Accenture is acquiring Gekko, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services consultancy and managed IT services provider (MSP). Financial terms were not disclosed.
This is M&A deal number 184 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2020. The pace of deals has slowed a bit since the coronavirus pandemic emerged, but overall M&A activity remains reasonable steady. See the complete M&A deal list here.
Gekko, launched in 2015, employs more than 100 cloud professionals who carry roughly 85 AWS certifications. Gekko is an AWS Advanced Partner, holds an AWS competency in Storage and is an AWS Authorized Training partner. Gekko is also part of the AWS Solution Provider and Well Architected Framework program. The company has supported roughly 80 customers with various cloud projects.
Accenture AWS and M&A Strategies
Accenture, meanwhile, employs more than 8,000 AWS trained professionals who hold over 5,500 AWS certifications. Accenture has more than 20 AWS awarded competencies/service delivery designations.
Accenture‘s acquisition budget is $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2020, CFO KC McClure told Wall Street analysts during an earnings call in mid-March 2020. As of that time, the global IT services provider and consulting firm had spent $584 million on 17 acquisitions in this fiscal year, McClure indicated. We don’t know if the budget has changed amid the pandemic.
Here’s a detailed list of Accenture acquisitions spanning dozens of deals. Also, here's a list of AWS-related partner mergers and acquisitions.
Accenture Acquires Gekko: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the deal, Olivier Girard, Accenture’s Geographic Unit managing director for France and Benelux, said:
“Aligned with our development strategy, the acquisition of Gekko would be another significant addition because it would give clients more support for public cloud options. Gekko would also be a major opportunity to accelerate our growth strategy in France,” said Olivier Girard, Accenture’s Geographic Unit managing director for France and Benelux. “Accenture’s advantage is our ability to keep pace with evolving customer expectations. Our clients call on Accenture to help them innovate and transform their business. Gekko would bring key cloud, AI and DevOps skills and would help us serve a greater and more diverse range of clients in France and the broader European market.”
Cedric Le Yeuc'h, managing director at Accenture Technology in France and Benelux, added:
“The acquisition of Gekko would underscore our multi-cloud strategy and would expand our AWS capabilities for clients to realize incremental business value through a cloud adoption and DevOps transformation. It would increase our on-shore AWS fully automated cloud operations and FinOps capabilities with Gekko’s delivery center located in the west of France. The acquisition of Gekko would enhance our position as one of the leading providers of AWS expertise and cloud transformation in the French market.”
Concluded Roland Esnis and Julien Favre, co-founders and CEOs of Gekko:
“In the fast-growing cloud market, joining Accenture would be a unique opportunity to help even more organizations to leverage journey to the cloud for accelerating their digital transformations, growing their businesses and improving customer experiences. By combining the renowned talent, reputation and capabilities of Gekko with Accenture’s strong team of AWS practitioners in France, we would be better positioned to lead the industry in cloud services in France.”
