Accenture acquires IT procurement specialist ClearEdge Partners

Accenture has acquired ClearEdge Partners, a Boston area-based consulting firm focusing on technology procurement spend management.

With digital transformation driving ballooning budgets, IT spending is projected to jump 8.4% from last year to $4.1 trillion by the end of 2021, according to Gartner. High demand, new business models, unclear governance, high switching costs, and subscription-based models only add fuel to spiraling IT bills.

Companies, however, have significant room to optimize their IT budgets, with Accenture estimating that 30% of value from IT spending gets lost in licensing complexity and a lack of spending controls.

In this environment, ClearEdge’s specialty consulting expertise has taken on added importance. Founded in 2006 by a team of senior sales executives from large IT suppliers, the firm helps companies manage leverage and maximize negotiating strength throughout the lifecycle of supplier relationships to save money on legacy spending and redirect funds to IT modernization and cloud transformation.ClearEdge’s services include leverage management, software asset management, contract risk management, third-party labor spend optimization, transaction management, and maintenance cost reduction. The firm has area expertise in software, public cloud, hardware, IT services, and telecom.

Accenture will add ClearEdge’s approximately 100 employees to its operations business, which helps clients optimize finance operations, sourcing and procurement, supply chain, sales and marketing, and talent and HR, among other areas.

“While the pandemic accelerated the speed of digital adoption, organizations are now at an inflection point where sustaining growth will be defined by those that create value faster and maximize the impact of those investments,” said Manish Sharma, group chief executive of Accenture Operations. “We’re delighted to welcome ClearEdge to our team, adding significant IT category expertise to our procurement business while extending our ability to deliver value for clients.”

Jack Garrahan, co-founder and chief executive officer of ClearEdge, added, “Since starting ClearEdge 15 years ago, we’ve built unrivaled expertise and capabilities for helping clients maximize the value of their digital transformation spend. Together with Accenture, our shared vision of the future and combined capabilities will accelerate our ambition and enable us to have an even bigger impact.”

Accenture is one of the largest management and technology consulting firms, with 624,000 people in 120+ countries and $50.53 billion in annual revenue.

The Dublin-headquartered firm earlier this year acquired Blue Horseshoe, an Indianapolis area-based firm specializing in supply chain technology consulting.