Sam Duncan is a Senior Research Analyst at HFS, based in Cambridge UK. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a degree in economics, throughout which he took a particular interest in macroeconomics, mainly how the evolution of technology accelerated globalization. Throughout his education he also spent some time studying law, accounting and investment management.
Since joining HFS, Sam has developed his understanding of blockchain and continues to explore the latest applications of the technology across a range of industries. He has applied his economics background to keep on top of the latest trends on the banking and financial services industry, and has taken a keen interest in insurance. On top of this he contributes to the HFS Market Index, a quarterly report which breaks down the performance and key events of the leading service providers throughout the previous quarter.
When he’s not keeping on top of the latest market developments, Sam enjoys playing for his local rugby club and can often be found sampling the produce of local breweries.
Musings from the Virtual Roundtable on Supply Chain Management COVID-19 shined a light on our supply chains and illuminated the cracks that have always existed. The pandemic shock created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for supply chain executives to do what we...
EXL’s data-led approach, combined with its domain expertise, has helped it achieve impressive growth in recent years, and it’s something we have discussed in our previous research. However, while this is a company-wide ethos, EXL is heavily focused on the...
It’s been almost a year since we were forced to leave our workplaces—we’re now veteran home-workers. For many businesses, this was a logistical challenge bigger than anything they’d ever faced: ensuring employees had sufficient IT equipment and transitioning the Monday...
The ongoing pandemic has completely transformed the world as we know it, and one of the most notable differences is the enhanced reliance on digital technologies. Be it the university students learning on Zoom and Teams, the small businesses shifting...
Blockchain has been on an upward trajectory for many years. More enterprises understand blockchain’s value, and engagements are finally reaching production. However, the upward trajectory changed course, thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent recession. Enterprises forced to introduce...
You may have already seen the recently released debut episode of HFS Unfiltered, which focused heavily on distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and featured industry veterans Mariana Gomez de la Villa (DLT Program Director at ING) and Rohit Amberker (Director of...
While it’s existed for decades, in recent years FinTechs have really taken the banking and financial services (BFS) industry by storm; endless start-ups have emerged to disrupt, challenge, augment and advance existing incumbent firms. Naturally, we’ve seen service providers work...
If you’re an avid reader of our research, you will have undoubtedly read the highlight report we published on EXL PayMentor. In it, we outlined EXL’s solution that aimed to collect debt faster and more efficiently. While maximizing process efficiency using tools like EXL PayMentor is always beneficial, it has become increasingly important...
Process intelligence has really picked up steam in recent months: enterprises of every shape and size are recognizing it as a crucial step in any process excellence or automation journey, and several technology venders have emerged to service their every...
This report provides: A look at the key events and activities that impacted the market over the last three months, including contracts/M&A. A list of major M&A activity for the quarter. Quarterly contracting signing analysis. A rundown of the quarterly...
These are truly uncertain times; the pandemic has completely transformed the world as we know it and demand trends continue to shift daily in an unpredictable fashion. This means pressure is really mounting on enterprises to constantly adapt if they...
HFS recently attended Mphasis’ Virtual Analyst and Advisor Day, which boasted 10 clients presenting and participating, to check in on how this dynamic mid-tier growth firm has been faring during this generally cruddy year. You may already know that the...
The HFS Hot Vendors are an exclusive group of emerging players, each with a differentiated value proposition for the Digital OneOfficeTM. HFS analysts speak with numerous exciting startups and emerging players. We designate a select group as the HFS Hot...
As the dust settles and we adjust to a world beyond the initial pandemic shock, one thing has become incredibly clear: enterprises cannot rely on legacy technologies and inefficient processes. Luckily for them, there’s a range of vendors waiting in...
Just a few years ago, Infosys was grappling with a leadership transition and ruthless media attention that called into question many company actions. Spin forward to now and the company has found itself in a remarkable period of stability where...
What this Top 10 Report covers HFS sees the emerging category of process intelligence as a key change agent technology, bridging the divide of siloed data, analytics, AI, and automation initiatives targeted at improving business operations. The 2020 HFS Top...
Infosys won a landmark deal with Vanguard, a global asset management firm for technology, operations management and optimization, and digital transformation of Vanguard’s defined contribution (DC) retirement record-keeping business. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, HFS estimates this...
If you’re satisfied with incremental advances in mortgage processing, read no further. Earlier this year, HFS wrote about how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and process automation help the mortgage industry digitize processes and streamline cost and cycle...
The COVID-19 outbreak will transform the world and shake every industry, including IT and business services. While many providers operate on multi-year contracts and can be confident of some continuing revenue, this commitment will likely leave many enterprises reluctant to...
If you’re new to the concept of process mining, I suggest you have a quick read of the informative 101 style introduction already on the HFS website, but if it’s something you're familiar with you're probably already wondering how you can leverage...
The COVID-19 outbreak transformed businesses; many closed their doors, while others slashed spending and preserved cash to help them ride this wave of uncertainty. Inevitably, a lack of enterprise spending will be concerning to almost every service provider that deals...
Enterprises are finally getting serious about blockchain. Enterprise blockchain adoption has gone from being overhyped to being a technology that delivers genuine business value, with many ridiculous proofs of concept rightfully abandoned. In candid conversations with enterprise clients, we have...
This report provides: A look at the key events and activities that impacted the market over the last three months, including contracts/M&A. A list of major M&A activity for the quarter. Quarterly contracting signing analysis. A rundown of the quarterly...
Demands shift faster than the weather in today’s world and technology evolves at a rapid pace, meaning incumbents are threatened by disruptors daily. This makes it more important than ever for firms to pivot their offerings to meet demand and...
There’s always an element of risk for any kind of lending, which is why financial institutions must have efficient debt collection processes. However, the effectiveness of first-party collections, those attempted in the first 90 – 120 days, is inconsistent, expensive,...
This report provides: A revenue performance review of the leading service providers during calendar 2019. A look at the key events and activities that impacted the market over the last three months, including contracts/M&A. A list of major M&A activity...
With employers scrambling to purchase IT equipment to facilitate remote working, households stockpiling toilet rolls, and manufacturers struggling to remain operational, global supply chains have never been under so much pressure. We all hope that normality will resume following the...
Technology and enterprise demands are advancing at such a rate that even the most established service providers are struggling to source the necessary talent. This is likely to worsen thanks to COVID-19, as many providers are thinking short-term (see Exhibit...
WHAT THIS REPORT COVERS Distributed ledger technologies, including blockchain, promises to fundamentally change and disrupt business models, potentially as significant as the internet itself. HFS recognizes blockchain as a Horizon 3 change agent for digital operations with significant value potential...
HFS has previously discussed how creaking IT systems and ongoing pressure from emerging mid-tier providers intensify competition for banking and financial services (BFS) deals. Exhibit 1 shows how BFS executives’ priorities differ from other industries when choosing an external service...
In the 10+ years since the global financial crisis, loads of regulations have been put in place to make mortgages safer for all involved. While mortgages in the US are now much less risky, the cost of mortgage origination has...
The HFS Hot Vendors are an exclusive group of emerging players, each with a differentiated value proposition for the Digital OneOfficeTM. HFS analysts speak with numerous exciting startups and emerging players. We designate a select group as the HFS Hot...
COVID-19 has been stealing global headlines in recent months, and for a good reason. The effects will be catastrophic, with ramifications beyond the obviously devastating human factor—the global economic fallout is front of mind. Business uncertainty is skyrocketing as countries...
The banking and financial services (BFS) industry desperately needs change—HFS analysts recently discussed how banks’ creaking IT is coming under the spotlight. Incumbents are running out of time to address their problems. Established service providers have an opportunity to offer...
Incumbent banks, the traditional and often brick-and-mortar brands that have dominated banking for decades, have been threatened for some time that they’ll fall at the hands of challenger banks. The emergence of Monzo, Revolut, Starling Bank, and many more have...
Phil Fersht recently had a candid conversation with Mohit Joshi, President, Infosys, about his views on the banking sector and the future of Infosys and the market as a whole. Mohit openly admits that he had little knowledge of the technology...
Phil Fersht recently had a candid conversation with Mohit Joshi, President, Infosys, about his views on the banking sector and the future of Infosys and the market as a whole. Mohit openly admits that he had little knowledge of the technology...
The HFS Hot Vendors are an exclusive group of emerging players with a differentiated value proposition for the Digital OneOffice. HFS analysts speak with numerous exciting start-ups and emerging players. We designate a select group as the HFS Hot Vendors...
This report provides a fast overview into the first wave of financial results from the main service companies covering the calendar Q4 2019 period. It provides • A revenue performance review of the leading service providers during calendar Q4...
Since the advent of blockchain, banking and financial services (BFS) has been one of the technology’s leading industries in terms of applications. Exhibit 1 leverages data from the HFS Blockchain Case Study Treasury, showing BFS as the most popular...
Globalization has allowed countries to specialize in producing the goods or services that offer them the lowest opportunity cost, meaning international trade is crucial for economic growth. Currently, Maersk reports that over $4 trillion of goods are shipped each year...
Where talent and infrastructure can be in short supply for enterprises, executives must think outside the box to develop their blockchain solutions while simultaneously driving new efficiencies and cost-savings for their firm. Piloting blockchain initiatives in partnership with academia can...
WHAT THIS TOP TEN REPORT COVERS The HFS Top 10 Insurance services report examines the role service providers play in the dynamic Insurance industry. We assessed and rated the Insurance-specific service capabilities of 19 service providers across a...
For years, blockchain has been labeled “a solution looking for a problem.” Combined with intense hype, it has been considered for every problem ranging from the world hunger crisis to the mystery of who left the office door unlocked last week. We’re finally seeing genuine applications for blockchain emerge to...
Despite the ongoing emergence of new nimble disruptors, incumbents in the banking and financial services (BFS) industry have remained unphased, continuing to operate on the same legacy systems, reassured by major barriers to entry in the market. However, defending against...
Technology is developing at an impressive pace, and with it, so is the amount of data we generate. Insurers must leverage this growing resource. Historically, valuing risk has been very difficult—it’s virtually impossible to assess each customer individually. But, by deploying IoT, insurers can significantly increase the amount of...
The internet of things (IoT) has already ingrained itself in businesses, homes, and people’s lives—from the humble smartwatch to advanced industrial sensors. However, one of the IoT’s biggest hurdles remains in existing 4G infrastructure. 4G may sufficiently power your Alexa home assistant, but powering an entire smart city becomes problematic when autonomous vehicles or augmented reality need ultra-low latency to succeed for consumers en masse. If enterprises...
Enterprises and service providers have perfected the traditional labor arbitrage model for sourcing technical talent. Outsourcing has been the core model for bringing in the skills and experience, enterprises need to tackle specific business objectives. However, the world is...
One of the major defining characteristics of the IT services market for the past decade has been traditional firms’ ability to reinvent themselves as digital. The challenges are myriad. First, the core IT business isn’t going anywhere; it’s an essential building block of the modern enterprise....
The insurance model leaves insurers with the burden of repair and replacement pay-outs—it’s a high-risk industry. Pressure on margins is increasingly making insurance a cut-throat game. Ultimately, some things can’t be helped, such as natural disasters, but as new...
The complexity of insurance means the claims process relies on efficient collaboration among a range of organizations and individuals. The chain of communication necessarily involves the customer and insurance provider—but it also involves other parties such as underwriters, brokers,...
We like to keep it simple at HFS Research. Despite lots of fun ways to carve up business outcomes into microcosmic key performance indicators, there are only four measures of success that matter: growing revenue, increasing profit, improving customer...
We seem to talk about innovation endlessly—it’s what we need to keep our customers or woo them from our rivals, and it’s our route to a low-cost nirvana or new revenue streams. But at its core, many enterprises and, indeed,...
The banking and financial services (BFS) market is big. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks Ranking for 2018 reports that total assets reached $124 trillion; the BFS industry’s extensive use of IT positions it as a large part of...
The insurance industry is ripe for disruption as consumers seek new and innovative ways to insure risk. While for many of the large carriers, basic digitalization is already enough of a headache, for those with a greater appetite for investment...
For years now, insurers have coasted with little to no impact from new and emerging technologies. However, the clock has run down—now’s the time to innovate. Customers finally understand the benefits of new technologies; many change agents are mature enough...
We’re moving away from the relentless political satire in recent weeks (Hey, we’re only human!). We recently caught sight of an animated discussion on the future of Facebook’s new cryptocurrency at a local bowling alley. HFS’...
By now, we all know that the ever-accelerating evolution of technology means new waves of talent are in constant demand. This relentless shifting of the labor market has created a generation of workers who are exploiting the disequilibrium to...
If there’s one thing that’s clear, the gig economy has hit global markets with force. While the recent Uber IPO and the subsequent protests from drivers are still in the headlines, the reality is that gig work is far from...
We have a serious issue with the provenance of genuine pharmaceuticals—counterfeit medications regularly appear in the market, with 10% of medical products circulating in low- and middle-income countries found to be substandard or falsified. But the problems don’t conveniently stop...
Cybersecurity doesn’t immediately spring to mind when you think of 3D printing, but any enterprise hoping to adopt it at scale must make security a critical, integrated priority. The interconnectivity of devices combined with the concept of printing from a...
Healthcare providers are under constant pressure to improve patient experiences, and many believe they can achieve this through value-based healthcare—a model where providers’ revenue is dependent on patient outcomes. Unfortunately for providers, the current structure of the industry means...
The cybersecurity space is a complex yet predictable headline generator for mainstream media. Enterprises are pushing their cybersecurity harder than ever to ensure they aren’t the ones that are caught out—a boon for cybersecurity giants such as Palo Alto Networks,...
This report provides: A revenue performance review of the leading service providers during calendar 2018. An update of HFS' top line market forecast. A look at the key events and activities that impacted the market over the last three...
The energy and utility market has a long history of disruption, such as the emergence of digital technologies like smart meters and ever evolving energy trends which have culminated in a complex market environment riddled with inefficiencies. Huge barriers to...
The emergence of renewable energy and a much greater awareness of fossil fuels’ negative environmental effect have combined to give enterprises a strong social impact and competitive advantage to communicate their use of renewable energy sources. However being able to...
High street banks, you have a problem! Customers are demanding new ways to access and interact with their finances – if they don’t get it from you, they will from someone else. In fact, 59% of banking customers report they...
Over two years have passed since Mphasis moved out of HP’s shadow thanks to a record buyout from private equity firm The Blackstone Group. The prominent hire in January 2017 of CEO Nitin Rakesh has had made an impressive impact...
Agribusiness is a formidable economic force. The UN estimates that agriculture uses approximately 11% of the world’s land, but in more developed economies like the UK, the figure is nearing 70%. Yet this may still not be enough. University of...
The healthcare industry faces a seemingly endless and escalating range of challenges, ranging from an inability to cope with demand, constant political fights that never seem to get resolved, funding restrictions to data security and sharing knowledge in a specialized...
