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November 23, 2005
Top Stories
IDC SURVEY SEES SHIFT TO BPO, REDUCTION IN DEAL VALUE...An IDC study of the top 100 outsourcing deals in 2004 reveals fundamental changes in the outsourcing marketplace, including a dramatic shift to more business process outsourcing (BPO), an increase in the number of players, and a reduction in total deal value. The value of the top 100 outsourcing deals in 2004 decreased by 1.2% from $69.1 billion in 2003 to $68.3 billion in 2004. However, qualifying for the top 100 in 2004 required a minimum deal value of $184 million, a 5.1% increase from 2003. The study also found that the share of BPO and processing services deals in the top 100 outsourcing deals increased from 15.2% in 2003 to 25% in 2004, while the share of IT outsourcing services suffered a decline to 75% of the 2004 market.
KKR CLOSES ACCELLENT ACQUISITION...KRG Capital Partners (KRG), a Denver-based private equity firm, announced the closing of the previously announced sale of its portfolio company, Accellent Inc. (formerly UTI Corporation), to an affiliate of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. (KKR), in a transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion. Accellent is the largest provider of integrated contract manufacturing and design services to the medical device industry.
OPI OPENS NEW BPO CENTER IN INDIA...Outsource Partners International, Inc. (OPI) announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art business process outsourcing (BPO) service center in Kochi, India. More than 200 attended the opening ceremonies, which were highlighted by a speech from the Honorable Chief Minister of Kerala, where Kochi is located.
THINK ATLANTIC CANADA...The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), a Canadian federal government agency, recently released its latest research on foreign-owned firms investing in the Atlantic Canada region. Key findings indicate that more than 98% of the foreign-owned firms surveyed believe Atlantic Canada is meeting or exceeding their expectations for improved efficiency, quality of workforce and cost reduction, while 90% said they would recommend Atlantic Canada as a site for new foreign investment.
CHINA CALLING...PacificNet Inc., a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), call center, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services and Value-Added Services (VAS) in China, has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority and controlling interest in Guangzhou Wanrong Information Technology Co., Ltd., one of the leading value-added telecom service providers in China. The acquisition is expected to close within a month
Posted by jbowles at 08:36 PM
New Business
Ceridian has been selected as the human resources outsourcing (HRO) provider for PHH Corporation. Ceridian will be responsible for a wide range of processes for 8,000 PHH employees in the U.S. and Canada, including HR and payroll management, benefits, time and attendance, talent and acquisition management, COBRA, Flexible Spending Account services, tax filing, work-life and employee assistance program (EAP), and HR compliance.
The Housing Trust Fund Corporation of New York, a division of Housing and Community Renewal, selected CGI Group Inc. for an up to five-year business process services contract valued at US$44 million to serve the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). CGI now is responsible for the administration of more than 76,000 housing units within the state of New York and more than 214,000 across the United States, making it the largest HUD processor of its kind in the U.S.
Posted by jbowles at 08:36 PM
New Services
Gartner Consulting, a unit of Gartner, Inc., has expanded its IT Outsourcing Benchmarking Solutions capabilities with an enhanced methodology that allows companies to compare their services contracts with similar outsourced contracts in the marketplace.
Ceridian has introduced a new tool to its work-life and employee assistance program (EAP) Web site, LifeWorks Online, that will help employee caregivers and mature workers reduce the stress and time spent gathering and understanding national and state-specific information on Medicare coverage and eligibility.
Posted by jbowles at 08:36 PM
Alliances
Intelligroup Inc. has formed a strategic alliance with Hitachi Ltd., Information & Telecommunication Systems Group to establish the 'Hitachi Global Solution Center' ('Hitachi GSC') at Intelligroup's Development Center in Hyderabad, India. Intelligroup will support Hitachi's global outsourcing requirements by providing systems development, maintenance, and support services for enterprise resource planning ("ERP") applications, primarily SAP.
Posted by jbowles at 08:35 PM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 45,000 key decisionmakers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact John Havens of Custom Publishing Group. Tel: (973) 763-2829 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 08:35 PM
November 17, 2005
Top Stories
ARAMARK REPORTS RECORD FISCAL YEAR...ARAMARK Corporation reported fiscal 2005 sales of $11.0 billion, an 8 percent increase over 2004. Net income rose 10 percent to $288 million, a record from continuing operations, and diluted earnings per share increased 13 percent to $1.53. For the fourth quarter, the company reported sales of $2.8 billion, an increase of 6 percent over the prior year quarter. Net income rose 8 percent to $92 million. Diluted earnings per share increased to $0.49.
EQUATERRA, TPI TO MERGE...EquaTerra and TPI, Inc. have signed an agreement to merge the two companies. Together, the new firm will have approximately 550 employees in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The merger is expected to close in January, 2006.
OPI NAMED TO INC. FASTEST-GROWING LIST...Outsource Partners International, Inc. (OPI) has been included in Inc. magazine’s 24th annual Inc. 500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. With three-year revenue growth of 842%, Outsource Partners International ranks No. 111 on the list.
ADP/SAP PROMOTE HR SUCCESS...ADP Employer Services and SAP AG announced that GlobalView, ADP's HR outsourcing offering for multi-national organizations based on SAP's HR business solutions, has been selected by 32 global companies in 24 countries as the HR Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) platform to serve nearly 190,000 employees.
EXULT FOUNDER JOINS TRINET BOARD...TriNet, a nationwide provider of human resource (HR) services for small and mid-sized companies, today announced the appointment of HR outsourcing pioneer Jim Madden to its board of directors. Madden was Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Exult, Inc.
Posted by jbowles at 06:32 PM
New Business
EDS announced a five-year, approximately $500 million global information technology (IT) enterprise outsourcing agreement with Royal Ahold, the world’s fourth-largest grocery retailer. EDS will provide Ahold with a flexible IT infrastructure and applications management services to transform and re-engineer its global operations, which include more than 4,000 supermarkets and retail outlets in Europe and the United States.
Ceridian has been selected as the human resources outsourcing (HRO) provider for PHH Corporation. Ceridian will be responsible for a wide range of processes for 8,000 PHH employees in the U.S. and Canada, including HR and payroll management, benefits, time and attendance, talent and acquisition management, COBRA, Flexible Spending Account services, tax filing, work-life and employee assistance program (EAP), and HR compliance.
Posted by jbowles at 06:31 PM
New Services
Fiserv EFT has introduced a prepaid gift card product suite that includes an off-the-shelf solution that can quickly establish a prepaid gift card program, a customizable solution for clients seeking to design a program specifically for their customers or members and a shared-revenue solution for financial institution groups and associations.
Elance, Inc. announced the general availability of Elance 5, the next generation of its industry leading Services & Contractor Management OnDemand solution used by 200,000 employees at leading companies.
Posted by jbowles at 06:31 PM
Alliances
EMC Corporation and Unisys Corporation announced an expansion of their 13-year alliance to include the development of new, specialized solutions designed to help customers address key business challenges – especially the availability of critical information for real-time business decision-making. The new solutions, expected to focus initially on three areas of collaboration – real-time infrastructure, solutions for public-sector organizations and enterprise security – are planned to integrate Unisys services and EMC technology to enable information lifecycle management, which facilitates movement, availability and use of critical information throughout the enterprise value chain.
The TriZetto Group, Inc. and Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. announced an alliance to provide integrated health savings account (HSA) processing. Through its relationship with Mellon Financial Corporation, ACS is a leading provider in HSAs, offering a complete range of services for health plans and employers and interest-bearing, FDIC-insured accounts for individuals.
Posted by jbowles at 06:30 PM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 45,000 key decisionmakers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact John Havens of Custom Publishing Group. Tel: (973) 763-2829 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 06:30 PM
November 10, 2005
Top Stories
FISERV NAMES CEO...Fiserv, Inc. announced the appointment of Jeffery W. Yabuki, a leading financial services executive, as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors effective on or before Dec. 1, 2005.
WNS GLOBAL SERVICES ACQUIRES TRINITY PARTNERS...WNS Global Services, a leading leading BPO firm, announced the acquisition of Tucson, Arizona-based Trinity Partners, a provider of BPO and IT business solutions to financial institutions, with an aim to strengthen its operations in the mortgage and financial services BPO market. WNS will acquire Trinity's existing client contracts, including a $60 million, multi-year, outsourcing contract with First Magnus Financial Corporation, a top 15 wholesale lender.
ACHIEVO ACQUIRES ANS GROUP...Achievo Corporation, a CMM certified global software and IT outsourcing provider headquartered in Silicon Valley with operations in the U.S., Europe, and China, signed a definitive merger agreement with ANS Group. Advanced Network Services (ANS) Group is one of the most successful and fastest growing software outsourcing providers in Asia with deep expertise in the Japanese offshore outsourcing market.
SERVICEMASTER REVENUES UP...The ServiceMaster Company announced third quarter 2005 revenues of $1.1 billion, an eight percent increase compared to the prior year. Third quarter earnings per share from continuing operations were $.25, nine percent above the $.23 reported in 2004. For the nine months, revenues of $3.1 billion were up seven percent, and earnings per share from continuing operations were $.56, a 10 percent increase.
CLIENTLOGIC OPENS TEXAS CENTER...ClientLogic announced the opening of a new contact center in Nederland, Texas. This facility marks the second new domestic site ClientLogic has opened this year, including a center in Moore, Oklahoma. The new site increases ClientLogic's global footprint to 24 BPO facilities throughout the United States and 50 facilities globally.
Posted by jbowles at 07:39 PM
New Business
EDS Israel has signed an IT outsourcing contract with the First International Bank of Israel (FIBI). The project is valued at approximately $108 million over eight years. The FIBI contractis the largest outsourcing contract in Israel and the first such contract in the Israeli banking industry.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded Unisys an information technology outsourcing contract under which Unisys will support 8,000 users across eight HHS operating divisions. The contract has a three year base period, which is worth approximately $65 million, and one two-year option period, exercisable at the government's discretion, which is worth approximately an additional $35 million...Rabobank, the largest financial services provider in the Dutch market, has extended its existing business process outsourcing contract with Unisys Payment Services and Solutions (UPSS) for all paper-related payment transactions for two additional years through December 31, 2010.
The State of New Jersey has selected Accenture to develop and implement the New Jersey State Unemployment Compensation Claimant and Employer Service System (NJ SUCCESS), designed to modernize the delivery and administration of unemployment insurance benefits throughout the state. Under the four-year, $39.9 million contract, Accenture will integrate the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development's (NJLWD) unemployment claims interfaces with its back-office document management systems.
Perot Systems Corporation has been awarded a $14 million, three-year extension by Lexington, Kentucky-based CHA Health. The agreement extends a five-year contract between the two companies that began in April 2002 when CHA selected Perot Systems to provide BPO and technology management services, including leading Web-based health
plan management tools.
Motorola has selected General Physics Corporation (GP) to provide outsourced training and vendor management services. Under the terms of this major agreement, GP will select and manage training suppliers for Motorola to meet its workforce development needs in North America.
Posted by jbowles at 07:38 PM
New Services
Pramati Technologies, a leading provider of Java application servers and tools, today announced the formal launch of its Product Development Services division. The new division will provide services to software product companies that are looking at outsourcing and offshoring their product lifecycle activities.
Posted by jbowles at 07:38 PM
Alliances
Service Net Solutions, LLC has signed an agreement to administer new service plans for Toshiba America Information Systems' Digital Products Division. The strategic relationship calls for a phased rollout of the warranty program which will cover Toshiba's full line of notebook computers and projectors. The over-arching theme will be "The Ease of Doing Business."
Posted by jbowles at 07:38 PM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 45,000 key decisionmakers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact John Havens of Custom Publishing Group. Tel: (973) 763-2829 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 07:37 PM
November 03, 2005
Top Stories
CONVERGYS SIGNS BILLION DOLLAR HR DEAL WITH DUPONT...DuPont and Convergys Corporation have signed a contract under which Convergys will provide comprehensive Human Resources (HR) transactional services to DuPont’s 60,000 employees and 102,000 retirees in 70 countries and 30 languages around the world. Convergys expects this contract to generate revenues in excess of $1.1 billion over its thirteen-year duration.
FISERVE BUY INSURANCE SERVICES FIRM...Fiserv, Inc. has acquired Xcipio, Inc., a Web-based insurance rating and automation solution provider, as part of its plan to expand its technological footprint in the insurance industry.
COGNIZANT REPORTS RECORD QUARTER...Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation announced third quarter revenue increased to $235.5 million, up 52% from the year-ago quarter. Net income increased to $40.6 million, up 56% from the year-ago quarter. Diluted quarterly EPS of $0.28 compared to $0.18 in the year-ago quarter.
EDS REPORTS IMPROVEMENT...EDS reported third quarter net income of $8 million, or 2 cents on a per share basis, versus a net loss of $153 million, or 30 cents per share, in last year's third quarter. The company also announced it has established an Office of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to increase alignment and drive change throughout its business operations.
SINGAPORE FOCUSES ON HIGH END IT SERVICES...Ranked by the US Department of Commerce as the second fastest growing hub for outsourcing among US businesses, Singapore is focusing on developing itself as a hub for high-end BPO and offshore activities. with more companies using different offshore locations for outsourcing needs according to each location's strengths (multisourcing), Singapore has seen rising demand as a regional location for the storage, processing and distribution of high-end data and related IT services.
OUTSOURCING EXCELLENCE AWARDS EXTENSION! ...We’ve extended the deadline for the 2006 Awards, so you still have time to get your nominations in. Go to www.outsourcing-awards.com and download the nomination form. Deadline for entries is November 14th. Don't miss this opportunity to be recognized as the best of the best in the outsourcing industry in this "Oscars of Outsourcing!"
Posted by jbowles at 07:00 AM
New Business
Accenture has won a $6.3 million contract to provide information technology services for the Defense Logistics Agency's (DLA) Product Data Management Initiative (PDMI), which is designed to replace DLA's existing repository for technical data.
ARAMARK Healthcare Management Services (ARAMARK Healthcare) was selected to provide on-site retail dining services at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston -- one of the world's top cancer hospitals. Under a seven-year agreement, ARAMARK Healthcare is operating one of the largest hospital retail programs in the country, with 10 dining facilities serving visitors, patients and 15,000 employees.
Apptis, Inc. has won a 5-year multiple award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) for information technology services from the Department of Homeland Security. The indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, which gives the agency access to a vast array of Apptis products and services, has a potential value of $100 million.
Posted by jbowles at 06:59 AM
New Services
Mercer HR Services announced the launch of Mercer Retirement Solutions, an integrated outsourcing offering for defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors. This offering - which includes plan management, asset management, administration, and employee communications - allows employers to effectively address the costs, complexities, and risks of all aspects of their retirement plans.
Adjoined Consulting is an industry-focused, full-service management consulting, technology services and outsourcing firm that offers strategic operational consulting, leading-edge technology integration, outsourcing solutions and original, independent research. For more information, visit www.adjoined.com.
Library Associates offers outsourcing services for all types of libraries - short/long-term, small/large-scale, corporate/non-profit. Whether you need staff for special projects lasting a week or an annual contract, or whether you need services from cataloging to management - contact Library Associates.
Posted by jbowles at 06:59 AM
Alliances
Unisys Corporation and Oracle announced that the two companies are working on several combined global initiatives in areas such as financial services, outsourcing solutions, public sector and enterprise computing.
Posted by jbowles at 06:59 AM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 45,000 key decisionmakers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact John Havens of Custom Publishing Group. Tel: (973) 763-2829 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 06:59 AM
