This week, Everest Group published its latest ranking of top IT service providers. Contrary to what might have been expected, IT powerhouses such as IBM and HP did not top the list. Instead, New Jersey-based Cognizant took the crown followed by Accenture and, coming in third place, IBM.

In the ranking, companies are evaluated on 26 different categories such as key business lines, geographies and technology. For each of the 26, Everest Group ranks service providers on a scale from aspirants to leaders. These individual category scores are then weighted and consolidated into an overall score.

The Group’s practice director declared that the results came as something of a surprise to Everest. According to Abhishek Singh, the consultancy had believed Accenture to be 2015’s IT leader followed by IBM at number two.

“But as we began to consolidate and analyse the data, it was clear that Cognizant had upped their game by way of year-on-year growth. That’s what landed them on top. Cognizant had a star performer rating in five areas,” Mr Singh revealed.

Top 10 IT Service Providers of the Year

1. Cognizant

2. Accenture

3. IBM

4. TCS

5. Wipro

6. HCL

7. Dell

8. Infosys

9. Capgemini (& IGATE)

10. CSC

This year, Everest changed its scoring methodology to increase the emphasis placed on innovation, intellectual property and emerging technology capabilities.

The ranking also relies on market success measures such as revenue growth, deals won and renewed, and margins generated.

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Related: Cognizant gains more new business in 2015 than Wipro, TCS and Infosys combined