Introduction

The multi-process PO market in Europe currently stands at US$610 million, which is nearly one-third of the global PO market, and showed 13% Year over Year (YoY) growth in 2013. Europe is the second largest geography for PO after North America and the adoption trends are similar to the global PO trends. However, the service provider landscape is in stark contrast – various regional players have a more prominent standing and some of the global BPO players are yet to grab a sizable share in Europe. In the wake of intense competition, service providers are enhancing their capabilities to grab new opportunities in Europe. This confluence of competing forces is shaping the market in various interesting ways.

In this research, we analyze the European PO market and its service provider landscape across various dimensions:

• Overview and adoption trends in the PO market in Europe
• 2014 PO PEAK Matrix for Europe
• Service provider delivery capability assessment
• Solution characteristics of PO in Europe

Scope of analysis

• Third-party PO deals; it does not include shared services or Global In-house Centers (GICs)
• Over 900 multi-process PO deals signed as of 2013, with a minimum of three procurement processes over US$1 million in ACV and a minimum contract term of three years. Typically, managed spend is greater than US$50 million
• Coverage across 16 PO service providers with multi-process capability, including Accenture, Aquanima, Capgemini, Corbus, Genpact, GEP, HP, IBM, Infosys, Optimum Procurement, Proxima, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, WNS, and Xchanging

Content

This report examines the European PO market and its service provider landscape. It focuses on the growth and adoption trends in Europe, service provider positioning, and solution characteristics of Europe-focused PO contracts. The PEAK Matrix analysis presented in this report gauges the relative performance of service providers in Europe.

• Market overview and adoption trends
  • The size of the PO market in Europe is ~US$600 million which is 31% of the global PO market
  • United Kingdom is the largest geography within Europe with a 50% share
  • Currently, the adoption of PO in Europe is largely driven by a few industries, Dominance of service providers varies by industry focus
  • Accenture has the highest share in Europe followed by Xchanging and IBM
• 2014 PO PEAK Matrix for Europe
  • Everest Group classifies 16 PO service providers on the Everest Group Performance | Experience | Ability | Knowledge (PEAK) Matrix into the three categories of Leaders, Major Contenders, and Emerging Players
    • Leaders: Accenture, IBM, and Xchanging
    • Major Contenders: Aquanima, Capgemini, Genpact, GEP, Infosys, Optimum Procurement, Proxima, Wipro, and WNS
    • Emerging Players: Corbus, HP, TCS, and Tech Mahindra
• Service provider delivery capability assessment
  • We assessed the overall PO capability of service providers by evaluating them along six dimensions – market success, scale, scope, technology, delivery footprint, and buyer satisfaction levels
  • Leaders outperform other players across nearly all the metrics assessed
  • Major Contenders are providing stiff competition to the Leaders, a few are nearly at the cusp of the Leaders’ quadrant
• Solution characteristics of Europe-focused contracts
  • Despite small differences, solution characteristics of PO in Europe are similar to global trends
  • Most of the contracts signed in Europe are S2C in nature, similar to global contractual activity. However, category scope varies in Europe
  • The sourcing model for PO in Europe is an offshore-focused delivery model for P2P processes leveraging onshore locations for S2C, especially strategic sourcing and category management