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Friday 31 January 2025

COMING SOON – The Road to AI: Market Readiness Index for tech buyers

Available soon for TechMarketView’s tech buyer community is the second part of “The Road to AI: Mapping the readiness of the UK’s leading IT Services providers”.

TechMarketView Market Readiness Index 2025 Coming Soon

Now in its sixth year and more popular than ever, the Market Readiness Index (MRI) is TechMarketView’s flagship research product for tech buyers who need to understand the UK supplier landscape

The Market Readiness Index is based on TechMarketView’s methodology for company performance assessment. The report is a combination of scoring and in-depth profiles and gives a realistic and honest appraisal of the readiness of each supplier to address the AI – and in particular the Generative AI – needs of the market.

We take a fine-tooth comb to each supplier, assessing the cohort across six areas:

  • Corporate Resilience
  • Suitability of Offerings
  • Skills & Resources
  • Partner Ecosystem
  • Industry Expertise
  • Delivery & Execution.

No stone is left unturned with our scoring and analysis cross-checked by both robust peer review and feedback from the buying community.  

Last summer we published part one: “The road to AI: Mapping the readiness of the Top 10 IT & Business Process Services Suppliers”. The companies assessed were: Accenture, Atos Eviden, Capgemini, Capita, Cognizant, DXC Technologies, HCLTech, IBM, Infosys, and TCS. Of these, TechMarketView identified a Leading Pack (i.e., those suppliers exceeding the average score for the overall group in each category) consisting of: Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant, and TCS. 

The forthcoming MRI report analyses the remaining players in TechMarketView’s Top 20 (by revenue) ranking: BT Group, CGI, Deloitte, Fujitsu, Kyndryl, NTT Data, PwC, Sopra Steria, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro

How will they fare against our tough scoring criteria? Who will be the suppliers that will lead the pack, and which ones make the most appropriate partners/providers? Understand the nuances of each supplier and get a pragmatic perspective on which are most suited to your needs. 

The report is also available to purchase by those outside of our senior tech buyer programme, including suppliers. Contact Belinda to pre-order your copy. 

Posted by Kate Hanaghan at '14:35' - Tagged: AI   MRI  

Friday 31 January 2025

The King’s Trust Future Steps: We’re doing it!

TechMarketView has had a long association with The King’s Trust, which helps young people (aged 11-30) to build their confidence, get a job, or start their own business.

Every February, The Trust runs its Future Steps campaign, which challenges individuals to hit 10,000 stepskt logo each day of the month.

At TechMarketView, we split into two teams and fight it out to see who can hit the most steps and raise those most funds. We are viciously competitive.

This year, we’re going a ‘step’ further. Mid-month, we will ‘down tools’ and swap a day of working for a day of walking. The routes are plotted and the pub lunches planned. Expect to see us with bobble hats and dogs stomping through the countryside in Surrey, Oxfordshire, and Kent!

If you would like to get involved in some way, here are a few ideas depending on your mindset:

  1. Generous but likes the indoors: Kick back and let us take the strain. DONATE HERE
  2. Has done “Dry Jan” and now’s ready for “Walking Feb”: SET UP A TEAM AND GET FUND RAISING
  3. Wants to swap working for walking for a day: SET UP A TEAM AND GET FUND RAISING

And don’t forget, you can run it, use your walking pad and stand-up desk…..or just take the old fashioned approach: get outside and put one foot in front of the other!
 

And if you have a broader interest in helping The King’s Trust through the Technology Leadership Group (of which I am Chair of the Business Development subcommittee), please drop me a line.

Posted by Kate Hanaghan at '10:26' - Tagged: TheKingsTrust  

Thursday 30 January 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* NAO: Government must act now to build cyber resilience

NAO logoThe National Audit Office (NAO) has urged the UK government to act now to build its capabilities and defences against a rapidly increasing and evolving cyber threat. The public spending watchdog’s report highlights a lack of understanding regarding the vulnerability of legacy IT systems and significant gaps in departments’ cyber resilience. It says the government will struggle to rectify these issues until it addresses the long-standing shortage of cyber skills, strengthens accountability, and better manages the risks posed by outdated technology. 

The report includes urgent recommendations to the government, including the need to develop, share and initiate a cross-government implementation plan for the Government Cyber Security Strategy . Additionally, it calls on government to specify the requirements for achieving its cyber security and resilience goals, and for departments to undertake a gap analysis and enact plans to fill cyber skills gaps in the workforce. 

This short report from TechMarketView discusses the NAO's findings and recommendations, considers the current state of cyber resilience in the public sector, and provides a view on the likely impact on supplier opportunities.

PublicSectorViews subscribers can download NAO: Government must act now to build cyber resilience today; however, if you are not yet a subscriber or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by Dale Peters at '10:03' - Tagged: strategy   government   legacy   cyber   cybersecurity   resilience  

Wednesday 29 January 2025

*UKHotViewsExtra* CGI to buy BJSS: UK headcount boost of 40%

CGI logo - block red letters

Usually on CGI results day, that’s where my attention would be directed. But, today, there is bigger news for the UK business.

BJSS logoCGI is to acquire BJSS, the Leeds-based IT and business consultancy. Once the necessary regulatory approvals are cleared, the deal is expected to close next month.

This is significant. More than 2,400 BJSS employees will join CGI’s 6,000-strong employee base in the UK, i.e., growing headcount by 40%. CGI’s acquisition of SCISYS in 2019 is dwarfed in comparison; it added ‘just’ 670 to the headcount.

CGI highlights that the move will “accelerate CGI’s UK-wide expansion, deepening the firm’s presence across key commercial industry sectors as well as the public sector.”

TechMarketView subscribers can read more on our analysis of the deal in UKHotViewsExtra (download here). If you are not yet a subscriber or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '20:00' - Tagged: acquisition   health   retail   M&A   public+sector   financial+services   IT+services   Energy&Utilties  

Tuesday 28 January 2025

*UKHotViewsExtra* DeepSeek – is all the fuss warranted?

logoChinese AI supplier DeepSeek caused an uproar yesterday across stock and tech markets. Tech stocks, particularly those with AI chip exposure nosedived, with Nvidia down 17% losing c.$600bn in market value. Data centre companies incl. Dell, Oracle and Super Micro Computer, among others, also fell between 8-15%.

So why now, what was all the fuss about? Well, the commotion was caused by the release of a new AI reasoning model (R1) by DeepSeek, that according to various benchmarks (which you have to take with a pinch of salt) promise to deliver capabilities on par, if not in excess of, OpenAI’s latest models at significantly lower cost, sparking concerns that demand for AI compute (i.e. GPU/Chips) would fall significantly.

DeepSeek was founded in 2023 and backed by hedge fund High-Flyer. The AI supplier has been on the periphery for some time, part of a growing ecosystem of Chinese AI companies. The company’s approach mirrors other successful Chinese tech disruptors like Temu and TikTok, who have historically undercut western competitors with ultra-low pricing. Whilst western companies (mainly US based) have dominated the AI landscape so far, these disruptors are creating a new ‘Wild West’ for AI models and solutions, far less regulated and unpredictable. (Credit to Michael Wooldridge for the Wild West analogy – check out his interview with CGI last year)

But this is not another low-cost t-shirt we are talking about, and fears about using Chinese backed tech due to privacy concerns have only risen in recent years. These points were echoed by UK IT supplier Version 1. Nathan Marlor, Head of Data and AI commented, “I think that whilst DeepSeek/Kimi etc. will appeal most to start ups (i.e. slashing their LLM consumption by 27x overnight) and personal users rather than enterprises directly, the risk undoubtably will end up landing with enterprises. Firstly through "pass through AI" - i.e. SaaS providers adding AI features to their enterprise products, backed by models such as DeepSeek to reduce costs. As a result, organisations will need to pay even closer attention to the T&Cs/privacy notices.”

Note: Version 1 have written an interesting blog article ‘DeepSeek and Destroy’ which is well worth a read.

This DeepSeek saga has also raised warning signs that the competitive landscape can change quickly. According to Dr Andrew Rogoyski, Director of Innovation and Partnerships at the Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI, “the emergence of DeepSeek shows how fragile anyone’s lead in GenAI is – as an insider in Google pointed out in 2023, there is no ‘moat’.  The open-source movement in GenAI seems to be roughly 6 months behind the proprietary platforms, yet DeepSeek shows that even the GenAI leaders might not have the lead they thought they had.

It is clear that this is likely to be a disruptive time for AI suppliers, it will demand a response, but a race to the bottom will not be sustainable. The promise of low-cost AI may also be too alluring for some organisations to pass on, but will it be worth the risk?... Continued in UKHotViewsExtra.

TechMarketView subscribers can carry on reading our analysis in UKHotViewsExtra. See here: DeepSeek – is all the fuss warranted?

Posted by Simon Baxter at '10:38'

Friday 24 January 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* UK Public Sector SITS Market Outlook Update

Public Sector Market Update CoverTechMarketView’s updated outlook for the UK Public Sector Software and IT Services (SITS) market is now available to download. In this forecast cycle we revise the estimates published last summer to reflect market activity in the second half of 2024, government policy changes, and current economic conditions. 

This short report discusses the impact of the general election on market confidence and procurement. It also looks at how the need for public sector reform will be hampered by financial volatility (e.g., cost of borrowing), deepening geopolitical uncertainties, local government reorganisation, and a lack of clarity about budget allocations and strategic direction.

As we discussed in our report on the publication of the State of Digital Government Review, the government is facing significant challenges across leadership, structure, measurement, talent and funding when it comes to public service transformation. Its response to the Review, through the Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government, sets out a vision for the future that places AI at the heart of its ambitions. 

The rush to AI will create opportunities for suppliers over TechMarketView’s forecast period to 2027, but the bigger opportunity over the short to medium term will continue to be in the optimisation of digital and data foundations, improvements to productivity and efficiency, and helping to build capacity. 

PublicSectorViews subscribers can access this essential intelligence on the UK Public Sector SITS landscape, including our updated outlook, reviews of the State of Digital Government Review and Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government, and a deep dive into the use of AI in the public sector, now. 

UK Public Sector SITS Market Outlook Update 
The State of Digital Government and a Blueprint for Change 
Plans and Progress of UK Government AI Adoption

If you are not yet a subscriber or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by Dale Peters at '09:57' - Tagged: strategy   policy   forecasts   government   market+trends   public+sector   digital+transformation  

Wednesday 22 January 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* A Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government

DSIT logoThe government’s approaches to leadership, structure, measurement, talent and funding do not do justice to the potential of digital technology. This is the conclusion of the State of Digital Government Review, commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), that highlights how, despite some notable successes, the public sector continues to be held back by legacy technology, outdated processes, and resource shortages. 

In response to these findings, the government has published a Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government, setting out its vision for the future and its plan to get there. It includes further detail about how the government is targeting AI as a game changer for improving access to public services and boosting productivity across the civil service. Today, TechMarketView has published two reports on these publications. 

The first provides a summary of the State of Digital Government Review, looks at its influence on the Blueprint for a Modern Digital Government, and discusses its likely impact on the public sector and its technology suppliers. 

The second takes a deep dive into the role of AI in the Blueprint, looking at progress to date, the need for further investment in data foundations and security, and the impact this will have on industry. 

These reports are available to PublicSectorViews subscribers now

The State of Digital Government and a Blueprint for Change 
Plans and Progress of UK Government AI Adoption

If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by Dale Peters at '10:34' - Tagged: strategy   government   digital   transformation   AI   data   public+sector  

Wednesday 22 January 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* Disruptors & Innovators: AI in sustainability

AI in sustainability coverThe targeted application of AI in sustainability is a relatively new development. One of the most useful ways to understand the market is to know who the most the innovative and disruptive players are, what they’re doing, and how this activity is influencing emerging ‘hotspots’ at the nexus of well-understood problem and well-honed AI solution.

There is a paradox surrounding the use of AI in sustainability, however, because – while AI supports practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the environmental impact of twenty-first century life – its use also contributes to the problem. Weighing the positives and negatives of AI in sustainability is therefore highly nuanced, often requiring an assessment of energy efficiency vs. outcome effectiveness.

In this report, we look at ten disruptive and innovative suppliers in the field, whose offerings leverage AI across a number of sustainability use cases. Some bring sector-specific applicability – in manufacturing, energy, agriculture, etc.; others have more general appeal. We highlight key trends in the deployment of AI in sustainability, and also provide recommendations for both technology suppliers and end-user organisations.

SustainabilityViews subscribers can download Disruptors & Innovators: AI in sustainability now. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how you can access the research.

Posted by Craig Wentworth at '07:00' - Tagged: partnerships   energy   regulation   optimisation   digital twins  

Tuesday 21 January 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* UK Market Outlook Update

TechMarketView’s updated outlook for the UK Software and IT Services market is available to download here. In this forecast cycle we revise the estimates published last summer to reflect market activity in the second half of 2024 and current economic conditions.

The latest data shows that vendor hopes of a significant uptick in UK SITS demand during the latterCover part of the year did not materialise. In parallel, the prospects for the domestic economy have taken a turn for the worse. While our June estimates for SITS expansion in 2024 appear to be holding true, we have downgraded our growth forecast for the next three years.

The impact of the changed prospects for UK SITS demand will not be evenly spread across the either the buy-side or sell-side communities. In our latest Market Outlook Update we take a deeper dive into the 2024 numbers, look at what’s been happening in the market since the summer, and more importantly assess how the projections for the coming years are now shaping up.

TechMarketView subscribers can read the analysis now. If you aren't a subscriber – or aren't sure if your organisation has a corporate subscription – please contact Deb Seth to find out more.

Posted by Duncan Aitchison at '08:38' - Tagged: newresearch   market forecasts  

Thursday 09 January 2025

*NEW PODCAST* Totally Sust #7: Sustainability tracking and circularity

Totally Sust #7 imageThe latest episode in TechMarketView's series of Totally Sust podcasts sees SustainabilityViews’ lead analyst, Craig Wentworth, interview Mathias Boomah (Head of Automotive Germany for Eviden) and Christoph Sturnardle (Director of Technology Adoption at IOTA) about the Eviden Digital Passport – a blockchain-based solution (powered by IOTA technology) which can be used to track sustainability credentials in the circular economy.

An edited (15-minute) version of the podcast is available to stream for free now on SoundCloud and Spotify (or you can click on the widget below to play it without leaving this page).

Subscribers to our SustainabilityViews research stream, however, can stream or download the full 44-minute version of the episode. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how you can access the research.

Posted by Craig Wentworth at '08:54' - Tagged: blockchain   tracking   circularity   circular economy   provenance  

Wednesday 08 January 2025

*UKHotViewsExtra* 2024 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Recap

RecapWhat a year 2024 was for AI, we saw some significant advancements across the market, including new AI models (of many shapes and sizes), a boost in AI funding for upcoming startups, government action on key issues such as copyright and crucially a lot more examples of practical real-world AI applications across nearly all industries. I thought it would be good to look back on some of the major announcements from 2024 and ponder what they might mean for the UK SITS market as we begin 2025.

The first thing to note is that while the AI hype is certainly far from fading, there has definitely been a change in how AI is perceived. Long gone is the all-out fervour of implementing AI at any cost, instead replaced by a more careful and considered approach, particularly at the enterprise level. It is also at the enterprise level we have seen the most activity, yes the AI boom all began with consumer facing GenAI chatbots like ChatGPT, and we have seen the release of more consumer tools like Apple intelligence, but the real progress in implementing AI at any meaningful scale has been in large enterprises. Back and front office roles have proven ripe for disruption, particularly those dominated by repeatable processes such as data entry, claims processing, contact centres and front of house roles i.e. hospitality bookings.

The past 12 months saw nearly all organisations dip their toes into the AI waters, yet the AI maturity of organisations varies greatly, some are just starting out on their journey, for example trialling Microsoft Copilot (or one of the many other role specific Copilot solutions), while others are already building second generation AI chatbots, seeking to leverage the latest LLMs to boost their effectiveness. Those most advanced on their AI journey have sought to fully embrace LLMs across a range of roles, democratising access to a wide range of AI models and enabling decentralised innovation (with a subtle layer of governance and control) across their organisations, enabling business units to create their own proprietary models and increasingly agentic AI solutions. AI agents are set to be the ‘hot topic’ this year, and in the words of Sam Altman “In 2025 we may see the first AI agents “join the workforce” and materially change the output of companies”.

TechMarketView subscribers can carry on reading this article here: 2024 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Recap, where we will explore supplier moves, notable startup funding, government action and what this all means for organisations as we kick off 2025.

If you are not yet a subscriber, contact Belinda Tewson to understand what options are available to you. It is set to be another busy year for AI and other emerging tech so don’t miss out on the unique insight into the UK market across TechMarketView’s research streams and daily analysis in UKHotViews.

Posted by Simon Baxter at '09:50'

Monday 06 January 2025

Catch up on TechMarketView’s 2025 Predictions

If you’re someone that likes to bury your head in the sand, scroll on.

However, if you like your intel built on robust methodologies and diligent research, check out TechMarketView’s Predictions for 2025. Our analyst team has compiled a set of insightful and – importantly – realistic set of Predictions for this year and beyond. Read the complete collection for a thorough take on how our experts see the year panning out: cover

  • For the big picture, read: TechMarketView Predictions 2025, which reflects the breadth of the challenge for tech buyers who must simultaneously embrace change, demonstrate value, and move at pace.
  • Financial Services Predictions is designed to add context to the current fervour around AI by highlighting some of the key areas of focus within the UK FS sector. These predictions are also intended to highlight some of the potential areas of growth and opportunity in the marketplace over the next 12 months and beyond.
  • Public Sector Predictions provides predictions for the use of technology in the UK Public Sector. It provides six predictions for each of the six subsectors TechMarketView tracks: Central Government, Defence, Health, Local & Regional Government, Education, and Police.
  • Sustainability Predictions looks at the changes in policy, practice, products, and players that are most likely to move the dial when it comes to tech user outcomes and supplier opportunities in 2025.

For a more detailed perspective, and insights on how the above will impact your organisation, speak to the analyst team. Contact Chief Research Officer, Kate Hanaghan.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:44'

Thursday 02 January 2025

*NEW RESEARCH* Police Suppliers, Trends, and Forecasts 2024

Police SITS Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2024 report cover TechMarketView’s latest UK Police Software and IT Services (SITS) Suppliers, Trends, and Forecasts report is now available. It is the final part of our series of reports providing in-depth analysis of the six UK public sector subsectors. It follows reports on Central Government, Health, Defence, Local & Regional Government, and Education, and our overall summary of the UK Public Sector SITS market. We have also recently published our UK Public Sector Predictions 2025 report, which reveals the challenges and opportunities that will underpin these public sector technology markets in 2025 and beyond.

This report represents our view of the UK Police SITS market from a market and supplier perspective. It provides our analysis of the performance of the market in 2023, a year in which a small number of suppliers performed extremely well, but many struggled for growth. We also provide a view on 2024 and look ahead to 2027 as policing tries to balance financial challenges, the need to improve standards and productivity, and work to restore public trust. The market also faces uncertainty related to the government's major reform programme, pressure to improve neighbourhood policing, and targets to halve violence against women and girls and tackle knife crime, all without damaging its ability to fight the growing threat from cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crime.

The report also contains an update to our UK Police SITS Top 10 supplier rankings, with our analysis of what is driving each player’s performance, as well as an insight into those suppliers that are threatening to unseat the leading players, and our pick of the ‘ones to watch’.

PublicSectorViews subscribers can find out the size of the UK Police SITS market, its future growth, and who the leading suppliers are by downloading Police Software and IT Services Suppliers, Trends and Forecasts 2024 today. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your organisation has corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by Dale Peters at '08:13' - Tagged: police   forecasts   market+trends   law+enforcement   public+safety   supplier+rankings  

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