Capgemini offers test-and-dev as a service

Capgemini has flagged its intention to offer customers a path toward consuming IT as a service, dipping its toes in the water in a deal with HarbourMSP and HP that offers an application testing environment as a service.

The service builds on a long-standing relationship between systems integrator Capgemini and  hosting provider HarbourMSP for the provision of managed IT services.

Under the deal, Capgemini customers can gain access to a test and dev environment running the Nu Solutions testing software (acquired by Capgemini in September 2009) running on HP hardware, hosted on HarbourMSP racks and delivered over the network.

Deepak Nangia, Capgemini Australia's managing director of new business told iTnews that the service would be applicable to "those customers that don't have capital for the boxes" required for test and dev.

Nangia said that due to the immaturity of the cloud market, the service is only offered to Capgemini customers "on a case by case basis".

Capgemini Australia is also reselling an online procurement engine called IBX, hosted out of Sweden, which Capgemini (global) acquired in February.

Beyond these two initial services, Capgemini has established a new business unit called "Infostructure Transformation Services" which charges consulting fees for providing advice to those customers migrating services to the cloud.

Capgemini's heritage in Australia is in consulting - upon acquiring the Australian operations of Ernst and Young, consulting made up some 60 percent of the company's operations.

Today, consulting makes up around 25 percent of its business, as the company has scaled up its technology implementation and outsourcing services.

The company's outsourcing division runs a business process outsourcing centre out of Adelaide plus application development and maintenance out of India and China; while its technology division runs implementation services around ERP suites from the likes of Oracle and Sun.

"All customers tell us is that they want to convert their CapEx to OpEx, but they don't know how to get there," Nangia told iTnews.

These consulting services will "work out a transformation roadmap to move some applications and services to the cloud," he said. The consultants will help customers identify "which are the cloud-friendly services" versus those that "are likely to get a backlash from the business."