« June 2007 | Main | August 2007 »
July 25, 2007
Top Stories
CSC WINS $597 MILLION NASA SUPPORT CONTRACT...Computer Sciences Corporation has won a contract to provide supercomputing support services to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). CSC estimates the value of the contract, which has a two-year base period and eight one-year options, to be $597 million if all options are exercised.
ACCENTURE ACQUIRES GEORGE GROUP...Accenture has agreed to acquire George Group, a privately held consulting firm specializing in helping companies and governments enhance their performance through strategic process improvements, accelerated innovation and streamlined operations. The acquisition will expand and enhance Accenture’s ability to help clients become high-performance businesses through the addition of George Group’s specialized expertise in process improvement techniques. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
CONVERGYS REPORTS SECOND QUARTER RESULTS...Convergys Corporation announced earnings of $0.28 per diluted share--equal to same period last year--for the second quarter of 2007. Revenues of $707.0 million were up 2 percent compared to the second quarter of 2006 reflecting growth from the Customer Care and Employee Care segments. Operating income was $58.1 million in the second quarter compared with $62.8 million in the same period last year. Net income was $38.8 million.
Posted by jbowles at 08:30 AM
New Business
Leading Peruvian private bank Interbank has selected IBM to provide services that will increase its automatic teller machine network by roughly 38 percent. Under the $4.26 million agreement signed in May, IBM will install, configure and maintain 265 new ATMs. Interbank owns the largest ATM network in Peru, with IBM as its service provider since 2002.
EDS announced an agreement with Dean Health Insurance, one of the largest and most diversified managed care organizations in the Midwest, to implement EDS' MetaVance Administration and Finance System. This
agreement will allow Dean Health Insurance to improve productivity and efficiency, enable growth and ultimately improve service to its 275,000 members. Financial details were not disclosed.
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. will provide defined benefit and health and welfare administration for Ameren Corporation, one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric and gas utilities. Under the terms of the five-year agreement, ACS will administer Ameren's pension and health plans for 24,000 participating employees and retirees. ACS will employ its proprietary benefit outsourcing technology to manage Ameren's defined benefit and health plans.
The Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries SAL (BBAC), a leading commercial bank in Lebanon, has selected IBM software, hardware and industry expertise to create a business intelligence infrastructure designed to help the bank manage risk and boost profitability. This engagement represents IBM's first major Information on Demand project in Lebanon.
Unisys Corporation has received an extension to its IT outsourcing services contract with the City of Chicago. The extension has an estimated value of $72 million for the initial six-year term and an additional $12 million if the city exercises a one-year option. Under the extension, Unisys will expand the range of IT outsourcing services it provides the city.
Posted by jbowles at 08:30 AM
European News
Infosys Technologies Ltd has signed a multi-million dollar outsourcing contract with Royal Philips Electronics’ of the Netherlands. As part of the agreement, Infosys BPO will provide Finance & Accounting (F&A) services and the processing of purchasing orders. Infosys will also acquire three shared service centers located in India, Poland and Thailand from Philips. The contract is among the largest Finance & Accounting BPO engagements from India and will expand Infosys’ global network, particularly strengthening its European operations.
Rabobank, one of the largest financial services providers in The Netherlands, has extended its business process outsourcing contract with Unisys Payment Services and Solutions (UPSS). The extension, signed in June 2007, covers all paper-related payment transactions for two additional years through December 31, 2012.
ExcellerateHRO has signed a contract to continue providing Benefits Administration Services for TOTAL in the UK, one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies in the UK and part of the fourth-largest energy company in the world, TOTAL SA. Under the 48-month contract extension, ExcellerateHRO will provide administration services for approximately 15,000 members of the TOTAL pension plan in the United Kingdom.
Posted by jbowles at 08:30 AM
Maturing Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Market
Findings from a new Everest Research Institute study reveal that among all outsourced General and Administrative functions, Finance & Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) has the highest rate of global sourcing adoption, with 77 percent of contracts having elements of offshore delivery. As operating models continue to improve and output quality rises, more global buyers are looking to source a growing number of skills from multiple regions, and suppliers are driving innovation beyond pure labor arbitrage to remain competitive.
The study, entitled “Global Sourcing in Finance & Accounting Outsourcing,” reveals that while labor arbitrage and productivity improvements can potentially save buyers between 30 and 40 percent on their direct-costs, these are one-time benefits which typically stagnate as the deal progresses. As such, buyers are seeking contracts with continuous improvement parameters and innovative sourcing models such as a combination of global sourcing, technology enhancements, and process improvements for optimal service delivery and ongoing cost savings.
The study also recognizes key responsibilities for buyers. To identify a solution that fits their needs in this complex and competitive market, buyers must assess niche providers, delivery locations and global solutions. Buyers also will be responsible for co-driving innovation initiatives, such as engagement structuring and management, throughout the project lifecycle.
To read more about the evolving global sourcing trends in FAO, an extract of the report is available at www.outsourcing-center.com.
Posted by jbowles at 08:29 AM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 50,000 key decision-makers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact Peter Bowes. Tel: (508)359-9356 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 08:29 AM
July 18, 2007
Top Stories
IBM SIGNS $1.4 BILLION CONTRACT WITH ASTRAZENECA...IBM has signed a $1.4 billion, seven-year global strategic outsourcing agreement with AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. The agreement renews and expands on the scope of an existing contract and covers the provision of IT infrastructure services to 60 countries. In the terms of the agreement, IBM will provide a single global technical infrastructure managing IT services for AstraZeneca across its global organisation.
CSC NAMES PRESIDENT, WORLD SOURCING SERVICES...Computer Sciences Corporation has named Mary Jo Morris, 52, to the position of President, World Sourcing Services. This new organization is responsible for proactively extending CSC's reach into new geographic markets to support global business channels and expand the company's World Sourcing footprint. Offshore and near-shore delivery centers will be managed globally so that customers receive the benefits of global leverage, a consistent set of delivery processes and the mix of near-shore and offshore resources appropriate to their needs.
MASTEK SUBSIDIARY ACQUIRES VECTOR INSURANCE SERVICES...MajescoMastek, the U.S. subsidiary of Mastek, a leading IT solutions player with global operations providing new technology and IP-led enterprise solutions to insurance, government, and financial services organizations worldwide, today announced the acquisition of Vector Insurance Services LLC (Vector), a technology solutions provider and third-party administrator that focuses on the North American life and annuity insurance industry. Vector provides policy acquisition, administration and processing solutions to customers in the North American life insurance industry.
PETER BENDOR-SAMUEL NAMED E&Y ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR...Everest Group CEO Peter Bendor-Samuel has been named by Ernst & Young LLP as one of the winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2007 awards in Southwest Area North (North Texas/Arkansas/ Oklahoma). Bendor-Samuel was one of 10 award winners selected by an independent panel of judges composed of area leaders from business, academic and civic organizations. He was named winner in the Technical Services category.
Posted by jbowles at 07:06 PM
New Business
Unisys Corporation has been selected by the U.S. Cargo Sales Joint Venture LLC (USJV) to provide a broad range of IT outsourcing support services for the cargo organization. USJV is a joint venture between Delta Airlines, Air France, and Korean Air, offering cargo-related services in the U.S. Unisys will provide USJV with outsourced data center, security, network and desktop management services over a three-year period.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Medical Services (BMS) – a pioneer in Medicaid reform and driving policy to manage its management information systems – has awarded Unisys Corporation a contract to continue to provide Medicaid claims services.
Quintiles Transnational Corp., has selected Kenexa to provide outsourced staffing solutions for its Japan location. Quintiles Japan, with headquarters in Tokyo, is a leading provider of development, commercial and financial solutions to pharmaceutical and biotech companies operating in Japan, the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, Quintiles Japan will use Kenexa's employment process outsourcing (EPO) solutions to manage its clinical staffing operations in Japan.
Comanche County Memorial Hospital (CCMH), located in Lawton, Okla., recently selected a wide range of McKesson technology and services as part of a $13 million agreement to enhance medication safety and create a “paperless” electronic health record (EHR) that spans both inpatient and outpatient settings across the community. The goal is to create a single, secure EHR flowing across hospital departments and local physician offices enabling quicker access to complete and consistent patient information, including test results, encounter notes and diagnostic images in support of enhanced patient safety and clinical excellence.
Posted by jbowles at 07:06 PM
European News
Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, and The Hershey Company, North America's leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and confectionery products,
have entered into agreements for a strategic
supply and innovation partnership. Barry Callebaut will start liquid chocolate and finished product deliveries to Hershey within the next few months.
Quintiq, a leading provider of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solutions and Capgemini, one of the world's largest providers of Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services,announced a new global approach for APS. This expands the longstanding cooperation between the two groups, enabling them to deliver enhanced capabilities to customer companies worldwide and opening new opportunities for Capgemini and Quintiq.
KPN and Atos Origin, an international IT services company, have redefined their relationship in The Netherlands in order to reflect the changes in KPN’s strategy. Atos Origin will continue to deliver most of the current services to KPN and the contracts will be extended with a minimum duration of three years. Atos Origin and KPN have an extensive outsourcing and IT services relationship dating back to 2001.
Posted by jbowles at 07:05 PM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 50,000 key decision-makers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact Peter Bowes. Tel: (508)359-9356 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 07:05 PM
July 12, 2007
Top Stories
UNITED GROUP ACQUIRES UNICCO...UNICCO Service Company, one of the nation's largest integrated facilities management (FM) companies, has agreed to be acquired by United Group Limited for $408 million, payable in cash and United Group shares. headquartered in Sydney, Australia, United Group Limited is a diversified services and infrastructure company partnering with blue chip and government customers in six core sectors: property, rail, water, power,transport and resources. The company has operations throughout Australia, United States, Asia, Middle East and parts of Europe and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of approximately US$2.0 billion.
CONVERGYS WINS STARBUCKS DEAL...Convergys Corporation announced today a multi-year contract with Starbucks Coffee Company to provide global human resources business process services, beginning with Starbucks North American operations. Starbucks is the world’s leading retailer, roaster, and brand of specialty coffee with more than 13,500 stores in 40 countries employing more than 145,000 partners (employees). Under terms of the contract, Convergys will provide human resource (HR) administration and payroll services for Starbucks partners in the United States and Canada, along with benefits services for Starbucks partners in Canada.
PEROT SYSTEMS NAMES SENIOR LEADER...Anurag Jain will lead the Perot Systems Corporation's Consulting and Applications Solutions Group. Jain will continue to report directly to Peter Altabef, president and CEO, both as leader of the Consulting and Applications Solutions Group and in his existing capacity as leader of the Insurance and Business Process Solutions Group. He has more than 15 years of management, operations, consulting and business start-up experience and has been a senior leader of Perot Systems since 2003, when the company acquired his Healthcare-focused India-based technology business.
VMC NAMES COO...Technology services outsourcing and project management leader VMC, a subsidiary of Volt Information Sciences, Inc., has appointed Robert E. Wise as its new Chief Operating Officer. In this position, Wise will spearhead VMC’s operations across North America, Europe and Asia. Concurrently, VMC announced the promotion of Glenn Hoogerwerf into the role of Executive Vice President of VMC.
HCL OPENS DEVELOPMENT CENTER WITH KONICA MINOLTA...HCL Technologies Ltd announced the opening of an Offshore Development Centre in Chennai with Konica Minolta Group (KM), a global corporation in the field of imaging from input to output, to provide software services for KM’s Multi Function Peripherals (MFPs), printers and medical equipment business lines. The software services provided by HCL will support the Japanese language in order to communicate accurately with KM’s researchers. The contract is for three years and extendable thereafter every year.
TRINET ACQUIRES JPA...TriNet Group, Inc., a nationwide provider of human resource (HR) outsourcing services for small and medium-sized companies, has acquired John Parry & Alexander (JPA), an HR outsourcing and consulting services company based in Walnut Creek, California. All executives and employees from JPA have become full-time team members of TriNet. Specific terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
Posted by jbowles at 06:50 PM
New Business
IDEA Cellular Ltd. (IDEA), a leading India-based GSM mobile services provider and an Aditya Birla Group company, and IBM announced a ten-year, $53 million contract to deploy, integrate, innovate and transform IDEA's interactive voice response (IVR) self-service infrastructure and processes. The consulting services agreement is designed on an innovative risk-and-reward model based on price per minute. The agreement was signed in June 2007 and is in addition to the ten-year IT outsourcing agreement between IDEA and IBM, valued around $600 million to $800 million signed earlier this year.
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. announced a contract amendment with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) to provide managed care enrollment broker services for the state's Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) contract. ACS has served the state since 1985, making it the longest-running Medicaid full fiscal agent account in the company's history.
Posted by jbowles at 06:50 PM
European News
Computer Sciences Corporation announced WorldBridge, a new service that will provide UK visa applicants with comprehensive visa and immigration information and assistance. WorldBridge will establish Visa Application Centers (VACs) in 15 countries throughout Europe, the Americas and North Africa & Middle East, and will provide information services through the Internet, e-mail and multilingual call centers to an additional 87 countries. Responsibility for deciding the outcome of each visa application and the issuing of visas will remain with the British Diplomatic Mission.
Calyon, the Crédit Agricole group's corporate and investment banking subsidiary, has signed two three-year consulting, systems integration and application outsourcing agreements with Accenture and Capco. The agreements are part of Calyon’s IT investment program, which is designed to support the accelerated growth of the bank’s capital markets business. The agreements make Accenture and Capco strategic partners of Calyon in the area of capital markets technology support. The new relationships aim to support the bank’s IT transformation program and provide Calyon with access to Accenture’s and Capco’s specialized onshore and offshore IT development resources.
Posted by jbowles at 06:49 PM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 50,000 key decision-makers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact Peter Bowes. Tel: (508)359-9356 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 06:47 PM
July 05, 2007
Top Stories
CSC COMPLETES COVANSYS ACQUISITION...Computer Sciences Corporation has completed its acquisition of Covansys for $34.00 per share in an all-cash transaction. The announcement follows approval of the acquisition by the holders of a majority of the outstanding Covansys shares at a shareholder meeting June 27. Covansys will operate as a separate business unit of CSC and will now be known as Covansys, a CSC Company. Raj Vattikuti will continue to lead this new business unit and will report directly to CSC President and Chief Executive Officer Michael W. Laphen.
ACCENTURE REPORTS STRONG THIRD QUARTER...Accenture reported strong financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2007, ended May 31, with record net revenues of $5.08 billion, a year-over-year increase of 15 percent in U.S. dollars and 9 percent in local currency. Consulting and outsourcing revenues both grew by double digits in U.S. dollars for the third consecutive quarter and were also quarterly records. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.54, compared with $0.56 in the third quarter of fiscal 2006. EPS of $0.54 represent an increase of 8 percent over adjusted EPS of $0.50 in the third quarter last year.
EDS REVAMPS $310 MILLION DEAL WITH AUSTRALIAN BANK...EDS has strengthened its relationship with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia after significantly revamping a $US310 million service-based contract to deliver desktop and other end-user computing services for the next five years and is focused on significantly enhancing business outcomes through improved service delivery. The deal follows last year's $US350 million signing of a new master IT&T Agreement involving Enterprise Processing Services (EPS) for mainframe, midrange and data storage until 2012.
UNISYS TEAMS WITH BT...Unisys Corporation has signed an agreement with BT to provide network monitoring and management services as part of outsourcing engagements for Unisys clients worldwide. The agreement makes BT network monitoring and management services a key part of Unisys IT outsourcing solutions. Unisys will implement these BT network services in its portfolio of managed network solutions for its global client base. This new arrangement is intended to afford each company new business development opportunities.
EDS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF RELQ SOFTWARE...EDS has completed the acquisition of RelQ Software Private Limited, a Bangalore, India-based software testing company. RelQ will be fully integrated into EDS' global testing organization. All of RelQ's more than 700 employees in India, the United Kingdom, the United States and France are expected to become part of EDS' global testing organization. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
MOTIF NAMES FORMER MCKINSEY EXEC TO BOARD...Motif Inc has named former McKinsey & Co senior executive Robert Kaplan to its board of directors. Kaplan, who has been a senior executive and management consultant for the past 30 years, will now serve as an advisory member to the board of Motif, which provides BPO services to Fortune 500 companies, and has operations in Morristown at NJ in USA, Ahmedabad in India and Manila in Philippines. Kaplan spent ten years with McKinsey & Company as senior partner, leading their information technology and systems practice. Prior to that, he was managing partner at the Boston Consulting Group where he worked for eleven years. He has also worked with KPMG as a systems consultant.
OPI NAMES MD...Outsource Partners International, Inc. has appointed Kevin Dougherty, as Managing Director. Dougherty will oversee relationship management and service delivery at select clients throughout North America. Dougherty brings to OPI twenty-five years of experience providing consulting and professional services at global companies. He will be based in OPI’s Dulles, Virginia office and will report directly to Clarence T. Schmitz, OPI’s Chairman & CEO.
Posted by jbowles at 12:59 PM
New Business
Computer Sciences Corporation has signed an information technology (IT) outsourcing contract extension with General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics. The five-year agreement is valued at $118 million. Under the terms of the contract, CSC will continue providing a full range of IT services, including help desk, desktop and network support; mainframe and midrange services; and applications development and maintenance.
Capgemini has been chosen by Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) utility company to provide implementation and integration services for its Smart Meter project in a program recently approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). SDG&E serves approximately 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and 900,000 gas meters in Southern California.
Computer Sciences Corporation has signed a contract to provide information technology (IT) services to the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS). CSC estimates the value of the five-year contract to be $67 million. Under the terms of the agreement, CSC will provide a full scope of IT infrastructure services across UPHS facilities, including desktop, help desk, systems security and network support.
Posted by jbowles at 12:59 PM
European News
IBM and Gruppo Monte Paschi Siena announced a 260 million euro IT Services agreement for IBM to help cut costs and improve efficiencies for the Italian bank's Operational Consortium. The new agreement is an extension to an existing 420 million euro contract signed in 2003, and is expected to bring approximately 48 million euro in cost savings over the new 6-year term.
LOOMING STAFFING CRISIS IN UK ACCOUNTANCY...Staffing problems in accountancy firms is a major issue the industry seems to be ignoring. While most practices are just about managing to keep their heads above water, this will not remain the case for much longer if urgent steps are not taken now, according to Simon Crompton of MYOB, the global business solutions provider:
“The inability to get enough bums on seats is a major business issue for accountancy practices. It can jeopardise work standards, demoralise team members and seriously impede an accountancy practice’s ability to grow. It is for these reasons that of all of the challenges facing the profession today, the ability to recruit and retain staff has to rank as a top priority. So I am amazed that the profession does not seem prepared to tackle the issue head on.
“I am seeing first hand how accountancy practices are struggling to recruit enough graduates and how this is forcing up wage inflation at that level. At the same time, holding onto people and offering them dynamic career progression also seems to be becoming far harder – a phenomenon that is not helped by the average age of a practice partner rising to 57. As accountants determine strategies to deal with these recruitment and retention issues, so other resource-saving activities need to be considered.
“It is a recognised fact that accountancy practices are increasingly looking to grow their business through offering added value services. By definition, this means that the core bread and butter work is reaching ‘commodity’ status where it is neither a differentiator nor very profitable. As such it would seem to me that accountants need to find strategies to free up the valuable staff resourcing to concentrate on the value-add. I would suggest it is therefore time for accountancy practices to seriously consider the role that outsourcing of non-critical work could bring.”
Posted by jbowles at 12:59 PM
HRO Buyers Focused on Value, Technology, Not Cost Savings, Everest Research Institute Reports
To gain value creation and access to technology, a growing majority of Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) buyers are willing to forego cost savings and sign outsourcing deals that favor the ‘transfer-transform model’ in which a company’s processes and technologies are provided by the supplier, according to a new study from the Everest Research Institute.
The HRO buyer survey and analysis, Human Resources Outsourcing Market Update: HRO Benchmarks, also noted transactions since 2004 have rapidly shifted from highly customized solution contracts to more configured or “off the shelf” solutions to leverage suppliers’ economies of scale. Thus, buyers with contracts coming up for renewal in the next few years can expect to receive price improvements over their original contracts.
For additional information and an extract of the HRO Market Update/Benchmarks study, please visit www.outsourcing-center.com. You may also call 214-451-3110 to schedule a personal briefing appointment.
Posted by jbowles at 12:58 PM
Advertising Information
Outsourcing Alert reaches 50,000 key decision-makers a week. For advertising information and rates, contact Peter Bowes. Tel: (508)359-9356 or send an email.
Posted by jbowles at 12:58 PM
