Virtusa fires China/tech giant domination warning

By 2025, 80% of all digital services will be delivered through a handful of core platforms, with tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent monopolising entire industries, according to Virtusa.

In the UK and the US, we’ve seen the impact that Amazon, Google and Facebook have had on industries such as retail, media and communications. However, Virtusa believes this is just the beginning. Chinese companies like Alibaba and Tencent are preparing to bring cross-industry disruption to the west, transforming the way business is conducted and reshaping long-established business models in one fell swoop. In fact, they are way ahead of UK firms, with the likes of BAT perfecting a new, horizontal business model. BAT has brought together products and services from a range of adjacent industries with one ultimate aim – the ability to own and monetise all facets of a consumer’s lifestyle choices.

“In the new digital economy, intuitiveness is king – something BAT does better than anyone,” says Raj Rajgopal, President of Virtusa’s Digital Strategy Group and Head of its China Insights Group. “Customers – especially Millennials – don’t care who fulfills their order or delivers them a service. They don’t need to have a dedicated banking or telco provider, they’re perfectly happy to bank via a social media app if it works intuitively."

"BAT has extended this logic across all industries, and the success of these firms has been demonstrated by an astonishing 50% growth rate year-on-year. Their platform users can now deal with one company that can facilitate all their needs, from transport, to entertainment, to financial services – and BAT is still moving into new sectors. Firms are waking up to a world where the economy is being built around platforms, where only the fulfillment of a product or service will matter, not who fulfills it – a realisation that should serve as a wake up to all specialist businesses in the UK.” 

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