Cap Gemini to Offer Social Media Analytical Services on Startups Boom

Cap Gemini SA (CAP) will begin offering a service to analyze social media activity, pushing into an area of information technology increasingly targeted by start-ups.

The Paris-based computer services company will partner with Attensity, a provider of social-media monitoring software, it said in an e-mailed statement. The service builds on a pilot project already in use with 20 customers.

Information technology firms are looking for an edge in helping clients make the most of services like Facebook and Twitter as nimbler start-ups offer their own competing solutions. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the world’s largest technology services company, earlier this year opened a new division devoted to helping clients develop social media marketing.

Spending on social software that supports sales, marketing, and customer service will exceed $1 billion worldwide next year, according to researcher Gartner Inc. Such software helps businesses track trends and respond to criticism or praise online.

For IT companies, social media is one of a number of new business areas being targeted to offset dependence on slower- growing traditional computer services. Both Cap Gemini and French rival Atos SA have begun pushes into energy management, with the latter setting up a new division.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Campbell in Paris at mcampbell39@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net