Accenture is steadily expanding its capabilities in LATAM

In August 2022, Accenture made its 11^th acquisition in the LATAM region in the last five years when it acquired Tenbu, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Tenbu is a cloud data firm specializing in intelligent decision making and planning solutions through areas such as analytics, big data, and machine learning.

Even since Accenture announced its $3 billion Cloud First strategy in 2020, it has been on a cloudy acquisition spree. It acquired companies worldwide to rapidly increase its geographical reach, client portfolio, regional capabilities, and technology partnerships to build its Cloud Continuum capabilities. Cloud Continuum is the seamless integration of multiple cloud capabilities and services (including data centers, private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-clouds) supported by advanced connectivity such as 5G and software-defined networking (SDN) technology.

While “all things cloud” is a key piece of the strategy, a closer look at this acquisition reveals a distinct geographic angle. Enterprises looking to embrace the cloud in this region should note that Tenbu’s acquisition will bolster Accenture’s data and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and help realize business value across Cloud Continuum, bringing these enhanced capabilities to LATAM and leveraging the region as a nearshore development hub for North America.

A brief history of Accenture’s LATAM acquisitions shows concentration in Brazil and Argentina

These disciplined strategic acquisitions are a growth engine focusing on scaling the business in high-growth areas, adding skills and capabilities in new areas, and deepening industry and functional expertise. The acquisitions preceding Tenbu in Exhibit 1 enhanced Accenture’s capabilities in cloud and other facets of its regional strategy in Latin America.

Exhibit 1: Accenture’s acquisition recent history targets Latin America

Source: HFS Research, 2022

This strategy prioritizes two of the largest economies of South America; nine of Accenture’s eleven acquisitions were in Brazil and Argentina, feeding into the local market needs and increasing Accenture’s nearshore capabilities.

Tenbu adds to Accenture’s cloud capabilities in Brazil

Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the business world’s interest in investing in cloud technology has dramatically increased. For companies endeavoring to benefit from cloud technology’s potential, Accenture’s addition of Tenbu’s team provides data and AI expertise, industry depth, and repeatable innovation with cloud ecosystems to unlock the business value of data.

Tenbu’s staff includes more than 150 certifications and 170 data specialists, which will join Accenture’s Cloud First Data and AI team. Tenbu helps organizations in their cloud data journey by minimizing complexity, using disruptive technology, transforming talent, and inspiring its clients to use data creatively. It will further Accenture’s Cloud First mission (assisting clients across industries to unlock greater value at speed and scale) by expanding capabilities to use data from across the cloud continuum for making smarter, well-informed decisions, helping companies use talent, technology, and data to drive business transformations and boost new services, growth, and resilience.

The Bottom Line: By focusing on acquiring companies like Tenbu, Accenture is expanding its regional capabilities and offering best-of-breed solutions at scale to enterprises, exceeding what regional players can do on their own.

Fueled by accelerated cloud adoption and digitalization post the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America, Accenture is steadily increasing its presence in this region by inorganic growth. With these acquisitions Accenture is better equipped to provide data and cloud related services in terms of both skills and expertise to Latin American enterprises seeking modernization, furthermore it holds potential for enhanced nearshore capabilities.