Search through our UKHotViews and UKHotViewExtra articles plus complete research reports
At the headline level, Sopra Steria is on track. Having achieved total organic revenue growth of 2.6% in H1 (total growth of 1.3% and constant currency growth of 3.8%) and an operating margin on business activity of 7.5%, the Group states it is confident that it will achieve its 2017 objectives of 2-3% organic revenue growth and an 8.5% operating margin (certain low margin businesses started to turnaround in H1).
But there is a lot going on under the covers. And, the keyword, in our view, for the Group is ‘transition’... Read More.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:37' - Tagged: results bpo applications digital
Over the past few weeks the payments sector has been a hive of activity as industry giants consolidate and as private equity players place large bets in this growing and transforming industry. Two such deals are Worldpay’s acquisition by Vantiv, a US rival, for £9.1bn and CVC and Blackstone’s £3bn bid for Paysafe.
As the payments business moves from cash to digital, companies are looking for scale, often on a global basis, and new technology as the business shifts towards software and services and as Fintech brings in new competitors, higher customer expectations and new business opportunities.
This latest report looks at the underlying rationale for these recent moves, comments on the issues facing the acquiring companies and highlights the key implication for Software and IT Services suppliers into this sector.
Subscribers to FinancialServicesViews can access “FintechViews – Why all the M&A in Payments”, here.
TechMarketView will be publishing a detailed analysis of the payments market in the Autumn.
Posted by Peter Roe at '08:40' - Tagged: payments M&A digital transformation FinTech
We look forward to welcoming well over two hundred CXOs from the world of UK tech and beyond to our flagship event, An Evening with TechMarketView, in October. The 2017 event is held in association with Sage and will take place at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in Portland Place, London on Thursday 5th October, commencing at 6:30 pm with welcome drinks.
This will be followed by an hour of valuable foresight from the TechMarketView analyst team on the prospects for tech suppliers in the UK market in 2018 and beyond, especially in the context of ‘Unlocking the Intelligence’, our theme which embraces the transformational potential afforded by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and cognitive computing.
We would then like to welcome you to a drinks reception ahead of a sumptuous three-course dinner. During the evening, there will be plenty of opportunity for networking with other ‘movers and shakers’ in UK tech.
The Evening with TechMarketView has been a sell-out for the last four years so book early to secure your place.
We hope you can join the TechMarketView team, and of course our esteemed chairman Richard Holway MBE and managing partner, Anthony Miller, at what so many executives tell us is the one industry event they simply can’t afford to miss!
For full details and to book your place visit tx2Events here or contact event coordinator Tina Compton at tx2Events (tina.compton@tx2events.com).
Posted by HotViews Editor at '00:00'
For the first time since Q3 2014, the number of UK software and IT services (SITS) buyers exceeded the number of sellers in the quarter. There were 83 UK buyers and 77 UK sellers including 45 domestic deals in Q2, according to data from corporate finance firm, Regent Partners.
Acquisitions of IT services companies accounted for 56% of all UK SITS deals, down from 58% in Q1, with consultancies and SIs representing the largest sector at 21%, followed by vertical solutions providers with a 14% share. Acquisitions of managed services businesses accounted for 9% of deals in Q2, down from 15% in Q1. Demand for industry specific expertise continued to be strong in the software sector, with vertically focused companies being the most sought after, accounting for 14% of the deals.
Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service can download our latest quarterly review of UK software and IT services M&A in the just released report, IndustryViews Corporate Activity Q2 2017.
For further information, please contact our Client Services team (info@techmarketview.com).
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:29' - Tagged: acquisition
Speculation that OMERS Private Equity was preparing to sell Civica first started to appear in April this year, with sources suggesting that Goldmach Sachs had been appointed to explore potential deals (see Civica to be put up for sale?). Yesterday, we got confirmation that a deal had been done, with Partners Group agreeing to acquire the business for £1,055m (see ‘Unicorn’ Civica finds new Partners for its journey).
TechMarketView caught up with Civica’s Founder and Executive Chairman Simon Downing and CEO Wayne Story to get their views on what the deal means for the company. More...
Posted by Dale Peters at '10:04' - Tagged: acquisition public sector
We are very pleased to announce that the 2017 Evening with TechMarketView is being held in association with Sage. Sage is the UK’s largest tech company on the FTSE100 and proud to be the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems.
We are delighted to have Sage as the Diamond sponsor for this, our flagship annual event, and look forward to welcoming them, along with well over two hundred CXOs from the world of UK tech and beyond.
The Evening with TechMarketView will be held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in Portland Place, London on Thursday 5th October, commencing at 6:30 pm with welcome drinks.This will be followed by an hour of valuable foresight from the TechMarketView analyst team on the prospects for tech suppliers in the UK market in 2018 and beyond, especially in the context of ‘Unlocking the Intelligence’, our theme which embraces the transformational potential afforded by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and cognitive computing.
The Evening with TechMarketView has been a sell-out for the last four years so book early to secure your place. TechMarketView research subscription clients are eligible for a 20% discount on standard ticket prices.
I hope you will be able to join me, and of course our esteemed chairman Richard Holway MBE and managing partner, Anthony Miller, at what so many executives tell us is the one industry event they simply can’t afford to miss!
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '13:00' - Tagged: events
UK network infrastructure is a rare and prized asset that puts connectivity suppliers at the centre, but not necessarily the front, of the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) service chain.
IT services players cannot match those assets and must partner those same telcos, mobile network operators and network service providers to deliver their own IoT platforms whilst simultaneously competing with them to overlay management services and own the customer relationship.
Our report “IoT: Network Providers Push to Supplant IT Services Players” assesses UK network providers’ core capabilities, motivation and strategies for grabbing a larger slice of IoT revenue beyond device connectivity as they seek to expand their current M2M business into broader IoT service management.
Posted by Martin Courtney at '09:37' - Tagged: mobility networkservices telcoms infrastructure iot
IT services players cannot match those assets and must partner those same telcos, MNOs and network service providers to deliver their own IoT platforms whilst simultaneously competing with them to overlay management services and own the customer relationship.
Our report “IoT: Network Providers Push to Supplant IT Services players” assesses UK network providers’ core capabilities, motivation and strategies for grabbing a larger slice of IoT revenue beyond device connectivity as they try to expand their current M2M business into broader IoT service management.
Posted by Martin Courtney at '09:30' - Tagged: mobility networkservices telcoms infrastructure m2m iot
The eagerly anticipated 2017 Enterprise Software & Application Services (ESAS) Supplier Rankings report has arrived. ESASViews subscribers should click here to access the download.
This report examines the pull and pull of opposing forces that are keeping the ESAS market in check from a growth perspective and explores how the top suppliers to the UK market are dealing with the multiplying changes and uncertainties they face, from digital change, through Brexit, to dealing with digital timidity.
It looks at the factors impacting supplier performance, now and in the near future, including the need to master data services with the aid of machine intelligence technologies.
The Top 20 ESAS Ranking provides a view of overall ESAS supplier positions; the separate Enterprise Software and Application Services Ranking tables and analysis provide sector specific granularity. While Microsoft retains the top position in Enterprise Software, and Accenture in Application Services, there has been dramatic change elsewhere as spinouts, mergers and acquisitions have altered the rankings. Where are new entities and entrants DXC Technology and Dell Technologies positioned? Who have they replaced? Who is poised to enter the rankings?
If you don’t have a TechMarketView subscription or don’t take the ESASViews research stream, you can contact Deborah Seth who will be able to advise on subscription options.
Posted by Angela Eager at '19:08' - Tagged: software rankings applications
Our latest research reveals that the number of UK software and IT services (SITS) companies listed on the London Stock Exchange is the highest quarter-end total since Q4 2014. A combination of gains for UK listed SITS stocks and new entrants into the sector helped lift the aggregate value by 13% qoq to £30.6b. Alfa Financial Software Holdings contributed £1.4b of the gain following its IPO.
Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service can download the latest edition of IndustryViews Quoted Sector to see our analysis of how the stock performance of UK software and IT services companies listed on the London Stock Exchange compares with their key international peers.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:24'
We’ve been closely following Lemongrass for a couple of years now, tracking its progress as an SAP specialist that has developed a focus around migrating applications to Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Truly living up to its status as a Little British Battler, Lemongrass beat several of the Global System Integrators (GSIs) to win the contract to migrate FrieslandCampina’s SAP estate to AWS. Lemongrass has built something of a reputation as a ‘giant layer’, having ousted various large players in enterprise accounts, taking those customers from traditional hosting to the public cloud (see: Has Lemongrass landed Europe’s largest AWS/SAP implementation?).
In this research note we examine how FrieslandCampina’s move to Amazon Web Services has highlighted the benefits of working with smaller specialist suppliers – not least Lemongrass.
Subscribers to our Foundation Service and InfrastructureViews can read the note here: FrieslandCampina: Dairy firm takes giant step to AWS.
To become a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Kate Hanaghan at '09:44' - Tagged: cloud AWS migration
Launched in April this year, and created through the merger of CSC and HPE Enterprise Services, DXC Technology (UK) has done well to not decline in revenue terms. Its unchanged FY17 revenue figure of £3.2bn (based on pro-forma estimates for CSC, HPE ES and Xchanging) belies a very varied performance beneath the surface. In Public Sector, DXC saw double-digit declines, but in Financial Services it saw double-digit growth - thanks to the early stages of its contract with Deutsche Bank. Not surprisingly, this dynamic was reflected in the largest of its business segments, Infrastructure Services, which held revenue steady at c£1.8bn. The appointment of industry veteran, Nick Wilson, to the role of UK MD was a good move. While he certainly has his work cut out to get the company back to growth, we suspect the leadership team will be happy with another year during which the company does not decline. However, going forward, DXC will not be able to rely on the large Deutsche Bank contract to counter declining contracts elsewhere, which will put increased pressure on the top line.
This research note takes a look at how the DXC Technology (UK) business now looks from a revenue segmentation perspective, taking account of our brand new estimates for the company. It also includes a Q&A with Nick WIlson, the company's new leader in the UK.
Subscribers to our Foundation Service and InfrastructureViews can read the piece here: DXC Technology: Revenue analysis and leadership Q&A.
Posted by Kate Hanaghan at '09:37' - Tagged: leadership revenue
A lot has been happening over the past six months in the rapidly expanding UK and European Fintech arena. The latest report in our series of FinTechViews reports (available to subscribers to FinancialServicesViews) sheds some new light upon important and topical questions, such as;
The recent Money2020 conference in Copenhagen has given us some real insight into current trends and concerns and deepened our understanding of how Fintech can accelerate real change across the sector.
We have also been able to identify some significant opportunities for Software and IT Services suppliers as they and their customers interact with this vital and dynamic market segment. Subscribers can download this new report, “The State of UK and European Fintech – A view from Money 2020”, here).
Posted by Peter Roe at '11:49' - Tagged: bigdata payments legacy regulation FinTech
Last month, in the week following the general election, we launched our Brexit survey. Today we can share the results.
As we discussed in our recent reports: Brexit: The Implications and UK SITS Market Trends & Forecasts 2017 there is still a great deal of uncertainty about what Brexit will actually mean. The results of this survey clearly show how this uncertainty is having an impact on UK technology suppliers.
With nearly two years of negotiation ahead of us, short and medium term planning is challenging. For many suppliers, particularly those in the public sector, the lack of clarity is leading to delays in decision making and orders taking longer to complete.
Companies will not find it as easy to plug skills gaps if they no longer have ready access to skilled EU workers. Comments from respondents suggest that businesses are already exploring the potential for EU-based offices and increasing offshoring more generally.
In our recent forecasts, we have taken the view that, as we approach March 2019, we will see an uplift in software and IT service opportunities. Investment will be required in designing processes and systems to meet the needs of the post-Brexit world. These are views shared by many of our respondents. Although a relatively small proportion of respondents saw Brexit as an opportunity between now and the end of 2017, they were much more optimistic about the year following March 2019.
Uncertainty is damaging and Brexit will bring significant challenges, but it’s not all doom and gloom; there will be opportunities and we may well see a more digitally-focused UK emerge from the process.
Brexit: the impact on UK SITS suppliers is available for all subscribers to download now.
For further information on becoming a client, please contact our Client Services team.
Posted by Dale Peters at '09:25' - Tagged: research brexit survey referendum
Earlier this week, the UK Government published ‘Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices’ (commissioned by Government and written by Matthew Taylor, pictured). You can read the tome here, and, it is indeed worth a read, because technology runs as a theme throughout: as a key driver of the review, as a solution to many of the issues raised, and as something that needs to be handled with care.
Firstly, technology was one of the key drivers of the review. The Gig Economy, which has broad meaning but has become synonymous with the likes of Uber and Deliveroo, i.e. people using apps to sell their labour, has given rise to new business and employment models. This new way of working has raised questions about the suitability of current employment law in addressing the needs of people working within those models. In addition, still Government needs to understand with more certainty how many people are working in the gig-economy (and how many are doing it just to supplement other work); that’s going to require a focus on reliable data and analytics.
Secondly, technology is highlighted as a solution to many of the issues raised, i.e. ensuring that all workers, regardless of the type of employment they are in, are treated fairly and decently, and “with a realistic scope for development and fulfilment”. Here, ICT providers should be able to identify a fair number of opportunities.... Read more here...
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '11:26'
We’ve been tracking Reading-based Redstor for several years now and were more than pleased to see the firm selected to be part of our inaugural Great British Scaleup event, run in association with ScaleUp Group and Cogeco Peer 1.
If one thing characterises the firm - led by CEO, Paul Evans - it is its ability to reinvent itself time and again. Originally a reseller of branded storage products (EMC, Quantum and Symantec) back in the late 1990s, Redstor came to our attention as it evolved as a master distributor of cloud back up services and qualified as one of our first Little British Battlers.
A key milestone in its most recent evolution was the 2015 acquisition of South Africa-headquartered backup and DR software provider Attix5. Attix5 and Redstor were partners for many years, with Redstor selling Attix5’s technology into its customers over here in the UK. Since acquiring the IP, Redstor rebranded the software, dramatically increased the pace of development, and used it as the foundation stone to fulfill its vision of building a data management and security platform.
To complete this vision – and to continue its evolutionary journey – Redstor is more than willing to acquire additional sub-scale companies with their own IP. Something tells us Redstor will continue to reinvent itself in the months and years to come.
The TechMarketView Great British Scaleups programme is run in association with Advisory Sponsor, ScaleUp Group, and Enterprise Cloud & Infrastructure Services Technology Partner, Cogeco Peer 1.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:35' - Tagged: data GreatBritishScaleup backup
Join the TechMarketView team for drinks and dinner on the 5 October as we spend an evening ‘Unlocking the Intelligence’ with leaders from the UK software, IT services and business process services sectors.
This year’s Evening with TechMarketView will see some 250 CXOs from the world of UK tech meet at the magnificent Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in Portland Place, London.
The evening is TechMarketView’s flagship annual event and a fixture in the calendars of many a UK tech CEO. After a welcome drinks reception, the event kicks off with an hour of insight and analysis from TechMarketView’s leading analyst team centered around our 2017 research theme, Unlocking the Intelligence. This is followed by more quality networking during the pre-dinner drinks reception and then a sumptuous three-course dinner.
Tickets are already selling quickly so we’d recommend booking early to secure your place. As in previous years, TechMarketView research subscription clients are eligible for a 20% discount on standard ticket prices.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '08:47' - Tagged: events
Prisoner self-service and offender management specialist Unilink Group took part in our Little British Battler programme in 2016 – see Little British Battler Report 8 – and has grown so quickly that it was selected to be part of our inaugural Great British Scaleup event, run in association with ScaleUp Group and Cogeco Peer 1, just a year later.
Group revenues have almost doubled over the last twelve months, thanks in no small part of a significant new contract with the UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on the Digital Prisons project. The contract was secured through G-Cloud in September 2016 and represents a step change for the SME. Until this point, Unilink was working with all 17 private prisons in the UK (and others in Australia, New Zealand and Europe) but struggling to break fully into the UK public sector prison market.
We met CEO and founder Francis Toye and Head of Business Development Zaneta Whitworth for an enjoyable Great British Scaleup session earlier this month. Their passion for the sector remains palpable and it’s clear that Unilink’s software, prisoner self-service kiosks and now prisoner tablets, have quantifiable benefits for both prisoners and prison staff above and beyond improving the efficiency of prisons and saving money. A study by York University found that by automating processes such as meal choices and visit requests, Unilink’s offering reduced prisoner frustration which in turn made prisons safer, increasing the rehabilitation success rate and reducing staff sickness by as much as 12%. We particularly liked Unilink’s latest initiative, which sees prisoners building the custom-made kiosks that run the software themselves.
As for Unilink’s plans to scale up further, having successfully secured the MoJ contract with English prisons we expect it to turn business development attention to Australia and then continental Europe - both of which present significant opportunities - and to continue expanding its product set, adding capabilities in online education for example.
Needless to say, we look forward to following the progress of this Great British Scaleup - and of all the other fast growing companies we have met during this inaugural session of the GBS programme - over the coming months.
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '08:39' - Tagged: justice scaleup
Today, the TechMarketView PublicSectorViews team publishes its annual UK Public Sector SITS: Market Forecast Preview.
It does exactly what it says on the tin, giving PublicSectorViews subscribers an early view of our detailed forecasts for the UK public sector SITS market through to 2020, including by vertical subsector (central government, local government, education, health, police and defence). Subscribers can investigate how macro issues are, and will continue to have, a significant effect on the ability of public sector organisations to drive transformational change.
We will be publishing a thorough analysis of the drivers and trends in each of those subsectors in a subsequent report. PublicSectorViews’ subscribers can download the preview report – UK Public Sector SITS: Market Forecast Preview 2016-2020 - now.
If you are not yet a subscriber and would like to find out more, please contact Deb Seth, who would be more than pleased to help.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:22' - Tagged: publicsector centralgovernment localgovernment markettrends defence education police health forecasts brexit
We first met Arcus Global when the SME took part in our Little British Battler programme last spring – see Little British Battler Report 8 – so we were delighted when it was selected to be part of our inaugural Great British Scaleup event, run in association with ScaleUp Group and Cogeco Peer 1, just a year later.
Arcus Global CEO and co-founder Denis Kaminskiy is as passionate as ever about the business, which is growing rapidly as it continues its transition from managed services to public sector software provision.
Arcus launched its first software product in 2014 and is already punching above its weight in the local government software market where it’s competing against established players such as Idox, Civica, Northgate Public Services and Capita. It now has applications servicing local authorities’ Built Environment (Planning, Building Control), Regulatory Services (including Trading Standards and Public Health) and Housing departments as well as a Digital Services Hub, which competes against offerings from Agilisys Digital, Gandlake and Firmstep.
Arcus’ modern, ‘all one platform’ applications are built on force.com and AWS and have been designed in partnership with customers. They appear to be hitting the right note with local authorities, particularly the Districts, enabling them to increase the standard of digital services to citizens whilst simultaneously reducing total costs by 40%+. Over the last year, Arcus has gone from having six local authority software clients to 27 and it expects to have nearly 50, taking an average of two products each, by this time next year.
Naturally Arcus’ ambition doesn’t stop there. Denis is on a mission to disrupt the market further, creating organisation-wide working across every silo of local government - and not just in the UK. We look forward to following Arcus’ progress as a Great British Scaleup!
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '08:00' - Tagged: publicsector localgovernment scaleup
Digital change strategies abound but there are fewer examples of execution that also demonstrate significant transformation within organisations. However, attendance at two events recently provided insight into some real world developments.
Microsoft’s Business Forward event in London was a refreshing eye opener, demonstrating some tangible examples of digital transformation in action via Dynamics 365 customers making use of the cloud and techniques like machine learning. A separate event held by ERP provider IFS provided insight into the exploratory work it is doing inside IFS Labs to bridge the gap between digital dreams and digital business reality, plus some real world examples. One theme that carried across both events was how digital change is turning many product organisations into services suppliers as they unlock the intelligence from data.
Subscribers should download the latest report from ESASViews, “Digital change converts product providers into services suppliers” for insight into transformative use cases – and to explore what this means for new business opportunities.
Posted by Angela Eager at '09:54' - Tagged: cloud digital enduser machinelearning
We’ve been following developments with Google DeepMind, the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) this week with great interest. Why? Because if we collectively get things wrong now, it has the potential to derail the evolution of analytics and machine learning in the NHS and healthcare for many years to come. And if the brakes are put on innovation in this area, the biggest losers will be the patients who fail to benefit from potentially life-saving advances.
Given this backdrop, we were pleased to see that after a year-long investigation into the Google DeepMind/Royal Free case, Monday’s much-anticipated ruling from the Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, was considered and proportionate. In her blog accompanying the ruling, Denham was at pains to point out that it’s not a choice between privacy or innovation and that organisations need to learn lessons from this case as they increasingly look to unlock the huge potential that creative uses of data can have for patient care.
TechMarketView PublicSectoriViews subscribers can read our analysis in Digital Health: lessons from DeepMind/Royal Free published today.
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '15:17' - Tagged: health analytics AI machinelearning
TechMarketView is expanding and we’re looking for talented analysts with expertise in a number of areas to join our friendly team as Research Directors or Principal Analysts.
You may already have been working as an analyst for a number of years, or perhaps you have a background in journalism or market intelligence within the UK tech industry and a passion for taking on a new challenge?
Whatever your background, you are likely to be able to demonstrate expertise grounded in one (or more) of the following areas:
· Software – a good understanding of software suppliers and trends in the sector, particularly in the UK market
· Business Process Services – knowledge of business process outsourcers & the trends shaping the BPS sector such as RPA
· IT Services – a passion for the IT services providers in the UK tech sector, in particular the SIs & consultancies delivering application services
· Retail vertical – expertise on the market for software and IT services within the retail sector.
Of course, it’s just as important that you’ll be a good fit with our small but growing team. We’re looking for people who are:
· self-motivated team players with strong business acumen
· able to demonstrate integrity, drive, an enquiring mind & analytical thinking
· excellent written and verbal communicators known for attention to detail and the ability to meet deadlines
· experienced in interpreting data and drawing insightful conclusions
· accustomed to engaging with senior decision makers and presenting to clients
· happy working from home (we all do) but able to attend monthly meetings in the Farnham/Guildford area (Surrey) plus client meetings in London.
There is scope to tailor the roles for the right candidates, who may work on a full-time, part-time or associate basis. Naturally we offer a competitive compensation package, commensurate with experience.
If you think you fit the bill and you’re interested in joining the ‘TechMarketView family’ please send your CV and a covering email to our Managing Director, Tola Sargeant (tsargeant@techmarketview.com), before the end of July.
Please note that we do not accept resumes from recruitment agencies, headhunters and other third party services providers – only direct applications will be considered.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:08'
We wouldn’t want our TechMarketView research subscribers to miss out on the two core reports of the year featuring analysis from all TechMarketView’s analyst team. So, just to highlight where you can get your hands on the research published over last week, and understand how the market is developing in line with our 2017 research theme, Unlocking the Intelligence, here are the links again…
To absorb in-depth analysis on all areas of the UK SITS market and to download our granular forecasts through to 2020, head to download the UK SITS Market Trends & Forecasts report 2017 and the accompanying spreadsheet. To find out more about the content of this report – see here.
And to find out who’s who in the UK SITS Top 60 – and more importantly, who’s winning and who’s losing in each area of the market, you can download the UK SITS Supplier Landscape 2017. To find out more about the content of this report – see here.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:25' - Tagged: research
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:04' - Tagged: events
