Monday Morning Impact – February 16

By Ken Presti, Senior Consultant, Channel Impact

Accenture to Acquire Agilex to Enhance Digital Capabilities the Federal Market

Accenture Federal Services (AFS) has agreed to acquire Agilex Technologies, Inc., (Agilex), a provider of digital solutions for the U.S. federal government. The acquisition is expected to enhance Accenture’s digital capabilities in analytics, cloud and mobility for federal agencies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the acquisition is subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions.

“Acquiring Agilex will help AFS further solidify our position as an innovative leader in the federal market,” said David Moskovitz, Accenture Federal Services chief executive. “Combining our digital capabilities and agile methods will accelerate our ability to help clients harness the power of emerging digital technologies and rapid, predictable systems deployment for the federal government’s most complex challenges.”

Agilex focuses on the IT requirements of federal agencies and is recognized for its industrialization of agile development methodologies, its digital capabilities and its consistent delivery of rapid and measurable results. The company currently serves a number of federal departments and independent agencies, such as the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and Commerce.

Channel Impact:
The move is intended to further open the federal market for Accenture by leveraging the technologies and methodologies that are called for by government departments and their allied independent agencies as they further move towards cloud and mobility.

VMware Announces General Availability of VMware vCloud Government Service

VMware has announced that VMware vCloud Government Service provided by Carpathia has achieved the Provisional Authority to Operate (ATO) through the U.S. Government’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

FedRAMP ATO is mandatory for any cloud service provider serving the federal government, and VMware’s offering is thereby generally available to U.S. government and defense organizations. VMware vCloud Government Service – an infrastructure-as-a-service hybrid cloud – is based on the company’s vSphere platform used by all cabinet level agencies, all military services, the Department of Defense and the Judicial and Legislative branches of government.

“Much of U.S. government IT runs on VMware virtual infrastructure, and VMware vCloud Government Service provided by Carpathia will enable agencies to extend their infrastructure to the cloud by leveraging the technology and personnel investments they have already made,” said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer at VMware. “Being able to offer a FedRAMP authorized cloud solution to a market segment with such broad adoption of our vSphere technology is critical to providing federal organizations the best alternatives as they increasingly turn to cloud computing to reduce costs, expand IT resources and services, and improve service levels to users.”

As a result of the compatibility between vSphere-based virtual infrastructure in the data center and vCloud Government Service, organizations investing in vCloud Government Service can expect to move workloads seamlessly between their internal resources and the cloud.

Channel Impact:
Getting the necessary approvals is critical to any company doing business with the federal government. Securing FedRAMP will open new opportunities for the vCloud government service, as well as for the partner base that is working this portion of the market.

CompuCom Makes Executive Changes

Dallas-based CompuCom announced the appointment of Don Doctor as its new CEO, replacing Jim Dixon, who is retiring and resuming his previous role as chairman of the board. Doctor is currently CompuCom’s executive chairman of the board, a post which he has held since August of last year, after becoming a board member in May, 2013.

“Don has spent significant time getting to know CompuCom’s associates and customers – and understanding our opportunities and progress – bringing us all to the same conclusion that he is the best-qualified candidate for the position,” said the retiring Jim Dixon. “Don strongly believes in our culture and has an in-depth knowledge of our business and strategy.”

Doctor is also currently the executive chairman of Systems Maintenance Services (SMS), having recently additionally served as SMS’ chief executive officer. Prior to joining SMS, he served as the chairman and CEO of Encoda Systems, Inc., a provider of back-office solutions for the media industry. In 1991, Doctor co-founded Premier Systems Integrators, Inc., a provider of integrated information and communication technology.

CompuCom also appointed Dan Stone as a senior vice president, and president of the Company’s End-User Enablement business unit. Prior to joining CompuCom, Stone served as president and general manager of Lenovo Latin America. Previously, Stone was the chief strategy officer at Lenovo.

In addition, CompuCom named Pam Baxter as chief information officer, driving strategy and operations for the company’s Information Technology team. Baxter joined CompuCom in January 2009 as vice president, Information Technology. She previously served as vice president of Global Service Delivery Systems at Getronics.

Channel Impact:
CompuCom has clearly managed the migration of leadership with an eye towards maintaining consistency.