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I write this review of Share Performance in Oct 20 on a dismal weekend of rain and wind. I write it after one of the worst weeks on the markets this year. I write it as I listen to the PM announce another period of draconian lockdown restrictions. I write it not knowing the outcome of the US Presidential Election on Tuesday. I write it not knowing whether the UK can agree some kind of deal on BREXIT to avoid an exit with ‘No Deal’ in just two months. I could go on. But I am too depressed already.
All this uncertainty and doom-laden outlook finally hit the markets.
The FTSE100 dropped nearly 5% in Oct – its worst performance since March when the last lockdown was announced. FTSE100 is now down a massive 26% YTD
NASDAQ fell 5% last week to close down 3.3% in Oct. But worth noting that NASDAQ is still UP 21% YTD and up over 50% since its March 20 low. Contrast that with the UK’s TechMark100 which is down 9% YTD.
It was even worse for UK quoted Software and IT Services stocks. The FTSE SCS Index fell 8.1% in Oct and is now down 16% YTD.
The outlook?
I think I should write the outlook statement in a week’s time. We’ll then (possibly) know the outcome of the US Presidential Election, the consequences of the UK new lock down and who knows what else.
Anyway, this is not a time for clever-clogs know-it-all analysts…
For a more detailed and extensive review of Share Performance in Oct 20 see HotViews Extra. This includes details and commentary on the main risers and losers (rather more of the latter!).
Available to all our paying subscribers including HotViews Premium . IT COULD BE YOU! Sign up for just £395+VAT pa. CLICK HERE!
Posted by Richard Holway at '20:37'
Merger and acquisition activity in the UK software and IT services (SITS) sector appeared to bounce back strongly in Q3 2020 according to the latest data from technology investment bank, Silverpeak.
Time will tell if everything is back to normal or if the bounce is due to deals delayed from Q2 because of COVID-19 restrictions adding to a still-suppressed deal market in Q3. The net result was an increase in buy-side and sell-side deals with 77 UK buyers and 67 UK sellers during Q3.
TechMarketView Foundation Service and UKHotViews Premium subscribers can read more by downloading the latest edition of our quarterly review of the UK software & IT services M&A scene IndustryViews Corporate Activity.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '08:50' - Tagged: acquisition
The initial COVID-19 wave had a profound effect on UK manufacturing at a time when it was already dealing with Brexit uncertainty and the possibility of a ‘no deal’ scenario. As we are all too aware, facilities were suddenly shut down, the fragility of supply chains was exposed, activity in some sectors plummeted virtually overnight and order books and output seized up.
Inevitably, output will fall across 2020 yet the sector is showing signs of revival and manufacturers have started prioritising long-term recovery over short-term survival. Cash flow is a concern so investment budgets are being cut which will likely hamper efforts to take advantage of recovery phases but the initial COVID crisis was a proof point of the value of technology and the shift to digital and this is accelerating adoption. It is a turbulent landscape for manufacturers and suppliers but as the sector represents a sizable percentage of UK IT investment, developments can have a material impact on supplier performance.
Informed by an end user panel discussion hosted by industrial software supplier Aveva, the End User Insights: How COVID is Changing Manufacturing report provides valuable insight into how manufacturers used technology to cope with the initial COVID disruption and plans for navigating the next phases.
Subscribers can download “End User Insights: How COVID is Changing Manufacturing” here.
If you’d like access to this report but don’t yet have a TechMarketView subscription you can contact Deb Seth for information about our services.
Posted by Angela Eager at '15:53' - Tagged: software manufacturing covid-19
Published today, TechMarketView’s UK Defence Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023 report is the third of six deep-dive reports providing TechMarketView’s UK public sector SITS subsector analysis from a market and supplier perspective.
The report accompanies the UK Public Sector Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023 report, which provides a sector overview, and follows similar reports on Central Government and Local Government. Over the next few weeks, it will be followed by reports covering the Education, Health and Police markets.
Within UK Defence Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023, you will find TechMarketView’s Top 10 defence SITS rankings for 2019, revealing that seven of the leading suppliers grew their defence revenues in their last financial years. In addition, we uncover our view of those suppliers that are ‘on the rise’ and, therefore, threatening to unseat the leading players, and include a handpicked selection of suppliers that are worth keeping a close eye on, due to their renewed interest in the sector, recent successes, or differentiated approach.
After a strong 2018, there was a different, more depressed picture in 2019. However, our analysis reveals drivers within the Ministry of Defence that will have a positive impact on the market over the rest of our forecast period.
Using our proprietary Digital Evolution Model (DEM), we also provide a view of the market by the ‘New’ - digital, platform and cyber security-led offering, and ‘Heritage’ - offerings focused on traditional systems and processes.
PublicSectorViews’ subscribers can download the research today. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Deb Seth to find out how you can access the research.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '08:00' - Tagged: publicsector markettrends defence suppliers MarketForecasts competitoranalysis
The technology-led changes that revolutionised the UK financial markets sector in the 1980's have strong parallels with the transformation that is currently underway. Despite today's period of change not being characterised by a single dramatic “switch-on”, it is one that may prove to be just as significant for the future of the sector.
Once again regulation is a key driver and wafer-thin margins have helped fuel the adoption of new, technology-driven approaches as firms seek greater efficiency and cost control, coupled with a focus on the customer.
TechMarketView clients that subscribe to FinancialServicesViews can learn more by downloading Financial Markets Transformation “The Big Bang That Nobody Heard”. This report explores the factors driving change and examines the disruptive impact of digital technologies on established processes. The report also takes a look at a varied selection of the specialist SITS vendors active in the financial markets sector.
If you do not already have access to this report and would like to learn more, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Jon C Davies at '07:00' - Tagged: financialservices DXC CapitalMarkets financialmarkets fixnetix FirstDerivatives IONGroup SS&C AlphaFM Arcontech Nivaura TransFICC BeeksFinancialCloud
Published today, TechMarketView’s UK Local Government Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023 report is the second of six deep-dive reports providing TechMarketView’s UK public sector SITS subsector analysis from a market and supplier perspective.
The report accompanies the UK Public Sector Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023 report, which provides a sector overview, and follows the UK Central Government Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023 report. Over the next few weeks, it will be followed by reports covering the defence, education, health and police markets.
Within UK Local Government Software & IT Services: Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2020-2023, you will find TechMarketView’s Top 10 local government SITS rankings for 2019. You will also find our analysis of suppliers that are 'On the Rise' and challenging for a Top 10 position. We also look at 'Ones to Watch'; suppliers that are worthy of mention due to some interesting moves and/or an increasingly significant footprint.
The local government SITS market was challenging for many suppliers in 2018, but things started to change in 2019. The subsector has faced huge pressures from the COVID-19 crisis, but longer term the picture looks more positive through to the end of our forecast period in 2023. Using our proprietary Digital Evolution Model (DEM), we also provide a view of the market by the ‘New’ - digital, cloud, platform and cyber security-led offering, and ‘Heritage’ - offerings focused on traditional systems and processes.
Posted by Dale Peters at '09:52' - Tagged: localgovernment markettrends rankings suppliers MarketForecasts
I’m feeling a little overwhelmed this morning. It’s been absolutely amazing how the TechMarketView team has thrown themselves into the virtual RBC Race for the Kids over the weekend. It’s a cause very close to the O’Toole family’s hearts: Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH CC). Our youngest son, Thomas, has been cared for by the hospital for over a decade. For the whole team to come together to raise money so that other children can benefit from the same wonderful staff and facilities is incredible.
This morning I gathered some Race reports! And a quick back of the envelope calculation suggests that the team and our families covered around 250km between us – well over the 100km promised to our sponsors. I must give a special shout-out to Helen McTeer, who covered a phenomenal 55km participating in the Jurassic Coast Ultra. Unsurprisingly, Helen says she could now sleep for a week! Across the rest of the team:
Finally, Thomas and I took on a 5km route around Alice Holt Forest. This time last year, it was 4 months after Thomas’ amputation and just 2 months after receiving his first prosthetic leg, and we took part in the same Race for the Kids at Hyde Park (alongside Tola and Marc and their families). He really struggled – not being used to running (or remembering to breathe!) he suffered a major stitch, nausea, and a headache on the first corner. We ended up walking for 80% of the time and completed the course in 59 minutes. This weekend we proved what a difference a year – and a running blade – can make. He was determined to beat his previous time and he smashed it. We finished the 5km with a running time of just under 37 minutes. It was quite emotional considering there have been times in his life when we thought he might not walk. I am struggling with stairs today - while, apparently, Thomas is feeling zero after effects (even after also completing a 9-hole golf bonanza in the afternoon)!
So, a big thank you to the whole team. We were lucky with the weather and it’s been great to see everyone’s photographic evidence. If you would like to sponsor, the page is still live: ttps://www.rbcraceforthekids.com/fundraisers/techmarketviewforthomas.
With Gift Aid included, we have, so far, raised £3,900! Thank you to everyone – HotViews readers, clients, friends, and family - that have sponsored us.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:49' - Tagged: csr fundraising charity
Over the summer, we reported on the H120 results of NTT DATA (to end June) – see NTT DATA expands scale of services to client. The company had a solid six months, assisted by the increasing scale of contracts being won across a range of industries – public and social infrastructure, financial, and enterprise solutions (retail, logistics, services). However, the company warned on the impact that COVID-19 was set to have on the rest of the year. And the UK was called out as a company likely to suffer revenue declines.
Since then, we have caught up with NTT DATA UK CEO, Simon Williams (pictured), who paints a far more positive picture of the performance of the UK business and outlines how a refreshed strategy, which draws on NTT's resources and capabilities, is helping to deliver strong results.
TechMarketView subscribers - including UKHotViews Premium subscribers - can access the research note, entitled 'NTT DATA: Investment, collaboration, and innovation' - in UKHotViewsExtra. If you would like to find out how to access this and other valuable research & analysis, please contact Deb Seth to find out more.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '16:42'
This weekend, the TechMarketView team and their families will be covering 100K between us. Some will walk, some will run, some will cycle. But we’ll all be doing it for the same cause. We will be participating in the virtual RBC Race for the Kids 2020 in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Thomas, the son of our Chief Analyst, Georgina O’Toole, will be attempting a 5K run. This time last year, he participated in the RBC Race for the Kids (alongside Georgina, our MD, Tola Sargeant, and Research Director, Marc Hardwick, and their families). At the time, it was just four months after his elective amputation, and less than two months after receiving his first prosthetic leg. Getting round was not easy for him, but he did it! This year, he has had his running blade for 10 months, and his becoming more and more active. He wants to try and run the whole way! Mum says she might struggle to keep up. What a difference a year makes.
Many of you know that Thomas, having been born with a congenital deformity of his left leg, has been under the care of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s orthopaedic department since he was one year old. He and his family are eternally grateful for the care and support they have received over more than a decade. The TechMarketView team has watched their journey and, once again, would like to do something to help support the amazing hospital and ensure that other children can continue to benefit from the wonderful staff and facilities.
If you would like to support a fantastic cause at a time when all charities are struggling to fundraise, please go to our fundraising page. Any amount would be grateful received. Just follow this link: TechMarketView for GOSH. We have always been amazed by the support that our readers give – thank you!
Posted by HotViews Editor at '08:30' - Tagged: fundraising charity
Pulsant has just released its accounts for FY19, covering the twelve months to end December 2019. The top line was flat at £82m, with recurring revenue at more than 90%. EBITDA was up 9% (to £22.1m) reflecting improved scalability and cost efficiencies as well as some one-time in-year savings. Overall, Pulsant now has a more scalable cost base.
When CEO, Rob Coupland, took over from his predecessor Niclas Sanfridsson (who came on board as CEO in 2017), significant work had been done to get the firm into better shape from an operational perspective. Sanfridsson fully integrated prior acquisitions and harmonised certain support functions, for example. Indeed, FY19’s improved EBITDA figure reflects some of those activities. In the current year, EBITDA is unlikely to enjoy that same uplift.
Since joining, Coupland has been focused on rectifying areas that were deemed to be negatively impacting top line growth. For example, Pulsant had lost some sales capability. FY19 was relatively light in terms of new wins so building the sales capability up again to help address that has been crucial. Broadly speaking, winning new logos in the Infrastructure Operations market is going to be a challenge for most suppliers through this year and next. Many customers are hunkering down and focusing on delivering ‘the basics’ (such as transitioning staff to working from home on a more permanent basis, excellence in customer service, and cash in the bank) against the backdrop of COVID-19. This puts incumbent ICT providers in a good position, but they must be completely dependable and focused on execution excellence. Read more……
Posted by Kate Hanaghan at '06:30' - Tagged: results cloud colocation hosting hybrid
For the second successive quarter, tech shares have led the recovery in stock markets following the huge stock market sell-off during the first quarter due to concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the global economy. US tech stocks saw the strongest gains with the Nasdaq index up 11% qoq and almost 40% yoy. The FTSE SCS index, a proxy for UK listed software and IT services (SITS) companies, added another 7.5% in Q3 but, with few global players, the yoy gain was just 4% and is still 13% below its pre-crisis peak in January.
Subscribers to the TechMarketView Foundation Service and UKHotViews Premium can read more by downloading the Q3 2020 edition of IndustryViews Quoted Sector.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '14:40'
When covering last week’s TCS quarterly results (see TCS shares surge) and its subsequent stock market rise, I failed to spot that the firm had overtaken Accenture in terms of market capitalisation, to become the world’s most valuable IT services provider.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange TCS is now valued at $144.7bn with Accenture worth $143.4bn on the NASDAQ. TCS share price has gone up more than 30% since the beginning of 2020 and the recovery since the pandemic outbreak has been strong with stock up 70% - truly impressive stuff!
Having overtaken IBM’s market Cap in mid-2019, topping Accenture is a hugely symbolic achievement for a firm that has grown rapidly from offshore specialist to true global IT giant. What’s more the UK has played a huge part in TCS’s success as outlined in colleague Anthony’s recent piece The Rise and Rise of TCS. Not only is the UK TCS’s second most important market but we have seen the firm rise to become the second largest SITS player here and is now hot on the heels of market leader Capita. Again you can read more in our recently published UK Software and IT Services Rankings 2020.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:24' - Tagged: results offshore suppliers stockmarket
Live now for clients of the TechSectorViews research programme is UK Operations Market Trends and Forecasts 2020.
This extensive report brings together TechMarketView’s data and market trends analysis across Business Process Operations, Application Operations and Infrastructure Operations.
This year, in light of the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, TechMarketView has provided two distinct sets of forecasts for the UK SITS market. In each of the Operations areas, we provide market data for a more optimistic and a more pessimistic scenario to help explain possible outcomes against the backdrop of COVID-19.
In addition to the impact of the pandemic, our analysts explain the broader trends driving market performance and how suppliers can best place themselves for success.
If you would like to speak to any of the analyst team behind the research, please contact Deb Seth for more information.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:30' - Tagged: MarketForecasts BusinesProcess
Live now for clients of the TechSectorViews or FinancialServicesViews research programmes is Mortgage Collections Post-Covid.
Covid-19 has seen millions of people across the country become either furloughed from their jobs or made redundant as industries as varied as hospitality, leisure, travel and manufacturing all reel from the impact of lockdown. One consequence has been unprecedented numbers of homeowners taking “payment holidays” from their mortgages, averaging £755 a month. Given the increasing uncertainty of the economy, this will undoubtably lead to increasing levels of household debt. Lenders will have to subsequently try and collect these defaulted payments, which represent a significant risk to existing mortgage books. For customers, this may lead to interest mounting up and ultimately to extensions to their mortgage terms. Everyone is predicting an uplift in arrears, but there is little understanding the impact or longevity of that uplift.
The customer profile of those requesting payment holidays is very different post-Covid than it would be in more “normal” circumstances. Many mortgage holders who are unable to make their payments, would have had no prior history of arrears or financial hardship.
To discuss the future of collections and arrears in mortgages and loans, in a post-Covid world, I spent some time recently with Katie Pender, Senior Solutions Lead for Mortgages at Target Group, one of the UK’s largest Mortgage Process Outsourcers.
Here we discuss how lenders can best prepare themselves for a spike in demand as payment holidays come to an end.
Subscribers to TechMarketView's TechSectorViews or FinancialServicesViews can download this report now. If you don’t have a subscription and would like to know more about how to access our services, please email Deb Seth.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '13:11' - Tagged: mortgageservices covid-19 collections
There are a number of positive developments happening “under the bonnet” at business process operations specialist Liberata, that have yet to grab much attention outside of the firm itself or their partners and clients.
A year ago, we took a detailed look at some of the initiatives and investment programmes that the firm was making getting “match fit for digital”. Having been acquired by Japanese BPO outfit Outsourcing Inc (OSI) back in 2016, the firm currently finds itself part-way through a three-year investment cycle into its core business and operations. Liberata is being given the luxury of being able to invest to future-proof its business, whilst accepting a short-term impact with a view to delivering sustainable medium to long-term growth in revenue and most importantly profitability.
Liberata has been making made structural investments into its core business (revenues and benefits admin, outsourced payroll and other “white collar” BPO) in both 2019 and 2020 and plans to do more of the same next year. Investment has included process standardisation across client contracts as well as the deployment of automation technologies.
This investment has yet to be reflected in the top and bottom lines where a look at recent Liberata financials shows pretty slow revenue growth and lowish profit margins. However, the ambition remains to drive double digit EBIT and EBITDA margins once the investment cycle has come to an end. Come 2022, the financials should look very different as the investment washes through and where double-digit margins would be a first for the business.
The nature of this investment is supporting much greater delivery of online and digital services that will see the firm undertake less manual/labour intensive processing work. Reflecting this, headcount has already dipped below 1,000 staff for the first time -all without a concerted effort to make redundancies, down from 1,100 just a year ago. An increasing proportion of the workload is being digitised and processed via technology and automation, all meaning that smaller staff teams are likely here to stay.
UKHotViews Premium and research subscribers can read more of our analysis on how Liberata is progressing here
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:48' - Tagged: publicsector localgovernment hr bps
A year ago, we took a detailed look at some of the initiatives and investment programmes that the firm was making getting “match fit for digital”. Having been acquired by Japanese BPO outfit Outsourcing Inc (OSI)back in 2016, the firm currently finds itself part-way through a three-year investment cycle into its core business and operations. Liberata is being given the luxury of being able to invest to future-proof its business, whilst accepting a short-term impact with a view to delivering sustainable medium to long-term growth in revenue and most importantly profitability.
COVID-19 has challenged Business Process Services operators like never before, Liberata has been supporting customers at the same time as trying to address its own COVID-19-related operational challenges.
Liberata had around 10-15% of its staff working remotely pre-pandemic, but that figure is currently running at around 90%. Some of these functions have proved to be more challenging to run remotely such as contact centres, but having been adapted service and productivity levels are now actually higher than they were pre-pandemic. Home working has also proved popular with staff, so the company is re-thinking how best to use its existing office space if more people elect to stay home-based.
Local authorities have faced significant increases in demand from citizens, changes to duties and rising costs during the pandemic. This has seen Liberata help a number of councils such as Hounslow and North Somerset, deal with an increased number of Housing Benefits and Council Tax Support claims. To reduce the burden, councils have been increasingly relying on digital channels to support citizens and automation to improve efficiencies—the demand for these technologies will create new opportunities for Liberata.
The investment here that Liberata has made over last 2-3 years with harmonising processes for revenues collection and benefit payments has helped deal with the increase in volumes. Demand has also changed with citizens now using digital tools in increasing numbers. Liberata has seen self-service channels increase from 30-40% of transactions Pre-COVID to 60% as citizens realise that it is the most efficient way to contact the council. This is a step change in channel shift that will further support changes to the operating model of Local Government service delivery.
Liberata has also had to establish the infrastructure to service a range of new government schemes that have come in to help small businesses deal with the economic fallout of COVID, such as the administration of business grants and business rate relief. Standing up these types of schemes, and more recently Local Test & Trace support, Isolation Payments and Emergency Assistance Grants for its existing clients at very short notice resonates well with clients and will ultimately strengthen relationships.
At the very beginning of lockdown Liberata CEO, Charlie Bruin made his first acquisition, an employee outplacement company called Renovo that is now looking like an inspired bit of business, given current and predicted levels of redundancies and the need for these types of services.
Renovo is a modest sized business that complements nicely Liberata’s growing Human Resource (HR) and Finance and Accounting (F&A) capabilities and which gives the firm a decent foothold in the private sector. The York-headquartered business currently delivers its services across the UK and Ireland through a core group of outplacement consultants, a specialist tech platform and a wider network of associates.
Since the summer the business has been extremely busy having seen a sizeable uplift in demand with large volumes of staff including those previously furloughed, sadly facing redundancy. Positively, however, over 80% of candidates supported do return to work within 90 days. Sectors like airport groups, retail, leisure and hospitality have large numbers of staff exiting businesses that need quick and accessible support in areas such as coaching and CV writing. This responsive outplacement service might see a further increase in demand once furlough comes to an end through Q4 this year and Q1 2021.
Liberata has landed a number of contract extensions and re-wins with key clients over recent months including the likes of HMCTS, London Borough of Bromley and DWP that now gives the company a bedrock of long-term contracts that run to mid 2020s. Indeed, future visibility is now running at between 3 to 4 times annual revenue through forward order books.
The transactional services side of the business has also been particularly buoyant with an automation-led service for Universal Credit being sold into multiple Local Authorities that should open up doors for a “land and expand” sales strategy.
Add all of this to the inorganic growth from Renovo and you can see Liberata making progress on a number of fronts. If Liberata can add just one big BPO deal a year to the mix when the market starts to come back to life, top line growth should be energised.
The underlying performance of the business is already seeing the benefit of the investment programme which will take a further two years to flush through the business before you see those benefits translate to the bottom-line double-digit growth that CEO Bruin is aiming to achieve.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:36' - Tagged: publicsector localgovernment hr covid-19
Live now for clients of the TechSectorViews research programme is UK Infrastructure Operations Market Trends and Forecasts.
This report contains TechMarketView’s latest UK market size and forecast data along with an analysis of the trends shaping the UK Infrastructure Operations market.
This year, in light of the impact of COVID-19, TechMarketView has provided two distinct sets of forecasts for the UK Software and IT Services markets. UK Infrastructure Operations Market Trends and Forecasts explains the Scenarios for the Infrastructure Operations market, and how progress to cloud might be impacted.
The implications for suppliers of Infrastructure Operations are mixed, depending upon their ability to deliver services in higher growth areas, their industry concentration, and the financial health of their customers. Furthermore, when the market does return to overall growth, the likely beneficiaries will be those suppliers able to act quickly and boldly, while pivoting more strongly to services that help support the delivery of digital services.
If you would like to understand more about our view of the Infrastructure Operations market, please contact Kate Hanaghan, the report’s lead author. If you are an End User organisation and would like more information about the analysis in this report, please contact Deb Seth to book an analyst interaction.
Clients of TechSectorViews can download the report now: Infrastructure Operations Market Trends and Forecasts 2020.
Posted by Kate Hanaghan at '08:23' - Tagged: operations MarketForecasts infrastructureoperations
Live now for clients of the TechSectorViews research programme is Business Process Operations Market Trends and Forecasts 2020.
This report contains TechMarketView’s latest UK market size and forecast data along with analysis of the trends shaping the UK Business Process Operations market.
This year, in light of the impact of COVID-19, TechMarketView has provided two distinct sets of forecasts for the UK Software and IT Services markets.
In the short to medium term, Business Process Operations providers have the cushion of long-term contracts, while risk associated with COVID-19 and Brexit will also drive caution. This should favour incumbents as contracts are at least initially renewed and extended.
The pandemic has had a profound effect on the Business Process Operations market and it is likely that “Work from Home” will become a standard operating model that will see providers operate fewer business centres with a greater reliance on teams of remote workers. The days of thousands of operatives working in large business centres are likely to be on the decline.
Despite slow growth in the overall BP Operations market, the migration away from heritage 'lift and shift' operations towards tech enabled/digital will provide growth opportunities for those best placed to deliver.
If you would like to understand more about our view on the Business Process services market, please contact Marc Hardwick, the report’s lead author. If you are an End User organisation and would like more information about the analysis in this report, please contact Deb Seth to book an analyst interaction.
Clients of TechSectorViews can download the report now: Business Process Operations Market Trends and Forecasts 2020.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:30' - Tagged: BusinessProcess
TechMarketView Managing Partner Anthony Miller recently chatted with Euan Cameron, cofounder and CEO of Glasgow-based video interview platform Willo, which has just raised seed funding (see Backers boost Glasgow’s ‘world favourite’ video platform Willo).
TechMarketView subscription research clients and UKHotViews Premium clients can read how Cameron went from car retailing to tech entrepreneur, and how the COVID-19 lockdown opened up a much larger market opportunity for Willo, in the accompanying article in UKHotViews Extra.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '15:13' - Tagged: funding startup recruitment
Live now for clients of the TechSectorViews programme is Application Operations Market Trends and Forecasts 2020.
This report contains TechMarketView’s latest UK market size and forecast data along with an analysis of the trends shaping the UK Applications Operations market.
This year, in light of the impact of COVID-19, TechMarketView has provided two distinct sets of forecasts for the UK Software and IT Services market. For Applications Operations, the outlook over the forecast period to 2023 varies quite significantly between our two Scenarios.
While COVID-19 is an extreme factor in market performance, this report also looks beyond the fall-out from the coronavirus at the factors that are driving the attributes needed for success in Applications Operations. Key among these continues to be the need for suppliers to get on the right side of the digital shift.
Continuous cost reduction remains high on the agenda of customer requirements as they look to free funds for investment in new capabilities. Post-COVID, these pressures will only intensify and cannibalisation of the heritage estate will accelerate as organisations squeeze run budgets even more heavily and seek to move to cheaper platform-based service provision
Understand what is shaping market demand, what the key market features and challenges are, and why the need for imaginative, agile, business impact-oriented providers has never been greater.
Clients of TechSectorView can download the report now: Application Operations Market Trends and Forecasts 2020.
If you would like to understand more about our view on the Application Services market, please contact Duncan Aitchison, the report’s lead author. If you are an End User organisation and would like more information about the analysis in this report, please contact Deb Seth to book an analyst interaction.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '06:30' - Tagged: applications apps
Zühlke Engineering has been operating in the UK for 20 years, but its most high profile project to date commenced this year when NHSX enlisted the business to help develop their contact tracing technology. TechMarketView caught up with Wolfgang Emmerich, CEO of Zühlke UK, to discuss the business and its role in developing the NHS COVID-19 app.
Zühlke Technology Group is headquartered in Zürich, it employs 1,400 people and generated revenue of approximately CHF 170m (c.£140m) in 2019. The company describes itself as a service provider for innovation projects. Zühlke Engineering in the UK has offices in London and Manchester, employing more than 100 people, and has been part of major digital projects across healthcare, life sciences, utilities, broadcasting, telecommunications and financial services. The company has a strong reputation for its work on developing medical devices, which was one of the reasons it was asked by NHSX to provide advice and assurance services for the contact tracing app. More...
TechMarketView subscribers, including those signed up to UKHotViewsPremium can read the article now. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how to access this and much more.
Posted by Dale Peters at '08:18' - Tagged: nhs app mobile covid-19 healthtech healtcare
It was clearly not part of the plan that Mark Dorman would celebrate the first anniversary of his appointment as CEO of UK-headquartered, international ‘STEM’-focused recruiter, SThree, the very week that the UK went into lockdown!
At the time his appointment was announced, I expressed reservations about someone running an international recruitment business with no prior experience in that industry (see SThree appoints ‘3-times outsider’ to run the business). My concerns were somewhat allayed when I met Dorman a couple of months later (see New CEO presides over ‘in line’ SThree).
I met up (virtually) with him again recently. Dorman has broadly got to grips with the dynamics of the recruitment marketplace, and has continued his predecessor’s strategy of sharpening SThree’s focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills.
However, SThree’s home market is in precipitous decline
Find out why Dorman sees the UK as a ‘perennial challenge’ – and how he is addressing it – in the accompanying article on UKHotViews Extra, available to all TechMarketView Research and UKHotViews Premium subscription service clients.
Posted by Anthony Miller at '07:46' - Tagged: recruitment
UK-headquartered Advanced is one supplier benefiting from the shift to the cloud as UK businesses and public sector organisations move into to the ‘business recovery’ phase of the pandemic. The PE-backed software and services provider has had a strong Q2 (to end August) despite Covid-19, with growing demand for its cloud software services
Recurring revenues were reportedly 62% higher year-on-year and normalised bookings of all types were up by 31% compared to Q2 last year. Although Advanced won’t provide absolute figures, our estimates suggest recurring revenues are in the tens of millions - the supplier turned over £261m in FY20 with some £210m from UK software, securing it the twelfth place in our 2020 UK Enterprise Software rankings.
CEO Gordon Wilson told us he was pleasantly surprised by the strong Q2 performance having been prepared for some significant headwinds as a result of the pandemic. After a fairly flat Q1 (March-May), the mood in the market picked up in Q2 as organisations decided to ‘just get on with it’ and there was a sharp rise in demand for cloud-based software that enables staff to work remotely or from the office. More...
Posted by Tola Sargeant at '15:01' - Tagged: trading cloud software covid-19
Available for download now: Solutions Market Trends and Forecasts 2020
This report contains TechMarketView’s latest market size and forecast data for 2019 to 2023 along with an analysis of the trends shaping the UK Solutions market.
Covid-19 is likely to prove a ‘double edged sword’ for Solutions – the short-term will see a slowdown in activity with spending priorities re-assessed and non-essential and Heritage projects placed under review or scaled back, resulting in falling demand for Solutions in 2020.
However, organisational necessity and a reimagined workplace will ultimately see an acceleration to digital with increasingly investment in a number of ‘hot’ areas (e.g. remote working, security, health & safety, automation and customer/employee experience) that will see Solutions recover the ground lost, and potentially more, as we move towards 2023.
Cloud remains the major driver for investment in Solutions with service providers desperate to grow digital services to counter accelerating declines in their Heritage operations. Here we expect demand for cloud platform services and SaaS sales to increase significantly over the next four years in the UK.
The short- and longer-term impact of Covid-19 will have a profound effect on the trajectory of Solutions. The initial focus for organisations around ‘keeping the lights on’, being resilient and shifting employees to working from home has resulted in many tactical digital projects. Longer term this is likely to result in more openness to digital at senior levels and a greater focus on a more strategic approach to innovation.
The post-pandemic Solutions market will be very different and service providers must accelerate their own transformations if they are to serve their customers’ rapidly changing expectations.
Subscribers to TechMarketView's TechSectorViews can download this report now. If you don’t have a subscription and would like to know more about how to access our services, please email Deb Seth.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '10:55' - Tagged: newresearch Solutions
Beware Holway going on holiday
Something really rare happened to me this month. I took a week off to go walking in The Lakes. Almost every holiday I have seems to coincide with a wild fall in tech shares. It happened with my previous holiday to Venice in early March 20 as C-19 struck. It happened again this time. Perhaps Lockdowns do have Upsides as Holway can’t go away!
On 5th Sept in Tech shares entered a period of volatility. NASDAQ fell by nearly 10% in a few days. But, as you can see from the table, it had recovered about half of that fall to end down ‘just’ 4.3% on the month. Indeed, STILL up 25% YTD. Compare this to the FTSE100 which fell 1.7% in Sept but is down a pretty massive 22% YTD.
US tech really does dominate. The UK TechMark100 is still down 4.8% YTD and the FTSE SCS Index, which most closely tracks the UK quoted Software & IT Services companies that we track at TechMarketView was down 3.4% in Sept making it a 8.5% fall YTD.
Outlook
The outlook looks just as uncertain now as at any other time I have written this monthly review in 2020. So many uncertainties – all on the potential ‘Bad News’ pile. Second C-19 wave, Mass redundancies, tax hikes, No deal BREXIT, disputed US election.
I also detect a change of mood. Maybe when the sun shone one could believe that ‘Things could only get better’. But now we face many months of gathering gloom when so many more actitivies – including Christmas – will be severely affected.
So far, tech stocks have provided the one bright spot. But for how long?
For an extensive review of Share Performance in Sept 20 see HotViews Extra. Available to all our paying subscribers including HotViews Premium.
Posted by Richard Holway at '10:05'
It is no coincidence that yesterday’s news that TSB is to close 164 of its UK branches, came in the same week that the OBIE revealed a significant upturn in open banking activity. Just as our shopping habits and the economics of retail have changed, so has customer behaviour in respect of banking as an increasing number of us bank online and utilise digital methods to complete transactions and access services.
The latest branch closures announced by the TSB are in addition to the 82 branches the Spanish-owned bank revealed it would be closing in November 2019. As a result of the programme of cuts, the TSB is set to reduce its UK network from the current number of 475 branches to 290 by the end of 2021. Meanwhile in August this year, the Co-op Bank revealed that it is cutting 350 jobs and closing several high street branches whilst the NatWest announced the loss of 550 branch jobs.
Subscribers can learn more about the underlying factors at play and the impact on technology providers serving the retail banking sector in Technology is both the problem and the solution as TSB cuts highlight retail banking’s challenges.
This content is available to all TechMarketView clients, including HotViewsPremium subscribers. If you are not currently a client, but would like access to this or any other of our material, please contact Deb Seth.
Posted by Jon C Davies at '09:53' - Tagged: banking tsb
Pandemic-induced disruption to workplace arrangements this year has forced IT departments to take a closer look at their communication and collaboration infrastructure to see where improvements can be made.
Cloud-hosted unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platforms offer a multi-faceted alternative to legacy on-premise systems, delivering the flexibility that remote workers need to stay in touch with colleagues, business partners and customers from any device using a full suite of telephony, audio/video conferencing, collaboration, messaging and data sharing tools.
TechMarketView’s Hot 10 UK UCaaS Providers report analyses ten companies offering unified communications (UC) and UCaaS solutions that look well placed to win more customers and revenue by migrating them onto new cloud-hosted platforms and managed communications services as demand accelerates. The providers profiled include AdEPT, Allvotec, BT, Exponential-e, Gamma Telecom, GCI, Maintel, Redcentric, Six Degrees Group and Wavenet.
Subscribers to TechSectorViews can download our Hot 10 UK UCaaS Providers report here. If you are not already a subscriber and would like to gain access to this report please contact Deb Seth for more information.
Posted by Martin Courtney at '08:42' - Tagged: managedservices unifiedcommunications UCaaS managedservicesprovider cloudconnectivity
Available for download now: Enterprise Software Market Trends & Forecasts 2020.
The report contains TechMarketView’s latest market size and forecast data covering 2019 to 2023, plus an analysis of the trends shaping the UK Enterprise Software sector including the impact of COVID-19 on buy and supply-side dynamics .
At 4%, growth during 2019 was a little better than previously expected but that was before COVID-19 hit. 2020 and 2021 are expected to bear the brunt of the impact before the sector begins its multi-year climb back towards pre-pandemic levels. However, software is in a less invidious position than other segments of the economy because much of it is so intrinsic to business operations. The situation is accelerating initiatives to digitally transform and software is a beneficiary. Software was also behind organisations’ initial rapid responses to COVID-19 and will play a key role through the recovery phases.
The software sector is not immune to the effects of coronavirus however, and based on developing trends, software suppliers will have to place their bets carefully to make progress in a market where Digital Chaos is making organisations ask tougher questions about quick returns and quantifiable contributions to business outcomes.
TechMarketView subscribers can download the report here. It is the companion report to Enterprise Software Supplier Rankings 2020 – click here for this download.
If you would like further information about how to access TechMarketView’s research and associated services, please contact Deb Seth, who will be happy to help.
Posted by Angela Eager at '08:35' - Tagged: software trends forecasts
