News Scan

Accenture Deal Targets Midmarket BPO

Global management consulting and outsourcing giant Accenture inked an agreement in March to buy the HR and F&A business process outsourcing assets of Savista. Privately held Savista has concentrated on the middle market -- organizations with fewer than 12,000 employees. Industry analysts expect this segment of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector to grow to more than $25 billion by 2009, according to Accenture.

"This arrangement will allow Accenture to offer industry-defining outsourcing services to an expanded set of clients," notes Joellin Comerford, group chief executive, outsourcing, with Accenture. "It demonstrates our commitment to aggressively pursue a leadership position among BPO service providers."

Accenture will continue to provide BPO services to Fortune 500 clients. In February, the company signed a five-year BPO contract with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. to provide credit and collection services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.