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Friday 13 December 2024

New CEO incoming at Node4

node4 logoManaged Services Provider, Node4, has announced than Richard Moseley will take over as CEO of the firm in early 2025.

Mosely will replace Andy Gilbert, Founder of Node4, who will move into the President role and become a Board member. Mosely most recently served as General Manager at Rapid7.

Most recently available accounts (year to end March 2023) put Node4's revenues at c.£93.6m. Acquisitions contributed to that expansion of the top line, including the risual and Tisski transactions. From 2013, when the firm received its first round of private equity investment, until the end of March 2023, Node4 made nine acquisitions.

In March 2021, Providence Equity Partners became majority investors in Node4 as LDC and Bowmark Capital exited their respective investments. This year we have seen a few people changes at Node4, such as a new Chairman and new Group MD. The appointment of Mosely is “part of a strategy to strengthen Node4’s executive team as the company embarks on the next phase of its growth journey”. We look forward to catching up with him in 2025.

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 09:45

Tags: people  

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Friday 13 December 2024

Endava and GoCardless form new payments partnership

EndavaUK SITS vendor, Endava, has agreed a new partnership with retail payments specialist, GoCardless. The collaboration will see Endava manage the integration of GoCardless solutions within their enterprise clients as part of large-scale digital transformation projects.

GoCardless is probably an increasingly familiar brand to many of us, who will have spotted the name appearing on our bank statements. The company provides efficient “direct to bank” payment solutions that support payments via direct debit and open banking. The approach bypasses traditional payment structures and thus helps to speed up the payment process and cut costs.

Going forward, Endava customers will be able to access the capabilities of GoCardless for recurring payments, helping to generate more predictable revenue and improve cash flow, whilst reducing the effort required to chase late payments. The offering will also include GoCardless’ open banking-powered payment feature Instant Bank Pay, an effective alternative for instant, one-off payments that can be up to 54% cheaper than cards.

Commenting on the alliance, Lewis Brown, Head of Partnerships at Endava said: “By working with GoCardless, we can bring our clients cutting-edge payment solutions combined with the tailor-made approach they’ve come to expect from us -- helping them reach their digital transformation goals and deliver value more quickly.” Meanwhile the new partnership with Endava represents an important strategic step for GoCardless and should help the fintech to reach larger organisations and their suppliers at scale.

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:44

Tags: payments   financial+services  

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Friday 13 December 2024

Sopra Steria’s Capital Markets Day sets out stall for the next three years

Sopra SteriaYesterday morning I dialled into Sopra Steria’s Capital Markets Day which set out the firm’s plan and goals for the next three years, targeting revenue above €7bn by 2028 (current business is generated revenue of €5.8bn in 2023). To get there, Sopra Steria’s CEO Cyril Malargé and senior management outlined the firm’s ‘Strategic Vision 2028’ looking to rebalance the geographic mix of the business to 40% France and 60% rest of Europe, with five major geographies each targeting €1bn+ in revenue (France, UK, Benelux, Scandinavia and Germany).

The company's transformation plan rests on four key pillars: enhancing its offering with a shift from “service-based” to high “value-added solutions”, changes to the operating model that will see a more standardised approach to European operations, an HR transformation focusing on developing skills, internal leadership and increasing gender diversity, and the increased “Industrialisation” of services. Notably, Sopra Steria is making a significant push into AI and cloud services, supported by offshore capabilities in India and Poland.

The company emphasised that the transformation is already underway with new leadership appointments and strategic decisions, including the sale of banking software business and some strategic acquisitions from last year. The strategy focuses on growth while maintaining profitability and investing in future capabilities, with a particular emphasis on AI implementation and digital transformation services.

Accompanying financial targets appear conservative yet achievable, with projected organic growth of 2-5% post-2025 and operating margins of 10-11% by 2028. The company's €1bn M&A war chest signals serious intent to consolidate its position in its key European markets, particularly in Scandinavia, Germany, Benelux, and the UK.

Most interesting is Sopra Steria's commitment to doubling its consulting business to 12% of revenue while targeting 60% from digital services. This shift towards higher-value services, coupled with their strong vertical focus in public sector, aerospace/defence, and financial services, will be key to differentiating in a competitive marketplace. The company did not cover its 2024 performance with annual results scheduled to be published on 27th February next year.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:34

Tags: strategy   CapitalMarkets  

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Friday 13 December 2024

AI Deep Dive podcast series from Sopra Steria

We're pleased to share that TechMarketView Principal Analyst, Simon Baxter, features in Sopra Steria's new ss podcast logothree-part AI podcast series, exploring crucial themes shaping digital transformation. Together with Growth and Marketing Director, Tom McCann, and subject-matter experts from the company’s consulting arm, Sopra Steria Next, Simon explores:

  • Data: Unlocking insights for smarter decisions
  • Hyperautomation: Scaling efficiency and innovation
  • Ethics: Responsible AI serving people and society.

The episodes promise to deliver deep, engaging discussions for anyone interested in the transformative power of AI.

Listen to Simon now: Search “Sopra Steria Insights" on your favourite platform or click here.

Posted by: HotViews Editor at 09:20

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Friday 13 December 2024

Equals agrees £283m takeover with Railsr consortium

EqualsUK-based payment provider, Equals Group plc, has agreed a £283m takeover deal with a consortium of bidders that includes embedded banking specialist, Railsr. The news follows lengthy negotiations that began early in 2024 and saw the bid deadline extended multiple times.

In March this year, Equals confirmed that it had attracted takeover interest from a number of parties including Railsr (Embedded Finance Ltd) and TowerBrook Capital Partners. In July the AIM-listed vendor received an improved offer from the consortium that equated to £253m. Equals has now issued a statement confirming that its board of directors has reached agreement on the terms of an all-cash acquisition, supported by its shareholders, that will yield 140 pence per ordinary share.

In September Equals posted interim results highlighting the group’s continued strong performance (see: Equals grows as takeover talks continue). The vendor has delivered impressive growth of late, helped by a combination of geographical expansion, technological enhancements, and improved sales and marketing. Equals has been helped by recent acquisitions that include Belgian payments services provider, Oonex, and UK-based, Roqqett. The vendor has also broadened addressable market by adding API connectivity to its offering, with customers using this approach typically larger in size and providing better prospects for future revenue growth.

Since its formation in 2007, Equals has been through a variety of significant changes that have helped the business to grow into a leading UK cross-border payment provider. However, despite the vendor’s recent strong performance, the market remains highly competitive and future growth is not assured. For that reason, at a premium of 31% on the share price back in March when negotiations began, the deal appears to offer good value to Equals’ shareholders looking for a healthy return on their investment.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Equals represents another significant step in the journey of UK fintech for Railsr (formerly Railsbank) which was founded by industry veteren Nigel Verdon alongside Clive Mitchell in 2016. Commenting on the deal, Railsr's chairman, Philip Hammond (the former Chancellor of the Exchequer) referred to it as a "major strategic step for Railsr at a pivotal moment in the development of the embedded finance market".

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:07

Tags: payments   M&A   acquisitions   financial+services  

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Friday 13 December 2024

Liberata extends North Somerset Revs & Bens

LiberataBusiness Process Services specialist Liberata is one of the few operators still active in the Local Government Revenues and Benefits space, announcing that it has once again extended its relationship with North Somerset Council. The firm’s new contract is scheduled to commence in October 2025 and run for up to ten years (seven years initially, with a possible three-year extension), worth approximately £50m in total contract value.

Liberata’s relationship with North Somerset Council dates all the way back to 1995 and will see the contract cover the usual areas of Council Tax, business rates, housing benefits, customer services, accounts payable and accounts receivable as well as a particular focus on supporting vulnerable residents. North Somerset supports its vulnerable residents via the ‘First Steps’ programme, a Liberata initiative delivered in partnership with the Citizens Advice Bureau. Since the programme was launched back in 2015 some 5,500 residents with difficulties paying their Council Tax have received support via the programme.

Liberata remains the most active participant in the revs & bens BPO space with wins over the last couple of years including SwindonBroxbourne and Welwyn Hatfield and renewing its key Hounslow contract. The company’s proposition has evolved significantly of late – see Local Government Services Market – A Liberata perspective. Liberata’s proposition still offers clients cost reduction, efficiencies and a managed cost base, something that has been a longstanding pillar of any transaction services or outsourcing proposition. However, propositions purely focused on efficiency and cost reduction have caused “a race to the bottom” in the market where service providers saw profitability decline and inevitably led to several exiting the Local Government market. As such, whilst efficiencies remain important, they are now just one of the services offered by Liberata with the emphasis increasingly shifting towards helping authorities raise revenue and bring in income. Furthermore, it is about bringing to bear transforming technologies and enabling authorities to accelerate the adoption of capabilities that they would otherwise not be able to afford themselves.

Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:28

Tags: contract   bps   Local Government   revs & bens  

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Friday 13 December 2024

*NEW RESEARCH* Local & Regional Government Suppliers, Trends, and Forecasts 2024

UK Local & Regional Government Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2024. A research poster illustrating the key topics covered by this report, including our Top 10 Local & Regional Government SITS rankings for 2023, as well as a view on emerging suppliers.

Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00

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Thursday 12 December 2024

Totalmobile expands public safety capabilities with Gartan acquisition

Totalmobile logoField service management software specialist, Totalmobile, has acquired Gartan Technologies. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Headquartered in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Gartan was formed by Malachi Eastwood (CEO) and Peter Cunningham (now retired) in 1996. What started life as a final year university project, evolved into a payroll and billing system for Donegal Fire and Rescue Service (FRS). From there the company expanded in Ireland before extending to the UK and introducing its first rostering solution. It now provides rostering, workforce and compliance management solutions for 50 FRS organisations and supports over 30,000 users in Ireland, UK and Australia.

This is the fourth acquisition Belfast-based Totalmobile has made since the investment from Bowmark Capital in 2020 (see Totalmobile: Performance and Prospects), following Geopal and Cognito iQ in 2021, and Working Time Solutions (WTS) in 2022.

The acquisition aligns with Totalmobile’s strategy of expanding capabilities across its Field Service Management Platform. It strengthens the company’s public safety footprint, adding FRS to its position of strength across police and ambulance organisations. The deal also supports Totalmobile’s ambition to expand internationally following last year’s expansion into Australia (see Totalmobile expands down under). 

Posted by: Dale Peters at 13:55

Tags: acquisition   saas   software   ireland   frs   public+safety   emergency+services   fire+rescue  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

Aire Logic wins major NHS contract extension

Aire Logic logoAire Logic has secured a significant extension to its contract to support NHS England’s Vaccinations Programme. 

The Leeds-based technology consultancy has a strong background in healthcare. It secured the original contract with NHS Digital via the Digital Capability for Health (DCFH) framework in 2022. This entailed providing DevOps, digital definition, and end-to-end development services to support digital aspects of the vaccination programme and other related programmes (see Aire Logic secures £30m NHS Digital deal). 

At the time, the call-off contract was quoted as being worth up to £30m over its two-year term, with an optional extension for a further six-month period. Although this extension was used, NHS England had an “unforeseen need” to initiate a direct award extension a further 18 months. This will give NHSE more time for re-procurement; it now expects to award the new contract in 2026.

During the original and extended term, the contract has also undergone some amendments, although these changes were considered “non-substantial”, due to the “agile nature of the services”. The extension is worth £27.5m, which takes the total value of the contract—including the previous six-month extension—to £65m.

Aire Logic has performed well via DCFH, achieving c. £37m of income via the framework over its last financial year; this represents a significant proportion of The company is a ‘One to Watch’ in our recent Health Suppliers, Trends and Forecasts 2024 report. Plus, PublicSectorViews subscribers can read more spending patterns across DCFH and the other Digital Capability & Delivery frameworks in our updated Digital Capability & Delivery Framework Spending Review 2023-24 report. 

Posted by: Dale Peters at 11:16

Tags: nhs   contract   health   digital   DevOps   consultancy   extension  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

*UKHotViewsExtra* InterSystems’ healthcare heritage powers multi-sector data expansion

InterSystemsTechMarketView recently sat down with InterSystems’ UK&I Country Manager, Colin Henderson—now 10 months in post—to discuss both the company’s momentum in the UK health market, and also its plans for wider deployment of the underpinning InterSystems IRIS data platform in other sectors.

In our UKHotViewsExtra article InterSystems’ healthcare heritage powers multi-sector data expansion, subscribers to TechMarketView research services can learn about how InterSystems is fast-tracking customers to activate more functionality from their existing implemented systems (such as opening up diagnostics capabilities and extending acute deployments out into the community), where the company is deploying AI across its offerings, and how it’s looking to Systems Integrator partners to expand the reach of the InterSystems IRIS data platform further into Supply Chain and Financial Services markets.

TechMarketView subscribers, including UKHotViews Premium subscribers, can read InterSystems’ healthcare heritage powers multi-sector data expansion now. If you’re not a subscriberor aren't sure if your organisation has a corporate subscriptionplease contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.

Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 10:07

Tags: expansion  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

Brendan Mooney returns as CEO of Kainos

kainos logoIs one allowed to have a ‘favourite company’ or even a ‘favourite CEO’?

Every year in the 1990s and early 2000s I made a trip to Belfast to deliver what was referred to as my ‘State of the IT Nation’ speech for the Northern Ireland branch of what was then the CSSA – now techUK. I went during ‘the Troubles’ and stayed at the Europa – the most bombed hotel in the world (apparently). I always got the warmest of welcomes – not least from a fledging IT company called Kainos – formed as a JV between ICL (now Fujitsu) and Queen’s University Belfast.

I got to know its CEO, Brendan Mooney, and other directors – like Brian Gannon – well. Kainos was one of the earliest subscribers to TechMarketView when we launched in 2009. If you search the HotViews archives you will find literally hundreds of articles relating to Kainos. But many of them are not about their many contract wins and trading successes. They are about their apprenticeship programmes, CodeCamp for aspiring youngsters, spearheading women in IT and the work they did bringing the communities in Northern Ireland together.

In 2015 I was first in the queue to buy shares when Kainos IPOed at 139p.

In June 2023, Mooney announced he was stepping down as CEO and was replaced by Russell Sloan – himself a long-serving employee. Its share price then was 1263p. Kainos had entered the FTSE250, had c3000 employees and their share price was c9x higher than at IPO. I have oft-quoted Martin Sorrell saying: “Doing good is good for business”. I cannot think of another company that has higher social and moral values AND has been extremely successful in the process. As in every business, those values come from the top.

That’s why Brendan Mooney was up there in the rankings as my most highly rated UK Tech CEO.

But since Mooney stepped down, Kainos’ share price has slumped by a third. Several trading updates and downgrades were issued. Only six weeks ago, their interims reported a 5% decline in revenues with warnings for 2025.

As a long term Kainos shareholder, I welcome Mooney’s return. If anyone can restore Kainos’ fortunes, Mooney can. Kainos is one of the UK’s finest and I am therefore rooting for their renewed success.

Posted by: Richard Holway at 10:00

Tags: people   leadership  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

Essex NHS trusts select Oracle for £65m EPR programme

Oracle logoMid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) and Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) have announced that Oracle Health has been awarded the contract to supply its new Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system.

This outcome was expected after the Mid and South Essex (MSE) Integrated Care Board revealed in July that a full business case was progressing through national approval reviews and a draft contract was under review with the “likely supplier” being Oracle Health. The contract is worth £65m. 

The plan to procure a single unified EPR across MSEFT and EPUT covers acute, community and mental health services in the region. The new system, which is expected to launch in 2026/27, is intended to improve access to patient data, drive efficiency improvements and facilitate collaborative working across the region. 

The new EPR is a key component in MSE’s plans of improving patient care through digitalisation. It follows the launch of its new Shared Care Record, in partnership with Orion Health, which went live in September.

Since its acquisition of Cerner in 2022 (see Oracle completes Cerner acquisition), Oracle has become one of the leading suppliers in the UK health technology market. The company features in our recent Health Suppliers, Trends and Forecasts 2024 report.    

Posted by: Dale Peters at 09:44

Tags: nhs   contract   health   epr   ICS   integrated+care   icb  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

TechMarketView and The King’s Trust: Can you help?

TechMarketView has had a very long association with The King’s Trust – which was The Prince’s Trust until very recently. This started many years ago with the work by TechMarketView co-founder, Richard Holway, to raise money from the tech sector via the Technology Leadership Group (TLG) he also co-founded.

Over the years, both Richard and TechMarketView have continued to work closely with The Trust, and I am delighted to say I’ve taken on the role of Chair of the Business Development subcommittee. The subcommittee supports the TLG in raising funds and gaining support from tech firms to help young people into work and to develop their KT logocareers.

One example is that of Charlotte, now an Associate Solutions Engineer. Charlotte spent 10 years working in McDonald’s – sometimes doing double shifts. When COVID hit, she was able to take a moment to think about what she really wanted to do. On furlough, she took the opportunity to invest in herself by undertaking tech training, starting with the AWS re/Start programme, which she accessed through The Trust. It was, in her own words, a life-changing moment. She was also supported by a mentor from The Trust, which helped her to feel confident and excited about where her career might take her.

There are a tonne of things tech companies can do to help young people get on the road to an exciting career and better prospects – funding is an obvious one, but there are other aspects such as apprenticeships, mentoring, and education in primary schools.

There are also plenty of fundraising events to support. One of our favourite at TechMarketView is “Future Steps”, which takes place every February and challenges teams to raise funds for The Trust by walking 10,000 steps every day of the month. This year, the whole of TechMarketView will step away from their desks and swap a day of working for a day of walking. Dogs allowed! And I am pleased to say Richard will also be joining us!
 

If you would like to get involved with The King’s Trust and would like to know more, contact me (email Kate) and I will happily be of assistance!

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 09:10

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Thursday 12 December 2024

4GLOBAL is slower off the blocks

LogoChiswick-based sport and leisure focused data business, 4GLOBAL plc has made a steady if comparatively slower start to the current financial year. H125 turnover at the AIM-listed business eased down by 3% yoy to £1.7m.

A more than doubling of North American revenues during the six months ended 30th September could not fully offset a 61% drop in Middle Eastern sales. The latter followed the company’s decision to operate with a stricter commercial mandate in the region to only engage in contracts with favourable payment terms. A 9% improvement in gross margin helped to trim the first half adjusted EBITDA loss by 15% to £510k (H124: £600k) with cash for the period remaining flat yoy at £300k.

4GLOBAL operates the largest sport participation and facility database in the world comprising more than 4 billion data points. Its customers span both the public and private sectors, including central and local governments, cities, sporting bodies, trade associations, health & fitness operators and sports clubs. The company believes that the North American market represents its greatest opportunity. Traction continues to build in the region and towards the end of H1 4GLOBAL secured a strategically important and significant expansion of its agreement with U.S. Soccer.

The company’s financial performance is usually weighted towards the final six months of the year.  H225 is reported to have started well with the sales pipeline described as strong. While the macroeconomic challenges and the potential for elongated sales cycles persist, 4GlOBAL remains cautiously confident that it will meet full year market expectations. Consensus forecasts for FY 25 project a c.19% yoy increase in revenue to £7.6m (FY24: £6.4m), generating £1.9m in adjusted EBITDA and £1m in cash at year-end.

Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 08:48

Tags: results   AI   leisure   data   sports  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

ICYMI: Totally Sust podcast “AI in nature”

Totally Sust #2 graphicDoes your company have access to SustainabilityViews? If so, you can listen to this fascinating podcast from earlier this year, hosted by our own Craig Wentworth.

In a world where carbon often dominates the climate conversation, biodiversity is emerging as a critical piece of the environmental puzzle – which is why Atos and WWF have teamed up to revolutionise how we protect the planet's most precious ecosystems.

Tune in to find out more about how their groundbreaking partnership harnesses AI and geospatial technology across two transformative conservation projects – helping to protect vital habitats in Kenya, and predicting disease outbreaks in Southeast Asia.

For more about our Totally Sust podcast series (new episodes on the first Thursday of every month!), including how your company can feature, drop us a note at info@techmarketview.com.

Posted by: HotViews Editor at 08:45

Tags: geospatial   nature monitoring   podcast   biodiversity  

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Thursday 12 December 2024

Strong growth at Adobe despite Figma disappointment

AdobeUS software vendor, Adobe, has published its latest annual results, highlighting a healthy rise in revenue and gross profit. Revenue for the twelve months ended 29 November 2024 was up by 10.8% at $21.5bn, whilst gross profit rose by 11.9% to reach $19.2bn. Net Income was $5.56bn and was up 2.4%, despite the vendor incurring costs of $2.2bn due to its aborted takeover of San Fransisco-based rival, Figma (see: Adobe forced to abandon Figma deal), which included a $1bn termination fee paid in Q1. Diluted earnings per share was $12.36.

Annual recurring revenue (ARR) derived from New Digital Media exceeded $2bn in FY24 whilst Digital Experience revenue passed the $5.3bn mark. Meanwhile in the final quarter of the fiscal, Adobe achieved revenue of $5.6bn, representing 11% growth compared to the prior year (on a constant currency basis)

Like many vendors, Adobe is making a major play around AI. Just this week, the vendor announced a partnership that it boldly claimed would “redefine how digital media is managed, created and shared” within companies. The deal will see content management specialist, Box, leverage Adobe’s AI technology to “fuel collaboration, reduce content sprawl and manage risk”. The vendors have a decade long partnership and Adobe’s document and creative tools are integrated into the Box platform. The two also share functionality across the Adobe Document Cloud, Adobe Experience Cloud, and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Despite the disappointment (and substantial financial cost) of missing out on Figma, Adobe has continued to deliver encouraging results, in a period when growth for some has been far more anaemic. Looking ahead, The vendor is forecasting FY25 revenue of between $22.3bn and $23.6bn and EPS of between $15.8 and $16.10. The upper end of the range would represent annual revenue growth of 9.8%.

Posted by: Jon C Davies at 07:51

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Thursday 12 December 2024

The King's Trust - Decoding the Digital Skills Gap

The King's Trust - Decoding the Digital Skills Gap. A poster advertising a report recently released by the King's Trust charity, which identifies the barriers stopping young people from pursuing digitally enabled jobs and how to address a growing skills gap.

Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00

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Wednesday 11 December 2024

*NEW RESEARCH* AI Impact: Back Office Operations

AI ImpactArtificial Intelligence (in particular GenAI) is disrupting all areas of the UK Software and IT services market, with technologies including AI-enhanced automation, AI agents and Copilots putting pressure on suppliers to adapt their value proposition and respond to customer demands for productivity gains, engaging customer service and enhancing the employee experience.

We have already seen GenAI deployments proving their worth across a range of business domains; from sales and marketing, to business process services, customer contact centres and software development. Both existing suppliers and new start-ups and scale-ups are seeking to differentiate across these markets, developing innovative platforms and combining them with industry knowledge and AI expertise.

The new AI Impact report series from TechMarketView will draw on in-depth interviews and proprietary analysis to provide greater insight into the true disruption AI poses across different business domains. In these reports you will gain further insight into:

  • What are the key trends driving AI adoption and disruption
  • Which suppliers are the Disruptors and Innovators using AI to differentiate their solutions and value proposition
  • The importance of industry expertise and exploiting partner ecosystems in delivering customer value
  • Real-world examples of achieving AI value and ROI
  • Recommendations for technology suppliers and end user organisations on how to exploit the growing AI opportunity.

Report coverThe first report in the series, ‘AI Impact: Back Office Operations’ is available now!

Business process services has been through many shifts over the past few years, with the introduction of cloud technologies and the adoption of data enhanced solutions. Yet many back-office processes have remained largely unchanged for decades.  

Suppliers, both stalwarts of the Business process service (BPS) industry and disruptive startups are looking to offer new solutions that will impact a number of back-office functions such as HR, Legal and Accounting & Finance. GenAI solutions, empowered through the latest LLMs are reducing once manually intensive and laborious tasks such as claims analysis, invoice handling and recruitment screening from days or weeks of work into hours and even minutes.

The AI Impact: Back Office Operations report is available to all TechSectorViews subscribers. 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 and much more.

Posted by: Simon Baxter at 17:02

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Wednesday 11 December 2024

TechMarketView enjoys a fantastic Christmas do!

As we start to head into the final weeks of the December, staff at TechMarketView took the day out yesterday to reflect on our achievements in 2024. And wow, we have done Lucky Voicea LOT! From new research programmes (SustainabilityViews) to new partnerships (Tech User Connect with Executive Change)….2024 has been a busy one – with much more to come in 2025.

As ever, it is our people that come first so it was excellent to let our hair down a bit and have some fun together. We have very talented bunch of people, but what I did not appreciate is just how many brilliant singers we have!

After a very sensible and fascinating start to the day (at a secret location in the Knowledge Quarter in London – more of this next year) we all headed to “Lucky Voice” for what can only be described as some very ‘high quality’ singing. All the classics came out plus some other rather more unexpected tunes.

Several sore throats and sore heads this morning, I suspect…..

Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 10:00

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Wednesday 11 December 2024

UK Government's latest reform announcements: opportunities & challenges

Cabinet Office address - 70, WhitehallThis week, a series of government announcements signal a shift in how public sector technology projects are set to be procured and delivered, with significant implications for IT suppliers and consultancies serving this market. These changes align with TechMarketView's expectations that 2025 will be characterised by shorter, sharper, outcome-driven projects across the public and private sectors.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden has unveiled a £100 million Innovation Fund to deploy "test-and-learn" teams across the country, starting in Manchester, Sheffield, Essex, and Liverpool. While this approach, inspired by startup methodologies, sounds promising, there will be opportunities and challenges for established suppliers.

The emphasis on "test, fix, change, and test again" methodology is a departure from traditional government procurement approaches where requirements tend to be extensively defined upfront. For suppliers, this could mean shorter, more iterative contracts rather than large, multi-year engagements. The trend aligns with our 'Sink or Sprint' research theme for 2025, which describes the need for organisations to accelerate technology deployment and take advantage of a unique window of investment opportunity over the next 12 months. Alongside building their AI-related portfolio of offerings, suppliers will need to be ready to embrace more agile, outcome-based contracting models and develop stronger capabilities in rapid prototyping and iteration. They will also need to be ready to support their public sector clients to establish robust systems for measuring and reporting outcomes.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones have announced a comprehensive spending review process, where every pound of government spending will face line-by-line scrutiny by external experts from banks and think tanks. While many projects can claim alignment with broad government priorities like economic growth or breaking down barriers to opportunity, the key challenge will be demonstrating concrete, measurable outcomes. The Treasury has already highlighted this new emphasis on evidence, citing a £6.5 million ‘social workers in schools’ scheme that showed "no evidence of positive impact." Projects that cannot demonstrate clear, measurable results may face delays, rescoping, or potential cancellation. Suppliers should prepare contingency plans for potential project reviews and changes as the spending review takes effect.

Reflecting a drive to build internal digital capabilities. McFadden's speech also outlined plans to bring in tech talent through 6-12 month "Tours of Duty" and overhaul civil service recruitment processes. The promised simplification of "mind-bogglingly bureaucratic" processes aims to attract diverse talent from the tech sector into public service.

Find out more about TechMarketView's 2025 research theme here: TechMarketView's 2025 research theme revealed: Sink or Sprint! | TechMarketView

(Image used as per the Open Government Licence)

Posted by: Georgina O'Toole at 09:54

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