The 2007 Magic Quadrant for ERP service providers in North America analyzes the market for ERP solution implementation services. The relative positioning of vendors in this Magic Quadrant is based on factors determined by Gartner as relevant to this market. We analyze consulting and systems integration projects that may require a blend of business, industry, technology, project and program management skills that must align with your objectives, institutional and business culture, and employees. When considering service providers for a request for information (RFI) or RFP, do not simply select service providers in the Leaders quadrant. All selection processes are enterprise-specific; consequently, vendors in the Challengers, Visionaries or Niche Players quadrants may prove to be more appropriate for your engagement. This analysis is for the consulting and systems integration services required for discrete project work only and excludes multiyear contractual engagements typical for outsourcing agreements.

This Magic Quadrant is a point-in-time analysis, and the view covers key competitors with the breadth and scale of offerings across a large array of criteria. An IT services provider may appear in a specific quadrant given its strategy as compared with the full market criteria set in this evaluation. As a result, in any given deal, provider selection is best decided by a client's needs; therefore, IT services providers should not underestimate any potential competitor because the inclusion criteria in the Magic Quadrant result in the analysis of the most-established and sought-after providers in the ERP service market. There are other IT services providers not evaluated in this Magic Quadrant that may present alternatives for your requirements.

The North American market for ERP solution implementation services (the combination of consulting and systems integration services related to ERP initiatives) grew more than 5% year over year from 2005 to 2006, indicating ongoing buyer interest in ERP services. Demand for ERP project-based solution implementation services are at a critical inflection point in 2007 as enterprise buyers are faced with difficult choices that will lay the foundation for the user's application life cycle choices.

The technology market continues to consolidate. Multiple sourcing options are emerging for ERP functionality. Architecture and integration approaches are evolving. Governance and regulatory considerations are in discussion. Enterprise risk considerations are increasingly important. These market changes present an array of choices that enterprise application buyers must make. Buyers need to accelerate change while maintaining stability in their business.

All of these factors make the choice of consultants and systems integrators more critical as they are being sought after as trusted advisors to navigate the strategic, technology and operational choices available for business applications. They are also being called on for service-oriented architecture (SOA) solutions and to help shape the functionality choices that can be custom, composed, or packaged, or some combination of these.

The result of this demand on the vendor landscape is that some providers had significant growth, while other firms could not keep pace with the flux of market conditions, as evidenced by small and large organizations failing to achieve average market growth rates. In addition, many offshore pure-play service providers continue to grow ERP service revenue at rates exceeding the market average, although from smaller — yet not insignificant — revenue bases. Some portion of this growth comes as a result of their increased ability to execute on large global programs. The options for buyers are changing with the influx of global delivery for ERP.

Gartner's Magic Quadrant research process involves primary research with direct client references supplied by ERP service providers and each service provider's representation of its organization. Additional insight and context are provided by the ongoing, direct discussions Gartner analysts have with enterprise buyers throughout the year. All sources of information are carefully analyzed, with a heavy emphasis on client feedback. As a result, many of the individual evaluation categories have "client reference" criteria factored into the scoring. Gartner considers client feedback to be one of the most critical measures of a service provider's success.

This Magic Quadrant focuses on the ERP-project-based services (consulting, systems integration and implementation) markets for North America. We evaluated the comprehensive set of offerings for ERP programs that include:

• Ability to provide advisory and consulting services on ERP decisions
• Ability to provide consulting services for ERP environments
• Ability to provide a comprehensive set of systems integration and implementation services across the ERP domains, products and technologies
• Ability to service multiple industries

To further illustrate this market, consider the following definitions:

• Consulting and systems integration
  • Consulting services are advisory services designed to help companies analyze and improve the effectiveness of business operations and technology strategies. Gartner divides consulting into two subsegments: business consulting and IT consulting. For Gartner, the term "systems integration" is roughly synonymous with development and integration services. Development and integration services include application development, deployment and integration services. These are the service areas of focus for project-based ERP service delivery.
• ERP
  • Gartner defines ERP as a business strategy in which the outcomes optimize productivity in processes that include the ERP domains of financial management, human capital management, order management, manufacturing and operations, and enterprise asset management.

This Magic Quadrant evaluates the suppliers on their project-based ERP consulting and solution implementation services only. It does not evaluate them on their managed service or outsourcing capabilities. The criteria for inclusion of service providers for this Magic Quadrant are based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures:

• Quantitative criteria
  • External service providers (ESPs) whose consulting and systems integration services revenue is primarily derived from clients in North America (United States and Canada)
  • A minimum of US$50 million (estimated for 2006) in enterprisewide ERP service revenues (excluding outsourcing and managed service revenues) in North America
• Qualitative criteria
  • Overall market interest in and visibility of the provider, determined by serious consideration for selection from enterprise clients
  • Gartner analysts' interactions with enterprise buyers, which reveal interest in specific ERP service providers
• Evaluation criteria
  • Gartner evaluates service providers on their ability to execute and their completeness of vision — as per the definitions below. When the two sets of criteria are evaluated together, the resulting North American analysis provides a view of how well the provider performs a spectrum of services compared with its peers and how well it is positioned for the future.

The vendors added include CedarCrestone, Fujitsu and L&T Infotech.

The vendors dropped include Atos Origin and Rapidigm.

Gartner analysts evaluate service providers on the quality and efficacy of the processes, systems, methods or procedures that enable IT provider performance to be competitive, efficient and effective, and to positively impact revenue, retention and reputation. Ultimately, service providers are judged on their ability and success in capitalizing on their vision.

Product/Service — Core services offered by the provider that competes in and serves the defined market. This category includes current service capabilities, quality, feature sets, skills, and so on. Subcategories include: assessment of specific services in the key ERP areas of financials, HR, order management, enterprise asset management (EAM) knowledge and skills as well as project management, delivery processes and methodologies; and assessment of knowledge and resourcing of major ERP products, including those from Lawson, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP.

Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy, Organization) — Financial viability includes an assessment of the overall organization's financial health, the financial and practical success of the business unit, and the likelihood of the individual business unit to continue to invest in the service and continue to offer the service, advancing the state of the art within the organization's portfolio of services. Subcategories include: assessment of service provider's practice area profile (for example, financials, resources, utilization and attrition); and analysis of strategy and organization.

Sales Execution/Pricing — The service provider's capabilities in all pre-sales activities and the structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and negotiation, pre-sales support and the overall effectiveness of the sales channel.

Market Responsiveness and Track Record — Ability to respond, change direction, be flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act, customer needs' evolve, and market dynamics change. This criterion also considers the provider's history of responsiveness. Subcategories include: specific client feedback; and demonstrated ability to adjust to market conditions.

Customer Experience — In professional services, customer experience is indicative of all factors in both execution and vision. Therefore, customer experience is not specifically evaluated; rather, it is factored into the complete services experience that customers receive.

Operations — The ability of the organization to meet its goals and commitments. Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, including skills, experiences, programs, systems and other vehicles that enable the organization to operate effectively and efficiently on an ongoing basis. Subcategories include: organization and business model; and global delivery model (downstream capabilities).

Gartner analysts evaluate service providers on their ability to articulate logical statements about current and future market direction, innovation, customer needs, and competitive forces, and how well they map to the Gartner position. Ultimately, service providers are rated on their understanding of how market forces can be exploited to create opportunity for the provider.

Market Understanding — Ability of the provider to understand buyers' needs and translate these needs into products and services. Vendors that show the highest degree of vision listen and understand buyers' wants and needs, and can shape or enhance those wants with their added vision. Subcategories include: service providers' knowledge and articulation of key market direction and trends; and the analysis of the service providers' executive leadership (including thought leadership, continuity, operational capabilities, and so on).

Sales Strategy —The strategy for selling services, which uses the appropriate network of direct and indirect sales, marketing, service, and communication affiliates that extend the scope and depth of market reach, skills, expertise, technologies, services and the customer base. Subcategories include: service providers' strategies for partnerships and alliances; and vision for creating new and/or additional ERP business.

Offering (Product) Strategy — A service provider's approach to product development and delivery that emphasizes differentiation, functionality, methodology, and feature set as they map to current and future requirements.

Vertical/Industry Strategy — The service provider's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the specific needs of individual market segments, including verticals.

Innovation — Direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources, expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or pre-emptive purposes.

Geographic Strategy — The service provider's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the specific needs of geographies outside the "home" or native geography, either directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries, as appropriate for that geography and market.

Leaders are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market. Leaders can clearly demonstrate and communicate the business value that is added to enterprise client projects. A leader's ability to provide a market-leading vision and applied innovation that lead clients to economically viable competitive advantages with differentiated business value are attributes.

Challengers execute well today for the portfolio of work selected, but they have a less-defined view of market direction. Consequently, these service providers may be the "up and comers" of the future, or they may not be aggressive and proactive enough in preparing for the future. Challengers appear systematically and often compete head-to-head with established brands for deals, but they approach the ERP market differently and also apply innovation, therefore challenging established thinking.

Visionaries articulate important market trends and direction. However, they may not be in a position to fully deliver and consistently execute. They may need to improve their optimization of service delivery.

Niche players focus on a particular segment of the market as defined by such characteristics as functional area vertical industry, client size or project complexity. Their ability to execute is limited to those focus areas and, therefore, is assessed accordingly. Their ability to innovate may be affected by this narrow focus. A niche player has invested in more-defined ERP technology skills. It also has vertical market expertise confirmed by clients, a solid local market share position or a differentiating element in its operational business, which make it a niche market player.

• Accenture's combination of industry, functional and technical skills executed in a matrix structure makes it a strong candidate for a large majority of the ERP initiatives.
• Accenture's recognized brand and geographic reach across all major regions continue to put the company on shortlists for some of the largest and most-complex global engagements.
• Accenture continues to invest heavily and maintain strong positioning in two critical areas: global delivery models (use of "nearshore"/offshore resources) and strong partnering relationships with the leading technology vendors.

• Accenture's ongoing ability to include a larger volume of efficiency-based deals in its portfolio of services is a challenge.
• Accenture clients cite that specific tasks and resources are priced at a premium compared with the market.
• Accenture has launched targeted sales programs and tailored offerings to the middle market. Clients need to apply additional due diligence because both are new territory for the company.

• BearingPoint has increased client confidence in the stability of the firm by establishing a clear plan of action for all the financial issues that have plagued it during the past few years.
• BearingPoint's focus on solution development is strengthening partnerships with software vendor partners and increasing the foundation on product familiarity and edge functionality for industry segments where the company provides services.
• BearingPoint clients indicate that experienced senior associates consistently add value through their blend of domain and technical knowledge.

• BearingPoint clients cite inconsistency in execution (primarily the use of methods and tools) among its lower-level staff, which at times impacts project continuity.
• Despite BearingPoint's longevity as an ERP integrator and a certain level of geographic presence, the company has come to be utilized more as a regional provider within North America rather than a multinational provider.
• BearingPoint continues to have gaps in offshore capabilities and global delivery model.

• Capgemini is long-established in the ERP space. Its industry penetration and understanding in the markets it competes and its existing client relationships provide a foundation for consulting services strength in ERP.
• Capgemini has a client-focused delivery methodology — cited as complementary to consensus building — and this methodology highlights the soft skills of consultants in cultural adaptability, partnering and commitment for the project.
• Client satisfaction with project management, industry understanding and technology capabilities indicate a focus on consistent delivery.

• Capgemini continues to be in a time of transformation, aligning global competence areas and investing in the operations of the business, which indicates that organizational stability is still elusive.
• Clients cite complexity in staffing technology services when solutions are extended beyond the core ERP discipline.
• Capgemini has been slow to provide clients with price competition and value from its significant offshore delivery organization. Industrialization of these services has begun but needs to progress further to leverage the opportunity on a project-by-project basis.

• CedarCrestone has a focused strategy centered on Oracle's PeopleSoft technologies in the higher education, public-sector, and commercial segments. Its long-standing channel relationship with the software provider, combined with a solid track record in higher-education clients and traction in multicampus implementations, has fueled current growth.
• For commercial customers, CedarCrestone has the scale in terms of size of enterprise, scope of deal and technology capability to be a credible alternative provider.
• CedarCrestone's hallmark is to bring seasoned consultants with demonstrated experience. As such, clients report business acumen as a strength of the resources assigned to their respective projects.

• CedarCrestone's long-term growth and success will be premised on its ability to invest and shift to other technology offerings, additional industries or geographies.
• CedarCrestone's global delivery capability is embryonic with limited capabilities in India. Given the continued demand for the use of offshore services, this will be a critical challenge for the company.
• CedarCrestone must continue to build critical mass and depth in resources, as clients report some difficulties with staffing projects.

• CGI is a domestic provider with a history in infrastructure and application services that is transitioning more fully into application implementation services for the major ERP packages and solutions. This presence across IT services results in a blend of technology and process depth.
• CGI focuses on government sectors, and knowledge of this market still provides the foundation for the ERP practice, particularly from its own products: AMS Advantage and Momentum. Clients cite CGI's proprietary software solutions as a differentiator.
• The company has established itself as a strategic partner with clients, demonstrating accountability for solution success.

• As the ERP practice of CGI transitions to service the breadth of technologies in the market, its methodology and delivery process are undergoing change and remain to be tested, for example, in a global rollout scenario.
• CGI is increasing its presence in the commercial sector, but delivery alternatives for non-public-sector clients are limited by the worldwide global delivery capability (specifically offshore for commercial clients).
• CGI clients cite resourcing inconsistencies in staff domain skills and in availability of staff in some technology or project management positions.

• Ciber has been on a strategic path to grow its ERP practice capabilities through acquisitions and internal investments that are producing maturing capabilities in technology, project management and methodology.
• Ciber has a model that provides for local presence in many cities, thus creating a network for servicing midmarket clients. As a result, the company is growing a bench of experienced local consultants for ERP solutions, in which a critical mass of clients exists for the company.
• Ciber has a presence across a diversity of software products, which reflects the diversity of its client base.

• Ciber is developing global delivery that offers value for cost and capability but is limited to more-commoditized skill sets in ERP software.
• Ciber clients cite limits in the ability of the company to resource effectively in an engagement because of staff turnover, inconsistency in staff knowledge or more-limited capability in consultative areas, such as change management.
• The company must balance investment in growing breadth and depth of capabilities, particularly for midmarket clients, with global ambitions for managing the more-complex requirements of larger ERP projects.

• Clients cite Cognizant's cost structure and cultural fit — as demonstrated by positive experiences in the use of other practices areas — as the leading reasons for contracting with Cognizant in ERP engagements.
• Continued investment in functional or industry-specific needs for key accounts and selected growth areas is often recognized by clients as a demonstrated commitment to Cognizant's success.
• Cognizant has a number of active engagements for joint product development and testing with SAP in India. This serves as solid channel leverage and opportunities for new client engagements.

• Cognizant's ERP practice is still emerging, and the company is not yet a recognized provider distinctively called on for the capabilities within ERP process domains.
• Cognizant is still in growth mode with regard to having the appropriate scale for all the needed technology skill sets and competencies, and as a result, clients cite difficulties in properly resourcing the right personnel on engagements.
• Cognizant clients cite struggles with project management, communications and business acumen.

• CSC has a breadth of IT services offerings and has successfully supported an ERP practice, with breadth across the diversity of software applications.
• CSC clients indicate senior consultants are well-rounded and knowledgeable advisors and understand the business issues that clients face.
• CSC's skills strength is cited by clients in a variety of areas, including technical knowledge, industry understanding and project management.

• Clients cited specific staffing issues with regard to ERP resources — more specifically, the inability to provide appropriate scale of key resources and limited availability of bench strength for backups or replacements for project delivery.
• Clients cited CSC's relatively higher cost as an issue in realizing a project's value because the company did not fully engage or bring forth the global delivery options.
• Growth of CSC's ERP practice must accelerate to fund investment in new solutions and develop greater technology expertise.

• Deloitte is often a shortlisted provider for initiatives that involve critical review of key finance and accounting or HR business processes and/or re-engineering of the finance function for which client satisfaction remains high.
• Deloitte's longevity in the ERP arena, its business consulting work, and its long-standing client relationship are the key ingredients of continued momentum of its ERP practice.
• Deloitte's experts in multiple disciplines in the firm contribute to a broad reach of service offerings across ERP technology and process areas.

• Deloitte clients cited issues in the company's project attrition rate and ability to staff projects with the right skills at the right time.
• When Deloitte is eliminated from consideration for ERP projects, its inability to deliver on the required offshore resources is cited as a shortcoming compared with the competition.
• Based on client feedback, Deloitte's brand has shown erosion in ERP as a provider that is a candidate for large, global ERP initiatives.

• Fujitsu has been transforming its ERP practice through acquisitions (including Rapidigm) that bring breadth across a series of software packages and establish a global delivery presence, making the company an alternative provider in the market.
• A focus on servicing midmarket clients makes Fujitsu distinctive, with a foundation of understanding of core ERP products and its capabilities, combined with industry and domain experience.
• Fujitsu clients cite that the company demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness to changing needs during project execution.

• Fujitsu is challenged across its acquisitions to maintain a single methodology to ensure consistent project management discipline.
• Fujitsu investments are focused on operational processes and delivery capabilities rather than innovation in solution development.
• Fujitsu clients cite challenges of multiple acquisitions in integration, as evident in inconsistent resourcing and attrition of staff.

• HCL's ERP practice has matured quickly in the SAP technology area for clients in discrete manufacturing.
• HCL's enterprisewide strategy, willingness to engage in joint ventures and distinctive business-benefit-based engagement structures with clients have led to a select number of larger ERP engagements that serve to deepen HCL's skill sets and to broaden capabilities in Oracle products.
• HCL continues to heavily invest in operational and service delivery metrics to ensure client satisfaction and industrialize its ERP practice. Client feedback indicates positive and recognized benefit of HCL investments, when the main criteria are price benefits of offshore resources and selective technical skills.

• HCL struggles to clearly identify with clients with regard to its unique value proposition within a crowded and fragmented competitive landscape.
• HCL clients cite inconsistent levels and quality of business consulting and functional process expertise.
• HCL is still viewed as a tactical provider of specific technical skills rather than as a primary integrator playing a strategic role.

• Hexaware is focused on human capital management (HCM) through heritage penetration in PeopleSoft and new investments in SAP HCM.
• Hexaware-targeted offerings include specific analytics in selected vertical subsegments and automated testing offerings that are becoming the lead solutions for industry strategy.
• Hexaware is investing to increase its breadth of capabilities to address a larger number of core ERP domains.

• Hexaware clients indicate issues with the ability to provide strong front-end on-site teams for significant business consulting and re-engineering skill sets.
• Hexaware does not yet have credibility with deep industry focus because of its operational alignment with software products and technology.
• Hexaware has been slow to standardize its service offerings for a consistent delivery strategy.

• Hitachi Consulting has developed delivery capabilities to serve a spectrum of projects in both the midmarket and large-company market segments.
• Clients cite Hitachi Consulting's core strengths as its flexibility and assets of senior-level team members.
• Through acquisition, Hitachi Consulting is broadening its ERP presence and bolstering its analytics and product capabilities: One example is the acquisition of Iteration2 for Microsoft Dynamics services.

• Prospects generally do not add Hitachi Consulting to shortlists for consideration for large, significant labor-intensive initiatives because its ability for staffing low-cost resources (from offshore locations) is limited.
• Hitachi Consulting references cite issues with consistency in project management and resourcing.

• IBM has the most extensive combination of technical and process skills across a large number of industries. As such, IBM is a viable candidate for the largest array of ERP projects.
• IBM clients consistently cited its ability to develop a partnering relationship and project management as some of the strengths experienced on engagements.
• IBM has continued to make significant investments in intellectual property to reduce the time to market and increase global delivery capabilities to address the continued high demand for optimization of ERP engagements in global sourcing mode.

• IBM clients often cite variability in resourcing of projects (getting the right skills at the right time), which has led to struggles in meeting client expectations.
• IBM's extensive organization, with the potential for a client to leverage several different practice areas (including ERP), is often one reason that clients seek out IBM. However, client feedback indicates that the ability for IBM to demonstrate the benefits is sometimes lacking.
• IBM's investments in accelerators and industry templates have been substantial; however, traction with clients has not yet been proved, and examples of significant reductions in the time to market of solutions are limited.

• Infosys has successfully leveraged its name recognition as one of the largest offshore pure-play providers to expand ERP services into a significant number of clients.
• Infosys has developed a deeper level of skills and a broader insight into key issues facing clients because of its incumbent status in non-ERP-related projects.
• Infosys has steadily increased its overall implementation of large complex engagements, which strengthens its portfolio and organizational knowledge in ERP.
• Infosys has successfully identified and acted on the emerging market shift toward "architected" solutions involving packages, composite application options, integration and various hybrid solutions.

• Infosys' high growth continues to result in struggles with regard to appropriate staffing of personnel (including lag times, inexperienced personnel and project-based attrition).
• Infosys clients consistently cite that price points for specific skills are relatively higher than expectations and not warranted based on commensurate experience and/or value delivered.
• Although Infosys continues to expand, some clients still cite gaps in critical mass and depth with regard to functional and process skills knowledge.

• Intelligroup's strength is its strong focus on ERP since a majority of the company's revenue is driven by deployment of packaged applications, maintenance and specific complementary services areas (such as testing or infrastructure optimization for ERP environments).
• Intelligroup's long-standing investment in tools (both optimization and accelerators) is the cornerstone of the strategy and is often the reason clients hire the firm and for SAP engagements.
• Clients cite the company's flexibility and its nimbleness as a smaller, focused provider as a reason for repeat work with Intelligroup.

• Intelligroup clients still do not seek the company for strategic ERP engagements, but rather, they choose Intelligroup for tactical work in the more-technical areas of ERP implementations for efficiency-based improvements in their ERP environments.
• Intelligroup references cite issues with communication skills of staff assigned to their engagement and resourcing issues (including right skills, attrition, and also shifts in executives).
• Intelligroup has been unable to strategically bring together the benefits of its extensive experience, knowledge of client issues and its internal assets (for example, tools, intellectual property) and global delivery capabilities to create a clear identity and distinctive positioning in the market.

• L&T Infotech heritage in the manufacturing industry on the SAP platform is a strength that is driving momentum in the ERP practice.
• L&T Infotech has made strides in expanding beyond core offerings into a broader set of commercial clients.
• Clients cite L&T Infotech's technical skills, combined with its industry resources, as the primary reason for selection.

• L&T Infotech currently has a limited portfolio of offerings.
• L&T Infotech has a number of issues with regard to name recognition and brand awareness. There are several permutations on how it is referenced: L&T, LTIL, LTI, L&T Infotech, and Larson & Toubro, which adds confusion in the market.
• L&T Infotech still depends to some extent on its parent in India for recruiting and underlying financial stability. As such, the company needs to accelerate the definition of its independent identity.

• Lawson Consulting clients express positive feedback for investments in several areas: upfront business process assessments, methodology and pre-configured industry solution accelerators. These investments are focused on efficiency, effectiveness and faster implementation time frames.
• Lawson Consulting clients have cited positive feedback in the company's ability to demonstrate a high level of accountability for project success.
• A combination of global delivery investments and partnering strategies has provided Lawson Consulting several options for clients for a variety of alternatives for sourcing projects.

• A key challenge for Lawson Consulting is sustained investment with regard to the growth of the consulting practice.
• Lawson Consulting clients express a desire for greater depth of resource skills and experience.
• Lawson Consulting needs to mature in regard to projects of growing scale and scope with the global demands of clients.

• Oracle Consulting's service capabilities have been bolstered through acquisitions. For example, the i-flex solutions' services capabilities are deep and strong, with positive feedback from clients.
• Oracle Consulting's clients provide positive feedback in the areas of technical skills, experience level of personnel on projects, and professionalism of the team.
• Oracle Consulting's clients also cite a diverse resource pool with adequate bench strength that can deal with multiple ERP challenges.

• One of Oracle Consulting's critical challenges is the ability to more fully and completely update tools, accelerators and methodology to assist clients in making all shifts required because of Oracle's acquisition strategy. While some progress has been made in this area, continued focus on integration activities is needed to ensure clients derive the full value of the acquisition strategy.
• Despite Oracle Consulting's various investments, enterprise clients considering Oracle Consulting indicate they are primarily concerned with the company's ability to demonstrate depth in project management and change management.
• Oracle Consulting's clients cite cost structures and higher price points as issues.

• Satyam's longevity in the ERP market (among the offshore pure-play firms), along with the consistent growth in the practice and balanced geographic expansion, is the cornerstone of its ability to win new business.
• Satyam consistently delivers with regard to quality, scale and depth of critical technical skills (that is, NetWeaver and Fusion), which are critical to take on larger complex engagements and global initiatives.
• Satyam continues to maintain a high level of momentum through its investment in client-specific centers of excellence and training, and also its alliances with product vendors (SAP and Oracle).

• Satyam has a broad base of offerings and several industry-specific programs; however, its strategic value and most-enduring relationships are still predominantly in the manufacturing industry. Satyam is continuing to make investments in other verticals (for example, communications and financial services).
• Satyam lacks the distinctive identity to be recognized by prospects, thus limiting some of its opportunities.
• Satyam is extending its business consulting and functional depth, but current offerings lag the market.

• SAP Consulting continues to be a sought-after technical resource in some of the most-strategic efforts that are put out to bid in the market. Many times, clients choose to employ a best-of-breed service provider model to ensure SAP Consulting is an integral part of the implementation.
• SAP Consulting's extensive services practice and investment continues to act as a catalyst to attract some of the best talent in the industry.
• SAP Consulting continues to gain traction through the consultative use of business-case development.

• SAP Consulting does not seem to resonate with clients as taking a leadership role to help navigate the complexities of next-generation strategies; rather, clients continue to relegate the use of SAP Consulting to augmenting resources for deployment after critical decision making and strategy has been determined.
• SAP Consulting clients cite inflexibility with regard to contracting for ERP services.
• SAP Consulting's omission from RFPs by prospective clients is often because of the company's limitation in industry skill sets.

• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has steadily advanced its penetration in larger complex deals (in the higher end of the market) and a select number of notable small to midsize clients. This penetration continues to strengthen its intellectual property and organizational knowledge.
• TCS has parlayed its positioning as the largest offshore pure-play provider to strengthen its alliance strategy and channel leverage with the technology vendors.
• TCS is accelerating investments in various centers of excellence for Oracle and SAP.

• Clients report struggles with TCS flexibility in several areas, including contracting, change control structure in fixed pricing and problem resolution within the project.
• TCS's large diversity of projects — including size, scope, client profile and technology — combined with its growth rate, leads to continued issues with regard to staffing all efforts with the right resources. Clients consistently report mismatches between need and assigned personnel.
• TCS leads its business predominantly from a technology vision. While the company continues to grow its industry capabilities, it will have to infuse more industry expertise in its work with clients to ensure TCS is known for both technology and industry prowess.

• Wipro has continued with its targeted acquisition strategy for growth. In the past year, Wipro acquired Enabler to bolster its depth in the retail industry as well as deepen its capability for global rollouts.
• Wipro is making significant investments in selected industry templates and accelerators, working closely with the software vendors. These investments, combined with a steady increase in widening its portfolio of services within ERP, are fueling substantive growth.
• Clients indicate Wipro has one of the most seamless operational structures for integrating its industry professionals with its technical resources. This is consistently cited as a differentiator in comparison with other offshore pure-play companies.

• Although Wipro has achieved high growth and continues to expand, it needs to achieve more critical mass and depth to effectively advance to the next level of growth and service for clients.
• Clients indicate that Wipro struggles with managing non-Wipro resources (which include client personnel assigned to the team or other outside subcontractors).
• Clients indicate that Wipro has variability with regard to on-site resources specifically in "soft" skills (including business acumen, facilitation, presentation skills, and communicating clear expectations).