We will review the critical differentiating criteria of a number of selected DBSPs chosen as a representative sample of the most common types of DBSPs a newcomer to the space may face. However, to help us understand the selection process, we need to get a handle on the DBSP space, and the companies that inhabit it. As a cautionary note, however, there are many facets, hybrids, and fringe areas, and any coarse characterization is of course subject to value judgments.
Unlike product selections, service comparisons depend on reference information provided by vendors and their clients, and are subject to value judgments and specific engagement situations. This is perhaps one of the hardest aspects of comparing vendors. However, there are many aspects that are not so soft which we can deal with, and provide measures of vendor capabilities and performance. We will also attempt here to map out the core corporate players and player types.
A Brief Market Overview
We are concerned here with DBSPs who enable business capabilities within digitally networked environments. This not only includes e-business operations on the web, but can also refer to intranet development capabilities (B2E for example), and government-to-consumer or citizen or other government etc. We have adopted the generic term Digital Business Service Provider or DBSP as the a way of describing the area, and reserved e-business service provider for profit taking companies building out digital capabilities to sell and buy over electronic networks.
From our research, there a number of flavors of DBSPs arising historically from advances in computer and network technologies. Briefly, the main DBSPs arose from seven sources:
1. Legacy/Traditional Consulting Houses, which arose from the evolution of commercial uses of computer technologies from the late 1950's to the mid 1970's. Deloitte represents the traditional consulting houses, with EDS and CSC as representative of systems engineering companies that came out of that time.
2. Network Consultants arose to service rising computer network needs during the 1980's. Lante and Proxicom are examples of this genre.
3. Systems Integrators from the mid 1970's to mid 1990's evolved to meet the needs of tying together systems and products as generic products appeared in the marketplace, chiefly financial, MRP and technical systems. EDS, begun in 1963, moved rapidly to become a major systems integrator of the day. Osprey, a latecomer to this market, started in 1993.
4. Product Centric service branches were established in the 80's and early 90's out of product developers such as Oracle and IBM. These companies developed services around their products as a means to symbiotically cross-sell products and services.
5. Website Creators and Designers (Creatives / Early Pure Plays) stepped out in the early to mid 1990's as the early Internet began to show promise for business. Businesses migrated from teletext bulletin boards and created websites to do business in the new medium. Razorfish, Agency.com, and later Organic typify these technology driven creative organizations.
6. Advertising Agencies developed technology wings from the mid 1990's (or later in many cases), creating websites for special events such as the Women's World Soccer Championship or special ad campaigns. Companies such as DDB Needham and JWT moved into the site building business, incorporating their Fortune 1000 branding and marketing expertise.
7. Late Pure Play Service Providers evolved in the late 1990's dedicated to bringing businesses to the web. Dot-com's began their fantastic market ride at this time, giving these Pure Plays high revenue contributions - up to 50% or more of total revenue. However, since the dot-com meltdown, these DBSPs are turning to more traditional business partners. Scient, Sapient, Xcelerate are examples.
On the sidelines of the market are many fringe DBSPs offering services such as ASP, site hosting, and specialized services including language translation, educational systems, telecommunication services, advertising rich media, branding and marketing research to name but a few.
Unlike product selections, service comparisons depend on reference information provided by vendors and their clients, and are subject to value judgments and specific engagement situations. This is perhaps one of the hardest aspects of comparing vendors. However, there are many aspects that are not so soft which we can deal with, and provide measures of vendor capabilities and performance. We will also attempt here to map out the core corporate players and player types.
A Brief Market Overview
We are concerned here with DBSPs who enable business capabilities within digitally networked environments. This not only includes e-business operations on the web, but can also refer to intranet development capabilities (B2E for example), and government-to-consumer or citizen or other government etc. We have adopted the generic term Digital Business Service Provider or DBSP as the a way of describing the area, and reserved e-business service provider for profit taking companies building out digital capabilities to sell and buy over electronic networks.
From our research, there a number of flavors of DBSPs arising historically from advances in computer and network technologies. Briefly, the main DBSPs arose from seven sources:
1. Legacy/Traditional Consulting Houses, which arose from the evolution of commercial uses of computer technologies from the late 1950's to the mid 1970's. Deloitte represents the traditional consulting houses, with EDS and CSC as representative of systems engineering companies that came out of that time.
2. Network Consultants arose to service rising computer network needs during the 1980's. Lante and Proxicom are examples of this genre.
3. Systems Integrators from the mid 1970's to mid 1990's evolved to meet the needs of tying together systems and products as generic products appeared in the marketplace, chiefly financial, MRP and technical systems. EDS, begun in 1963, moved rapidly to become a major systems integrator of the day. Osprey, a latecomer to this market, started in 1993.
4. Product Centric service branches were established in the 80's and early 90's out of product developers such as Oracle and IBM. These companies developed services around their products as a means to symbiotically cross-sell products and services.
5. Website Creators and Designers (Creatives / Early Pure Plays) stepped out in the early to mid 1990's as the early Internet began to show promise for business. Businesses migrated from teletext bulletin boards and created websites to do business in the new medium. Razorfish, Agency.com, and later Organic typify these technology driven creative organizations.
6. Advertising Agencies developed technology wings from the mid 1990's (or later in many cases), creating websites for special events such as the Women's World Soccer Championship or special ad campaigns. Companies such as DDB Needham and JWT moved into the site building business, incorporating their Fortune 1000 branding and marketing expertise.
7. Late Pure Play Service Providers evolved in the late 1990's dedicated to bringing businesses to the web. Dot-com's began their fantastic market ride at this time, giving these Pure Plays high revenue contributions - up to 50% or more of total revenue. However, since the dot-com meltdown, these DBSPs are turning to more traditional business partners. Scient, Sapient, Xcelerate are examples.
On the sidelines of the market are many fringe DBSPs offering services such as ASP, site hosting, and specialized services including language translation, educational systems, telecommunication services, advertising rich media, branding and marketing research to name but a few.
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