| | Has Capgemini turned the
corner? Brian Gannon,
vice president in charge
of financial services
thinks so:
“There is a coherency
and consistency about
the company that there
wasn’t there before,
it’s going in the right
direction and there’s a
head of steam building
up,” he says, “I saw it
at the Christmas
party—there was this
huge energy and appetite
for 2005.”
Gannon describes his
plans for the financial
services group as
“hugely ambitious”
“We want to create a
balanced company,
particularly in the UK
where the consultancy
market is hugely
distorted by public
sector projects,” he
says.
His immediate goal is
to double the size of
Capgemini’s financial
services business, and
longer term to
contribute up to 30 per
cent of the company’s
revenues. This will mean
outperforming the
sector, but Gannon
believes that Capgemini | |
|
| | is the right company in
the right place.
Gannon is himself a
recent addition to
Capgemini and a returnee
to the consultancy fold.
After a consultancy
career that started with
Accenture he moved
client side to become
CIO Allied Irish Bank,
experience which he
describes as “hugely
advantageous”.
“As soon as you know
as a buyer that the
other person has been in
your shoes, there’s a
great affinity, it’s
much easier to engage,”
he says.
When Gannon began to
plot his re-entry into
consulting he found an
industry that had
changed hugely over the
five years he’d been
away.
“I spoke to all of
the majors, the one that
seemed to be the ‘new
kid on the block’ was
Capgemini,” he says,
“They’d gone through a
tough time, but they
were still around, and
had a very credible
group of people. They’d
also started to define
what kind of a | |
|
| | consultancy it was, and
invested in branding,
and in articulating what
they were about.”
In particular he felt
that Capgemini’s
“rightshore” business
model was exactly what
the market wanted.
“The arguments about
off shoring and
outsourcing have gone
away—it’s a done deal,”
he says. “The market now
is polarised with play
consultancy services
advising clients but not
taking on large-scale
implementation projects.
The really interesting
part of the landscape is
the big giants who still
play a lead role in the
hugely challenging,
end-to-end
implementation of
business solutions
Gannon believes that
Capgemini is one of the
few players left that
combines the technical
capability and balance
sheet to do the big
transformational deals.
“These are the deals
that will shape our
industry,” he says.
However he doesn't
subscribe to the view
that consultancy is | |
|
| | being sidelined as the
top end of the industry
regroups around
transformational
outsourcing.
“We have a foot in
both advisory and
implementation work,” he
says. “For example, one
of the high street banks
uses us in a purely
advisory capacity, while
for another its purely
technical engagements.
We’ll continue to do
both but you need to
have capability in the
top end otherwise you
get pushed down the
chain.”
Separate P&L’s for
individual disciplines
ensure that consultancy
is neither marginalised
nor turned into a
loss-leader for
outsourcing sales:
“The consultancy
practice will continue
to thrive and grow on
its own merits—there’s
always a role for
credible consultancy led
projects.”
As it repositions
itself for growth
Capgemini has increased
its recruitment
activities but also seen
a massive upsurge in | |
|
| | volatility. With a
practice consisting
largely of consultants
of less than a year’s
standing, Gannon’s
immediate recruitment
priority is to create
cohesion by recruiting
from inside the firm.
Capgemini has also
ramped up graduate
recruitment, but Gannon
is keen to ensure that
there is always the
right mix of consultancy
and client experience.
“It’s part of the
skeptical change in
buyer values,” he says.
“They want the people
with the lash marks on
their back.”
All views expressed
in this article are
those of Mick James and
do not necessarily
reflect the views of
Top-Consultant.com and
Consulting-Times.com
Contact Mick with
your views or
suggestions at:
mick.james@top-consultan
t.com
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