SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Australia’s accelerating migration to the cloud is intensifying competition among Microsoft Azure service providers, with local players starting to challenge the global giants, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group () (Nasdaq:), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Microsoft Ecosystem report for Australia finds that while major global service providers are already in fierce competition for market share, local Microsoft partners are expanding their service portfolios in a trend expected to grow over the next five years.

Many Australian enterprises already have mature cloud implementations, but both the public sector and commercial sector are still ramping up their use of hyperscaled cloud platforms such as Azure, the report says. Many companies have begun migrating more complex applications such as SAP to the cloud, overcoming the “fear factor” that has caused some to resist these high-impact migrations.

The cloud trend is often driven by a need to do more with less, cut costs and become more agile, ISG finds. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, though less severe in Australia than in many other countries, has made this need more urgent and driven additional cloud migrations. In addition, the Australian government’s announcement in 2020 that it would move to an Azure-based records management system—and potentially other cloud-based platforms such as Microsoft 365—has helped to accelerate the trend.

“As Microsoft’s product set evolves, the opportunities for both its global and local ecosystem partners in Australia are growing,” said Scott Bertsch, partner and regional leader, ISG Asia Pacific. “Several major providers of implementation and support for Microsoft solutions, including Azure, Office 365, Dynamics 365 and SAP on Azure, are emerging from the local market.”

Providers have faced some challenges over the past year, including the need to rapidly scale up Azure implementations amid organizations’ wholesale moves to remote work, ISG says. A growing fear of ransomware attacks is driving many enterprises to migrate to Azure for better data protection, yet the country has a shortage of Azure-certified resources and expertise in some areas, including cybersecurity. At the same time, the report finds most Australian organizations still want to pick and choose which applications to shift to the cloud.

As in other regions, enterprises in Australia are growing more interested in the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics. As Microsoft continues to evolve its AI development and implementation strategy for Azure, managed service providers will need to invest more in AI-related capabilities and training to remain qualified to implement these features, the report says.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Microsoft Ecosystem report for Australia evaluates the capabilities of 46 providers across four quadrants: Managed Services for Azure, Office 365 – Modern Workplace, Dynamics 365, and SAP on Azure.

The report names Accenture (Avanade), DXC Technology and Wipro as Leaders in all four quadrants, and IBM, TCS and Tech Mahindra as Leaders in three quadrants each. Empired, Fujitsu, Logicalis, Telstra and Unisys are named as Leaders in two quadrants each, and AC3, Data#3, Dicker Data, HCL and Infosys are named as Leaders in one quadrant each.

In addition, Cognizant, LAB3, Macquarie Telecom, SoftwareONE, Velrada and Veritec are named as Rising Stars—companies with a “promising portfolio” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition—in one quadrant each.

Customized versions of the report are available from , , and .

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Microsoft Ecosystem report for Australia is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this .

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., France, the Nordics, Brazil and Australia/New Zealand, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this .

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq:) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit .

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