In a crowded IT services marketplace, it can be difficult for customers to distinguish between different applications outsourcing vendors when they attempt to make decisions around supplier selection. This Ovum Navigator shows that important differences exist between leading players in Europe and that vendors vary significantly in terms of the strength of their strategies and ability to deliver. That said, customers have a range of viable alternatives for applications outsourcing service provision and need to look carefully at the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor. Even the three vendors that we have rated mostly highly overall (Capgemini, EDS and IBM, each of which achieved top-right positioning in our applications outsourcing Navigator grid) will not be a good fit for every customer and every contract in the market.