Capgemini launches digital innovation lab in Australia
Global IT- and consulting firm Capgemini has launched a new Digital research unit in Melbourne, Australia. The practice – which is called the ‘Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud Lab (SMAC) Lab’ – will help Capgemini showcase its expertise in the field and support project delivery.
With the rise of digital technologies and channels, clients of consulting firms are increasingly demanding expertise in the field of among others digitisation, big data & analytics, social media and cloud. According to a recent research from Capgemini, over 89% of large companies across the globe currently utilise at least one of the major technology tools in the marketplace. To respond to this growing demand, consulting firms have over the past years significantly boosted their digital capabilities, both by racking up their Digital skills, knowhow and service portfolio, and by expanding their global research and delivery capacity.
Familiar ground
For Capgemini the digital landscape is familiar space – it was one of the first firms in the industry to identify the potential and embark in the field. In 2009 it launched a new strategy completely centred around Digital, bombarding ‘Digitzation’ as the heart of its new strategy. Since it has in the view of analysts maintained a lead position in the market, scoring highly in several of the many rankings published on an annual basis, driven for a large part by its prestigious though leadership partnership with the MIT in the U.S. For example, last year Capgemini Consulting – its management consulting unit – was acclaimed as one of the market leaders in the area of digital strategy consulting (with Deloitte and Strategy&).
In Australia, Capgemini has approximately 1,800 employees, of which a large part focus on digital transformations. The French-origin firm has now decided to expand its offerings with the launch of a ‘Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud Lab (SMAC) Lab’, a unit that will provide clients with “an immersive digital experience that helps them embark on their digital transformation journey” says Deepak Nangia, CEO Capgemini Australia and New Zealand. The SMAC Lab will in essence provide three key services to clients across all industries: showcasing best practice solutions, supporting project delivery through expertise and solutions and innovation. The SMAC Lab will according to Nangia work closely with firms in Capgemini’s ecosystem, which includes partners, universities and start-ups, and although based in Australia, it will also work closely with Capgemini’s 30+ global labs and centres of excellence, both in the area of innovation as well as in the area of project delivery.
“The SMAC Lab is a highly interactive, physical and virtual workplace providing our clients with a wide array of tools and solutions for their digital transformation needs. Focused on the SMAC theme (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud), it will provide a platform to demonstrate thought leadership and capabilities in leading technologies across industry sectors,” adds Sudhir Pai, Capgemini Australia Technology Officer.
