Monday Morning Impact – December 30

Accenture Agrees to Acquire Clarity Insights, Boosting Artificial Intelligence Capabilities

Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire Clarity Insights, a Chicago-based provider of data science and AI/ML engineering capabilities for large enterprises, and a strategic partner to clients across a range of industries, particularly healthcare, financial services and insurance.

Clarity’s “focus on insight-driven transformation for healthcare bolsters Accenture’s capabilities and is particularly critical now, when our research shows that 87% of healthcare executives surveyed report that they know how to pilot, but struggle to scale AI across their business,” said Athina Kanioura, chief analytics officer and global lead for Applied Intelligence at Accenture.

“We were drawn to Accenture, in large part, because of the synergies in how we approach clients,” said Neil Huse, president and CEO, Clarity Insights. “Fully understanding clients’ business goals and objectives is the first step to a successful AI deployment. From there our team can pull together the right data foundation, tools and accelerators that will smooth their path to adoption. With Accenture, we’ll be able to accelerate this shared vision for success and help more clients get there, more quickly.”

The Clarity acquisition builds upon the 2018 U.S. acquisitions of Knowledgent and Kogentix, and will play a pivotal role in strengthening Accenture’s analytics, AI and ML/data engineering business in North America. Global growth in AI client engagements has also served as a driver for recent Applied Intelligence acquisitions of Pragsis Bidoop in Spain and Analytics8 in Australia. In its 2019 fiscal year, Accenture invested nearly US$1.2 billion globally on 33 acquisitions to acquire critical skills and capabilities in strategic, high-growth areas of the market.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust clearance. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Channel Impact^®
The acquisition is expected to add the skill sets necessary to help customers quickly realize value from their data. These additions will likely further equip clients with leading capabilities to meet the growing demand for enterprise-scale AI, analytics and automation solutions.

CyberX Launches Partner Program to Support IoT/ICS Cybersecurity Market

CyberX, a Boston-based IoT and industrial control system (ICS) security company, has launched its “XCELERATE” partner program to provide partners with the necessary assets to expand their disciplines in these critical technology areas.

Digital transformation initiatives such as Smart Manufacturing, Smart Buildings, and IoT-based logistics systems are improving efficiency, quality, and safety for enterprises worldwide — but they also bring increased cyber risk. As boards and CISOs grow increasingly concerned about the risks posed by unmanaged “smart” devices and the expanding attack surface they represent, there is a growing need for agentless, purpose-built IoT/ICS cybersecurity.

CyberX offers agentless network security monitoring that can be deployed within an hour. The company’s platform incorporates patented, M2M-specific behavioral analytics for threat detection, while integrating out-of-the-box with a variety of existing security stacks.

Targeting global system integrators, consulting partners, distributors, value-added resellers (VARs), technology alliance partners, and managed service providers (MSPs), program components include technical support, online training, deal registration, Not for Resale (NFR) software, marketing development funds (MDF), and a dedicated partner portal.

Notable CyberX customers include two of the top five US energy providers; a top five global pharmaceutical company; a top five US chemical company; multiple government agencies including the US Department of Energy; and national electric and gas utilities across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Technology partners include Splunk, IBM Security, ServiceNow, Fortinet, HPE/Aruba, Cisco, RSA, and McAfee.

Channel Impact^®
IoT/ICS security is arguably one of the more underserved security markets in the industry.  In many cases, ICS systems predate contemporary security methodologies, thereby posing a threat to critical infrastructure and services. This program is intended to help partners to expand more successfully into these areas and resolve those vulnerabilities.

HP Updates Leasing & Financing Options

HP Inc. has expanded its financing and leasing options for channel partners and customers through an extended partnership agreement with HPE Financial Services and a new strategic program with global finance company DLL Group.

HP plans to extend the multi-vendor model in 2020 with the addition of new local and regional finance partners to ensure country coverage across emerging markets.

“As HP becomes more aggressive in its shift to a services-led model, financing is a capability we are prioritizing and integrating into more of our solutions,” said Deborah Baker, Head of Worldwide Leasing and Financing, HP Inc. “We strongly believe the more innovative our payment solutions are, the more likely we are to secure new business and maximize refresh opportunities.”

The XaaS (Everything-as-a-Service) model has brought about a strengthened need for leasing and financing of solutions. By moving to a multi-vendor financing model, HP Integrated Financial Solutions is planning to help channel partners secure recurring revenue from their client base and offer more competitive payment options resulting in stronger customer engagement and the ability to bundle products and maximize opportunities.

Channel Impact^®
The new strategy is part of an overarching plan to help long-time partners evolve towards the growing services-oriented posture and grow their services-based businesses.