March 03, 2015

Accenture to Help Q’Max Solutions Drive Growth Strategy with New Digital Technologies, Strategic Sourcing and More Efficient Corporate Functions

HOUSTON; March 3, 2015 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced today a two-year agreement to provide Q’Max Solutions Inc., an independent, privately-owned oilfield services company, with strategy and management consulting services, digital technology and systems integration work to help Q’Max better execute its growth strategy.

Accenture Strategy and Accenture Consulting teams will help ensure the smooth integration of newly acquired businesses and focus on reducing material, equipment and services spending through a strategic sourcing initiative.

In addition, Accenture will develop shared service operating models for Q’Max business units and its technology and R&D functions to enhance teamwork and standardize business practices. Information Technology work includes local network optimization within business units and a globally consistent IT infrastructure. Also, a global enterprise resource planning solution, Microsoft Dynamics AX, implemented by Accenture and Avanade, will consolidate various legacy business applications, deliver more efficient data management and drive greater visibility into business performance.

The project builds on collaborative work between Accenture and Q’Max that began in 2014. This first phase created a new digital supply chain operating model that is on track to deliver improved global supply agreements with more favorable product purchasing terms, including price and lead times for drilling fluids that are most in demand by Q’Max customers. Other improvements range from the design and implementation of a global cloud infrastructure to the delivery of consistent end user productivity tools and the development of a standard suite of global engineering applications leveraged at well sites serviced by Q’Max.

“In the latest phase of the project, our Q’Max teams are taking the right steps to realize and sustain the benefits we achieved last year,” said Chris Rivers, CEO of Q’Max. “In today’s low-price commodity environment, these benefits are important to our ongoing growth through greater consistency in product quality and service innovation.”

“Q’Max is placing digital technologies at the heart of its business strategy to drive efficiencies and support the company’s aggressive growth plans,” said Erik Olson, managing director in Accenture’s energy business. “The company is stretching its enterprise boundaries by tapping into the latest digital technologies, such as cloud as a service, and its new digital supply chain operating model, to prove that lower cost and enhanced service can go hand in hand.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 319,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About Q’Max Solutions
Q’Max Solutions Inc. is a leading global provider of oilfield services, including drilling and completion fluids, solids control, water and waste management and other drilling services. Q’Max is a leading supplier to the oilfield in Latin America, North America, India and the Middle East. Q’Max employs about 1,500 people worldwide.

About Avanade
Avanade helps customers realize results in a digital world through business technology solutions, cloud and managed services that combine insight, innovation and expertise focused on Microsoft technologies. Our people have helped thousands of organizations in all industries improve business agility, employee productivity and customer loyalty. Avanade combines the collective business, technical and industry expertise of its worldwide network of experts with the rigor of an industrialized delivery model to provide high quality solutions using proven and emerging technologies with flexible deployment models–on premises, cloud-based or outsourced. Avanade, which is majority owned by Accenture, was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation and has 23,000 professionals in more than 20 countries. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.

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Contacts:
Guy Cantwell
Accenture
+ 281 900 9089
guy.cantwell@accenture.com

Justyna Devraj
Accenture
+ 44 20 7844 0090
+ 44 750 012 4567
justyna.devraj@accenture.com