Consulting, technology and outsourcing services group, Capgemini Australia is aiming to double its domestic workforce within 24 months.
The company most recently acquired Australian software testing company, Nu Solutions, in a multi-million dollar deal designed to bolster Capgemini’s position in the managed testing services market.
Capgemini Australia CEO Paul Thorley, said it was already picking up 20 staff per month to add to its existing 750 but could look to a targeted acquisition to speed up the growth curve.
"We are looking organically to double over the next two years. If we are going to accelerate that it is going to be a selective acquisition like the one recently announced in Nu Solutions, which is a testing player," Thorley said. "Without naming names, it will be in those areas we can see the demand.
"We do see over the next two years by bringing on 20 people a month and doing the maths, if we can maintain that growth or slightly better organically, we can get the doubling. We are looking for a slightly bigger lift in the offshore growth as we get these mixed onshore and offshore opportunities."
In April the company announced a restructuring of its operations with the technology and architecture practice being married to the business consulting group. The resulting hybrid skillsets obtained by the workforce is a key focus for Capgemini in its core markets of finance, telecommunications, energy providers, and the public sector, particularly during what it sees as a market uptick.
"I think we have seen a pick up in the second half of the year, it has been a powerful pick up," Thorley said. "I am sure the Government stimulus plus the fact there was some isolation from the banking sector over here has allowed the Australian economy to avoid technical recession and that has given super confidence to the Government they are doing the right things and that has had a knock on effect."
Despite challenges in generating awareness and market interest, Capgemini is also taking a big punt on the testing services market with the Nu Solutions acquisition a clear signal of its intentions.
"We do see testing services as a bit of an untapped market in that we see managed testing services as a type of outsourcing arrangement to be at the early part of the lifecycle or maturity," he said. "I think it has been one of those things, even though it has been 25 or 35 per cent of the cost of putting a system in, that people have said they would get to eventually. But, it should be done right at the beginning, right at the get-go. Also, there is an opportunity for savings and quality while underwriting the timeline. So, it has all three; the triple whammy, almost, of benefits."
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