Top 10 Best Performing Managed Services Providers — Winner Affiliated Computer Services

Last year ACS was in the news due to bagging a large number of renewed contracts, and this year, which's just started, the company now makes the news by winning the title of "Best Performing Managed Services Provider"

by Shyamanuja Das Global Services

The fact that ACS has quickly ramped up global delivery capability by building a large India center and acquiring companies in this space has gone in its favor. This, along with customer intimacy and a depth of execution, helped the company win the highest number of new and renewal contracts than any other company in this segment lasr year.

These include contracts from major corporations such as Burger King, Genworth Financial, General Motors, Hallmark, Ingram Micro, McDonald’s and Miller Brewing.

Unlike in application development and consulting engagements, which are project based and are awarded on the basis of many non-delivery factors, managed services are almost always decided on responsiveness and the ability to execute at ground level. So even while private-equity players targeted ACS for a buyout in early 2006 and when a backdating probe forced its then CEO Mark King and a few other senior officers to resign, it never affected the companys’ business performance.

ACS has ITIL-based methodologies that have earned it the ISO 20000 certification, a governance model that fits both single and multi-source agreements. While ACS’ total base of managed services customers stands at more than 300, the company needs to improve in terms of flexibility, market reach (it is still U.S-centered) and a more decentralized global delivery like IBM and Accenture.


Top 10
1.
Affiliated Computer Services
2.
Sutherland Global Services
3.
Tata Consultancy Services
4.
Perot Systems
5.
Infosys Technologies
6.
HCL Technologies
7.
Neoris
8.
Cognizant Technology Solutions
9.
Ness Technologies
10.
Microland

S T A T S
CEO: Lynn Blodgett
Skill set: Business-process transformation, infrastructure, hosting
Verticals: Government, health care, banking, financial Services
Customers: MeadWestvaco, GlaxoSmith-Kline, Hallmark, McDonald's, WellPoint
Delivery centers: U.S., India, Mexico, Ghana
Employees: 55,000
Revenue: $1.4 billion (est. 2006)
Year founded: 1988
Website: www.acs-inc.com