Accenture leans forward with Agilex deal

The acquisition of Agilex by Accenture Federal Services will be a game changer, according to the executive who will lead the combined companies.

David Moskovitz, CEO of Accenture Federal said that two companies have worked together on projects at Veterans Affairs and with public safety customers. “We’ve gone to market with them and we’ve come to understand their unique capabilities,” he said in an interview with Washington Technology.

Accenture announced Monday morning that it was acquiring Agilex for an undisclosed amount.

Agilex’s unique capabilities were described as “digital capabilities” in Accenture’s press release and by Moskovitz during our interview.

“It’s the convergence of cloud, mobility, analytics, big data and the next generation of portals and how citizens interact with government,” Moskovitz said in describing what digital capabilities mean. For example, citizens expect to be able to access government services via mobile devices and more agencies are looking to add that kind of citizen service.

“More are looking to leverage next-generation portals and the cloud lets you do that in a more efficient and scalable way,” he said.

Those kinds of capabilities are increasingly in demand by government agencies who want to leverage technologies such as Agile development, the cloud and mobility to deliver better results for their mission, and it is something that Agilex is very good at.

“Agilex was founded to change to the way government uses technology,” Moskovitz said.

Accenture also was moving in this direction and the acquisition of Agilex accelerates that process, he said.

When Accenture learned that Agilex was looking at strategic options, “we were excited by the prospect,” Moskovitz said.

The addition helps Accenture differentiate itself from competitors. “The market is moving and you have to be differentiated so this is the right time to build out those capabilities with Agilex,” he said.

This is Accenture Federal’s first acquisition since 2013 when it acquired ASM Research, which is focused on the public sector health care market.

Both deals are examples of how Accenture is trying to “lean forward” and build capabilities where they think customer demand will be in the future, he said.

“From time to time we’ll see strategic tuck-ins that have capabilities that further our differentiation in the market,” Moskovitz said. “We saw that in ASM and we certainly see that with Agilex.”

The federal business’ strategy is very much in keeping with the strategy and outlook of the overall global Accenture business. “If the mission of Accenture is to change the way people work and live, then being part of the fabric of government and helping it solve its challenges has to be part of that,” he said.

Accenture Federal is performing well and making a difference in the market, so “there is a strong belief in the importance of serving the federal government,” Moskovitz said.

Once the deal closes – probably in April after regulatory review – Agilex will be integrated in the business and eventually the name will be phased out.

All of the senior Agilex management team is making the move to Accenture except for co-founder Jay Nussbaum and President John Gall. “We’re bringing the full management team over. They are fantastic,” Moskovitz said.

A major plus for Moskovitz is that there aren’t problems to fix at Agilex. “We are coming at this from a position of strength,” he said. “Both companies are growing so this is an opportunity to better position both companies and better serve the client.”

The companies also have a strong alignment of culture and values with a focus on delivering outcomes and results to the government client. “We really think there is something special here,” Moskovitz said.