American software vendor Pivotal has partnered with Accenture to launch a new business group focused on getting customers’ applications into cloud environments.

The Accenture Pivotal Business Group (APBG) will be operated and managed by Accenture, helping some of the world’s largest companies modernize their code and development processes using the Pivotal Cloud Foundry platform.

“Together we will help clients adopt cloud-native technology, build software at scale, and use an iterative, high-speed model, enabling them to be more agile, disruptive and competitive,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology and innovation officer at Accenture.

Cloud-native

Pivotal Labs office in London
Pivotal Labs office in London – Pivotal

Pivotal is an independent enterprise software company, supported by investors including Ford, GE, Microsoft, Dell and VMware. Its chief product is Pivotal Cloud Foundry – a platform for cloud-based application development, based on the Cloud Foundry open source project.

But one of the most interesting parts of the business is actually Pivotal Labs, a training organization with more than 20 years of history and offices around the world that helps enterprise clients replace not just legacy code, but also legacy workflow and outdated development practices.

Pivotal Labs teaches large organizations to run their software development like a start-up, using DevOps, Linux containers, automation and pair programming. APBG will adopt this model, and bring it to a wider set of customers - the group has already signed up companies in the banking and insurance sectors.

Initially, Accenture and Pivotal will launch two APBG locations, one in Columbus, Ohio, and another in New York City. Further locations are expected to be announced in the future.

“The Accenture Pivotal Business Group’s vision is to help the world’s largest enterprises move at startup speed to respond to customer expectations and bring new ideas to market faster, “ said Rob Mee, CEO of Pivotal and co-founder of the Pivotal Labs.

“We will help clients continuously improve the software applications that run their businesses, freeing them to focus on higher-value aspects of their businesses while dramatically increasing developer productivity and operational efficiencies.”