WITCH* Team Is Next?

10 years ago, perhaps even 5 years ago, we would not have expected a football team, even those as big and successful as Chelsea and Manchester United, to need a digital strategy. And if they did, we would have expected the partner they chose to execute the strategy to be Accenture, IBM, Capgemini or one of the other global/European firms.

However, this month we have seen HCL, Infosys and Wipro all sign alliances with large sports organizations. HCL and Wipro signed “digital” alliances with football giants Manchester United and Chelsea, and Infosys signed perhaps a more conventional IT contract and sponsorship deal with the ATP World Tour.

Alliances between IT service providers and the world of sport are not new:

• IBM supports tennis tournaments around the world
• Dell supports the world golf championships, Match Play
• Accenture is the official technology partner for the rugby RBS 6 Nations Championship
• EY is the Official Business Advisor of Rugby World Cup 2015
• Atos continues to the be the technology partner of choice for the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

These new deals are different, though. They demonstrate how businesses are changing the way they interact with stakeholders—particularly when the stakeholders are unusually fickle sports fans. These organizations need to find ways to engage with their fans and supporters, partly as the fan expectations have been raised, but also as a way to retain interest, make some additional revenue and answer the difficult challenge of giving something back to this complex community. And they have to do each on all at the same time.

For the technology providers it is a no brainer. Aligning with such globally recognized brands increases the opportunities to showcase IT capabilities, especially in big data and security. This is particularly important for HCL, Infosys and Wipro, as they try to position themselves as higher value providers. This will give HCL the ultimate digital case study, if they can mine opportunity and enhance the intimacy of such a complex and varied group as Manchester United’s estimated 659 million fans.

The focus on digital services, including fast fail ideation is particularly interesting as it highlights the market’s readiness and increasing acceptance of this new way of working. Consumer-oriented industries are seeking value add digital service innovation from IT service providers to enhance the experience for the end-users.

Some sports, like Formula 1 motor racing, have always been technology heavy. The fact that leading football clubs are increasingly interested in technology, and digital in particular, demonstrates how ubiquitous digital has become. Today, any organization engaging with customers needs digital services.

HfS is diving deep into digital. See how we define digital services here: How HfS Defines Digital and take a look at all of our digital research here.

We expect more deals of this type to be announced before the year is out. Particularly, as football and other sports clubs are increasingly expected to engage with fans more effectively and pursue new revenue opportunities.

The only question left: Who’s next?

*WITCH: Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, HCL