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Accenture and IBM slug it out in "Battle of the Healthcare Heavyweights"
 
 On each other's heels
with major
announcements, both IBM
and Accenture seek to
strengthen their
presence in the
healthcare market.
   IBM has announced
that it will acquire
Houston-based,
Healthlink Incorporated,
a healthcare process
improvement and
information technology		 
 consulting services
company. This
acquisition will
significantly boost
IBM's healthcare
consulting capabilities,
at a time of tremendous
upheaval in the
healthcare industry
worldwide. Financial
terms of the deal were
not disclosed.
   Following the
acquisition of		 
 Healthlink, all 12
healthcare companies
listed on Fortune
magazine's 2004 Global
500 list will be IBM
customers. IBM will have
more than 300
consultants who are
clinicians dedicated to
the healthcare industry
in the US.
   The IBM-Healthlink
announcement was
preceded by Accenture's		 
 agreement to acquire
Capgemini's North
American health practice
for the purchase price
of $175 million in cash.
   Following the
acquisition,
approximately 600
Capgemini professionals,
including approximately
70 clinicians, will join
Accenture's Health &
Life Sciences practice
in North America,		 
 bringing the total of
the practice's workforce
to more than 4,600.
   Accenture's clients
in the private and
public health sectors
include 22 of the 30
healthcare and related
companies in the Fortune
Global 500.		 
 
Sapient names Mike Reid as new UK Managing Director
 
 Sapient has named Mike
Reid as its new UK
Managing Director.
   Reid, who will report
to Sapient's Chief
Operating Office Sheeroy
Desai, will oversee the		 
 company's operations in
London and lead Sapient
UK's expansion into new
services. Additionally,
Reid will be responsible
for supervising delivery
for its clients, which		 
 include Avis Europe, BP,
Hilton International and
Vodafone, to ensure
their success.
   Reid's leadership
experience spans a
diverse range of		 
 industries, from energy
and utilities, to
healthcare and financial
services. He has helped
some of Sapient's
largest clients around
the world, in countries		 
 such as Canada,
Netherlands and the UK.
   		 
 
IT spending is on the increase
 
 IT consulting increased
13% and systems
development assignments
increased by a
staggering 43% in 2004,
according to the latest
official figures. The
outlook for consulting
in 2005 also looks
extremely encouraging
with 86% of clients
believing their spend on
consulting will be at or
above 2004 levels in
2005.
   These bullish
findings come from the
Management Consultancies
Association (MCA)
Industry Report released
on Friday. In stark
contrast to its poor
performance since the		 
IT Consulting Market (Annual Growth %)
 
153045
Overall13
System
Development 		43
Source: MCA
 sector
   The new report, 'The
UK Consulting Industry
2004/5', shows that fee
income from MCA member
firms grew by 10% in
2004, with the UK
consulting market now
estimated to be worth
just over £10.1bn. The
figures reaffirm
Top-Consultant's view
that firms kicked off
major new recruitment
drives midway through
2004 in response to a
strong growth in order
books.
   Looking more closely
at the resurgence in
IT-related consulting,
the report finds that
58% of this work was in		 
 systems development
(including systems
integration) in 2004,
with the remainder
coming from consulting
on IT issues such as IT
strategy, technical
architecture and
supplier selection.
   Risk/reward deals
(where an element of the
fees are dependent on
success) have been in
evidence since the late
1990s, and have been
common practice in
outsourcing firms for
longer than that. What's
significant this year is
how far that trend has
extended to medium and
small consulting firms,
as well as the very		 
 large.
   The majority of
consulting firms expect
to grow in 2005, some
substantially. That
qualified optimism is
reinforced by a survey
carried out by the MCA
and PMP, which shows
that the vast majority
(86%) of managers expect
their use of consultants
either to remain the
same or to increase in
2005. For the first time
in three years, demand
for consulting is
substantially picking up
in the financial
services sector too, and
this is expected to
continue into 2005.
   		 
 millennium, IT
consulting and systems
development work are now
booming and account for
around a quarter of MCA
member firms' fee income
and are a major source
of renewed business
growth in the consulting		 
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