IDC Path

Services Path provides comprehensive data and guidance on the mind and journey of services buyers for professional services, outsourcing services, managed services, and engineering services, including a deep dive into 19 services markets. Coverage includes adoption, budgeting trends, purchasing preferences and attitudes, pricing and contract options, friction points related to selection, contracting and managing delivery, and detailed customer satisfaction ratings for vendors. The program also examines what buyers are seeking from the "service company of the future" and where and how service providers must change to meet customers' future needs. For more information, view this product video.

Markets and Subjects Analyzed

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• Application testing/digital assurance/quality engineering services
• Business consulting services
• Customer care business process services
• Customer experience services
• Digital business transformation professional services
• Digital engineering and operational technology services
• Employee experience management services
• Enterprise intelligence services
• Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) business services
• HR and talent management outsourcing services
• IT consulting and systems integration services
• IT services for customer support and success
• IT skills for digital business
• Managed cloud services
• Network consulting and infrastructure services
• Procurement business process services
• Risk, security, and compliance services
• Support and deployment services for datacenter, infrastructure, and hardware
• Talent acquisition outsourcing services

Core Research

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• Services Path Executive Summary Report
• Services Path Vendor Ratings Report
• Services Path: Worldwide Findings Banner Book
• Services Path: Additional 15+ Banner Books — Findings by Services Category/Region

In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

Key Questions Answered

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1. How do buyers of services like to be engaged, and what evaluation criteria do they use to select firms?
2. What are the most common friction points related to selection, contracting, and management of service delivery?
3. What are the key decision points that determine when a customer chooses a third-party services firm for implementation work versus the in-house implementation services of software vendor?
4. How satisfied are organizations with their services firms, and how do they rate their services provider on 20+ different customer satisfaction metrics?
5. What are buyers seeking from the "services company of the future," and how must service providers change to meet those needs and expectations?

Companies Analyzed

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This service reviews the strategies, market positioning, and future direction of dozens of providers in the services market. A small sample of these names includes:

Accenture, Bain, BCG, BearingPoint, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capgemini, CGI, Cognizant, Deloitte, DXC, EY, Genpact, HCL, IBM, Infosys, KPMG, McKinsey, NTT DATA, PwC, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro