In its recent Magic Quadrant for End-User Outsourcing Services report, Gartner acknowledged growing interest in the use of service providers to help businesses with IT processes. The report specifically looked at the popularity of outsourcing service desk, desktop, and mobility needs. While Gartner anticipates desktop support outsourcing will hold steady over the next few years, compound growth of 14 percent is expected between now and the year 2018 in the area of mobile device outsourcing.

Through its series of Magic Quadrant reports, Gartner seeks to provide insight into trends in the market. The unbiased report ranks vendors on two major qualities: completeness of vision and ability to execute. Within those two criteria, vendors are grouped into four quadrants based on their levels of innovation and depth of service.

Leaders

• CSC: This Virginia IT company provides end-user outsourcing services using MyWorkStyle, which gives businesses five work personas.
• IBM: With the goal of providing a virtualized workplace, IBM supports approximately 3.5 million end users.
• Unisys: In 2013, Unisys’s end-user outsourcing business grew 14 percent, with 2,275 desktop technicians supporting users.
• CompuCom: Based in Dallas, CompuCom has more than 600 defined personas and can pinpoint systems that need to be replaced before they become problematic.
• HP: Supporting more than 5.4 million users globally, HP offers everything from client virtualization to Context Analytics.
• Dell: Client solutions are tailored to meet their own specific needs, and the company plans to further customize its offerings by creating plans designed for larger clients.
• HCL Technologies: The India-based company uses remote delivery and automation to reduce the need for on-site technical support.
• Atos: This French IT services company provides a low-cost base price that lets clients add on services as needed.

Visionaries

• Fujitsu: The company’s Workplace Anywhere uses its own cloud and Citrix-based technology to provide support for both mobile and virtualization.
• Cognizant: With its monthly risk-free subscription, Cognizant has grown significantly.

Challengers

• Xerox: The Connecticut company takes a service catalog approach for its document management offerings.
• Pomeroy: The company has an emphasis on mobile, supporting four mobile devices for every 10 PCs.
• Wipro: This India-based company is expected to boost its end-user outsourcing performance in the next few years.

Niche Players

• CGI: The Montreal company hosted a technology trial and 140-day review in order to give customers a chance to try out its hosted virtual desktop service.
• Stefanini: This Brazilian company encourages performance improvements through rewarding employees for any savings it can bring to clients.
• Long View Systems: This Calgary-based firm has a focus on mobile technology, rebadging employees to other companies when needed.
• C3i: C3i focuses on the life science industry, providing support for labs and medical facilities.
• Maintech: Clients benefit from training through Maintech’s IT Infrastructure Library.