Menu
 
News
Thursday 30 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Capita Scaling Partner and a “Distributed” approach to outsourcing development

CapitaWe have been following the progress of Capita’s scale-up development unit Capita Scaling Partner (CSP) for the last couple of years (see here and work back) and we caught up recently to discuss its latest venture with co-founder John Downes, as well as Callum Adamson the CEO of new CSP partner - DistributedDistributed

CSP has become a minority shareholder in “future of work” player Distributed, and we wanted to understand the rationale behind the deal and get a feel for what we can expect to see from the new partnership.

Distributed is a London-headquartered start-up that offers a distributed workforce of qualified and vetted freelance coders and developers for organisations to deploy on their digital projects. Distributed’s USP is that it provides a platform designed to make this distributed workforce really collegiate, working together and acting as a genuine team via a strong staff engagement model. This is currently delivering staff Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in the 90s, with 98% on time delivery for software development and client NPS scores well into high 80s. All very impressive stuff.

Addressing a lack of skills

Distributed is addressing a very real and pressing need within the digital skills market. As we have said many times before, pretty much every firm now is to a greater or lesser extent a “tech business”, all competing for the same relatively small pool of digital talent. This lack of skills has driven up salaries and time to hire and on the whole, driven down quality as talent gets increasingly spread thin and wide. As a consequence, many clients are unable to deliver digital projects to quality and cost.

Cal AdamsonCo-founder and CEO Callum Adamson experienced this first-hand working at a number of start-ups early on in his career. Having seen the success with which infrastructure was taken into the cloud he was interested to see if the same could be done with development teams and associated talent. He noticed a growing cohort of developers and coders who craved a more flexible way of working and the ability to control their own careers; these individuals wanted to ensure that they could choose who they worked with, when they worked and where they were based……read more here

HV PremiumUKHotViews Premium and research subscribers can read more of our analysis on how Capita is taking a “Distributed” approach to outsourcing development here.

For more information about TechMarketView's subscription services please contact Deb Seth.

Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:20' - Tagged: skills   partnerships   Capita   scaleup  

Thursday 30 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Just the Tikit for Advanced

Advanced logoAt the end of March, Advanced acquired Tikit from BT. The deal was Advanced’s fifth acquisition in twelve months and its first sizeable deal since BC Partners joined forces with existing backers Vista Equity Partners and invested £2bn in the UK-headquartered business in August 2019. We caught up with CEO Gordon Wilson and Doug Hargrove, Managing Director of Legal at Advanced, as the acquisition completed to learn more. What was the rationale behind the acquisition? What is it like integrating an acquisition during lockdown? And will there be more acquisitions this year? Read the full story in today's UKHotViewsExtra article: Just the Tikit for Advanced.

UKHotViews PremiumUKHotViewsExtra articles can be read by all Corporate Subscription & individual UKHotViews Premium clients - if you'd like more details on either service please email info@techmarketview.com.

Posted by Tola Sargeant at '08:07' - Tagged: acquisition   software   legal  

Wednesday 29 April 2020

Shortlist announced for the CGI ‘Northern Exposure’ Innovation Partner pitch event

logologoWe are delighted to announce the names of the six North-of-England based tech SME’s that have been shortlisted as potential partners by global IT and business consulting services firm, CGI, in association with the TechMarketView Innovation Partner Programme.

The companies are:

  • Cloud Trade Technologies
  • Crowded (Innotech Insights)
  • Smart Agent (Mission Labs)
  • Wordnerds (Nerds With Words)
  • PixelMill
  • Veracity Systems

Their founders and other members of the top teams will be pitching (virtually, of course) to a panel of CGI executives and TechMarketView Research Directors over the next few days.

Many congratulations to them all.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '06:00' - Tagged: tipp  

Tuesday 28 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* UK takes centralised approach to contact tracing

nhsx logoOver the last month there have been many twists and turns in the world of contact tracing. The convoluted path towards developing national systems for informing those potentially exposed to COVID-19 has been fraught with tension between government, academia and business—at the heart of these disagreements is the privacy of citizens (see Concerns about contact tracing apps continue to grow).

NHSX is leading the development of the UK’s contact tracing technology (see Contact tracing apps: NHS, Apple and Google). The app, which will form part of a wider approach involving manual contact tracing and widescale testing, will follow a centralised approach, as opposed to a decentralised strategy where data is only stored locally.

Speaking at the House of Commons Science and Technology Commons Select Committee yesterday (28 April 2020), Matthew Gould said development of the app will be iterative. The first version, which is being developed by the Pivotal team at VMware, will not include all the features that NHSX would like, but additional functionality will be added over time. This will include allowing users to offer additional information, including location data, if they are willing to do so. He went on to say that he thinks there is a false dichotomy between centralised and decentralised approaches—NHSX firmly believes that its centralised approach preserves people’s privacy.

The app will roll out in a controlled way to a small area of the country within two weeks, with mass deployment taking place according to the wider government strategy of how it exits the lockdown.

UKHVPremium logoA centralised approach may give governments more flexibility to adapt at speed to new epidemiological data, it may allow a greater amount of additional data to be collected, thus improving the effectiveness of the technology, and it may allow greater accuracy in tracing, but it also raises far greater privacy concerns (see COVID-19 contact tracing apps: privacy and freedom).

UKHotViews Premium and research subscribers can read more about the centralised and decentralised approaches to contact tracing and the associated privacy and ethical considerations here. For more information about TechMarketView's subscription services please contact Deb Seth

Posted by Dale Peters at '15:26' - Tagged: nhs   app   healthcare   covid-19  

Tuesday 28 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* Experience by Design

Experience by DesignUser experience continues to be at the heart of successful digital transformation and remains one of the biggest single areas of investment in the tech space. Customer experience transformation has captured the headlines but has matured to encompass the citizen, employee and now supplier network. An outstanding digital experience is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for all aspects of operations. Getting this right is all about great design. 

Recent years has seen the discipline of service design or ‘user centered’ design really come of age whether the service is delivered by the private or public sectors. There are many leading UK companies doing great work in this space and leading their fields both here and overseas. As organisations across all sectors seek to navigate a path through the “Digital Chaos”, we will see demand for service design continue to intensify.

Our new report looks at the role service design plays in developing and delivering digital services in both the public and private sector. To do this we have focused on the work that service design agency ExperienceLabs is doing with Serco in designing experiences for citizens and user centred design specialist Bio is doing with Target Group and Tech Mahindra in Financial Services.

Subscribers to TechMarketView’s TechSectorViews research stream, can download the report – Experience by design – now. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out more.

Posted by Marc Hardwick at '12:54' - Tagged: publicsector   financialservices   newresearch   mortgageservices   designthinking   experience  

Tuesday 28 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Capgemini stays healthy despite COVID-19

LogoCapgemini weathered the initial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic to deliver Q120 turnover in line with expectations. Revenue for the three months ended 31st March 2020 increased by 2.3% yoy on a constant currency basis to €3.55b. Underlying organic growth the first quarter of this year was 2%. The comparative number for France-HQ’d rival Sopra Steria was 3.3% (see here), while Atos saw its Q1 organic top line shrink by 0.8% (see here).

Hosting his 103rd and final results webcast, outgoing CEO, Paul Hermelin cited the group’s early mobilisation in February ahead of many of the COVID-19 driven lockdowns as having played an important part in sustaining the health of the company through the latter part of Q120. 95% of Capgemini’s worldwide employees are now working from home.

If you are a TechMarketView subscriber (including UKHotViews Premium), you can read the full analysis, in UKHotViews Extra: Capgemini stays healthy despite COVID-19. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how to gain access.

Posted by Duncan Aitchison at '10:29' - Tagged: results   systemsintegration  

Tuesday 28 April 2020

The Prince's Trust launches Young People Relief Fund

Princes Trust logoTechMarketView has a long association with The Prince’s Trust, which began in 2002 when our Chairman Richard Holway became a founding member of the Trust’s Technology Leadership Group. We’re proud that that involvement has continued to the present day with our Managing Director, Tola Sargeant, now being part of the TLG.

We have been very impressed by the way the Trust is rapidly changing the way it works in light of the COVID-19 pandemic with digital and tech solutions playing a key part.  It has launched the Youth Action Plan, innovating across areas from online mentoring to educational and community support, so that every young person has somewhere to turn to during this difficult time.

In the coming period, the Prince’s Trust knows that it will see an increase in demand for its youth support services, which are rapidly adapting to the new circumstances. At the same time, COVID-19 will bring considerable financial risk to the charity, which relies heavily on philanthropy, corporate and government grants, and will inevitably lose vital income streams. However, the young people of our nation have never needed the Trust’s help more than they do now. 

How you can help

The Prince’s Trust is asking for our help and has launched The Young People Relief Fund to ensure that it can adapt to give young people the support they need during this unprecedented time, and beyond. Their plans include major employability growth across health and social care, employability skills support from an early age and digital upskilling for the future age. 

By donating to the Young People Relief Fund you will: 

·     Give the most vulnerable young people the support they need to cope day-to-day in this anxious and uncertain time in the UK’s history. 

·     Help young people who are missing school, are excluded from the workplace or experiencing redundancy to engage in education or get back into a job. 

·     Help re-skill the young for jobs in sectors such as healthcare. 

Prince's Trust banner

Please consider supporting the Young People Relief Fund if you can by donating here.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:30' - Tagged: charity  

Monday 27 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* NTT DATA: Delivering on UK Government’s Vision

NTT DATA logoWhat is the secret of NTT DATA’s 20%+ growth year-on-year in UK public sector revenues over the last five years?

We have repeatedly called out the company as ‘One to Watch’ in the course of our usual PublicSectorViews research. And we are often asked what the company is doing that others might seek to emulate. There is much to consider, as NTT DATA feels like a very different proposition for the UK public sector compared to those that have topped our rankings for many years (see UK public sector SITS supplier rankings 2019).

Report coverIts parent company, NTT Group, has pursued numerous corporate changes since the appointment of a new President & CEO in in 2018. With this in mind, we caught up with Chris Jones, NTT DATA’s VP, for Central Government (one sector within Public Services that also includes Health, Scottish Devolved Government and  the Not for Profit sector), to find out how the changes have affected its Whitehall progress, the strategy that his sector has in place, and its prospects for growth.

In summarising out findings, we have drawn on TechMarketView’s Market Readiness Index (MRI) framework to consider NTT DATA’s strengths and weaknesses across the six categories of: corporate resilience, suitability of offerings, skills and resources, partner ecosystem, industry expertise and delivery & execution.   

If you want to find out how NTT DATA is achieving market-beating growth rates, and you are a subscriber to TechMarketView’s PublicSectorViews research stream, you can download the report – NTT DATA: Delivering on the UK Government’s Vision – now. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out more.

Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '08:00' - Tagged: publicsector   centralgovernment   health   scotland   suppliers  

Friday 24 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra*– TCS looks beyond COVID-19

TCSFollowing on from TCS’s annual results (see - TCS breaks $22bn mark as growth slows) we caught up recently with UK & Ireland Head, Amit Kapur, to discuss the UK results for FY 2020 and in particular how the Group and its clients are dealing with COVID-19.

Firstly, the results - The UK remains one of TCS’s largest and most important markets and although growth slowed last year the Group still posted very respectable double-digit year-on-year growth for the UK of 10.4% (22% in FY19). This translated into total UK revenue for the year of £2.76bn (£2.5bn in FY19).

Amit KapurThe fourth quarter, which ran till the end of March, overlapped with the start of the Coronovirus outbreak in the UK and saw TCS post revenue of £691m, which saw quarterly growth slow to 1.3% QoQ and 6% YoY. 

TCS continues to benefit from the large UK mega deals won over recent years, many of which have been in Banking and Financial Services. Growth, however, has been broad based with clients in the Communications, Travel, Retail and Utilities all contributing. The same can also be said for service lines, seeing growth in those areas most closely aligned to digital -  in its TCS Interactive, Intelligent Automation, Security, Cloud Apps, Micro services and API practices. Here scale is being added to many of the practices that TCS launched two years back. 

Another “big feather in TCS’s cap” last year was being recognised by the Sunday Times as one of 25 Best Big Companies to Work for in UK. TCS has always taken the learning and development of its staff very seriously and will no doubt be delighted with this recognition in its first year of entering. 

Moving onto COVID-19 - all IT and Business Process Service providers are being challenged like never before and TCS is no exception. TCS’s traditional model has seen some 400,000 staff spread out over a large number of integrated co-located workplaces. The pandemic has provided TCS with both the need and opportunity to shift this model.…..more

HV PremiumUKHotViews Premium and research subscribers can read more of our analysis on how TCS and its clients are dealing with COVID-19 here.

For more information about TechMarketView's subscription services please contact Deb Seth.

Posted by Marc Hardwick at '14:56' - Tagged: results   covid-19  

Friday 24 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* COVID-19 – An ill wind to fan the flames of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Whether one identifies the trigger point as the advent of broadband, or the dawn of the social media age or the explosion in smartphone usage, we are now at least fifteen years down the path towards the Enterprise 4.0 era.

The pursuit of largely technology-drive digital transformation to date has, however, often resulted in anarchy leavingCover in its wake unruly digital development far-and-wide across organisations. These proliferations of “Simple” digital point solutions have collectively failed to yet deliver fundamental business change. Beyond this, many companies have simply lacked the confidence, motivation and raw courage required to address the wider structural, cultural and behavioural challenges required to enact radical reinvention. The wheels of the fourth industrial revolution for the vast majority of established enterprises have been turning at a relatively modest pace.

But this was before the advent of the coronavirus pandemic…

Click to download COVID-19 – An ill wind to fan the flames of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? for an initial view of how the current unprecedented events are likely to impact the market appetite for ”Complex” digital transformation.

This paper seeks to explore whether one of the likely by-products of Covid-19 crisis will be to alter materially the trajectory and velocity of the shift to the Enterprise 4.0 era. It therefore focuses on shape of digital services demand as we entered the pandemic, assesses the factors that had been conditioning its progress, and considers how these may now be altered going forward.

If you are an existing TechSectorViews subscriber you’ll know you can access the report by clicking the link above. If you’d like to discuss an extension to your existing subscription or would like details of how to subscribe to TechMarketView, please email Deb Seth.

Posted by Duncan Aitchison at '07:00' - Tagged: systemsintegration   digital   transformation  

Friday 24 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* SD-WAN: UK Market Update 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* SD-WAN: UK Market Update 2020Our latest report tracking the enterprise connectivity market - SD-WAN: UK Market Update 2020 - provides a snapshot of recent UK customer deployments of software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solutions. It discusses how suppliers and service providers are shifting focus away from improved bandwidth and cost savings on existing connectivity contracts towards secure, reliable access to cloud-hosted applications and services from distributed locations as a way to broaden the potential customer base.

Whereas SD-WAN was very much at the early adopter stage only a couple of years ago (see SD-WAN Builds New Service Models for Network Providers), there has been considerable growth in supplier provision, customer interest and deployment activity in the UK and elsewhere since then. In some cases the technology is also a neat fit for employees working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, though supply chain constraints could hamper some providers’ ability to meet any transitory surge in demand.

Subscribers to TechSectorViews can download our SD-WAN: UK Market Update 2020 report here. If you are not a subscriber but would like to access the research, please contact Deb Seth for more information.

Posted by Martin Courtney at '06:32' - Tagged: cloud   connectivity   SD-WAN   cybersecurity  

Wednesday 22 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* Graph databases: Weaving frictionless business; accelerating AI/ML

Graph report image One thing we can be sure of about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it will impact business. As TechMarketView considers the effect on the UK tech market, one area we are exploring is the types of technology organisations could turn to, to address operational strengths and weaknesses uncovered during the initial COVID-19 response and do things differently in the recovery phase. One such technology is the graph database. 

Read Graph databases: Weaving the frictionless business; accelerating AI/ML for our analysis of the potential of this technology. 

Defined by the ability to handle multi-faceted relationships between data entities, this characteristic is valuable in situations where the connections between the data are as, or more, important than the individual data points: contact tracing for disease control for example; understanding how influencers connect to the decision making processes when approaching a prospective customer, or deepening the quality of the relationship with an existing client; making sense of behavioural change. TechMarketView also believes graph databases and analytics has a role to play in accelerating the adoption and operationalisation of AI/Machine Learning. 

The technology is not a silver bullet course, and will add to the database estate rather than replace stalwart relational databases, but the ability to handle complex connections and surface relationship-based insights stands to bring a new dimension to data and contribute to the fabric of digitally enabled frictionless operations. 

TechMarketView TechSectorViews clients can download the report here. Alternatively, email Deb Seth if you are not a client and would like details of how to access TechMarketView research and surrounding services. 

Posted by Angela Eager at '19:01' - Tagged: software   AI   machinelearning   data   database  

Wednesday 22 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Atos Q1 gives COVID-19 impact insight

Atos logo

Atos’ Q1 results to end March give a useful insight into the impact of COVID-19 on different areas of the market. They also serve to highlight how a detailed analysis of companies’ financial strength, its business mix, its types of client relationship, and its contractual arrangements, is necessary to determine the likely impact of the pandemic on future performance.

UKHotViews Premium logoAtos Q1 includes a month during which restrictions and lockdowns impacted most of the countries where the Group operates. For the three months, revenue only decreased slightly – down by 0.8% organically to €2,389m. Performance varied by business unit, by geography and by industry…

If you are a TechMarketView subscriber (including UKHotViews Premium), you can read the full analysis, including a look at the future likely impact of COVID-19 on Atos’ business, in UKHotViews Extra: Atos Q1 gives COVID-19 impact insight. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how to gain access.

Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:47' - Tagged: results   itservices   covid-19   coronavirus  

Tuesday 21 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Tackling COVID-19: the acceptable face of data repurposing?

Covid-19 imageData is central to understanding COVID-19, the measures and timing to tackle it, and how effective they are. In pursuit of these objectives, tech is there front and centre, including an emerging new role for tech and data able to provide insights into the spread of the coronavirus and related behavioural change across populations, aided by the use of AI/Machine Learning.

UKHV Premium logoTackling COVID-19: the acceptable face of data repurposing? explores the use of wearables and mapping technology, and their role in supporting decision making for COVID-19 mitigation. They also raise thorny questions around privacy and the ethics of repurposing data, even in a ‘data for good’ context.

All TechMarketView corporate clients and individual UKHotViews Premium subscribers, can read the analysis here. If you’re not a client and would like details about our services, Deb Seth will be happy to help.

Posted by Angela Eager at '17:41' - Tagged: software   wearable   AI   machinelearning   data   covid-19  

Tuesday 21 April 2020

Don't miss the latest TechMarketView research

TMV logoThe TechMarketView analyst team has been incredibly busy over the last few weeks analysing the impact that COVID-19 is having, and is set to have, on the UK tech market. As you would expect, the pandemic has reshaped our research agenda and much of the research planned over the coming weeks is focused on the impact of COVID-19 across the UK tech sector. 

Cover imageWe will, for example, be analysing supplier resilience in light of COVID-19; providing in-depth insight the pandemic’s impact on the UK public sector and financial services markets; and updating our market forecast and trend analysis to reflect the fast-changing conditions. You’ll find the detail in our updated research agenda for the coming quarter here.

In addition to this planned in-depth analysis, we will of course continue to cover events as they happen in UKHotViews and provide additional depth of coverage on key supplier and market news in our timely UKHotViewsExtra analysis.

Keep up-to-date with UKHotViewsExtra

Here are some quick links to our UKHotViewsExtra coverage over the last month in case you’ve missed anything:

·     Pricing the pandemic - how technology is transforming risk

·     Why COVID-19 will not break the Internet

·     COVID-19 contact tracing apps: privacy and freedom

·     Share Indices in March 20 and 2020 YTD- Richard Holway’s analysis of a momentous month on the stock exchanges.

·     HV Premium logoEarly-stage funds still investing but at lower valuations

·     Getting beyond the hype – RPA adoption within the NHS

·     Telecoms and conferencing rise to remote working challenge

·     COVID-19 escalates war on digital viruses

·     COVID-19: Forcing a gear-change in employee workplace experience?

As a reminder, all corporate subscription clients and individual UKHotViews Premium subscribers can access these articles as they’re published, plus the growing digital library of over 20,000 regular UKHotViews articles.

Government & NHS offer

And if you work for a central government department or agency, or the NHS, don’t forget that you can also get full access to all of our research for free at the moment – for details of how to get your login see here.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '13:48' - Tagged: research  

Tuesday 21 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Pricing the pandemic - how technology is transforming risk

COVID19Technology is increasingly providing insurers and other large organisations with the ability to assess realistic disaster scenarios relating to storm, flood, war, terrorism, industrial accident or global pandemic. In a departure from traditional underwriting approaches, specialist exposure management solutions are becoming more widespread. Meanwhile, technology led approaches and the use of data analytics are significantly improving loss-ratios, whilst simultaneously improving process efficiency.

Pricing the pandemic - how technology is transforming risk explores how advanced analytics, IoT and machine learning are transforming insurance processes, by helping insurers to accurately underwrite large risks and assess their exposure to major events.

HVPTechMarketView subscribers, including UKHotViews Premium clients, can read Pricing the pandemic - how technology is transforming risk now, via UK HotViews Extra. If you are not yet a subscriber, and would like to gain access to this material, please contact Deb Seth.

Posted by Jon C Davies at '06:00'

Monday 20 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* Why COVID-19 will not break the Internet

COVID-19One of the most impressive sub plots to COVID-19 and a big “feather in the cap” of the tech industry has been the relative ease with which huge swathes of people have shifted to working, studying and socialising from home. Whilst it’s sadly true that the health, social and economic consequences of the virus will be catastrophic, had COVID struck just 20 years ago the outcome could have been so much more disruptive. Working from home with dial-up internet and a “Nokia brick” for company was just never going to cut it.

Thankfully the technology has improved dramatically, and the robustness of the infrastructure and the performance of the internet backbone has been very impressive, as loads have increased and patterns of usage have shifted. Indeed, the companies and organisations behind the internet deserve a lot of credit for quietly enabling all this to be possible.

CentralNICWe caught up recently with Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNIC one of the companies that manages a lot of the infrastructure on which the internet sits. CentralNIC’s software platform allows businesses globally to buy subscriptions to domain names, used for their own websites and email, as well protecting brands online. Crawford himself has worked in internet infrastructure for much of his career going back to the Sydney Olympics where he ran the websites.

We wanted to get his perspective on the current unprecedented situation having seen huge spikes in internet usage (Vodafone has reported internet traffic increases of 50% across Europe) prompting European Commissioner Thierry Breton to take action to prevent network degradation launching the #SwitchToStandard initiative.

HV PremiumSubscribers to our HotViewsPremium service can read the full article here: *UKHotViewsExtra* Why COVID-19 will not break the Internet

If you are not yet a TechSectorViews subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how you can access this research.

Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:23' - Tagged: covid-19  

Thursday 16 April 2020

Launching TechMarketView’s COVID-19 Impact Surveys

COVID-19 imageTechMarketView needs you!

Whether you are a tech user or a tech company, we are calling on you to spare a couple of minutes of your time to participate in one of two surveys designed to gauge the impact that COVID-19 will have on the UK tech market.

Your contribution is required by Thursday 30th April.

We have compiled the surveys to gather as much insight as we can on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tech user community and on tech companies.

The TechMarketView analyst team is talking with ICT suppliers and end users of technology daily. We hear voices of optimism. We hear voices of pessimism. As we enter our forecasting period (ahead of the publication of our series of Market Trends & Forecasts reports, within our subscription research streams), the results of this survey will help us improve our understanding of where the opportunities and threats lie.

If you are a Tech User (i.e. an end user organisation with operations in the UK), we ask that you complete this survey: COVID-19 – The impact of the pandemic on Tech User organisations

If you are a Tech Company, we ask that you complete this survey: COVID-19 – The impact of the pandemic on Tech Companies.

We will publish the results in a special report over the next few weeks. You should keep an eye out on UKHotViews, where we will feature some of the highlights. In addition, the detailed report will be made available to participants of the survey and TechMarketView research subscription clients. If you are not a subscriber to TechMarketView’s research services, and haven’t participated in the survey, the report will also be available to purchase.

This survey is completely confidential. All results published will be aggregated and anonymised so no individual responses can be identified. 

​If you would like any further information about the research then please email info@techmarketview.com

​Many thanks, in advance, for your participation.

Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '12:00' - Tagged: markettrends   trends   survey   covid-19   coronavirus  

Wednesday 15 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH*: Pulsant: Leaner & more resilient in uncertain times

We caught up with (fairly new) Pulsant CEO, Rob Coupland, just as the UK came to the end of week two in pulslockdown. The firm moved early when the crisis began to gather pace, conducting a risk assessment in early March and ensuring support staff were able to provide continuity of customer service once the government guidance came into play. The firm’s initial rapid response was critical for clients and meant Pulsant was quickly able to stabilise during what was a very challenging and uncertain period. However, the uncertainty is in many ways intensifying, and like others Pulsant faces the challenge of trying to understand what lies ahead. Nonetheless, in these early stages, the firm’s high recurring revenue stream and lack of exposure to hard-hit sectors provide some solidity.

The COVID-19 crisis has created unparalleled market uncertainty. In response, suppliers such as Pulsant must have a crystal-clear view of their differentiation and position, and in turn be able to articulate that to customers. In this research note, we take a look at some of the changes that have been going on inside Pulsant to improve the Private Equity-backed firm from an operational and market position perspective. Its portfolio of services across colocation and cloud play to market demand – particularly for hybrid operating environments – and it is now better placed to take on a market characterised by many unknowns.

TechSectorViews subscribers can read the note, by Kate Hanaghan, Chief Research Officer, here:  Pulsant: Leaner and more resilient in uncertain times

To access TechMarketView analysis and advisory services, please contact Deb Seth.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:18' - Tagged: cloud   colocation   datacentres   hybrid  

Tuesday 14 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* Virus hits SITS stocks

chartThese are certainly unusual times when a 7% fall in share price in a quarter warrants a top 20 ‘gainers’ position amongst the UK listed software & IT services (SITS) companies, as is the case for digital learning and talent management specialists, Learning Technologies Group! There were barely a dozen quoted UK SITS stocks that ended the quarter with a share price higher than at the beginning of the year, but many more whose shares ended very much lower.

Subscribers to the Foundation Service and to UKHotViews Premium can read more by downloading the Q1 2020 edition of IndustryViews Quoted Sector.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '15:30'

Tuesday 14 April 2020

Are you a Government or NHS reader of UKHotViews?

Are you a Government or NHS reader of UKHotViews, but are not already part of the cross Government TechMarketView subscription?

TechMarketView is opening up full access to all of our content, at no charge, to any NHS employee or Whitehall civil servant. Access will be available until the end of September 2020, when the current cross Government subscription expires.

If you'd benefit from this access, please contact ci@crowncommercial.gov.uk from your work email address who will register you.

MERGED IMAGE

Posted by HotViews Editor at '00:00'

Monday 13 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* OffshoreViews Extra: COVID-19 and the IPPs

imageThis special edition of OffshoreViews serves as a scene-setter on the impact of COVID-19 on the India-centric IT services industry (the so-called Indian Pure-Plays or IPPs), ahead of the publication of their quarterly (and in many cases, full-year) financial results. The Indian reporting season starts this week (w/b 13th April 2020).

We will present a fuller analysis of the financial impact of COVID-19 in the next scheduled edition of OffshoreViews which we expect to publish when reporting season is over in May. We will of course continue to cover individual company results on UKHotViews as they report.

Foundation Service clients can download the report here.

Posted by Anthony Miller at '15:57' - Tagged: offshore   covid-19  

Thursday 09 April 2020

*UKHotViewsExtra* COVID-19 contact tracing apps: privacy and freedom

Covid-19 imageAround the world, lockdown measures appear to be proving effective at flattening the curve of new COVID-19 cases, but this obviously comes at a huge social and economic cost. No country has yet devised an effective long-term exit strategy. Many are placing their faith in a vaccine being developed in record time; however, with less than 10% of compounds entering Phase 1 drug trials successfully making it to launch, there is certainly no guarantee we’ll see a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. So how do we avoid prolonged or repeated cycles of lockdown, reduce the number of infections and get back to something closer to life pre-COVID-19? Contact tracing apps have been suggested as part of the solution, and have already been used in some countries, but how much of our privacy are we willing to give up in return for greater freedoms?

UKHotViewsPremium logoIn this UKHotViewsExtra article we explore current use of contact tracing apps and those in development, progress in the UK and the research that underpins it, and asks what trade-offs we would be willing to accept in exchange for a more rapid return to normal life. 

UKHotViews Premium and research subscribers can read COVID-19 contact tracing apps: privacy and freedom now. For more information about TechMarketView's subscription services please contact Deb Seth.

Image source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Posted by Dale Peters at '07:53' - Tagged: app   privacy   ethics   covid-19  

Friday 03 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* Digital Marketplace Dashboards P11 2019-20

Dashboard ImageFollowing the publication of our Digital Marketplace 2019 Review in January, TechMarketView are now trialling the introduction of monthly dashboards of the key sales data from the G-Cloud and Digital Outcomes & Specialists (DOS) frameworks.

The first of these updates covers February 2020 (P11 in the government fiscal year 2019-20). In the year to date (covering 11 months from April 2019 to February 2020) total Digital Marketplace spend stood at £2,127m, which was up 19.9% compared to the same period in 2018-19. However, spend in February alone was down 3.4% year-on-year and down 3.2% compared to January 2020.

We typically see a spike in spending in the last period of the financial year, but we will have to wait a few more weeks for the March data to be published before we can see what impact rising fears about COVID-19 had on spend during the month.

February data shows the leading suppliers in both G-Cloud and DOS continuing to do well. Amazon Web Services (AWS) led the way in G-Cloud sales, with its £14.2m income being nearly four times that of Methods in second place. The vast majority of AWS’ business during the month came via the Home Office (see AWS strengthens Home Office relationship with new four-year deal). Kainos continues to perform well through DOS, securing £7.0m in sales—it has now been the leading supplier in nine out of the 11 periods in 2019-20.

If you are an existing PublicSectorViews subscriber, you can view the dashboards now. If you’d like to discuss an extension to your existing subscription or would like details of how to subscribe to TechMarketView, please email Deb Seth.

Posted by Dale Peters at '09:52' - Tagged: government   g-cloud   data   dos   digitalmarketplace  

Thursday 02 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* Future Growth in RPA

Our new research (download here) looks at where the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) market is today, what adoption of automation looks like in practice, and what is likely to drive the next wave of growth within the market. It concludes with a range of recommendations for both software vendors and service providers.

RPA reportThere has been a sense in the SITS market for some time, that RPA has lost its way as a technology. RPA vendors have focused on the more eye catching, “sexier” aspects of the what automation technologies can deliver, such as AI driven RPA platforms and human/robot blended workforces, often promoted to help justify lofty valuations. Whilst there is, of course, nothing wrong with looking to the future, the focus on the technologies themselves has led to a neglect of how they might add value to client organisations. The result has been market hype running well ahead of reality which has led to both disappointment and frustration within client organisations.

In our 2020 predictions we have suggested that this is the year that RPA must get “back to basics” -  scaling what is working and delivering client value, industrialising those areas that are delivering genuine business outcomes for clients. In this report (download here) we will have a look at how far the market has come in the UK, reflect on where it is working well and then identify the best route to future growth.

If you are not yet a TechSectorViews subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how you can access this research.

Posted by Marc Hardwick at '09:56' - Tagged: newresearch   RPA  

Wednesday 01 April 2020

Share Indices in Mar 20 and 2020 YTD

March turned out to be the most momentous month in my memory as COVID-19 hit share prices throughout the world.

  • NASDAQ dropped 7.5% in Mar 20 - 12.8% YTD
  • FTSE100 dropped 13.8% in Mar 20  - 24.8% YTD
  • FTSE SCS Index dropped 16.9% in Mar 20 - 26.6% YTD

HVPThe variations in performance, however, were really stark. Indeed there were some notable gainers with products and services addressing the needs of a world in lockdown. Conversely 90% of the stocks we cover recorded falls in Q1. Some, like Capita, with 80% declines in their share price.

The Future? Some tech companies could be the winners once this crisis is over as the world is unlikely to go back to its past ways. Our clients, including Hotviews Premium subscribers can read  more in Share Indices for March 20 and 2020 YTD

Posted by Richard Holway at '10:23'

Wednesday 01 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* UK Financial Services SITS Sub-Sector Comparison

The newly published UK Financial Services SITS Sub-Sector Comparison, introduces TechMarketView's segmentation and analysis of the main sub-sectors that constitute the UK financial services industry. 

FS SegmentationThe report explains the various vertical business functions that comprise each of the four segments and explores the major technology trends impacting each of them. The research also discusses the market drivers for software and IT services (SITS) relevant to each of the sub-sectors, in the context of the UK financial services SITS market as a whole.

Subscribers to TechMarketView's FinancialServicesViews research stream can download the UK Financial Services SITS Sub-Sector Comparison now.

If you do not currently have access to this research, please contact Deb Seth for further information about TechMarketView’s subscription services.

Posted by Jon C Davies at '09:24' - Tagged: insurance   banking  

Wednesday 01 April 2020

*NEW RESEARCH* COVID-19 Tech Sector Impact

TMV LOGOTechMarketView is about to embark on its annual cycle of UK software and IT services market forecasting. We will seek, as usual, to predict the growth (or decline) of the UK SITS market over the next four years, through to 2023.

Never have we faced such uncertainty. We are in the throes of a rapidly developing global situation – one which sees us entering uncharted territory and has an indeterminable length and impact (initial outbreaks could be followed by secondary outbreaks). We can expect news – both worldwide and domestically – that is both positive and negative.

Much will be dependent on whether the fiscal stimulus provided by the UK Government is enough to prevent the UK economy entering a period of recession in H2 2020.

The TechMarketView team is currently considering the potential future scenarios we might face and the likely impact on the UK tech market. In this, our latest research, we outline how tech suppliers have reacted to the crisis to date. We highlight what their customers are saying. And we provide our initial thoughts on the short-term and long-term consequences.

History shows that following any sort of economic crisis, market leaders tend to be the ones to benefit while weaker competitors are at a disadvantage. We expect this diversification in the performance of UK tech companies to be equally true during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. But it will not just be about market leaders vs. the rest. Other factors will play a part: the industry sectors in which their clients sit, their types of contract, the resilience of their business models and supply chains, and the strength of client relationships will all play a part.

If you are a TechMarketView subscriber, you can download the research now. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how you can access more research and analysis as we navigate uncharted territories.

Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '00:00'

« Back to previous page