(By Anthony Miller – Sunday, 29th March 2009 8:15pm). When you peak under the covers of Accenture’s recent results (see Accenture feels the effects of the downturn too) you can really see how consulting dropped off a cliff last quarter ... and how reliable outsourcing has been. The chart shows Accenture’s consulting (includes SI) revenue growth vs outsourcing over the past year at constant currencies (ccy). Outsourcing now represents 43% of Accenture’s revenues compared to 40% a year ago.Dig down even deeper and you see that not all vertical sectors suffered. Whereas consulting revenues dived 14% ccy in Financial Services (20% of total revenues), they grew 15% in Public Sector (13% of total revenues) and 14% in Resources (18% of total revenues). Outsourcing growth was strongest in Products (+16%) and Resources (+14%).
We can only reiterate Accenture COO Steve Rohelder’s comments on the concall: “Companies are rethinking their priorities, looking at projects that will provide an immediate return on investment, deferring large, new, transformational IT projects, and turning to outsourcing to lower their cost structures”. Exactly!
Outsourcing revenues may be growing rapidly, but are they making a significant profit contribution?
ReplyDeleteAccenture are better than most at delivering to clients and making a profit ..... but large-scale outsourcing contracts remain a high stakes and high risk game.
John Corr