• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

3

Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

3

Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
TechPointCloud

Tech Consulting Giants Were Big on Acquisitions in 2016

By
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 21, 2016, 10:30 AM ET
Courtesy of IBM
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The list of technologies that can transform how companies do businesses is long and growing longer by the minute. There’s software for customer service, sales, and marketing, and for crunching data to help executives make better decisions.

Corporate customers are expected to spend an astounding $2.1 billion annually on technology by 2019, according to market research firm International Data Corp. The demand by companies for help with installing it all and teaching workers to use it wisely have prompted big technology consulting firms to make dozens of acquisitions of design and strategy agencies in 2016.

Accenture (ACN), IBM (IBM), Cognizant (CTSH), Deloitte and Wipro (WIT) all snapped up smaller firms that can help businesses dream up new business models, test ideas, and install the technology to make those visions reality. For example, in November, Accenture and Cognizant both expanded their digital teams in Europe with the buyouts of London’s Karmarama (which caters to automaker Honda and consumer goods company Unilever) and Amsterdam’s Mirabeau (which counts airlines KLM and AirFrance as customers.)

Gajen Kandiah, president of Cognizant Digital Business, said his organization has added more than 500 anthropologists and behavioral economists over the past six months to help companies envision how technology will change how they do business. Many companies struggle with this step, he suggests. “This is a market that is quite confusing, and not really getting better over time,” he told Fortune.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily technology newsletter.

From a sheer numbers perspective, Accenture did the most acquisitions among its peers—it bought six boutique creative agencies and software development firms in the second half of 2016 alone. Separate reports from research firms Everest Group, Forrester, and Gartner list Accenture as the largest digital consulting firm based on the sheer number of services is offer related to analytics, cloud services, and other digital technologies. It can handle projects in more than 40 offices worldwide.

Accenture is followed closely by IBM in terms of employees dedicated to this area. IBM has been adding more talent quickly: it acquired three creative design agencies during the span of just one week early in the year, and then bought another in April. As of February, IBM’s consulting unit dedicated to consulting on digital technologies had more than 10,000 employees.

Accenture doesn’t disclose the size of its workforce.

Brian Whipple, senior managing director for Accenture Interactive, an Accenture business that specializes in helping clients with technology for dealing with their customers, said much of the consolidation is being driven by a desire by large companies to regain control over how customers “experience” their products and services.

That could include helping companies create entirely new ways to show off products to customers, such as using augmented reality headsets—which layer digital images onto a “real world” view—without actually taking them on the road. In theory, the data collected about that interaction would be used as part of an ever-changing profile of that individual customer that gives insights into their likes and dislikes.

Websites, mobile apps, and digital marketing videos—and other interactions—are becoming just as important as traditional advertising activities in shaping what consumers think about companies, Whipple said. “It’s just one of about 100 different experiences that a consumer will have with a company.”

How GE is merging industrial and digital models.

While many technology consulting firms specialize in some of these areas, market researcher Gartner says only a handful of them are capable of advising customers about the full breadth of their digital strategies like their growth plans, cybersecurity, using the Internet of things, evaluating new technologies, and changing corporate culture. Gartner’s list of the best one-stop shops for digital services includes (alphabetically) Atos, Booz Allen Hamilton, Boston Consulting Group, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte Digital, EY, IBM, McKinsey, Orange Business Services, PwC, and Wipro.

Today, services related digital technologies account for nearly 20% of Wipro’s overall revenue. But this portion of Wipro’s business will grow least 30% to 50% over the next three years especially from customers in the financial services, telecommunications, media, and health care sectors, said Rajan Kohli, senior vice president and global head of Wipro Digital. “By definition, the disruption is often tied to consumer habits,” he said.

That opportunity inspired Wipro’s $500 million takeover of cloud services specialist Appirio in October. Appirio CEO Chris Barbin said his company had planned to build its own design team before it agreed to the takeover but now has access to designers through Designit, a Danish design agency that Wipro bought in July 2015. Appirio’s newfound ability to help customers about both cloud software investments and design-centric issues, such as how to make applications and websites easier to navigate, has already helped the combined teams win several deals together, he said.

About the Author
By Heather Clancy
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

Larry Page and Sergey Brin
SuccessBillionaires
Google’s founders are snapping up Miami mansions, as billionaires flee California’s proposed tax—and the company is buying office space to accommodate
By Emma BurleighJuly 22, 2026
3 hours ago
orson
CommentaryOpenAI
We got California to intervene about OpenAI’s corporate switch from nonprofit status. It’s time for the SEC to come to the table
By Orson Aguilar and Catherine BracyJuly 22, 2026
6 hours ago
A woman observes stock trends on her smartphone while a computer screen displays financial graphs.
NewslettersCFO Daily
Beyond SpaceX: Why great IPOs depend on more than first-day demand
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 22, 2026
6 hours ago
Arrakis cofounder and CEO Rafael Quintanilla.
Startups & VentureVenture Capital
Exclusive: Arrakis, betting AI’s biggest payoff is in industrial sectors not office work, emerges from stealth with $38 million in venture funding
By Jeremy KahnJuly 22, 2026
6 hours ago
ls
Commentarybooks
Confessions of an award-winning AI memoirist — the ‘slop’ debate isn’t really about good writing, and you know it
By Luke StoffelJuly 22, 2026
7 hours ago
b
Commentarythe future of work
Manpower President: The future of work question that even CEOs can’t answer
By Becky FrankiewiczJuly 22, 2026
7 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
22 hours ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
4 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.