Search through our UKHotViews and UKHotViewExtra articles plus complete research reports
The channel plays a critical role in taking vendor products and services to market. However, life as a reseller in the infrastructure market has become increasingly tough. Firstly, with such a large number of reseller and VAR (Value Added Reseller) firms in the UK, it can be very difficult to stand out in the crowd. Secondly, product pricing (particularly at the low-end) has been heavily hit over the years putting enormous pressure on resellers’ revenues and profits. To counter this, many resellers have been trying to sell more services (and now, of course, cloud-based services) - with varying degrees of success.
This research note looks at the role the channel plays in providing cloud services to the market, what the opportunities are, and what challenges resellers face in addressing these.
If you are a subscriber to InfrastructureViews you can read the report here: Cloud: Opportunities and challenges for resellers
If you do not yet subscribe to InfrastructureViews and would like to, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:18' - Tagged: cloud reseller infrastructure
We are very proud to announce the next twelve small-but-aspiring-to-be-perfectly-formed UK-based, privately-held software and IT services companies to officially join the ranks of the TechMarketView Little British Battlers.
They are:
The CEOs of these 12 companies will come to London on 22nd April for the sixth in the series of Little British Battler days. They will have confidential briefings with TechMarketView research directors and senior partners from MXC Capital, the tech focused, AIM quoted merchant bank that actively invests in and advises companies in the UK tech sector, to discuss and get valuable feedback on their business plans and aspirations.
You will hear more about these exciting companies in UKHotViews after the event. Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service will also have access to more detailed profiles of the 12 companies in the forthcoming Little British Battler Report.
Congratulations to the management teams and staff at these companies for achieving one of the most sought after accreditations for small but aspirational UK tech companies. We look forward to hearing more about your businesses next month.
Commiserations to the many fine companies that didn’t make it through this time. But worry not, as there will be another opportunity to join the ranks of the TechMarketView Little British Battlers later this year.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '10:00' - Tagged: lbb
Serco revealed deep losses and falling revenues in FY14, the culmination of an 'extremely difficult' year for the company (see here).
Serco has risen rapidly up the UK Business Process Services (BPS) supplier rankings in the past couple of years following its acquisitions of ‘white collar’ BPO players Intelenet and The Listening Company (see UK BPS Supplier Landscape 2014). Now these businesses are up for sale.
The fallout of the MoJ electronic monitoring scandal, the pending sale of its private sector BPO operation and plans to refocus the entire organisation on the public sector, means Serco will look a very different company in the future. It also means Serco will fall back down our BPS supplier rankings from 2015.
Subscribers to TechMarketView's Foundation Service, PublicSectorViews and BusinessProcessViews research can read our analysis on Serco's challenges and prospects for recovery in the new report Serco's long road to recovery.
Posted by John O'Brien at '08:04' - Tagged: publicsector bps
Just to remind you about the WCIT Enterprise Awards 2015 organised by our friend John O’Connell. Whereas our own Little British Battlers is for companies, the WCIT Awards are for the entrepreneurs. So there is no reason why the leaders of our LBBs shouldn’t win a WCIT Award too. Indeed Tony Pepper from LBB Egress won the Developing Entrepreneur Award last year.
2015 award categories are as follows:
'Young Entrepreneur' 'Emerging Entrepreneur' 'Developing Entrepreneur' 'Enterprise Award' 'Social Enterprise Award' 'Judges' Award' 'Female Entrepreneur' 'Public Sector Innovator'
and
'Evergreen Award' – The award sponsored by TechMarketView for entrepreneurs who set up businesses after the age of 50
If you would like to apply for any of the Entrepreneur Awards (I understand I am now a judge - so bribes are in order) you can complete the Entry Form Here. Entries must be in by 30th Apr 15. For more details of the Entrepreneur Awards Click Here.
TechMarketView will be turning out in force at the Awards Ceremony at the magnificent Plasterers Hall on 4th June 15. You are very welcome to join us. Again, if you would like a table or a ticket, Click here.
Posted by Richard Holway at '09:46'
With only seven weeks to go until the big day—General Election 2015 on 7th May—TechMarketView has been looking at how the outcome of the General Election could impact Software and IT Services (SITS) suppliers to the UK public sector market. It is our view that there are three key areas that SITS suppliers should be considering: the main party pledges; central strategies, policies and actions of the Cabinet Office; and individual departmental policies. We will be picking up the latter two in the next few weeks.
In this PublicSectorViews report (General Election 2015 Main Party Pledges: Supplier Impact), the team has looked at the pledges from the main political parties: Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats (including any revelations in today’s Pre Election Budget – see Pre Election Budget 2015: technology impacting policy). The report divides the public sector into five areas: Whitehall (Central Government & Defence); Health & Social Care; Justice & Police; Local Government; and Education. Our General Election Infographics - like the one pictured - for each public sector area outline the pledges made by each of the political parties that we think have the potential to most greatly impact the public sector SITS market, either providing an opportunity or a threat. For each of the pledges, we have identified the key 2015 Public Sector ‘Sector Shaping Trend’ (see Research Agenda 2015) to which the pledge relates most closely i.e. securing mobile, smart everything, promoting cyber security, transforming for digital, collaboration nation, evolving commercial models, or getting value from data. In addition, in some cases, the policy is simply linked to cutting cost (labelled ‘Austerity’), organisational change/new organisational requirement, or a potential system change.
In our analysis, we have considered the similarities and differences between the different party pledges. Where there is common consensus, and therefore a greater likelihood that we will see the change specified, we have also highlighted the likely impact on the SITS market. PublicSectorViews subscribers can download the report today. If you are not yet a subscriber, please vote for becoming one (!) and contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '17:21' - Tagged: publicsector policy government
It was milestone year for the leading India-centric IT services suppliers in 2014, with aggregate headline revenues breaching the $50bn barrier for the first time, representing 13% growth compared to 2013. And that was not the only barrier broken: peer leader TCS exceeded $15bn in revenues and Cognizant became the second among the players to hit the $10b revenue mark.
However, the offshore players grew slower in the UK than they did in the rest of the world. According to our preliminary estimates, aggregate UK revenues of the top six India-centric suppliers grew by 8% in 2014 to £4.64bn, less than half the 18% growth achieved in 2013. But they are still gaining share – and look set to do so again in 2015.
Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service can read our analysis and opinion of the leading India-centric IT services suppliers in the latest edition of OffshoreViews.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '11:03' - Tagged: offshore
Belfast-based TotalMobile has reinvented itself over the last few years and is now a fast-growing force to be reckoned with in the UK mobile working applications space, particularly in local government and healthcare. The SME, which was formerly known as Consilium Technologies and before that Task Software, is now a useful partner to—and potential acquisition target for— many a UK SITS player.
In the year to end of December 2014, TotalMobile turned over £11.6m, up by nearly 20% from £9.7m the year before, and EBIDTA doubled to £2.2m in the same period. That strong growth is set to continue; CEO Colin Reid expects revenue growth to be around 30% this year taking turnover to c£15m in 2015.
The bulk of TotalMobile’s revenue still comes from its business with local government but it’s had great success diversifying into other verticals. Health and social care are TotalMobile’s fastest growing markets, reflecting the importance of mobile solutions to these areas of the UK public sector market (see also Personalised Health & Care 2020: SITS Implications & Opportunities) and the traction that its products have managed to gain in a short space of time.
TotalMobile derived about £4m of its revenue from health and care in 2014, compared to nothing in 2012. It now has some 15 NHS customers and Reid expects the two sectors to account for around half of the group’s revenue this coming year. The SME has already won two major health deals this year to-date, in partnership with BT and via G-Cloud. Interestingly, both are with mental health trusts and TotalMobile’s first wins in this sub-sector and are worth around £2.5m to the company.
To read more about TotalMobile and our views on the company’s performance and prospects, eligible TechMarketView subscription clients can download our new SME Snapshot on TotalMobile from today.
If you’re not yet a TechMarketView subscription research client and you’d like to know more about our 2015 subscription packages simply email Deborah Seth for details.
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '15:35' - Tagged: localgovernment software socialcare health mobility
Commitment to customer experience strategies has driven investment across the front office but left areas of the back office, and technologies that straddle front and back office, starved of investment. Yet if back office operations are not up to standard, it is impossible to deliver a positive and consistent experience. Growing awareness of the long technology tail of customer experience enablement and the need meaningfully join the many components is driving expansion in the back office operations management market and aiding its shift to a more strategic role. And it is a great example of the TechMarketView 'Join the Dots' theme in action. Back office operations management is a small component competing in a broad market so has to fight for visibility and budget but has the potential to punch above its weight and UK suppliers like AOMi and eg Solutions, along with significant providers such as NICE and Verint are showing how it is done.
Subscribers to the Enterprise Software & Application Services (ESAS) research stream can get the inside track on “Why you need back office optimisation for customer experience delivery” by clicking here. Non-subscribers can contact Deb Seth for details of how to take this service.
While customer experience provides a topical focus for operations management it is not the only driver for this emerging market. Organisations struggling with economies of scale, those moving through digital transformation programmes, dealing with requirements to leverage global capacity or run shared services, are also investing in this back office area, as a means of achieving operational improvement and consistency through standardisation. Where service delivery is the core of the business (such as in BPS or outsourcing), back office operational management is a key part of efficient delivery, playing to cost management and differentiation through quality of service. While operations management stands on its own merits with scope for growth within enterprises, another growth area is within IT and business process services providers, as part of their own quality of service delivery enablement.
Posted by Angela Eager at '09:40' - Tagged: software customerexperience
Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service can download the latest edition of IndustryViews Venture Capital, our quarterly round-up of activity in the UK software and IT services venture capital scene.
Besides our regular summary of interesting angel, seed and institutional funding transactions in the quarter, we include a succinct analysis of the year’s key numbers – which witnessed a surprising revival of interest in the UK Internet Services sector.
IndustryViews Venture Capital Q4 2014 is available for download right here, right now!
Posted by Anthony Miller at '09:02'
This is your last chance to get your company known by thousands of industry executives, many looking for exciting, innovative SME partners.
Twelve companies will have a unique opportunity to get invaluable advice and feedback on their business plans from seasoned TechMarketView Research Directors and senior partners of MXC Capital, the tech focused, AIM quoted merchant bank that actively invests in and advises companies in the UK tech sector. And there's no charge!
Here’s what CEOs of previous Little British Battlers have said:
“Being an LBB applicant put us on the 'map' with several large firms who ordinarily would not have known about us. This has allowed us to form business partnerships that today are driving business for the company.”
“Obtaining the coveted LBB status has not only provided our company and our staff recognition for our hard work in reaching our financial goals… but has helped to promote our business to the extensive readership base of the TechMarketView.”
“"The ability to network with fellow LBBs and gain some genuine business advantage by working with them has been an unexpected benefit of our LBB success."
“Being part of the LBB programme stands out as one of the most positive experiences of our journey so far.”
“LBB participation for a small and focused company like ours has been really very positive. The profile this has offered is exceeded by access to areas of influence, critical to enabling us to engage in meaningful conversations with the customer communities we serve.”
The next TechMarketView Little British Battler Event will be held in London on Wednesday 22nd April 2015.
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 £20m. Companies must derive the substantial majority of their revenues from software, IT services or business process services.
We’re particularly looking for companies that play to our 2015 theme, “Joining the Dots”. In other words, your products and services help connect everything (or everybody!) to everything else – and make sense of the information flow that these connections enable. This is a broad brief which touches all on all aspects of the ‘digital transformation’ agenda. Your products and services should be differentiated and aim to disrupt the marketplace. You may not be fast-growing yet – but you want to get there.
To apply, just click here and fill in the registration form. By all means apply again if you were previously unsuccessful.
WE MUST RECEIVE YOUR APPLICATION BY 6PM TODAY TO QUALIFY.
Should you have any questions, please email us at lbb@techmarketview.com.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:00'
We have highlighted Digital Customer Experience (DCX) as one of our key Predictions for the business process services (BPS) market in 2015 (see BPS Predictions 2015). This is a theme which cuts right across our research into digital transformation and our over-arching message for the year about ‘Joining the Dots’ across the UK SITS market (see TMV Research Agenda 2015).
DCX is a new and yet complex emerging area that it is full of opportunity for IT and BPS providers as customers attempt to gain the biggest service impact from their investments in digital technologies like social media, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC).
BPS is key to DCX because it’s all about transforming and re-engineering the underlying processes and service models to enable a step-change in customer experience across digital channels. BPS providers are able to look at the opportunity end-to-end with outcome-based delivery models that are core to unlocking new business value and growth for the enterprise.
Subscribers to TechMarketView’s BusinessProcessViews research stream can read the analysis into BPS provider opportunities here in Why is Digital Customer Experience key to future BPS delivery?
If you’re not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth (dseth@techmarketview.com) who will be happy to help.
Posted by John O'Brien at '08:26' - Tagged: bps
We’ve received many applications from really exciting companies hoping to join us on our next Little British Battler Day. But it’s not too late for your company to be among them.
Over the past couple of years, 60 ‘small but perfectly formed’ (or getting there!) companies have joined the ranks of the TechMarketView Little British Battler brigade. Here’s what the CEOs of just some of them have said about the programme:
The next TechMarketView Little British Battler Event will be held in London on Wednesday 22nd April 2015. You will have the opportunity to share their aspirations and challenges, and get valuable opinion and advice on their business plans, in confidential sessions with TechMarketView research directors and senior partners of MXC Capital, the tech focused, AIM quoted merchant bank that actively invests in and advises companies in the UK tech sector.
The deadline for registrations is Friday 6th March. We aim to notify successful applicants by the end of March.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '06:00' - Tagged: lbb
