
Posted by John O'Brien at '12:33' - Tagged: centralgovernment bpo bps
After the first buzz of excitement following the appointment of Satya Nadella as the new CEO of Microsoft we reflect on what it will mean for the company. It's too early for a distinctive Nadella vision to emerge – we expect that will come after the Nokia deal completes and into Microsoft’s new financial year (its year ends in June). We can be confident it will be cloud first and heavily mobile led but expect it to err on the side of protecting the company rather than disrupting it.
It could be a lot more cross-platform focussed if the ‘leaks’ over the last week have substance – that Android apps will run natively on Windows, and that a touch-optimised version of Office for the iPad will be out this year, earlier than anticipated and before the Windows version is available. Rumours should be viewed with caution naturally, but Nadella has been opening out the Azure platform over the past year, so he has proven cross-platform credentials. Breaking the link between Windows and Office would be the strongest statement that Microsoft is prepared to make bold changes.
Eligible TechMarketView subscribers can read our thoughts on the shape of Microsoft under Nadella, here.
Posted by Angela Eager at '08:55' - Tagged: cloud software management
We’ve just spotted that Detica is no more. BAE Systems Detica, which was formed following the acquisition of Detica by BAE Systems in September 2008, became BAE Systems Applied Intelligence from 1st February 2014. BAE Systems acquired Detica in order to create a global security arm, as part of its aim to diversify its business. But in the early days the approach was very much ‘hands off’. BAE Systems was a defence contractor, and Detica was an IT company. There seemed little desire to cross-fertilise (see Detica – rising to bigger challenges in a tough market).
The dropping of the ‘Detica’ name is, therefore, interesting. It signals a change in attitude. The decision won’t have been taken lightly; the Detica brand was strong within the entities that knew it, particularly in the UK. But the name did not play so well globally, with BAE Systems a far stronger brand worldwide.
But aside from the branding issue, this change is also about the repositioning of BAE Systems and Detica in the market. We spoke to Morag Lucey, who was taken on as BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Chief Marketing Officer nine months ago. TechMarketView subscribers can read about this new phase in BAE Systems' journey in UKHotViewsExtra. If you are not yet a subscriber and would like to gain access, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '08:37' - Tagged: publicsector defence strategy brand itservices government
Five years ago TechMarketView launched its research services and won its first orders. Of the first ten customers we won, only one is not still with us having had the misfortune of being acquired by 2e2! It now feels pretty amazing that big companies like Logica (now CGI), Fujitsu and Atos signed up in the first week on nothing more than a promise from Anthony & I. I guess we must have fulfilled that promise as they are all still with us – indeed the relationships are bigger and deeper than they ever were.
Launching any new operation is fraught with risk. According to recent research, 25% of all start-ups fail in the first year and 55% have failed by year 5. So we’ve already done better than the majority! But to have done this in the depths of one of the severest recessions in my lifetime in the UK is perhaps even more noteworthy.
We have around 100 very loyal, paid-for subscribers which include practically all the majors from Microsoft, HP and BT – UK leaders in their respective Software, IT services and telecomms sectors. And some pretty important HMGovt clients too. We are equally proud of our SMEs – particularly those that have come on board as part of our Little British Battlers programme.
In five years we have added five new streams to the Foundation Service launched on Day One – PublicSectorViews, BusinessProcessViews, ESASViews, InfrastructureViews and, most recently, FinancialServicesViews. We’ve built up a fabulous team of equally fabulous analysts. All leaders in their respective fields.
I guess our flagship is still HotViews and its daily email. Now read by around 20,000 top executives.
Commercially we are now well north of a £1m annual revenues, profitable (something we rather believe in at TMV) and now earning revenues from a variety of sources as well as subscriptions including analyst briefings, sponsorship, our annual TMV dinner, banner advertising and Sponsored Posts – launched today.
Most of all we are proud of our influence. Widely quoted and widely respected.
Not bad for five years. Wonder what the next five years will bring?
Posted by Richard Holway at '15:54'
Around 20,000 top executives in the UK tech arena like you read UKHotViews. They rely on UKHotViews for its fresh and authoritative approach to news, analysis and research of the UK Software & IT Services scene.
Today we launch Sponsored Posts giving companies a unique opportunity to speak directly to that audience. There will only ever be one Sponsored Post per day and probably only on 2 or 3 days a week. But it is positioned so that it will get read and noticed by all readers – even the many who read UKHotViews on their smartphones and via Twitter.
Companies can use Sponsored Posts for a variety of purposes:
And many other purposes that we wouldn’t normally ever cover on UKHotViews.
What better way of getting directly to the decision makers in Software companies, SIs, Telecoms companies, Recruitment specialists, Consultants, Investors including Private Equity… even to those in the Press and HM Government!
We’ve built up an impressive forward programme of Sponsored Posts ranging from companies like Fujitsu to some of our 'Little British Battlers'. Watch out in the weeks to come.
You can find out more details here or email hmcteer@techmarketview.com.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:00'
We’re always pleased to see our ‘Little British Battlers’ (LBBs) going from strength to strength, so it’s great to see CentraStage, an inaugural LBB (see here), reporting over 50% revenue growth and a doubling of its headcount to over 40 employees in 2013. The outlook is also encouraging. Having described 2013 as a ‘pretty mental’ year for the company, CEO Christian Nagele told me earlier this week that he’s expecting 85% revenue growth in 2014.
It’s clear that CentraStage continues to punch above its weight with its cloud-based endpoint management software, which now supports over half a million devices across more than 1000 organisations. It signed a number of notable new customers in 2013 including Barking, Dagenham and Havering NHS Trust, Poundworld, Bathstore and a host of school districts in the US.
International expansion is also a key source of growth for UK-based CentraStage. The cloud-centric SME derived c25% of its turnover outside the UK in FY13 (up from a negligible amount in 2012) and expects that percentage to increase further in the year ahead, in part thanks to its OEM agreement with Panda Security (see the UKHotViews archive here). Going forwards we expect CentraStage to take on more OEM contracts, which see it provide a white-labelled global device management platform for anyone with a need to manage and monitor smart devices. Not surprisingly, SIs that want to offer a cloud-based endpoint managed service are high on Nagele’s target list.
Eligible TechMarketView subscription clients can read more on CentraStage’s 2013 performance and ambitions for the future in UKHotViewsExtra: CentraStage keeps punching above its weight.
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '13:27' - Tagged: results lbb
It’s really quite exciting to be able to say that one of our Little British Battlers (LBB’s) – artificial intelligence/automation specialist Celaton – has formed a strategic partnership with Top 5 ranked supplier to the UK local government market, Agilisys (see UK local government SITS supplier landscape report). And, unlike some, this is a strategic partnership that actually means something! It has resulted in the development of a new product: Agilisys Automate, a hosted Business Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) that streamlines the processing of all inbound correspondence, both structured and unstructured, whether in the form of post, fax, email or SMS.
As subscribers to the PublicSectorViews service will have gathered, Agilisys has been on something of a roll in local government. As local authorities have started buying differently, Agilisys has kept up with changing demands. Agilisys Automate adds another string to the Agilisys bow. And for Celaton, the partnership means the company can get a foothold in the public sector market. Having come to know both parties well over the last couple of years, in UKHotViewsExtra we give our views on the potential of the partnership. TechMarketViews subscribers can read more here
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:00' - Tagged: publicsector localgovernment strategy partnerships bpaas platform
TechMarketView’s PublicSectorViews’ team met with CSC’s VP UK Public Sector, Chris Doutney, to learn more about CSC’s performance and prospects in the sector. The healthcare sector continues to dominate as a result of the large contribution from the company’s troublesome NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) Local Service Provider (LSP) contracts. CSC is now attempting to extend its reach into the rest of the public sector market, predominantly into central government.
In this AnalystViews note Georgina O’Toole looks at how CSC is tackling the sector against the backdrop of the NHS contract and its impact on Cabinet Office relations. Subscribers to TechMarketView’s PublicSectorViews research stream can access the note – ‘CSC: targeting central government’ - here. Everyone else should contact Deb Seth to find out how to get access.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '21:52' - Tagged: publicsector strategy suppliers
It’s here: the eagerly anticipated annual update to TechMarketView’s UK Public Sector SITS Supplier Landscape report. In central government, the Government’s attitude to the large SIs has been widely documented. All of leading suppliers to the UK public sector market have had to look carefully at the way they approach the market... their strategies for maintaining their Whitehall-derived revenues, as well as their approach to growing their wider public sector businesses. Though we sense that the Cabinet Office is now more accepting of the need for a mixed economy of suppliers (big, small and everything in between), there’s no doubt that there remains a desire to spread the spoils amongst a broader supply base.
So do you want to know which suppliers are leading the way? Who’s winning or losing as UK Government changes the way it procures and manages its ICT estate? Interested in who’s nipping at the heels of the top suppliers? Which SMEs have benefited from recent procurements? Or perhaps you want to know whether the offshore players are breaking through the UK public sector procurement barriers? Look no further. Well, that’s if you’re fortunate enough to be a subscriber to our PublicSectorViews research stream. Otherwise we’d recommend you contact Deb Seth to rectify the situation.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '21:38' - Tagged: publicsector suppliers
