Accenture is acquiring Cirruseo, a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services provider and a ChannelE2E Top 100 Public Cloud MSP in France. The pending deal is subject to various approvals, and financial terms are not being disclosed.
Cirruseo employs roughly 100 professionals who offer consulting and implementation services for GCP and G Suite solutions. The company, founded in 2011, has helped more than 600 clients.
The Accenture-Cirruseo agreement comes as the Google Cloud Next 2019 conference prepares to kick off in California. That conference is critically important as Google must prove that it can compete effectively vs. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
Google hired Oracle veteran Thomas Kurian ahead of the conference to lead cloud business -- a key move that may signal a stronger enterprise push from the search giant.
Accenture's Google Cloud Platform Strategy
Meanwhile, Accenture launched the Accenture Google Cloud Business Group (AGBG) in mid-2018, and the two companies have been developing software and services that deliver data-driven insights to customers.
The Cirruseo acquisition certainly fits into that strategy -- especially in Europe. Cirruseo’s expertise allows customers to analyze increasing volumes of data and create hyper-personalized client experiences, all with secured architectures, Accenture claims.
In a prepared statement, Olivier Girard, Accenture’s Geographic Unit managing director for France and Benelux, said:
“The addition of Cirruseo would be a significant step forward in our growth strategy in France, bringing a strong team of Google Cloud specialists to Accenture. The combination of Cirruseo’s mastery of Google Cloud technologies with our expertise in digital marketing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity would enhance our ability to deliver a unique end-to-end service offering to help clients with their digital transformations.”
Bhaskar Ghosh, group chief executive of Accenture Technology Services, added:
“At a global level, the acquisition of Cirruseo would demonstrate Accenture’s commitment to investing in the skills and capabilities needed to help our clients apply new technologies to accelerate innovation and achieve business outcomes. Growing our Google Cloud capabilities enables Accenture to continue to bring the new to life for our global clients across industries, at scale, each and every day.”
Hervé Romain, co-founder and CEO of Cirruseo, added:
“As the demand for Google Cloud services is booming, joining Accenture is an exciting opportunity for us to help even more organizations benefit from the potential of Google Cloud to drive innovation technologies with Accenture’s industry knowledge and experience in global large-scale cloud initiatives would allow us to bring highly differentiated end-to-end services to the market.”
Accenture now has more than 2,600 Google Cloud practitioners. The company also has a strong focus on Microsoft Azure. We're checking Accenture's overall AWS business strategy as well.
Accenture Acquisition Blitz
This is the second acquisition that Accenture announced today. The other deal involved Spanish brand communications agency Shackleton.
Accenture expects to spend about $1.5 billion on acquisitions in 2019 — focusing heavily on digital, cloud and cybersecurity opportunities.
The acquisition strategy appears to be treating Accenture well. The company delivered stronger-than-expected financial results for its Q2 of fiscal 2019. Among the highlights: Revenue grew 5 percent to $10.5 billion, and net income was $1.14 billion, up from $919.5 million, according to the March 2019 announcement.
