Accenture and IBM are leaders in the American market for Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) outsourcing, according to a Forrester research report. They are followed by Capgemini and CSC.
Accenture, though not amongst the price-competitive firms in a market driven by cost arbitrage, finds itself at the top because of the perceived value it provides its customers.
IBM, on the other hand, prices itself better, though has a reputation of inflexibility.
Top App
Outsourcing Providers |
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Accenture
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Capgemini
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Cognizant
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CSC
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IBM
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Infosys
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Keane
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Satyam
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TCS
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Wipro
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Both companies are busy adding clients to their kitties. In the month of April alone, Accenture announced two deals, one each with U.S. Defense Logistics Agency ($252 million) and Sun Life Insurance (amount not disclosed). IBM announced three last month: Pearson ($128 million), Sony Pictures Entertainment ($3.8 million), and the Earthquake Commission of New Zealand ($13 million).
Amongst the MNCs, despite their legacy — or perhaps because of it — EDS and CGI are amongst the trailers in the study. Neither company announced a deal in April.
Amongst the offshore players, Cognizant emerges the winner, leaving the usual favorites TCS and Infosys behind.
Though Cognizant has a smaller market presence than the other two offshore providers, it emerges on top because of stronger client references and price competitiveness. The company got a part of the recent deals announced by Kimberley Clark. Wipro, Satyam and Keane are the other offshore leaders in the study.
Offshore providers score over the MNCs in their competitive pricing, while the MNCs have an edge in their domain knowledge.