Accenture ramps up development in cyber, sustainability and logistics

Accenture has negotiated extensive acquisition, investment and partnership deals this quarter, focusing on cybersecurity, sustainability and logistics ventures.

For the cybersecurity space, the firm struck collaboration deals with Immersive Labs, to launch Cyber Million - a program to bridge the cyber talent gap - and Google Cloud, expanding the relationship to accelerate the use of securityspecific generative AI.

A strategic investment in SpiderOak, a zerotrust cybersecurity and resiliency solutions firm, will advance solutions in satellite communications, ground station as-a-service, remote IoT device-to-Satellite data, Space R&D and earth observation data.

In the sustainability domain, an SAP partnership will bring immer- sive services to SAP BTP to improve supply chain resilience and sustainability and develop a sustainable trading partner network. A collaboration with Cervest, an AI-powered climate intelligence (CI) platform, looks to deliver on-demand access to historical, current and predictive views of combined climate risks.

The acquisition of Brazil-based sustainability consultancy, Green Domus, will offer measurable decarbonization strategies.

Accenture has also expanded a two-decade-old Blue Yonder partnership to provide resilient, responsive and sustainable supply chains. Additionally, the firm’s acquisition of Norwegian business consulting company, Einr AS, will accelerate retail and consumer electronics supply chain reinvention using SAP technologies.

Ibm Shows Steady Q1 Growth

IBM quarter one revenue hit $14.3bn, up 0.4 percent, while software revenues rose 2.6 percent to $5.9bn.

Consulting revenue was $5.0bn, up 2.8 percent but showing a deceleration from previously more robust US growth levels.

Infrastructure revenue was $3.1bn, down 3.7 percent. Financing revenue was $0.2bn, up 27.3 percent. Net cash from operating activities rose $0.5bn to $3.8bn.

Operating income saw $260m impact of the $300m costs from IBM’s 3,900 job cuts, 1.5 percent of its global workforce, back in January.

Cash and marketable securities were $17.6bn, up $8.8bn from Q4 ‘22.

Workday Appoints Rani Johnson As Cio

Workday has appointed Rani Johnson as chief information officer. In this role, Johnson will oversee the company’s global information technology organization, including the internal deployment of Workday products, go-tomarket applications and all other enterprise-wide IT systems. Johnson brings over 25 years of experience in diverse technology roles. Having begun her career at NASA Johnson Space Center, Johnson previously served as CIO at Cloud Software Group, TIBCO, SolarWinds and Lower Colorado River Authority