Published on the 19/08/2019 | Written by Heather Wright
Bolsters its applied intelligence unit with third Aussie buy…
Accenture is bolstering its data analytics business with the acquisition of Australian big data and analytics consultancy, Analytics8, for an undisclosed sum.
Athina Kanioura, Accenture chief analytics officer and global applied intelligence lead (pictured), says the acquisition will bolster Accenture’s Applied Intelligence business, particularly in the Australian market and ‘create new opportunities to help clients accelerate their digital transformations’.
“Organisations are increasingly seeking …to identify opportunities for revenue growth and cost intelligence.”
The acquisition is the third for Accenture in Australia in nine months, with the professional services company snapping up cybersecurity and technology company BCT Solutions in June, and PrimeQ in December 2018.
The acquisition comes less than a month after big four accounting and advisory firm Deloitte inked a deal with Melbourne headquartered data management consultancy NeoData.
NeoData, which is a provider of Oracle-enabled analytics services in Australia, China and the UK, specialises in developing decision support and planning systems, which leverage business and data analytics, AI and machine learning, advanced analytics, IoT and big data.
Analytics8, which was founded in 2002, has offices in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the UK and US, and has clients across multiple industries including healthcare and financial services.
The company’s 70 staff will join Accenture’s Applied Intelligence business, which uses AI-powered data, automation and analytics.
Hedde Schuitemaker, Analytics8 co-owner, says “Our data scientists and data analytics expertise will complement Accenture’s applied intelligence capabilities and industry knowledge, allowing us to help customers further leverage data and analytics to transform their businesses.”
Armit Bansal, who leads Accenture’s analytics and AI business across Australia and New Zealand says the combined business will offer ‘a unique AI-based approach’ to help clients combine data, analytics and automation at scale.
“In this data-driven age, organisations are increasingly seeking to harness the power of their information for competitive advantage and to identify opportunities for revenue growth and cost intelligence,” Bansal notes.
Last month Accenture agreed on an expanded deal with Australian supermarket chain Coles to help drive the retailer’s Smarter Selling initiative – a digital transformation project aimed at delivering AU$1 billion in cost savings over the coming four years. The project includes using AI for quicker and more accurate stock ordering as well as reduced energy use and smarter planning in distribution centres, along with automation and faster checkouts.
Accenture is helping pull together all the different projects, including the implementation of SAP for procurement, HR and finance systems, and assisting with the migration to new Microsoft solutions automation programs.
