Turning Technology Into Business Value: The 2019 Solution Provider 500

Demand for the solutions the channel offers is at an all-time high, as this year’s Solution Provider 500 companies generated $381 billion in revenue—a 19 percent gain from 2018.

With the U.S. economy humming along and global IT spending at an all-time high, these are heady days for the channel.

Businesses are spending more for IT products and services— worldwide IT spending reached $3.75 trillion in 2018, up 4 percent from the year before, according to market research firm Gartner. Businesses large and small are on the hunt for everything from core IT infrastructure and software to leading-edge technologies like SD-WAN, the Internet of Things, and machine learning and artificial intelligence.

And that’s driving demand for the products and services offered by solution providers and strategic service providers that are critical to turning those technologies into business value.

The 2019 edition of the CRN Solution Provider 500 is the annual ranking of the largest solution providers by revenue in North America. This year’s Solution Provider 500 collectively accounted for more than $381 billion in revenue in 2018, a whopping 19 percent gain from the $319.9 billion generated by the companies on last year’s list, a clear sign of the key role the channel is playing in the IT industry today.

Most of the solution providers that have occupied the top rankings of the CRN Solution Provider 500 have held onto their positions in the 2019 edition of the list. IBM Global Services and Accenture remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. But DXC Technology, No. 10 last year, moved up to capture the No. 3 position.

“We continue to see strong demand for our digital solutions and we are helping clients leverage efficiency gains in their existing IT environment to reinvest in digital transformations,” said DXC President and CEO Mike Lawrie in November during the company’s second-quarter earnings announcement. Some of the company’s growth came from several strategic acquisitions including Argodesign, Molina Medicaid Solutions, TESM and BusinessNow.

Other channel giants that remain in the top 10 on this year’s Solution Provider 500 include Tata Consultancy Services, CDW, Cognizant, Capgemini and World Wide Technology.

The Solution Provider 500, however, is far from static as companies compete in the fast-moving IT industry. In addition to IT industry growth and the opportunities provided by new technologies, the channel itself continues to evolve as solution providers transform their business models to meet the requirements necessary for digital transformation.

Some companies, through organic growth, acquisitions or both, made impressive gains on this year’s list.

Joining DXC among those moving up in the rankings is CGI, which surged from No. 16 last year to No. 11 on this year’s list, and General Dynamics Information Technology, which moved into the No. 12 slot from No. 14 last year. SS&C surged to No. 21 on this year’s list from No. 29 last year, with much of that gain due to its acquisitions of DST Systems, Intralinks and Eze Software.

Sirius Computer Solutions, previously No. 24, moved up to No. 22 on this year’s list thanks to its blockbuster acquisition of Forsythe Technology in May 2018.

And Trace3, which merged with Data Strategy, jumped from No. 54 last year to No. 40 on this year’s list. This year’s Solution Provider 500 list also features a number of newcomers.

Conduent, the business process services company spun off from Xerox, debuted at No. 17. And Perspecta, the public sector IT services giant created through the combination of Vencore Holding Corp., KeyPoint Government Solutions and DXC Technology’s spun-off U.S. public sector business, joined the Solution Provider 500 at No. 25.