September 13, 2011 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs

Transcription

1 September 13, 2011 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs by Liz Herbert for Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals Making Leaders Successful Every Day

2 September 13, 2011 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs Smaller Oracle Partners Provide Industry Expertise And Niche Skills by Liz Herbert with Duncan Jones and Kelsey Stone EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Most Oracle clients have heard of the major global systems integrators (SIs) like Accenture, IBM, Deloitte, Infosys, and TCS. But many of our clients ask Forrester for information about smaller alternatives to these multinational giants. This document provides an overview of a select few Oracle providers that offer alternatives to the former big four and tier one India-based firms evaluated in the Forrester Wave : Oracle Services Providers, Q2 2011, and explains when you might use them instead of their larger competitors TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Smart Sourcing Executives Evaluate Oracle SI Expertise in Four Key Areas Tier Two Suppliers Deliver Value Where Global Providers Cannot 3 Tier Two Oracle SIS Differentiate Through Industry and Technology Expertise RECOMMENDATIONS 7 Consider Your Future Oracle Road Map When Selecting a Services Provider 8 Supplemental Material NOTES & RESOURCES Forrester interviewed 11 leading tier two options in the Oracle SI space: AT&T, BearingPoint, CedarCrestone, CGI Group, Ciber, Clarkston Consulting, HCL Axon, Hitachi Consulting, Mahindra Satyam, igate Patni, and Systime. Related Research Documents The Forrester Wave: Oracle Services Providers May 20, 2011 Key Considerations For Selecting An Oracle Services Provider March 17, 2011 Business Outcome-Based Pricing Models Drive Results In Packaged Application Implementations April 9, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Forrester, Forrester Wave, RoleView, Technographics, TechRankings, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Reproduction or sharing of this content in any form without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. To purchase reprints of this document, please clientsupport@ forrester.com. For additional reproduction and usage information, see Forrester s Citation Policy located at Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change.

3 2 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs SMART SOURCING EXECUTIVES EVALUATE ORACLE SI EXPERTISE IN FOUR KEY AREAS While many clients are familiar with the capabilities of global leaders like Accenture, Deloitte, and IBM, Forrester clients often inquire about alternative, tier two, and boutique suppliers. These companies will give them things they can t get from tier one providers, such as niche technology expertise, executive attention, and flexible commercial models. This report highlights a wide range of Oracle services providers, with a heavier focus on a select group of the tier two Oracle services providers that have more than 250 Oracle resources and that generate questions and buzz within the Forrester client base. It complements the recently published Forrester Wave : Oracle Service Providers, Q2 2011, which focused on the tier one players. Forrester clients responsible for sourcing in Oracle service provider decisions generally ask us: What are the key factors we need to consider? Currently, industry specialization and engineered systems are two of the biggest forces in the Oracle market. Buyers should evaluate whether potential providers have: The right mix of technical skills across Oracle s growing and ever-changing portfolio. To gain a competitive edge, leading organizations have moved beyond Oracle s core four (PeopleSoft, E-Business Suite, Siebel, and JD Edwards) to take advantage of specialist industryfocused technologies, such as Retek and ProfitLogic for retail; Lodestar and SPL for utilities; i-flex and Mantas for financial services; and Stellent and Metasolv for communications. Talent for these niche vertical solutions can be difficult to find, especially because the acquisition strategy has left Oracle with numerous code bases and tool sets to support. Prebuilt industry solutions that encapsulate industry processes, and speed up deployment. Smart buyers demand industry specialization (see Figure 1). Vertically focused providers can also accelerate deployment and reduce cost through prebuilt integrations or process integration packs (PIPs) that hook together disparate software packages in the Oracle family. Deployment model specialization that maps to your IT architecture strategy. Oracle s partner network supports a range of deployment models. Providers, like Ciber, CGI Group, and Hewlett-Packard (HP) provide the greatest value to clients seeking a fully outsourced Oracle solution. Other providers, like Deloitte or Capgemini, support a range of deployments including third-party cloud solutions such as Amazon or IBM CloudBurst. Today, Oracle Consulting is the premier option for support of engineered solutions on Exadata; moving forward many of their partners will support Exadata as well. Clients who seek (or want to avoid) hosting, cloud, or Exadata deployment should pick a provider aligned to their preferences. Soft factors including cultural fit, executive attention, and commercial flexibility. Clients often feel that they can t get as much attention or leverage from the global suppliers, leading them to consider smaller firms that are more flexible. Midsize suppliers are more likely to go the extra mile, offer innovative and flexible pricing schemes, and give their clients special attention. September 13, , Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

4 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs 3 Tier Two Suppliers Deliver Value Where Global Providers Cannot Global Oracle partners offer the best breadth of services, but they often fall short in specific areas: niche industry processes, specific application expertise, or the right engagement model. Tier two SIs: Concentrate on specific product excellence rather than portfolio breadth. Oracle s aggressive acquisition strategy of buying more than 70 technology companies in the past decade makes it more difficult to find the right expertise for Oracle projects. Beyond Oracle Consulting, few, if any, providers have talent across all of the newly acquired products. Tier twos aren t trying to be masters of all trades, so they can be experts in a few. Develop microvertical solutions from deep, long-standing focus on a few niches. Smarter buyers seek solutions built specifically for their industry, such as transportation management solutions or student recruiting and admissions process management. Tier two providers can be a good source for these niche solutions, such as ITC Infotech s Siebel-based solutions for rewards programs and loyalty management. They often target microverticals where they can differentiate from their larger peers by developing prebuilt solutions and practice expertise. More easily fit in with your overall IT architecture strategy. Most tier twos do not have a global hosting or hardware arm that competes with your architectural strategy. This means they fit in better and can often have better relationships with your existing outsourcing and hardware vendors. Clients won t need to wonder whether a tier two acts in its best interest when it comes to outsourcing, hosting, or hardware decisions, since they don t have their own products to push in these areas. Provide more flexible commercial terms. Tier twos are usually more accommodating in engaging with their clients. Tier twos will take a risk on innovative pricing or delivery arrangements, such as outcome-based, skin-in-the-game pricing models. Tier twos have less rigorous rules of engagement, meaning they can be more creative and won t get bogged down by protocol and rules. An average or small project that would get lost in the mix at the large tier ones will have enough clout at a tier two to garner the attention of top executives. TIER TWO ORACLE SIS DIFFERENTIATE THROUGH INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY EXPERTISE Below we highlight smaller alternatives to global Oracle services partners that drive questions from Forrester clients and appear on their Oracle partner shortlists. Oracle clients should consider these options, either as alternatives to the large global providers or as supplemental resources in a multisourcing strategy. This list supplements the recently published Forrester Wave on Oracle services providers. 2011, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited September 13, 2011

5 4 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs Beyond the chart of more than 30 providers, we also provide a short vendor summary and practice details for seven of the more frequently asked about, larger practices (with more than 250 Oracle resources) (see Figure 2, see Figure 3, see Figure 4, and see Figure 5). AT&T is a good choice for midsize deployments seeking application support and hosting. AT&T s Oracle practice (largely built through its acquisition of USi) excels at serving midsize North American or European Oracle deployments seeking outsourced Oracle support. Buyers who will see the most value in bringing in AT&T for Oracle work have: 1) an existing relationship with AT&T for other business services; 2) an Oracle road map that includes mobility; and 3) interest in leveraging cloud infrastructure to gain flexibility and economies of scale for Oracle deployments. CedarCrestone is a leading PeopleSoft provider in public sector and higher education. CedarCrestone offers the full spectrum of PeopleSoft services, from business process consulting to implementation to ongoing support and hosting. In 2010, Golden Gate Capital took the provider private, rolling it into the same family that owns Oracle specialist Sierra Systems; this could bring more financial services strength as well as greater presence in Canada and the northwestern US. CGI Group excels at outsourcing solutions for the Canadian market. CGI Group provides a wide range of Oracle expertise across E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel, and Hyperion. CGI Group is particularly well suited to financial services, telecom, and public sector accounts, which represent its greatest areas of industry strength. Ciber offers a leading midtier outsourcing solution for PeopleSoft and E-Business Suite. It does process consulting and technical implementations, but clients seeking outsourcing support will likely get the most value out of a relationship with Ciber. Ciber s expertise heavily skews toward public sector and higher education. Hitachi Consulting offers Oracle solutions for high-tech, oil and gas, and industrial products. It provides Oracle expertise across several major Oracle products including E-Business Suite, BI products (Hyperion and OBIEE), PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel. Hitachi Consulting also has a strong practice around Value Chain Products (Demantra). Hitachi Consulting has deep process consulting capabilities, project and technical implementation capabilities, and ongoing application support and hosting. ITC Infotech best suits B2C clients seeking loyalty management and analytics. ITC works heavily with consumer-focused industries, such as travel, consumer goods, and banking companies. Its prebuilt solution speeds deployment and encapsulates business processes. For example, within the travel industry, ITC runs many of the world s larger loyalty programs, such as those of the major global air carriers. September 13, , Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

6 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs 5 Systime is the leading specialist provider of JD Edwards talent. In the JD Edwards space, Systime offers a broad range of services from consulting to implementation to support. Beyond pure JD Edwards work, Systime has evolved its skill mix to support other Oracle family products such as Hyperion, Fusion, Agile, Demantra, Siebel CRM OnDemand, and UPK. In early 2011, KPIT Cummins took a 50% stake in Systime; the combination creates a more diverse range of ERP and outsourcing skills, including SAP expertise, process manufacturing support, and product engineering capacity. Figure 1 Oracle Application Specialists PeopleSoft specialists CedarCrestone, Ciber, CherryRoad, The Revere Group, Emerging Solutions, Beacon Application Services, The Hackett Group, Sierra Atlantic JDE specialists Systime, Zanett, MarketSphere Consulting, DSI, Ndevr, Innowave, Terillium, CSS, MSS Technologies, CD Group, Red Rock Consulting, Hitachi Consulting, Klee Associates, Idhasoft Oracle E-Business Suite The Revere Group, DSI, Hitachi Consulting, Fadel Partners, The Hackett Group, Idhasoft, Optimum Solutions Group, igate Patni, Sierra Atlantic Hyperion and OBIEE Crown Partners, The Revere Group, Palladium Group, Emerging Solutions, Edgewater Ranzal, MarketSphere Consulting, Analytic Vision, TopDown Consulting, Ciber Source: Vendor survey conducted, Q Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Figure 2 Top Three Industries For Oracle AT&T CedarCrestone CGI Group Ciber Hitachi Consulting ITC Infotech Systime Manufacturing, financial services, retail Higher education, public sector, healthcare Public sector, financial services, telecom Public sector, higher education, food and beverage High tech, oil and gas, industrial products Travel, consumer goods, banking Manufacturing, energy, retail/cpg Source: Vendor survey conducted, Q Source: Forrester Research, Inc. 2011, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited September 13, 2011

7 6 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs Figure 3 Overview Of Providers By Geography Vendor AT&T North America* EMEA Asia Pacific Latin America CedarCrestone CGI Group Ciber Hitachi Consulting ITC Infotech Systime None Limited Some Strong Source: Vendor survey conducted, Q *North America as represented by the US and Canada Latin America as represented by Central and South America, plus Mexico Best-in-class Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Figure 4 Overview Of Providers By Functionality Vendor AT&T EBS PeopleSoft JDE Siebel Hyperion/OBIEE CedarCrestone CGI Group Ciber Hitachi Consulting ITC Infotech Systime None Limited Some Strong Best-in-class Source: Vendor survey conducted, Q Source: Forrester Research, Inc. September 13, , Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

8 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs 7 Figure 5 Overview Of Providers By Life Cycle Vendor AT&T Advisory Implementation AMS Hosting CedarCrestone CGI Group Ciber Hitachi Consulting ITC Infotech Systime Some Strong Best-in-class None Limited Source: Vendor survey conducted, Q Source: Forrester Research, Inc. REC OMMEN D A TION S CONSIDER YOUR FUTURE ORACLE ROAD MAP WHEN SELECTING A SERVICES PROVIDER The Oracle landscape is in the midst of a significant upheaval. Oracle s flood of acquisitions creates new opportunities to take advantage of industry-specific solutions and best-of-breed technologies. But clients may have difficulty finding the right skills to support their Oracle strategy. Key road map decisions that will inform the selection of a services provider include: Map SI selection to infrastructure strategy. Clients should consider their Oracle infrastructure strategy including use of cloud technologies, Fusion Middleware, and Exadata when selecting partners. Clients who seek full outsourcing or hosting will probably benefit most from working with outsourcers, like AT&T, Ciber, CedarCrestone, and CGI Group. Clients who plan to use Exalogic Cloud or Amazon should scour the provider landscape for partnerships (such as Deloitte s support for Amazon in Oracle deployments) and experience (for now, only Oracle Consulting has Exalogic Cloud experience). Measure Fusion skills and investments at potential partners. Oracle has involved many of its partners in Fusion beta programs and Fusion co-development and testing. However, with such an aggressive road map and long list of Fusion application modules, Fusion expertise varies greatly by module, such as human capital management (HCM) or territory management. Many of the early partners in the Fusion space are Oracle s larger partners, such as Accenture, IBM, Infosys, Fujitsu, Cognizant, and Deloitte. This means that a smaller or boutique firm may be less of a fit when firms Oracle road map includes Fusion. The RFI/RFP process should include detailed questions about Fusion skills, such as number of experts on staff across specific Fusion applications and number of clients where the provider has implemented Fusion. 2011, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited September 13, 2011

9 8 Market Overview: Tier Two Oracle SIs Match the diversity of applications in your Oracle environment to provider skills. Many clients operate on Oracle environments that are largely PeopleSoft or largely JD Edwards; some of these clients have no near-term plans to adopt any other Oracle technologies. These clients should shortlist smaller providers that focus on these applications. PeopleSoft partners include firms like Ciber, CedarCrestone, and CherryRoad. JD Edwards partners include Systime, Zanett, and MarketSphere Consulting. Usually these smaller firms provide very strong value for the money as well as a strong track record of experience in core four modules. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL Companies Interviewed For This Document AT&T BearingPoint CedarCrestone CGI Group Ciber HCL Axon Hitachi Consulting igate Patni Mahindra Satyam Systime Clarkston Consulting September 13, , Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

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