PAC RADAR – “Sustainability-related IT Consulting & Services in Europe”: The IT services industry is only partly ready to support its customers in the implementation of their sustainability goals.

Munich, January 10, 2023: Environmental sustainability as part of the ubiquitous ESG (environmental, social, and governance) regulations and strategies is one of the most dynamic topics on the IT services market and an increasingly important selection criterion when it comes to selecting an IT provider.

Under pressure from regulations, society, and business alike, all leading IT services providers have not only made efforts to reduce their own CO2 footprint, but have also developed special offerings to support their customers in the definition, monitoring, and achievement of their sustainability goals.

Against this background, the market analyst and consulting firm PAC has analyzed the IT provider landscape in Europe and assessed their approaches, offerings, strategies, and references in a PAC INNOVATION RADAR series on “Sustainability-related IT Consulting & Services in Europe”.

The specific strengths and weaknesses of 26 IT services providers in total have been analyzed on the basis of numerous defined criteria. The results are published in eleven PAC RADARs, each focusing on a wide variety of customer requirements and providing a quick overview of the positioning of the most relevant providers.

Diverse sustainability strategies require explicit competencies

The sustainability goals of companies can be achieved through the intelligent use of IT (“sustainability through IT”), in order to optimize supply chains, for instance. At the same time, their own IT needs to become more sustainable (“sustainability of IT”).

During this process, approaches to increasing sustainability may focus on selected IT infrastructures or on the application landscape. However, they may also be more comprehensive and incorporate the overall business strategy. This includes the ESG reporting required by regulation, but also sustainability approaches which make use of the Internet of Things (IoT), e.g. in areas such as smart buildings, smart mobility, and smart cities. Dedicated PAC RADARs help to classify the respective provider landscape depending on the focus.

Since local presence and industry expertise can also be decisive when it comes to selecting a suitable sustainability partner, PAC also provides separate PAC RADARs for Germany, France, and the UK, as well as for the banking industry.

There is still a lot to do

Although the topic of sustainability has reached the highest management level in all sectors, it is still largely in its infancy; developments are proceeding at a correspondingly rapid pace.

In view of the wide variety of data sources and possible levers along the value chain of large companies, the complexity to be managed is enormous. The demand for external support is correspondingly high. However, the degree of maturity of that support is just as heterogeneous as the strategies on the customer side.

Investment strategies range from implementing the most necessary reporting requirements through to comprehensive business transformations aimed at positioning sustainability as a competitive advantage.

Demand determines the offer

The field of providers analyzed is correspondingly heterogeneous, with their positioning, portfolios, investments, tools, and strategies sometimes showing considerable differences in their degree of maturity – and often reflecting the maturity of their target clientele. 

It ranges from global service providers with very comprehensive sustainability approaches in all areas examined through to national providers with some very specific competencies and focal points. However, everyone agrees that the topic will become an increasingly critical competitive factor.

The PAC RADAR series takes into consideration both dedicated sustainability-related consulting and services and demonstrably sustainability-related elements of traditional IT services such as application modernization, green coding, and cloud migration.

PAC INNOVATION RADAR – “Sustainability-related IT Consulting & Services in Europe 2023”

Figure: PAC INNOVATION RADAR “Leaders in Sustainability-related IT Consulting & Services in Europe 2023″,
one of the eleven graphics in total from the current PAC RADAR series

The IT services providers evaluated as part of the PAC INNOVATION RADAR series include global as well as regional players such as Capgemini, Lufthansa Industry Solutions, NTT Data, Sopra Steria, TCS or T-Systems/Detecon.

Customers seeking an IT services partner for the implementation of their sustainability strategy can use the dedicated RADAR tool to weight the criteria evaluated by PAC according to their individual needs so that the most suitable providers are recommended to them.

Visit www.pac-radar.com for more information on the PAC INNOVATION RADAR: Sustainability-related IT Consulting & Services in Europe 2023