Accenture plc, the multinational management consulting and technology company based in Dublin today announced plans to acquire PCO Innovation – a leading international consulting and systems integration group located in Montreal.
PCO Innovation specializes in “product lifecycle management” (PLM) software technologies. Accenture said the acquisition will improve its ability to help clients organize, develop and manage new products and services throughout their lifecycle and bring them to market quicker.
Loosely, PLM is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies.
Accenture is a massive company- its net income in 2013 stands at 3.28 billion, while revenue comes in at $28.6 billion. The PCO Innovation acquisition wasn’t the only company occupying Accenture’s minds as well: today it also completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Vivere Brasil, a leading mortgage-processing technology company.
The acquisition apparently complements Accenture’s “deep industry capabilities and the full range of services it provides clients” in the design, building and management of systems and processes essential to driving large-scale PLM transformation programs.
“Our clients are shifting to global operating models and the complexity of their products and services is increasing,” said Accenture’s managing director, Sergio Colella “There is a greater demand to integrate product and service development processes across disciplines from innovation to manufacturing, supply chain and customer service. With the combined capabilities of PCO Innovation and Accenture, we improve our ability to address this fast- growing market which is core to our clients as they build their future offerings.”
PCO Innovation CEO Etienne Borgeat said that having established PCO Innovation as a leading independent PLM group, “we are pleased to be creating a market leader for end-to-end PLM services with Accenture, offering our clients an unparalleled set of solutions and services.”
Evidently on an acquisition spree, Accenture bought PRION Group earlier this year, a company that also specializes in PLM services. With the addition of PRION Group, Accenture said it has expanded its ability to help automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer goods, electronics and industrial equipment clients. PCO Innovation’s employees, assets and accelerators will support the expansion of Accenture’s end-to-end PLM business services.
Photo by La Presse