Accenture's federal services business has been awarded a five-year, $50 million blanket purchase agreement by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to operate, maintain and modernize the agency’s financial management systems (FMS) for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). “We are proud to support USPTO," said Rasha Nahas, managing director and the U.S. Department of Commerce lead for Accenture Federal Services.

TYSONS CORNER, VA, December 28, 2020 — The federal arm of Accenture (NYSE: ACN) will provide consulting services for the Department of the Navy's strategy to transform enterprise information technology and management processes under a five-year, $38M contract, ExecutiveGov reported Dec. 16.

Accenture’s federal arm and Appian have teamed up to help defense and civilian agencies simplify the acquisition process with the use of low-code automation technology. Accenture Federal Services is working on delivery accelerators to update Appian’s suite of Acquisition Solutions designed to simplify the procurement process in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) has awarded Accenture Federal Services (AFS) a five-year blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to modernize the client case-management system of the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services (PPS) System. Under the BPA, AFS will help the AOUSC design, integrate, deploy and support a secure cloud-based client case-management system on a software-as-a-service platform.

Accenture has nominated Beth Mooney, former KeyCorp CEO, for election to the board of directors at the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders on Feb. 3, 2021. “Beth brings exceptionally deep knowledge of the financial services industry from her 40-year career in banking, as well as a valuable perspective from her service on the boards of other large, global public companies,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture’s CEO.

Ryan Oakes, senior managing director for strategy and consulting for Accenture’s global public service segment, has said that agencies should consider implementing permanent approaches to access management in a post-pandemic environment.

Accenture’s federal arm will develop a platform to automate Thrift Savings Plan processes, offer electronic signature capabilities and help TSP users access services through phone, email, virtual assistant and other channels under a contract with the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. The Recordkeeping Services Acquisition contract awarded to Accenture Federal Services has a transition period of 18 months and four, three-year option terms.

Kyle Michl, chief innovation officer (CINO) and the defense technology account lead with Accenture Federal Services, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz regarding innovation across the commercial and federal sectors, common challenges he sees, and what he’s looking forward to in his new role announced in Sept. 2020. 

Accenture and ServiceNow have partnered under a five-year, multi-million dollar agreement to create a new business group to advance digital transformation that mitigates operational challenges. “By further strengthening our strategic alliance with ServiceNow, we will enable our clients to more quickly embrace change,” said Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture. “With a move to the cloud, they can reimagine their operations, reskill their employees, and become more sustainable.”

Accenture announced Monday the release of its 2020 Cyber Threatscape Report. Drawing upon the company’s cyber threat intelligence (CTI) capabilities, the report has analyzed the tactics, techniques and procedures of sophisticated cyber adversaries, as well as projected how threats will evolve. we’ve seen a wide range of cyber adversaries changing their tactics to take advantage of new vulnerabilities,” said Josh Ray.

Accenture has launched a new brand campaign, “Let there be change,” and a purpose that will help clients change business strategy to create more value, the company announced Wednesday. Accenture’s campaign will increase the company’s annual media spend to $90 million. “In this moment, to emerge stronger there is only one choice: embrace change and ensure that it benefits all,” said Accenture CEO Julie Sweet.

Accenture has launched a platform to help government agencies and health care institutions plan and manage COVID-19 vaccination programs and related communication and distribution efforts.

Accenture has formed Accenture Cloud First under a three-year, $3 billion investment. The division will help clients accelerate digital transformation to increase speed and scale. Accenture has appointed Karthik Narain to lead Accenture Cloud First and join the Global Management Committee, effective October 1. Accenture Cloud First is a multi-service group of 70,000 cloud professionals that will leverage Accenture’s industry and technology capabilities and ecosystem partnerships.

George Franz and Kristen Vaughan of Accenture Federal Services wrote in a joint opinion piece published Wednesday on C4ISRNET that there are four steps that could help Department of Defense organizations advance workforce development to improve their cyber resilience and one is assessing the talent they will need in the next five years.

Gus Hunt, managing director and cyber strategy lead at Accenture’s federal services arm, has said that agencies need senior leadership and stakeholder coordination to properly execute zero-trust implementation and improve cyber resilience.