This document was revised on 30 June 2011. For more information, see the Corrections page on gartner.com.

This Gartner Magic Quadrant for desktop outsourcing services in North America is a useful starting point for identifying and evaluating desktop outsourcing external service providers. The providers identified in this Magic Quadrant can provide desktop managed services. Each has its own processes, methodologies, toolsets and capabilities. Each organization, therefore, should base its selection on a detailed evaluation of its outsourcing objectives, its business and technical requirements, its cultural nature, and the provider's capability to fulfill those expectations.

Gartner's rigorous and multidimensional Magic Quadrant research process includes evaluation criteria that provide a comprehensive framework that we have used to analyze the ability of 17 providers to deliver desktop outsourcing services in North America. A key aspect of our Magic Quadrant research project involves interviewing client references given by service providers. This process identified four trends across all providers:

• Although client references indicated that innovative processes had improved since the last desktop outsourcing Magic Quadrant, clients stated that their service providers still fall short of doing enough proactive work in this area. For this reason, Gartner recommends that organizations address innovation through contracts and service levels, with incentives and penalties for innovation-based activities.

• When most service providers implement new or upgraded service solutions, they don't automatically upgrade their solutions for established clients.

• Some, but not all, providers are developing approaches to retrofit their solutions for all clients. Gartner recommends that organizations ensure (through their contract structures) that they have the option to take advantage of any of their service providers' solution improvements. This can be a major undertaking, and many service providers are prudent not to disrupt environments every time they change something in their processes.

• The implementation of tools, such as remote infrastructure management tools and knowledge database tools, led to fewer deskside visits, and, therefore, continue to help reduce or contain the cost of desktop managed services.

Many of these providers have deep experience and knowledge, while some concentrate on specific vertical markets. This has led to better methodologies, processes and services. In addition, the renewed interest in hosted virtual desktop services (HVDS) solutions, as well as other process and technology advancements, has led to a distribution of providers across the Leaders and Challengers quadrants. This is good for organizations that want a desktop outsourcing services provider, because it gives them more choice of providers that offer better, cost-effective solutions (see Figure 1).

Gartner's "Forecast Analysis: IT Outsourcing, Worldwide, 2009-2014, 4Q10 Update" indicates that the mature desktop outsourcing services market in North America was worth $9,803 million in 2010 and will grow to $10,918 million in 2014. The worldwide desktop outsourcing services market was worth $34,807 million in 2010. Revenue per unit continues to decline by between 6% and 9% year over year, but the number of users is growing at a rate of about 11%.

This desktop outsourcing market is complex because of buyers' varying needs, the growing intricacy and requirements of multinational businesses operating in North America, and the ongoing technological advances that add to and change the delivery capabilities of the providers. Also adding to this complexity is the new and ever more complex global economy, the number of global delivery opportunities from low-cost countries, the increasing maturity of technology, and disruptive trends, such as the industrialization of IT services and cloud computing.

Desktop outsourcing services capabilities vary among providers in a market that is undergoing transformation due to several trends that client organizations and providers are focusing on. Clients are focusing in particular on the following three trends:

• Increased virtualization: Organizations have renewed their interest in HVDS as an alternative solution for large functional areas of their desktop environments.

• Remote infrastructure management: Organizations are using remote infrastructure support solutions much more frequently as part of desktop solutions to help reduce the time that it takes to resolve problems, increase the confidence of the desktop support managed service providers and continually reduce the number of on-site visits. In turn, this reduces the costs to support the organization's desktop environment.

• Further standardization: We continue to see organizations that require their providers to focus strongly on ITIL, service management and continuous improvement to transform the help desk into a single point of contact, to more effectively manage customer/user relationships and to improve the quality of desktop support.

When developing desktop outsourcing offerings, service providers are focusing on the following six trends:

• Increased automation: Providers are increasingly investing in automating their back-end infrastructure to provide various options for diagnostic and data backup and restore functions. In addition, the automation of resource provisioning from order to delivery is one way in which providers are improving process efficiency.

• Innovative cloud applications: Service providers are delivering highly standardized public and private cloud offerings directly or in partnership with other cloud service providers, such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft, to achieve higher efficiency for large organizations and to reach small, midsize and large enterprises more effectively.

• More technologically savvy end users: End users are more sophisticated in their use of IT than ever before. They increasingly use social networking technologies outside business hours and combine their personal and business IT usage. As a result, they continue to demand more efficient desktops and devices that they can control. These users are often called "digital natives."

• Further consumerization: This trend first involves the emergence of new IT in the consumer market and its subsequent infiltration into business organizations. This results in the convergence of IT and consumer electronics, and a shift in IT innovation from large businesses to the home.

• Value-added service bundling to avoid further commoditization: Providers are looking for new ways to differentiate the technology they use in their desktop outsourcing offerings. For example, some providers are now adding tax and legal consulting to their user-owned-device offerings, while others have developed a total cost of ownership model that enables organizations to understand the true cost of using user-owned devices in an outsourced desktop environment.

• Expanded information tools: Organizations are not only supporting their desktops, laptops and PDAs but also the tools that organization employees are buying for their personal use, such as iPads and the ever expanding range of mobile-phone communication tools. As the workforce becomes increasingly younger or as the baby-boomers continue to retire at an ever-increasing pace, these tools will become the primary communication mechanism that organizations use.

Desktop managed services include the day-to-day responsibility for operating and managing the desktop environment. The IT services include any combination of, or all of, the product procurement and support and professional services as they specifically relate to the ongoing operation and management of the desktop, including personnel resources, tools, assets and other associated requirements.

We required participating providers to have generated at least $45 million in desktop services revenue. We also required a formal presentation from each participating external service provider and asked each vendor to provide a list of five North American client references — we relied heavily on checking these references. We used input from these client reference interviews along with information gathered from inquiry interactions with clients during the past 12 months, one-on-one's at Gartner events (such as Symposium and the Sourcing and Vendor Management Summit series), and other Gartner analysts' industry knowledge to determine the final assessments of each vendor.

Our methodology around reference checks and information gathered from the providers themselves was as follows.

Reference Check/Client Interaction Results

As part of the reference checks, we interviewed end users in 120 organizations, which had the following characteristics:

• Organizations ranged in size from slightly under 500 users to more than 225,000.

• About 85% of the organizations used the same provider for desktop and help desk support.

• More than 50% of organizations received other services, besides desktop and help desk, from the same provider.

• The organizations represented every industry segment, including financial services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, government (including federal, state and local) and education.

• More than 98% of end users had formal service-level agreements (SLAs).

• The number of service levels included in the SLAs ranged from as few as two to more than 35. In addition, more than 95% of the SLAs measured fewer than 10 factors.

• More than 95% of the SLAs included penalties for underperformance, and almost 80% of the deals included earn-back opportunities — thus indicating that the industry has accepted such practices.

• About 30% of the SLAs had incentives for over performance.

Relevant Data

In addition to the data gathered through reference calls, the providers gave Gartner relevant market information about:

• Revenue: In total, the participating vendors reported that they have approximately 1,700 desktop service client organizations in North America, either as stand-alone clients or in conjunction with other services. The vendors also reported the relevant desktop outsourcing revenue in North America to be slightly more than $5.25 billion.

• Activity: The 1,720 client organizations outsourcing some form of their desktop support employed over 16.5 million personnel in 2010.

• Profit margins: Relevant to revenue, most provider organizations indicated gross profit margins of about 19% to 31%, with an average reported gross margin of 23.25%. The analysis could not verify reported profit margins. However, larger deals appeared to have smaller margins while smaller deals had slightly higher margins. One of the key pricing factors was deal scale. Essentially, providers priced larger deals at a lower cost per call or per user per month, while they priced smaller deals at a higher cost per user per month. Margins were higher in the very small proportion of desktop services deals that used offshore resources.

• Profit margins: Most provider organizations indicated gross profit margins of about 20% to 25%.

• Pricing data: As with any IT infrastructure tower, the help desk has various pricing mechanisms. The mechanism reported by the client references that we spoke to included: per activity, per hour, per full-time equivalent (FTE), and per user per month, with the most prevalent being per user per month for most of the activities and then per use for support items, such as installations, moves, adds and changes (IMACs). This has consistently been the case for the past nine years.

• Service provider employment: The 17 service providers have an average of 1,923 field staff personnel supporting client end-user locations across North America. In addition, most of the vendors use sub-contractors for remote locations or those locations where sufficient client employees do not exist to warrant an FTE assigned to that location. Service provider employee attrition was reported to range from less than 2% to more than 20%.

• Most common service levels: Almost every reference that we spoke to had formal service levels that they used to measure provider performance. The number of service levels per deal ranged from one measure of customer satisfaction to as many as 35. The most common service levels included:

  • Priority/severity 1 through priority/severity 4.

  • Availability of equipment — both desktop and LAN server — to the end-user community.

  • Customer satisfaction — The satisfaction that the end users have, as it relates to the services performed.

  • A quality measure of the percentage of return visits related to the total visits for break fix/IMAC/other on-site issues.

  • Measures related to accuracy of assets in an asset database.

  • Measures related to the speed with which a provider resolves a security alert/intrusion in the security space.

  • The accuracy and timeliness of reports.

  • Time that it takes to identify and resolve problems related to continuous improvement activities.

  • Other measures related to the true business outcomes, which are beginning to creep into some of the deals. These measures include the number of "widgets" manufactured, number of accounts payable claims processes per employee, accuracy of claims processed in the healthcare industry, timeliness and accuracy of reports in the financial services industry, and many other similar business activity outcome measures.

• Penalties/incentives: Well over half of the deals that included penalties for provider non-performance had penalty fee reductions ranging from 10% to 20% of the monthly fee to the provider. A few deals included penalties in the form of adding back services such as additional IMAC activities at no charge, and break-fix activities at no charge, as well as additional hours of service at no charge when service level failures took place in different pricing models.

• Benchmarking: Over 60% of the deals included benchmarking clauses that enable the client to engage an external company to perform a formal benchmark. This will determine if the fees the client pays are within the top 10% to 25% of similar deal sizes and types in the help desk market.

We added two vendors, HCL Technologies and Maintech, to this Magic Quadrant. In addition, Xerox acquired ACS in 2010, and we have continued to include ACS under the name ACS, A Xerox Company.

We dropped two vendorsPerot Systems and Tata Consulting Services, from this Magic Quadrant. We dropped TCS because it no longer qualifies for inclusion, while Perot Systems was acquired by Dell. In addition, Stefanini acquired TechTeam Global, and the entity now appears under the name Stefanini TechTeam, while EDS, an HP company is now simply referred to as HP.

We analyzed each provider's ability to execute according to the following criteria:

• Customer experience.

• Sales execution/pricing.

  • Contract/deal structure.

  • Pricing acceptance.

• Marketing execution.

  • Clarity of services, roles and responsibilities.

  • Client delivery model/relationship management.

• Operations.

  • SLAs, metrics and measurement programs.

  • Expertise in technical support/operational/tool expertise.

• Product/service.

  • Effective resourcing.

  • Transition management.

• Market responsiveness and track record.

  • Client innovation.

  • Continuous improvement.

• Overall viability (business unit, financial, strategy, organization).

The Ability to Execute axis positions each provider based on its success in delivering results today, as well as its preparation to deliver results in the future. On this axis, Gartner verifies a provider's capability to deliver desktop services based on direct feedback from extensive interviews with its clients and other provided references.

Gartner analysts evaluate providers on the quality and efficacy of the processes, systems, methods or procedures that enable their performance to be competitive, efficient and effective, and to positively affect revenue, retention and reputation. Ultimately, providers are judged on their capability to capitalize on their vision to achieve success.

We ranked each criterion high, standard or low in importance and scored each one accordingly.

Criteria Ranked High

Customer Experience: We evaluated the relationships, products and services/programs that enable clients to be successful with the service solutions evaluated. Specifically, this includes how customers receive technical support or account support. This can also include the quality of ancillary tools and customer support programs, and the availability of user groups and SLAs.

Sales Execution/Pricing: We examined each provider's capability in all presales activities and the structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and negotiation. We evaluated the following areas:

• Contract/Deal Structure: We asked each provider to explain the management of various contracts, and how they had structured the relationship to meet the needs of both parties. This involved asking:

  • How do your deals support the service recipient's and the service provider's strategic goals?

  • Is there a shared vision?

  • Do you have a process to ensure that the visions remain aligned during the life of the contract?

  • From a contractual point of view, how can you provide flexibility and agility in the provisioning of desktop services?

• Pricing Acceptance: We evaluated each provider's capability to manage prices and reduce costs (through new service offerings, improved productivity, management tools, quality, resource allocation or staff reductions). This information is key to outsourcing deals, in which the prime objective is gaining economies of scale. We also examined each provider's pricing schemes and clarity. This involved asking:

  • How are the various services priced?

  • Are there add-on costs?

  • Do you provide price justification to your customers based on business value?

Marketing Execution: We explored the clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs designed to deliver each provider's message to influence the market, promote its brand and business, increase awareness of the service solutions, and create a positive association with the service solutions/brand and organization in the mind of buyers. A combination of publicity, promotions, thought leadership, word of mouth and sales activities can drive this "mind share." We evaluated the following two primary areas:

• Clarity of services, roles and responsibilities: We explored each service provider's willingness to establish clear roles and responsibility matrices as part of a comprehensive governance effort. These matrices will avoid confusion among the parties, reduce duplication of roles, eliminate unclear responsibilities, and optimize decision making and project management processes. We also asked each provider to explain its relationship management role and how it supports what needs to be done for various service recipients. This involved asking:

  • What statement of work (SOW) structures describe the services offered?

  • Do you have a standard format?

  • If so, what is included?

  • Is there a formal communication process to interact with the client?

• Client delivery model/relationship management: We examined each provider's delivery capabilities and practices for help desk services, CRM and knowledge transfer, as well as quality control and quality assurance. We evaluated service providers on their overall client delivery model and their ability to apply repeatable practices consistently to successfully manage long-term relationships with customers and support emerging business and IT challenges. We asked each provider to explain the organizational structure and procedures they use to manage their accounts and resolve differences, escalate problems, and generally maintain a successful relationship with their customers. This involved asking:

  • What is your style and approach to working in the client's cultural and political environment?

  • How would you describe the roles of relationship management, contract management and service delivery management in an engagement?

Operations: We examined each service provider's ability to meet its goals and commitments. Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, such as skills, experiences, programs, systems, and other vehicles that enable the organization to operate effectively and efficiently on an ongoing basis. We evaluated two primary areas:

• SLAs, metrics and measurement programs: We evaluated how effective each provider's performance measurement program was to determine whether the provider was effectively delivering service. This involved asking providers the following questions:

  • How do you arrive at reasonable service levels for your service recipients?

  • Do you have penalties or incentives tied to SLAs?

  • Do you measure customer satisfaction?

  • If so, how are the results of the survey used?

• Expertise in technical support/operations/tools: We evaluated the service provider's depth and breadth in help desk service technology areas. We looked at each service provider's skills and capabilities in help desk service environments and in the application of specific management tools, and the associated personnel expertise to satisfy the needs of each deal. This involved asking:

  • What are the principal standards, solutions and systems that your company can manage in help desk service engagements?

  • Exactly what help desk services do you provide?

  • Do you have specialized operational processes or tools for help desk service management?

Criteria Ranked Standard

Product/Service: We looked at each service provider's core services that compete in or serve the defined market. The analysis included service capabilities, quality, feature sets and skills, whether the provider offers them natively or through agreements or partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), according to the market definition and detailed in the subcriteria. We evaluated the following two areas:

• Effective resourcing: We focused on the service provider's ability to provide the relevant resources effectively to the customer. This involved asking:

  • How do you decide on the resources required to support a customer?

  • Do you have tools and procedures to assist with resource allocation?

  • What are your current capabilities in terms of staff availability and facilities?

• Transition management: We evaluated the service provider's investments in its people, focusing on what practices it has put in place to recruit, train and retain qualified staff. We also judged providers on their capability to integrate staff from client organizations by offering competitive job opportunities — for example, addressing salary and benefit packages in different countries, retraining, career progression opportunities, and minimized disruption due to employee job location. This involved asking:

  • What are the key skill sets and competencies of the resources?

  • What changes in the skill set mix do you anticipate during the next two years?

  • Do you have a quality process and project plan for transitions?

  • What are your procedures for transitioning the workload to your facility?

  • How do you handle the hiring of your customers' employees?

Market Responsiveness and Track Record: We looked at each service provider's ability to respond, change direction, be flexible, improve continuously and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act, customer needs evolve and market dynamics change. We reviewed the following areas:

• Client innovation: This involved asking:

  • Assuming your company pays attention to emerging trends and developments in the help desk service market, how is that knowledge shared with your clients?

  • Do you provide advice and recommendations regarding innovations and tools to customers?

  • If so, how do you present these?

  • How do both parties meet their strategic and operational goals, and respond to business and technology changes?

  • What examples of innovation and thought leadership have been brought to bear in client engagements?

  • What examples can you provide of investments your organization has made to stay ahead of the pack?

• As part of client innovation, we also reviewed continuous improvement: This involved asking:

  • Do you use results from service levels to feed the continuous improvement process?

  • How do you measure customer satisfaction?

  • During the past 12 to 18 months, what innovations have you brought to market that have not been available previously?

• Continuous improvement: We evaluated each service provider's continuous improvement practices to ensure conformity with common, standardized toolsets, such as ITIL and Six Sigma, and best practices for continuous improvement processes. This involved asking:

  • Does the service provider supply continuous improvement and quality assurance processes?

  • Does it use these processes in the delivery of its services?

  • Do the processes work well and deliver the expected value?

Criterion Ranked Low

Overall Viability (Business Unit, Financial, Strategy and Organization): This involved an assessment of the organization's overall financial health, the financial and practical success of the business unit, and the likelihood of the business unit to continue to invest in the service solution and advance a state-of-the-art service portfolio.

We analyzed each provider's Completeness of Vision according to the following criteria:

• Offering (product) strategy.

  • Practice area.

  • Operational/tool expertise.

• Business model.

  • Methodologies.

  • Management acumen.

• Market understanding.

• Innovation.

• Geographic strategy.

  • Regional capabilities.

  • Alliances and partnerships.

• Marketing strategy.

• Sales strategy.

• Vertical/industry strategy.

The Completeness of Vision axis reflects each service provider's potential for success by analyzing its view of the market, service operating model, and strategic plans for growth and service improvements. Gartner verifies a service provider's vision regarding help desk services based on the provider's presentation, as well as direct feedback from extensive interviews with the provider's clients.

We asked each service provider many questions and evaluated each on its ability to articulate logical statements convincingly about market directions, innovations, customer needs and competitive forces. Ultimately, we rate providers on their understanding of how they can exploit market forces to create opportunities for themselves.

We ranked each criterion high, standard or low and scored each one accordingly.

Criteria Ranked High

Offering (Product) Strategy: We asked each provider to describe its product solution strategy relative to future market needs. We reviewed the following areas:

• Practice area: We evaluated the composition of practice areas serving clients that require help desk services, including relative size, revenue, number of seats supported, geographic reach, leadership of the management team and the team's position in the corporate structure.

• Operational/tool expertise: We looked at whether providers used specialized operational processes or tools and if they used an ITIL or other process to manage their workload. This involved asking:

  • Do you have specialized, operational processes/tools?

  • Are you using an ITIL or other process to manage your workload?

  • What operational tool expertise do you offer customers?

Business Model: We evaluated two factors:

• Methodologies: We asked each provider for a high-level description of its desktop service delivery business model. In addition, we reviewed the procedures (operational, transitional, program management, relationship management and change management) that each provider offers to customers. We focused on the processes and best practices that the provider implements for a smooth transition of systems, people and assets. This involved asking:

  • Is the model embedded in a larger methodology?

  • How does this methodology link technology implementation to business objectives?

  • How do you ensure that the sourcing management processes are appropriate and effective for your various clients?

  • How do you ensure that help desk services can deliver high-value services by supporting applications and business processes?

  • Are processes to measure bottom-line business results (or value delivered via an optimized and agile IT infrastructure) embedded in the methodology?

  • If so, what are the key features for measuring results?

  • What practices does your organization use to ensure and control quality?

• Management acumen: We evaluated the management structure each provider uses to support and manage customers, as well as the experience of its managers, because these factors are directly associated with the success of a provider. Having good plans and the people to carry them out are essential. Deals are good for both parties when provider managers focus on ensuring that deals meet their clients' needs and on satisfying the provider's profit targets. Therefore, our evaluation involved asking:

  • What is management's experience and skill levels?

  • How are customer issues addressed?

  • What is the level of experience of executive management and the assigned key customer-facing managers, and what are their skill levels?

  • How are customer issues addressed?

  • Does the customer have access to the appropriate level of management in the providers?

Criteria Ranked Standard

Market Understanding: We asked each provider to describe its strategic plan and vision as it relates to desktop services, as well as its commitment to aligning services with future market needs. We also evaluated providers on their capability to demonstrate a well-defined, articulated vision to assist clients in linking desktop services with enterprise technology and business strategies. This involved asking:

• How would you differentiate your strategic plan and vision from your competitors'?

• What is your company's heritage in this area?

• How long have help desk services been part of your service portfolio?

• How have they evolved and grown?

• How will you maintain a leading position in a challenging market?

Innovation: We evaluated each service provider's position in the market as a thought leader and innovator. We assessed each service provider's leadership and supporting investment to develop innovative strategies in the help desk services market. This involved asking:

• How does your company stay current with new technology and tools?

• Do you have alliances with other suppliers?

• Do you offer innovative services to your customers (for example, adaptability and agility of the services, quality of the services, and ability in managing a long-term relationship)?

• How do you offer innovations to your customers?

• What investments is your company making to sustain and enhance its vision for innovative help desk services?

Criteria Ranked Low

Geographic Strategy: We reviewed the following areas:

• Regional capabilities: We evaluated each service provider's strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the specific needs of regions outside its "home" or native geography (directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries) as appropriate for that geography and market.

• Alliances and partnerships: We evaluated each service provider's relationships with product providers or other service providers to add value, provide full-service solutions or bring innovation closer to their clients. In particular, we looked at providers' capabilities to demonstrate that they had selected strategic relationships that are well-defined and can successfully and seamlessly link into many client environments.

Marketing Strategy: We evaluated each provider's strategy and approach to the market and how it promotes help desk services. We asked each provider to supply a high-level sales organization chart to demonstrate its go-to-market strategy and assessed each provider's capability to articulate its value proposition and differentiate its services. We also evaluated providers' penetration of industries and their capability to leverage vertical expertise in their sector and other sectors. We looked at their capability to demonstrate expertise in vertical markets and business processes, which are underpinned by desktop services. This involved asking:

• How many dedicated personnel do you have?

• How does your company measure the effectiveness of the business development model?

• What training do marketing people receive?

Sales Strategy: We evaluated each provider's sales strategy and capability to sell desktop services. This involved asking:

• How many dedicated personnel do you have?

• How does your company measure the effectiveness of the sales organization?

• What training do salespeople receive?

• What is your sales strategy for desktop services?

• Do you have standard sales processes, and do you use sales productivity tools?

• How do you respond to requests for proposals?

Vertical/Industry Strategy: We evaluated each provider's strategy to direct resources, and the skills and offerings it has to meet the specific needs of individual market segments, including vertical industries. We assessed the extent to which providers have penetrated industries and their capabilities to leverage vertical expertise in their sectors and other sectors. We also evaluated their ability to demonstrate expertise in vertical markets and business processes, which are underpinned by desktop services.

Leaders deliver their service solutions skillfully, have a clear vision of the direction of the desktop outsourcing services market, and are actively building and improving their competencies to sustain their leadership positions. The Leaders quadrant indicates the maturing desktop outsourcing services market. However, the continuing changes in the delivery model capabilities will continue to drive continued change in the market. The following eight service providers (listed in alphabetical order) emerged as Leaders in this Magic Quadrant:

• ACS, A Xerox Company

• CompuCom

• CSC

• Dell

• HCL Technologies

• HP

• IBM

• Siemens IT Solutions and Services

Leaders have demonstrated their many years of experience in delivering desktop managed services, and understand the requirements to successfully deliver these services. They have proven their ability to execute their strategic visions. This was particularly evident during the reference-checking portion of the analysis.

Challengers execute well, but they have less defined views of the market's direction. Some, as indicated by their relative closeness to the Leaders quadrant, are poised to join the Leaders, while others may not (yet) be preparing aggressively enough for the future. The following six providers (listed in alphabetical order) emerged as Challengers in this Magic Quadrant:

• CGI

• Ciber

• Pomeroy

• Stefanini TechTeam

• Unisys

Challengers have demonstrated that they have solid bases of desktop outsourcing clients, which are satisfied with the providers' services. The closeness of many of the Challengers to the Leaders quadrant indicates their maturing and improving capabilities. They have the potential to move to the Leaders quadrant if they can moderately advance their strategic visions, and solidify and expand their service offerings.

Visionaries have a clear vision of the market's direction and are focused on preparing for that, but they can improve their service delivery.

After careful consideration, no vendors qualified for inclusion in the Visionaries category. This indicates that the market is mature and that most vendors have operated in the market for enough time to have more than just a vision of what they want and can do in the market.

Niche Players focus on a particular segment of the client base, as defined by characteristics such as size, vertical focus or selective desktop service offerings. This narrow focus may affect a Niche Player's capability to outperform or innovate.

The following vendors qualified for inclusion in the Niche Players category:

• GlobalServe

• Maintech

• Northrop Grumman

• Wipro

Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) is participating in the desktop services outsourcing Magic Quadrant once again this year, though this time under the name ACS, A Xerox Company, following its acquisition. Xerox's multipronged approach to the desktop outsourcing services market includes growth, client intimacy, innovation and operational excellence. Xerox stated that it would accomplish this through acquisitions, like the ACS acquisition, additional investments in service products and delivery through four global centers of excellence by applying best practices.

• The size of ACS provides an effective base in the North American desktop outsourcing market. In addition, its solid year over year growth and acquisition by Xerox has provided a huge opportunity for ACS to dramatically grow its share of the desktop market, especially once it has included its HVDS solution into its portfolio of desktop offerings.

• Client references indicated that ACS displays strong business acumen in vertical sectors, including manufacturing, retail, communications, healthcare, government, financial, transportation and education.

• Clients reported a 96% satisfaction with ACS's desktop services, saying that the provider was extremely responsive to the needs of end-user groups.

• References also stated that ACS employees have a strong technical skill set and that ACS showed a high level of innovation based on its hosted desktop virtualization solution, data portability and security.

• Although Xerox has stated that it is committed to the infrastructure services outsourcing market, including desktop services, Gartner recommends that organizations include change of control language in their contract to provide for no-fault termination of the deal.

• Some client references indicated that employee retention was an issue, which caused some lapses in service and the ability to meet the required service levels. Gartner recommends that organizations use appropriate incentives and penalties to ensure service-level compliance.

• A few references indicated that ACS did not proactively provide them with the latest desktop service technology such as HVDS. Gartner recommends that organizations include language in their contracts that obligates the provider to automatically offer them the latest ACS solutions. Organizations must also complete their due diligence on the new offerings, which often carry development and implementation charges as well as the long-term stated savings.

CGI's strategy is to provide end-to-end services in focused sectors including manufacturing, government and healthcare, retail and distribution, telecommunications and utilities, and financial services. CGI's has invested in an HVDS offering, which it detailed to Gartner during its participation in the HVDS MarketScope in 2010, and has also made continuous investments in and improvements to its standardized tools and processes in order to support its desktop services solution.

• Although CGI's annual revenue has remained relatively flat over the past two years, it has a solid base of clients and its desktop solution, including its HVDS capabilities, is competitive in the very intense North American desktop services outsourcing market.

• References stated that CGI demonstrates knowledge and awareness of how desktop outsourcing services are delivered in a client's specific environment. CGI pays particular attention to service delivery at the level of the individual technician who has often been transferred to CGI from the client.

• CGI has widespread and strong coverage in Canada, particularly in locations that many North American competitors struggle to cover.

• CGI's portfolio of services in desktop outsourcing is largely delivered in the context of a full IT outsourcing contract. Clients desiring a stand-alone desktop services outsourcing relationship may find CGI less aggressive than it would otherwise be if the scope were larger.

• Client references indicated that CGI appears to avoid benchmarking. Gartner recommends that clients require a benchmarking clause in contracts with CGI to ensure that the pricing of their deal remains competitive relative to the desktop services market.

• While clients were very pleased with the quality of CGI staff, they pointed out that the provider spreads its desktop staff fairly thin. Gartner recommends that clients contractually obligate CGI to build adequate staffing into its delivery model to meet business and service-level requirements and, where applicable, that CGI transitions or retains the correct number of client staff.

Ciber is a $1.1 billion global IT services company that builds, integrates and supports applications and infrastructures for business and government. With more than 8,000 employees in 70 offices in 19 countries Ciber, provides "IT as a service" to its global clients. In addition, Ciber considers its end-user computing services as the critical gateway for establishing a global managed desktop services strategy for its clients. In the past year, Ciber has continuously invested in improving desktop services operations, infrastructure, tools and methodologies, such as ISO 9000 and a gateway type approach to ITIL or IT service management.

• With a solid revenue base in desktop services and continued growth in North America-based desktop services, Ciber uses its global service approach well to support its clients' requirements.

• Client references praised Ciber for being easy to work with and responsive to their requirements, and they were also impressed with the highly trained and skilled staff who show dedication and commitment to their jobs.

• Client references were extremely satisfied with Ciber's ability to handle escalations and resolve issues when they occur in the client's environment. This highlights Ciber's commitment and investment in its ITO quality management program, which is structured to continuously measure, analyze and improve processes.

• Ciber's clients would like to see the provider use new tools and technology as they become available. For those clients considering Ciber as their service provider, Gartner recommends carefully studying the Ciber solution and seeking input from references regarding its responsiveness to new technology advancements, such as HVDS, with the goal of ensuring that Ciber is keeping pace with the market.

• References reported that although Ciber has improved its desktop methodology, its service desk processes require further development.

• Some client references indicated that they were challenged when wanting to change service levels. Gartner recommends that, prior to signing the contract, organizations ensure that they provide themselves with the flexibility to change SLAs during the course of the agreement to meet changing business requirements.

Building on its current toolset and global delivery model for desktop services clients, CompuCom's strategy includes making investments in increased visibility and client control of application management. CompuCom has also invested in enabling a layered image solution, developing tools to streamline the data transfer processes and ensure full operation, as well as an end-user computing and desktop infrastructure health management solution.

• With desktop services revenue growing to over $1 billion and 3.6 million desktops under management in North America, CompuCom continues to be a strong provider and a leader in the current desktop services Magic Quadrant. Part of this growth has resulted from CompuCom's acquisition of Getronics.

• Client references continue to rave about CompuCom's flexibility, its strong relationship management methodologies (including its recent ISO/IEC 20000 certification) and its excellent personnel.

• As a result of CompuCom's continued focus on personnel training, its staff have more than 1,850 ITIL certifications and over 180 Six Sigma certifications. These certifications have, in part, led to CompuCom's strong showing in customer satisfaction ratings.

• Additionally, CompuCom was one of nine vendors that participated in "MarketScope for Hosted Virtual Desktop Services," which shows that that it has a solid handle on the future vision of desktop managed services.

• CompuCom continues to expand its global delivery capabilities; Gartner recommends that organizations seeking global delivery verify that CompuCom's offshore service capabilities can satisfy their requirements.

• CompuCom's continued expansion in Europe and Asia/Pacific, and its recent acquisition of Getronics' North American business has challenged CompuCom's capability to provide resources in a timely fashion. Clients need to review CompuCom's resource capabilities to ensure that it can deploy appropriate staff within the required time frame.

• While some organizations spoke of CompuCom's highly skilled technical personnel, others spoke of younger less experienced staff. Organizations considering CompuCom should, therefore, ensure that they know and have the authority to participate in the interview and hiring process of key CompuCom personnel.

CSC's strategy and vision is built around the consumption of information and the IT interactions that facilitate it. To support this vision, CSC has, in part, invested in global tool standardization and integration. In addition, CSC's investment in an HVDS and the resulting capabilities make it one of the leaders in this space. Through its focus on verticals including the public sector, financial services, manufacturing, technology, consumer, healthcare, chemical, energy and natural resources, and its centers of excellence, CSC has achieved solid growth in its desktop services business.

• Continued growth based on aggressive investment in new tools and technologies, including cloud based HVDS, has positioned CSC as a leader once again in the desktop services outsourcing market.

• CSC continues to get high marks from its clients for its depth and breadth of offerings, including its ongoing improvements in its standardized delivery models, and for offering the latest standard delivery model to new and existing accounts. Additionally, clients praised CSC for its consistency, dependability, customer focus, responsiveness and its eagerness to help clients solve challenging problems.

• References also stated that CSC brought a sense of rigor to processes, documenting processes well and adhering to them in the delivery of desktop services.

• Some references indicated that CSC left them feeling as though they were one of many clients and were not getting the attention they required. Gartner recommends that clients should build a detailed relationship management plan into the contract structure that includes, at a minimum, formal communication and continuous improvement plans that incorporates regularly scheduled meetings to support day-to-day activities.

• Other client references said that CSC lacks readily available replacement resources, and that when replacement personnel are needed the process takes too long, with a few clients indicating a high turnover rate as the underlying issue. Gartner sees successful clients documenting a formal hiring process in the contract to drive behavior and mitigate the risk of high turnover and long lead times to replace staff.

• A few clients indicated that the onboarding process needed improvement regarding partnering and communication. Gartner recommends that clients include a detailed behavior-driven transition plan with clearly defined milestones and penalties for not meeting these milestones.

Dell bases its service strategy on four key pillars. It aims to achieve delivery capability targets through an expanded global delivery footprint, its advanced support/cloud services, its domain expertise and a vertical market approach. Dell focuses on key industry segments that include healthcare, financial services, government, insurance, manufacturing and education. Dell's investments have included the acquisition of Perot Systems, whose virtual desktop solution has helped Dell expand its desktop services capabilities and customer base.

• Since the last version of this Magic Quadrant Dell has continued to steadily grow organically in the desktop services outsourcing space. With the acquisition of Perot Systems, Dell's annual desktop services revenue is now approaching $500 million, giving the company the necessary means to combine tools, processes and methodologies to improve its desktop outsourcing services solution.

• Client references reported that they receive high value for money, indicating that Dell's pricing model is transparent and enables its clients to see the value provided. This is important in retaining and growing Dell's desktop services revenue and indicates why it embraces the effective use of benchmarking.

• In addition, client references indicated that Dell maintains a consistent standard of service delivery, which is partially based on Dell's high retention rate for its almost 2,000 employees.

• Some references indicated that while Dell is ITIL V3 compliant, they needed to continually stress their need for the ITIL methodology and repeatable processes to achieve ongoing improvement in the delivery of their desktop services.

• A few references stated that Dell lacks an ongoing quality assurance program, resulting in the provider missing service levels occasionally. Gartner recommends that organizations use performance-based service levels with penalties, such as fee reductions, to ensure the delivery of the required services.

• A few references indicated some issues regarding roles and responsibilities, stating that Dell did not perform roles that clients thought were part of the contract. Gartner recommends that organizations include clear roles and responsibilities in their SOW, which should form part of the contract terms and conditions.

GlobalServe is a long-term participant in this Magic Quadrant and maintains its position as a Niche Player through its focus on delivering products to global companies. GlobalServe's vision of continuing to support the procurement, delivery and disposal of PC assets remains intact. The provider's comprehensive infrastructure offerings, including desktop services, support this vision.

• GlobalServe focuses on supporting global companies, primarily from the procurement perspective.

• In addition to the procurement of end-user computing products, GlobalServe, through a variety of partners, provides deskside support including break/fix, IMAC and other related activities.

• GlobalServe provides an alternative approach to service with its international capabilities. However, the company remains in the Niche Players quadrant as it uses a base of subcontractors to support primarily its international approach.

• Due to GlobalServe's focus on procurement, organizations thinking of using it must understand the provider's focus and limitations in the desktop services market. Gartner recommends that organizations, as part of their due diligence process, complete several reference checks with GlobalServe clients so they can fully understand the breadth of GlobalServe's solution to ensure it fulfils their needs and to avoid any surprises.

• GlobalServe references indicated that they are primarily using the vendor for product procurement. Although GlobalServe does an excellent job in the procurement area for desktop services, it doesn't demonstrate capabilities in the other seven desktop managed services disciplines (that is, help desk, deskside support, desktop application support, asset management, network management and administration, relationship management, and security).

• GlobalServe continues to use a network of subcontractors, but this approach reduces the provider's control of its delivery mechanism. Therefore, organizations must ensure that they have penalty-supported SLAs in place to ensure consistent service delivery quality.

HCL's strategy and vision is to provide a best-in-class end user computing service that creates business value for customers. This includes a personalized service experience based on a culture of innovation and global collaboration to harness the potential of HCL employees and partners. To accomplish this, HCL is investing in ensuring predictable services through an anytime, anywhere, any device solution and using what HCL states are new industry benchmarks in determining deal success and driving behavior.

• With a solid base of desktop services clients and revenue that grew in 2010, HCL continues to improve it position in the desktop outsourcing services Magic Quadrant —this year it earned a position in the Leaders quadrant. In addition, HCL indicates a 100% client retention rate to date, which admittedly comes from a comparatively smaller client base than longtime market leading competitors.

• HCL's entrepreneurial culture results in creative approaches to low-cost IT desktop outsourcing solutions for clients. These approaches have enabled HCL clients to extend assets well beyond their reasonable life cycle during spending freezes.

• References indicated that HCL has been innovative in delivering its desktop services solution, focuses on customer satisfaction and consistently delivers on service levels.

• Some clients reported that HCL's communication is ineffective and untimely. Gartner recommends that clients adequately detail communication processes and requirements in the contract.

• The skills that HCL's delivery personnel demonstrate don't consistently match HCL's enthusiasm. Prospective clients that are not intending to transfer some of their own staff as part of the desktop outsourcing contract should plan to be more involved in the initial selection of key personnel than during the steady state of the deal when client expectations have become clear to HCL.

• HCL was not among the desktop outsourcing providers to participate in Gartner's "MarketScope for Hosted Virtual Desktop Services" as it did not qualify at that time. However, HCL does have a vision and capabilities in this space, so clients anticipating adopting this model should carefully evaluate HCL's capabilities.

HP's Instant-On Enterprise model is the foundation of HP's strategy. The company aims to deliver the "best delivery model for the solution — the delivery model that provides the right outcome, in the right time frame, at the right price." This demonstrates that HP has a well defined and articulated vision for assisting clients in linking desktop managed and service desk services with enterprise technology and business strategy.

• With substantial North American desktop services revenue, HP is one of the largest desktop service providers in the market. This size, along with its investments in unified communications and collaboration, client virtualization services, and service models, make HP a leader in this Magic Quadrant.

• Client references rated HP's capability to deliver services as exceptional, with high marks for meeting service levels, delivering positive customer satisfaction, remaining agile despite its size, and using standardized processes and methodologies to deliver the required services.

• Additionally, references indicated that service was delivered at a high level of quality, which is another indication of HP's attention to detail.

• References indicated that HP continues to market HP products to them, which can make clients feel uncomfortable sometimes. Preferring to avoid this situation, one client pointed out that this is a desktop services engagement and not a product procurement deal. Clients also indicated that this approach occasionally carried over to the ability to service non-HP products.

• Client references indicated that HP could make better use of its continuous improvement process, to better align to service levels. This would help HP determine the root cause of the problem, identify and implement a remedy instead of just quickly applying a short-term patch to the problem. To avoid this issue, Gartner recommends applying a contractual service level to the continuous improvement process to help improve long-term success.

• A few clients indicated that their interpretation of the components in a deal did not match HP's. To avoid such misunderstandings that could affect service delivery, Gartner recommends that clients clearly and precisely document their service delivery requirements.

Using its right-to-left strategy to deliver cost take-out, productivity and innovation, as well as to manage risk, IBM continues to be a leader in this Magic Quadrant. IBM's strategy is to focus on continually improving end-user productivity and satisfaction through seamless support and access to applications and data on any device, anywhere, at any time, while at the same time delivering value to clients and IBM's business through reduced cost throughout the end user services life cycle. IBM uses automation, globalization and standardization to continually improve end-user productivity and satisfaction.

• IBM supports 25% more desktop end users than in 2009 when Gartner published the last North American desktop outsourcing services Magic Quadrant. This growth, coming in difficult economic times, is partially due to IBM's continued investment in new tools and technologies, including its hosted virtual desktop, cloud-based desktop solution, smart service and end user direct service, which help its clients achieve a lower-cost desktop support model at equal or lower prices.

• Client references noted high levels of satisfaction with IBM's most current desktop support environments. This is the result of IBM resolving most customer issues within a satisfactory time frame and enabling more worker productivity. This strengthens IBM's relationships with clients, which, in turn, enables IBM to continue to better meet desktop support needs.

• References also indicated that IBM's use of consistent processes and methodology to deliver service drives an ability to anticipate what should and will occur.

• References reported that while IBM markets tool strategy and development, the provider could more proactively implement these tools on its services accounts to meet clients' ever changing business needs.

• Clients indicated that IBM's approach to processes and methodology are inflexible. Occasionally, this drives business decisions to revolve around the IT contract and results in delivered services that do not meet business requirements. Additionally, clients felt that the complexity and inflexibility of IBM's contracts led to alignment issues, missed expectations and the inability to make the changes needed to meet client business requirements.

• References indicated a concern associated with the dissemination of control at the account level when IBM engages its low-cost centers to support the desktop service delivery.

Maintech, which is a new participant in this year's Magic Quadrant, previously participated only in the data center Magic Quadrant. Using its data center solution and approach, Maintech provides related solutions including help desk and desktop support. The resulting revenue and client base qualify Maintech for participation in this Magic Quadrant. However, Maintech is a Niche Player as it only participates in a desktop solution where there is at least one location with a concentration of 200 or more units.

• Maintech is potentially a suitable candidate for clients seeking a provider that has the strength to implement a solution based on standardized toolsets, and that can help the client become more familiar with these standardized toolsets. Clients corroborated that Maintech has a strong capability in implementing standardized toolsets, such as ITIL, as the foundation of its total solution package.

• Although most providers have remote service capabilities, Maintech focuses heavily on providing remote managed data center services. By using that strength and the associated toolsets in the delivery of its help desk solution, Maintech provides clients with the confidence that it can quickly identify, address and resolve help desk calls that would otherwise require a dispatched technician to travel to the site to determine and solve the problem.

• Maintech recognizes that it is a niche player and does not try to reach beyond its capabilities. This shows that Maintech remains focused on a specific approach to the market.

• Maintech only offers desktop solutions where there is at least one location with a concentration of 200 or more units; therefore, MainTech is not a suitable candidate for clients with geographically diverse locations where all locations have less than 200 users.

• Although clients indicated that Maintech's technical expertise is very good, they said that the company did not always proactively offer some of the more common desktop processes and tools, such as automatic password resets and self help, self-healing tools. Clients need to examine whether these tools are appropriate and, if necessary, include them in their requirements.

• There have been some issues with Maintech's management support of its clients' deals. Potential clients should, therefore, insist on interviewing and approving the relationship managers and other managers assigned to their deal with Maintech and ensure that they are comfortable with the selection.

Northrop Grumman chose not to actively participate in this year's Magic Quadrant, as it wants to focus on the government space. However, the company qualifies for inclusion and has a unique influence in the important government space with its focus on federal, state and local governments.

• Although Northrop Grumman has faced personnel and inconsistent delivery challenges in some of its deals over the last two years, it is beginning to emerge from these challenges with simple, seamless, repeatable and integrated solutions and will, therefore, be better positioned for future growth in the government sector, while sustaining its commercial business.

• Northrop Grumman is leveraging its strengths in end-user computing, including help desk services, in the federal government space to deliver performance to new clients. However, it must invest in solidifying its service delivery and strategically leveraging a delivery model that emphasizes efficient, standardized processes and a national, as well as global, footprint that meets the requirements of its key clients.

• Northrop Grumman continues to manage over 1 million desktop seats, and handled more than 2 million help desk calls in 2010.

• Client references stated that Northrop Grumman maintains a flexible approach to deal development and contracting consistent with its historical approach. However, some clients indicated that the need to fix some deal challenges, such as the lack of ability to easily replace personnel when they leave or a fully fledged and robust training program, hindered flexibility.

• Client references indicated that Northrop Grumman's innovation was weak and needed improvement. Gartner recommends that clients develop and contractually document the processes for identifying technology and "process-innovative" ideas.

• References reported that the replacement of resources takes longer than anticipated, which creates gaps in the delivery of the required level of service. Clients must ensure that they'll be notified when personnel changes occur and should build measures into the contract that drive Northrop Grumman to minimize personnel turnover and the time frame to replace staff.

• Although Northrop Grumman generally meets clients' transition requirements, some references complained about missed deadlines. Clients need to ensure that they have a detailed transition plan, and that they direct Northrop Grumman to deliver results.

Pomeroy is positioned as a strong challenger in this Magic Quadrant. Developing solutions such as a HVDS and a stronger position in the data center space to support any HVDS will enable the company to improve its position. Pomeroy's strategy is to focus on its areas of expertise, continually improve the services and solutions it delivers today, and invest in solutions that support the delivery of current offerings. It also plans to adopt new solutions and prudently but effectively enter new markets. To support this strategy and vision Pomeroy has invested in new tools, technologies and locations to support its service delivery operations. In addition, Pomeroy tries to be easy to work with to encourage long-term relationships.

• Pomeroy's size in the North American desktop outsourcing market is substantial and its hardware and software product delivery division has grown steadily year over year.

• With a multi-tier capability approach, Pomeroy has achieved a high renewal rate exceeding 90%. Client references indicated that this is due to Pomeroy's laser focus on proactively solving end-user problems and meeting service levels with highly trained field support personnel, who have worked for the provider for a long time. Relationship management personnel, who have the authority to ensure customer satisfaction, also back up support personnel.

• References also pointed out that Pomeroy remains flexible regardless of the circumstances, and its contracts and culture support this flexible approach. References also indicated that Pomeroy had a low staff attrition rate of less than 8%. Together with a high retention rate, this leads to a high level of client knowledge and an ability to be proactive instead of reactive.

• Client references indicated that Pomeroy was very competitive as a Tier 2 provider in the market. As a result, clients found Pomeroy more willing to accept shorter term engagements with associated risks than other providers. Such shorter term engagements are one or two years in duration, whereas most infrastructure deals are three years at a minimum.

• References indicated that some of Pomeroy's tools/processes, such as remote support, are not state-of-the-art due, in part, to a lack of innovation. This makes it difficult for Pomeroy to easily solve problems that would otherwise be solved quickly. Clients seeking to use Pomeroy should check references to understand its potential shortcomings in its approach to innovation, and include a clause in the contract to detail an innovation process that involves the participation of both the client and provider.

• A few references said that Pomeroy's ability to adjust the service levels with regularly scheduled reviews throughout the contract was inconsistent and not founded on a solid continuous improvement process. Gartner recommends that clients using or considering Pomeroy as their desktop service provider include a formal continuous improvement process in the contract and attach penalties, such as fee reductions, to encourage Pomeroy to proactively address problems.

• Based on client reference comments regarding a lack of consistent communications, Gartner recommends that clients using or considering Pomeroy build a communication plan and a formal escalation plan into the contract. This should include access to the relevant Pomeroy executives who have the ability to resolve delivery issues that linger as problems.

Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) maintains its position as a leader in this year's Magic Quadrant. Strategically, SIS's desktop outsourcing portfolio in North America supports three distinct value-driven streams — vertical-specific, business enhancement and leveraged support. In addition, SIS leverages horizontal strengths and its global vertical portfolio. As a result, SIS's desktop services strategy has involved investments in virtual desktops and user-owned devices, automation, remote management as well as other key initiatives and innovation, such as SIS's client migration factory and Zero Touch Windows 7 implementation.

• SIS continues to be a leader in help desk and desktop managed services. Its practical vision for desktop managed services, including HVDS, continues to be a significant strength.

• Client references specifically noted SIS's technology refresh processes and remote control solutions as strengths supporting its strategic investments. Clients looking for strong technology refresh processes and remote control capabilities should consider SIS a viable option.

• SIS's "Portable Persona" concept indicates that the provider has a solid vision for virtualized desktops and end-user-owned devices. Clients embarking on these more forward leaning strategies should consider including SIS in their RFP processes.

• Although SIS delivers many international services, both directly and through partnerships, it may not always have the labor pool leverage that organizations expect from a firm of its size.

• SIS appears slightly slower to adopt ITIL and standardized methodologies and practices than some of its competitors in this space. Clients with high ITIL requirements should work closely with SIS to ensure the solution meets their requirements.

• In December 2010, Atos Origin announced plans to acquire SIS in Western Europe. As improving profits is often a key focus of providers following an acquisition, clients should pay close attention to the status of operational integration and Atos Origin's longer term strategy for the combined entities when considering SIS for desktop outsourcing.

Stefanini's recent acquisition of TechTeam has further enhanced TechTeam's strong financial position. The acquisition has created a $518 million global IT services company that builds, integrates and supports applications and infrastructures for business and government with over 9,400 employees in 62 locations and 27 countries. The new Stefanini TechTeam focuses on many industry segments including automotive, manufacturing, services, consumer products, oil and gas, technology, financial services, power and utilities, telecom, life sciences, retail and hospitality, and travel and transportation.

• Stefanini TechTeam continues to invest in new solutions, technologies and processes as it looks to win and strengthen deals with midsize to large organizations in the infrastructure services market. Recent investments include remote desktop services, remote infrastructure services/management, business service desk, and end-user productivity tools delivered through the cloud, including Google Apps. TechTeam also continues to focus on lean Six Sigma through its recent addition of over 110 lean certified personnel. In addition, TechTeam's desktop services delivery model includes an HVDS solution.

• Tech Team has been a frequent participant in the desktop outsourcing services Magic Quadrant and Gartner continues to recognize the company for the high level of customer satisfaction among its clients, its flexibility, tool expertise and high staff retention.

• Many clients indicated that Stefanini TechTeam is willing to "jump in" and solve problems whether or not it is responsible for the issues. As a result, these clients praised TechTeam's field support personnel for partnering with their clients.

• Due to uncertainties related to Stefanini's acquisition of TechTeam, clients who are reconsidering Stefanini TechTeam should check that its market focus is consistent with their needs and include a no risk, no fee termination clause for change of control in the contract.

• Some clients indicated that they found Stefanini TechTeam's lack of transparency an issue. Clients considering Stefanini TechTeam should carefully check references and include contract language that counteracts transparency. This could include specifying the levels of service and the associated incentives, penalties and earn-back opportunities that are relevant behavior drivers in these deals.

• A few clients indicated that continuous improvement was slower than expected. As this could indicate any number of challenges, such as a lack of a formal continuous improvement process, clients considering or renegotiating contracts with Stefanini TechTeam should include the right level of measures, incentives and penalties to build performance-based contracts.

Unisys has significantly improved its cash flow, its profitability and its balance sheet. To achieve this, it has leveraged several areas of strength — end-user computing including end-to-end desktop desk services; a delivery model that emphasizes efficient, globally standardized processes; and a geographically dispersed footprint.

• Unisys's North American desktop services revenue of more than $430 million positions it well to compete in the mid-cap (that is, middle capitalization) multinational market and other target markets in North America.

• Client references noted high customer satisfaction and found Unisys to be very responsive to their needs.

• References stated that Unisys's flexibility enables them to evolve their business models without concerns of being locked into a specific area or solution. They added that Unisys's strong global footprint enables them to meet their changing geographic coverage and business requirements.

• Unisys is standardizing its processes and methodologies, but not as quickly as clients would like. This is the result of Unisys's size. The standardization process has also slowed as a result of it restructuring its business 18 to 24 months ago, with its focus returning to profitability. As the Unisys HVDS solution is in its early days, Gartner recommends that clients considering its HVDS technology and other cloud-based computing solutions should rigorously check references to ensure that Unisys's solutions are viable.

• Client references said that improving its transition capabilities would enable Unisys to minimize service disruption and deliver added value to their businesses faster.

• Some references stated that the occasional use of multiple suppliers/subcontractors hampered Unisys from managing the contract as seamlessly as clients would like, because decisions were not always within the local team's control or capabilities. Gartner recommends that clients include meeting requirements and action plans with associated financial penalties in the contract to gain formal access to senior leadership.

Wipro aims to build a set of desktop services and resources that meet clients' business-driven service levels, continue enhancing desktop skill sets, and deliver PC as a service. A wider support portfolio drives Wipro's solution approach to desktop services. This portfolio includes traditional and contemporary IT devices, "use-and-throw devices," new delivery models (such as cloud computing and pay-per-use models), and new technologies (such as virtualization).

• Although Wipro is positioned as a challenger in this year's Magic Quadrant, its North American desktop services revenue base of about $90 million and its investments in implementing new desktop solutions, such as virtual desktop for clients and PC as a service, are positioning Wipro to become a substantial force in the market.

• Reference checks showed that Wipro has a high customer satisfaction rate, an ability to escalate problems and quickly resolve the most challenging ones, and the flexibility to meet its clients' needs without a drawn out contract change process.

• In addition, references indicated that Wipro manages its desktop services solution very effectively and ensures that clients can access required resources relatively easily.

• Several client references noted inconsistencies in Wipro's process and methodology standardization. This has prompted Gartner to advise Wipro clients to detail processes and methodologies for the delivery of the desktop services solution in the contract.

• Many references indicated that they did not have penalties for non-performance and a few indicated that performance to service levels was occasionally a problem. Gartner recommends building a performance-based contract that includes an appropriate incentive and penalty contract structure.

• Although references indicated that access to skilled resources was appropriate, some references indicated that staff turnover ratio was high. Gartner recommends that clients use performance-based service levels to keep employee turnover in check.