Application modernization remains a critical priority for enterprises as they continue their journey to the cloud and beyond. While the “lift and shift” era of cloud migration has ended, the modernization journey continues. Many enterprises require assistance from external service providers, not only for the purpose of modernization but also for operational efficiency. In light of this, yesterday we released The Forrester Wave™: Application Modernization And Multicloud Managed Services, Q1 2025. We looked at the top 15 vendors in the market and evaluated them across 25 criteria.

This report represents a combination of two previously separate Wave evaluations, one covering application modernization and migration services and another covering multicloud managed services providers. Why did we combine them?

  • Customers increasingly conflate the build, modernize, and operate phases. The choice to modernize and operate is more often than not a combined decision. This means that customers prefer modernization and ongoing run services from a single provider, although in practice, philosophies differ. For example, some customers fear that affording such a broad span of control to a single provider gives too much power to that supplier. Others fear that end-to-end suppliers might optimize in the run side what they should have optimized on the build side. But overall, client references preferred a single supplier across modernize and run on a four-to-one basis.
  • AI/ML and generative AI (genAI) loom but remain a slow burn. Naturally, AI/ML and genAI have begun to influence the market: Most participants have built genAI-enabling platforms with which to accelerate results. Despite this, the overall impact remains muted, although it surely will have a significant impact across the entire range of modernization and multicloud managed services shortly.
  • Suppliers stress investments in IP, but customers yawn. Customers continue to give mixed reviews to suppliers for their ability to innovate and their pricing/contracting strategies. Moreover, despite suppliers’ efforts to brand their packaged IP in the form of accelerators and platforms, clients seldom see much value in them, pointing to a potential disconnect between client and supplier in terms of perception and recognition.

Customize The Wave Based On What You Care About

The meaning of these trends, taken together, raises the stakes on making the appropriate choice, or choices, in choosing application modernization and multicloud managed services provides. Proceed with care! Fortunately, Forrester clients can browse to this site and select “Help me find a vendor” and then select what they care about most in an application modernization and multicloud management services provider. The site will return a ranked list that aligns to their selected priorities. Forrester’s transparency policy — we detail the full criteria, scale explanations, and scores — allows us to offer an interactive experience to help inform the choices that our clients make about their providers.

Highlights From The Q1 2025 Wave

There are six Leaders in today’s market: Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Capgemini, HCLTech, and Cognizant. We found that Leaders in this market differentiate themselves by having:

  • The required scale and ability to provide end-to-end capabilities. Many types of suppliers of varying sizes deliver modernization services. Find the right supplier type for your needs. Increasingly, suppliers handle ongoing management of applications and data assets after modernizing them, rather than niche managed service providers. Look for suppliers that can provide both in the context of multicloud scenarios.
  • A strong, differentiating vision for application modernization that suits you. There is no singular vision for modernization and multicloud managed services that fits everyone. Look for suppliers with a distinguishing vision for application modernization that aligns with your journey. This may be technical- or business-oriented in nature (preferably both) and could be rooted in existing relationships with application management services suppliers or independent of them. Thus, it’s important to look past incumbency when evaluating alternatives. Staff augmentation on a time-and-materials basis still has its place, but many customers prefer to use opinionated suppliers for managed services that deliver business or technical outcomes.
  • The resources to invest in and make use of emerging technologies and practices. The landscape is shifting rapidly with the advent of genAI. The ability and will to invest in emerging technologies such as genAI will be key to establishing and maintaining future Leaders. Look past grandiose spending pronouncements to practical use cases and enabling IP. Evaluate suppliers that can deliver on genAI in the context of business and technology strategy. Although modernization practices are still diverse, look for use of modern practices such as platform engineering on the build/modernize side and site reliability engineering on the run side.

Another six vendors — IBM, Wipro, NTT DATA, EPAM, Deloitte, and Tech Mahindra — are Strong Performers, while LTIMindtree, Virtusa, and Mphasis are Contenders. Depending on your strategic goals, any of the participating suppliers (and a few others that did not qualify for Wave participation) are viable choices for your modernization and multicloud managed services needs. It’s about applying our research to your own specific business needs.

I recommend the following resources to learn more: