2025 IT Sourcing Study – France
The 2025 French IT Sourcing Study, conducted in collaboration with Timspirit, is the most comprehensive analysis of IT service and cloud platform provider performance in France. Based on input from more than 200 of the country’s largest IT spending organisations, the study evaluates over 700 unique IT sourcing relationships and more than 650 cloud platform relationships.
Close to one in four organisations plan to outsource more.
In 2025, 22% of respondents plan to allocate more of their IT budget to external providers over the next two years. In contrast, 26% expect to reduce spending on external providers—an eight-percentage-point increase. Meanwhile, 36% anticipate no change, while 16% remain unsure. The increase in insourcing is most pronounced in the financial services sector, where 23% plan to increase internal delivery, almost double the 12% reported last year.
Core business focus and cost savings drive outsourcing.
The leading reason organisations plan to increase spending on external providers is to focus more on core business operations (60%). Cost reduction (56%) also remains a key motivator, while financial flexibility enters the top three for the first time with 42%.
Widespread AI investment expected.
84% of organisations plan to increase their AI-related investments over the next two to three years. Of these, 33% anticipate a significant increase and 51% foresee a moderate rise. Key obstacles to wider AI adoption include data quality challenges (49%), compliance concerns (46%) and integration with existing systems (42%).
Significant AI Investment
33%
Moderate AI Investment
51%
Cost efficiency is the leading driver of insourcing.
Twenty-six percent of respondents plan to reduce spending on external providers over the next two years. By far, the primary motivation is the perceived financial benefit of insourcing (60%), followed by expectations of improved quality and smoother business transformation (both 34%).
AI adoption accelerates, but business transformation remains limited.
AI adoption is increasing rapidly. Only 2% of respondents report that they are not using AI or generative AI tools, down significantly from 19% last year. Most organisations (42%) are using widely available tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, while 11% are experimenting with internally developed AI solutions that are not yet fully implemented. Despite this growing adoption, only 17% of respondents see a significant or transformative effect of their own GenAI solutions on their business operations.
Significant or Transformative Business Impact
17%
Captive centres show modest but rising momentum.
17% of organisations with captive centres plan to expand their usage, reflecting growing confidence in the model’s strategic value. A further 6% of organisations are considering establishing a captive centre within two years, signalling continued momentum for in-house delivery capabilities.
Sovereign IT influences strategy, but impact remains limited.
Fifty-one percent of respondents report that sovereign IT has had a significant impact on their overall IT strategy. Despite this influence, one-third of organisations plan no changes to their use of public cloud hyperscalers. Meanwhile, 23% anticipate increasing their use of hyperscalers, reflecting continued confidence in large public cloud platforms, while only 6% plan reductions. Only 11% plan to significantly expand their European private or insourced data centres, while 25% report no current use and no plans to start.
Limited awareness constrains sovereign cloud adoption.
Awareness of ‘sovereign’ cloud offerings remains low: 60% of respondents are uncertain about available solutions, and only 16% consider existing platforms fit for purpose. Nonetheless, 23% already have initiatives underway, while 33% plan action within the next two years. Meanwhile, 31% currently have no plans, reflecting a cautious, long-term approach to adoption.
Satisfaction remains stable, but competition intensifies.
This year’s ranking includes 34 providers, with AT&T, BT, LTIMindtree, and Persistent as new entrants.
TCS, EY, and Persistent lead in general satisfaction at 80%, just ahead of Orange Cyberdefense at 79%. The average satisfaction dropped by one percentage point to 74%. Competition has intensified: the top 10 providers are now separated by only two percentage points, down from seven last year.
General Satisfaction (Exceptional Performers)
Exceptional Performers
Eleven service providers have achieved Exceptional Performer status in one or more IT service towers, with satisfaction scores exceeding the market average and above the standard deviation:
• Application Services: EY, Persistent and TCS
• Cloud & Infrastructure Services: Fujitsu, HCLTech, Kyndryl and Sopra Steria
• Workplace Services: Computacenter, Fujitsu and TCS
• Network & Connectivity: Orange Business, TCS and Verizon
• Security Services: Orange Cyberdefense
• General Satisfaction: EY, Orange Cyberdefense, Persistent and TCS
Insufficient value for money is the top weakness among service providers.
The top weakness reported by respondents is that service providers do not provide enough value for money (32%), signalling growing pressure on providers to deliver clearer ROI, stronger outcomes, and more efficient delivery models. Other notable issues include providers not challenging clients enough (30%) and the use of inexperienced resources (27%).
GCP, AWS and ServiceNow lead cloud platform satisfaction.
Among the 675 cloud platform relationships evaluated, 53% were rated “satisfied” or “very satisfied,” notably lower than IT service provider satisfaction (65%). GCP and AWS top the infrastructure cloud ranking with satisfaction scores of 73%, while ServiceNow leads the software cloud category with 74%.
IaaS/PaaS
SaaS
2025 Final Report – France
Whitelane’s final report offers key insights into IT sourcing and governance trends, featuring rankings of IT service providers across five IT service towers and five key performance indicators (KPIs). It also includes rankings of the leading cloud platform providers for both IaaS/PaaS and SaaS. For more information, contact info(@)whitelane.com (available in French and English).
