« August 2007 | Main | October 2007 »
September 26, 2007
Top Stories
IBM WINS MAJOR DEAL WITH SCOTIABANK...IBM announced a multi-year agreement valued at $480 million Cdn to manage Scotiabank's information technology operations, including data centers, branches, automatic banking machines and help desk support. Terms of the agreement call for the application of advanced technologies -- such as server virtualization -- and new service delivery capabilities. The contract also includes a new global framework to support Scotiabank's worldwide operations.
COGNIZANT ANNOUNCES DIVIDEND, REPURCHASE PLAN...Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has declared a two-for-one stock split on its capital stock in the form of a stock dividend. Stockholders of record as of October 1, 2007 will be entitled to one additional share of common stock for each share held on the record date. The stock dividend distribution is expected to occur on or about October 16, 2007, and it is anticipated that the company's Class A Common Stock will begin trading on a post-split basis the business day following the distribution date. In addition, the Cognizant Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100 million of the Company’s common stock over the next 12 months.
LUXOFT REPORTS STRONG REVENUE GROWTH...Luxoft, Russia’s largest provider of high-end IT outsourcing services and product development announced strong growth in Q1 FY07 across revenues, clients and headcount compared with Q1 FY06. The company has posted double-digit-plus growth each quarter since its formation in 2000. Revenue for the quarter was $27.87M, up from $11.89M, representing a 134-percent increase over Q1 FY2006.
Posted by jbowles at 05:18 PM
New Business
Convergys Corporation has signed a three-year $46 million customer care contract with a large U.S. industrial manufacturer to support its contact center transformation initiative. Convergys will provide transformational planning, customer care support, speech applications, learning, and business intelligence solutions supporting the industrial manufacturer’s own, extensive, contact center operations.
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing will provide U.S. and global back office support for Huber Capital Management LLC, a Los Angeles-based investment management firm that specializes in U.S. equity value strategies. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing will provide a wide range of value-added support services, including transaction
processing, portfolio accounting, reconciliations, performance measurement, client reporting, and client billing.
OMX, a leading expert in the exchange industry, has signed a seven-year agreement to outsource its global customer network operations and data center management to Verizon Business. OMX owns and operates the Nordic Exchange and supplies exchange technologies to more than 60 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in 50 countries worldwide. The company employs more than 1,500 people within its operations in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Posted by jbowles at 05:18 PM
International News
Capgemini has signed a five-year agreement with NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, to provide end-to-end Finance and Accounting (“F&A”) services, including Procure-to-Pay and Record-to-Report. Under the terms of the agreement, which expands the existing long-term relationship between the two companies,
approximately 110 professionals, who are currently based in India, will join Capgemini’s Business Process
Outsourcing (“BPO”) Excellence Delivery Centre in Chennai, India starting October 1, 2007. This brings the number of dedicated BPO experts in India to nearly 1,500.
EDS announced the launch of a world-first payment card utility in Australia to make it easier for financial institutions to modernise and manage card services in an increasingly competitive market. The Regional Cards Utility gives banks and other credit providers access to the latest technology and business systems under an innovative shared service model.
Wipro Technologies has won a five-year, $130 million contract from British utility Thames Water.Wipro will provide integrated IT services encompassing applications support, maintenance and infrastructure management services. Thames Water is an old Wipro client but this is the largest single deal that the company has gotten from the British utility. Wipro has over 1,500 people energy and utility practice with capability in consulting, package implementation, systems integration, application development and maintenance, testing services, business process outsourcing and infrastructure support services. Thames Water is responsible for water supply and waste water treatment in parts of London, Surrey, Wiltshire and Thames Valley in the UK.
EDS announced the successful implementation of a new flight planning and slot management system for Brussels Airlines, a leading Belgian airline. In March 2007, SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express merged to become Brussels Airlines. Immediately thereafter they decided to consolidate flight operations and migrate the combined fleet onto one single flight planning and slot management system. After a thorough market evaluation and benchmark comparisons, Brussels Airlines selected EDS Flight Planning with the slot management module as their future flight planning system.
Posted by jbowles at 05:17 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 05:17 PM
September 19, 2007
Top Stories
EDS WINS $800 MILLION HOMELAND SECURITY CONTRACT...The Associated Press reports that Electronic Data Systems Corp. won an $800 million contract from the Homeland Security Department to run a major data center. No other public announcement was made by either the company or the department. The terms of the deal include a 10-month base term with five one-year options, plus an additional two-year option to extend the length of the contract.
WIPRO COMPLETES INFOCROSSING DEAL...Wipro Limited announced the completion of the tender offer by its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Roxy Acquisition Corp., for all outstanding shares of Infocrossing, Inc. at a price of $18.70 per share in cash. The tender offer expired at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on Monday, September 17, 2007.
NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR OUTSOURCING EXCELLENCE AWARDS...Nominations are being accepted for the annual Outsourcing Excellence Awards, sponsored by Outsourcing Center, Everest Group, and Forbes magazine. Known as the “Oscars” of Outsourcing, the program was founded in 1997 and honors the most distinguished outsourcing relationships worldwide. Previous award winners include many of the world’s leading companies in every industry and demonstrate the importance of outsourcing in their strategies for business success. A list of all winners since 1997 is displayed at www.outsourcing-awards.com.
To view award guidelines and to obtain a nomination form, please visit www.outsourcing-awards.com. Nominations will be accepted through October 1, 2007. The fee for submitting a nomination is $1,000.
PAYCHEX ACQUIRES HAWTHORNE BENEFITS...Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of payroll and human resource services, announced the acquisition of Hawthorne Benefit Technologies, Inc. and BeneTrac, its online employee benefits management and administration system. Hawthorne, founded in 1999, is based in San Diego, California and now operates as Paychex Benefit Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paychex. BeneTrac’s Web-based benefits enrollment and administration technology provides real-time, 24-hour access for HR administrators and employees.
COGNIZANT DECLARES STOCK SPLIT...Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has declared a two-for-one stock split on its capital stock in the form of a stock dividend. Stockholders of record as of October 1, 2007 will be entitled to one additional share of common stock for each share held on the record date. The stock dividend distribution is expected to occur on or about October 16, 2007, and it is anticipated that the company's Class A Common Stock will begin trading on a post-split basis the business day following the distribution date.
ACS NAMES KYSER TO CFO...Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. today announced the promotion of Executive Vice President Kevin Kyser to Chief Financial Officer. In his new capacity, Kyser will lead ACS' finance organization, including the corporate controllership, treasury, tax, investor relations, audit, finance operations and strategic planning and analysis functions for the company's worldwide operations. Since joining ACS in 1997, Kyser has served as Corporate Controller, directed the company's investor relations group, served as CFO of the company's Commercial Solutions Group and most recently served as Executive Vice President of Finance and Accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas.
Posted by jbowles at 07:16 PM
New Business
Capgemini has signed a five-year agreement with NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, to provide end-to-end Finance and Accounting (“F&A”) services, including Procure-to-Pay and Record-to-Report. Under the terms of the agreement, which expands the existing long-term relationship between the two companies, approximately 110 professionals, who are currently based in India, will join Capgemini’s Business Process Outsourcing (“BPO”) Excellence Delivery Centre in Chennai, India starting October 1, 2007.
Computer Sciences Corporation has signed a three-year, $25 million (AUD$30 million) information technology (IT) services contract with international oil and gas group Woodside, Australia’s largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company...CSC has also signed a 10-year, $20 million business process outsourcing (BPO) contract with Wilton Re to support the privately owned life reinsurance group’s growth strategy of acquiring large blocks of insurance policies.
EDS was awarded an information technology (IT) services contract to provide the EDS Flight Planning solution for Mexicana de Aviación (Mexicana Airlines), a leading air transportation company between Mexico and the United States. Financial details were not disclosed.
Posted by jbowles at 07:15 PM
International News
Siemens IT Solutions and Services has received a major order from the Turkish Ministry of Finance Revenue Administration. Siemens will upgrade the existing IT infrastructure of more than 1,000 tax offices and property directorates and connect them via a countrywide IT system. The administration aims to improve collaboration between the different offices, government institutions and banks in order to better control tax issues. The system will also lead to improved and faster services for the Turkish taxpayers. The contract has a total value of some73 million euros and is the largest ever IT contract in the Turkish public sector.
Stellar, a leading global call center and business process outsourcing provider, announced its entry into the UK outsourcing market after the re-branding of Excell Contact Centres (a prominent UK call centre outsourcing provider based in Scotland) to Stellar UK. Stellar UK operates two call centres in Scotland that employ over 500 staff in Irvine, Ayrshire and Paisley, Renfrewshire. Specialising in call centre outsourcing, Stellar UK will continue to expand their operations to cater for growth in the UK outsourcing market.
Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing organization, has executed a mission-critical engagement for the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), an autonomous organization established by Kingdom of Bahrain to restructure Bahrain's labour market regulations through strategic reforms.
CGI Group Inc. has signed a seven-year information technology (IT) outsourcing contract with Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). Under the agreement, CGI will manage BRP's SAP infrastructure support, business intelligence applications, Web sites, as well as the e-commerce application that allows retailers and distributors to do business with BRP around the world. The contract also includes the support of this application.
Genpact, which manages business processes for companies around the world, has opened its new Latin America headquarters facility in Juárez, Mexico. The 125,000 sq. ft. (11,612 sq. meter)custom-built facility in north Juárez is part of an ongoing expansion of Genpact’s operations in Mexico.
Posted by jbowles at 07:15 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 07:14 PM
September 12, 2007
Top Stories
ACCENTURE SIGNS $185 MILLION DEAL WITH MICROSOFT...Accenture is providing Microsoft Corp. with a range of finance and accounting (F&A) and procurement services under a seven-year, $185 million business process outsourcing (BPO) agreement. The agreement outsources some of Microsoft’s transactional finance activities and consolidates services currently provided by other vendors. The finance and accounting services Accenture provides cover accounts payable, travel and expense, and record-to-report functions, including fixed assets, general ledger, treasury and statutory reporting. The procurement services Accenture provides include category management and requisition-to-purchase-order processing.
WNS ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS...WNS (Holdings) Limited announced three senior executive appointments that it says will drive the continued growth and development of the company, including the promotion of Anup Gupta to Group Chief Operating Officer responsible for managing the operating performance of the company; the appointment of Eric Selvadurai as the Managing Director and leader of WNS’s European business; and Sulakshana Patankar as the CEO of the newly carved out Finance and Accounting Business Unit. WNS also announced that Zubin Dubash, who has served as Group Chief Financial Officer for the past three years, will be leaving WNS on December 1, 2007, to pursue a career in private equity.
ACCENTURE SIGNS 5-YEAR F&A DEAL WITH BT...Accenture is providing BT with finance and accounting (F&A) services under a five-and-a-half-year business process outsourcing (BPO) contract. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Under the terms of the contract, Accenture is providing services related to management reporting, financial planning and analysis, month-end close activities and budgeting/forecasting to BT’s operations, initially focused in the UK. The services are being delivered through Accenture’s Global Delivery Network using delivery centers in India.
HEWITT ASSOCIATES LAUNCHES DC CONSULTING PRACTICE...Hewitt Associates has formally established a U.S. Defined Contribution (DC) Consulting practice. The newly-formed practice will be composed of a group of experts specifically dedicated to providing companies with a full spectrum of defined contribution services and solutions, including strategy and plan design, cost and risk management, investment consulting, behavioral finance, administration, communication, and legal and compliance consulting.
ADP APPOINTS TWO NEW DIRECTORS...The board of directors of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has elected Eric C. Fast, 57, and Gregory L. Summe, 50, as directors of the company. Fast is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Crane Co. Summe is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of PerkinElmer, Inc. These elections increase the size of the company’s board to 11 directors.
HEWITT EXTENDS TENDER OFFER...Hewitt Associates, Inc. has extended the expiration date of its offer to purchase up to 15,625,000 shares of its outstanding Class A common stock under its previously announced modified “Dutch Auction” tender offer. The tender offer, which was originally due to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Wednesday, September 5, 2007, is now set to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Wednesday, September 12, 2007, unless further extended.
Posted by jbowles at 04:34 PM
New Business
EDS has been awarded a three-year contract to develop the Kentucky Comprehensive Tax System that will automate the Commonwealth's tax administration and collections functions for the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Department of Revenue, Finance and Administration Cabinet. The contract is valued at $33.2 million if two additional option years are exercised.
Kinecta Federal Credit Union has signed a multi-year agreement with Online Resources Corporation, a leading provider of Web-based financial services, for electronic bill payment and other online services. Kinecta, based in Southern California, is the 13th largest credit union in the country, with over $4 billion in assets and more than 200,000 members.
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. announced contract extensions with the Hawaii Department of Human Services' Med-QUEST Division to continue providing fiscal agent and pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services to the state's Medicaid program. The six-month extensions of the two contracts are valued at a combined $6.4 million. ACS has provided fiscal agent and PBM services to Hawaii's Medicaid program since 2001.
Posted by jbowles at 04:34 PM
International News
IBM India announced that its Global Delivery Center (GDC) has been appraised at the highest rating -- Level 5 -- for the version 1.2 of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) framework by the Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute (SEI). IBM India GDC is one of the first few organizations in the world of its size and operational complexity to have achieved this impeccable credential.
Posted by jbowles at 04:33 PM
Everest Research Institute Survey: Captives Are Meeting Cost and Service Expectations
Results from a new Everest Research Institute survey reveal that more than 85 percent of the key executives surveyed believe that company-owned offshoring operations in India, known as “captives,” are delivering on cost savings and service expectations despite contrary opinions. The Institute will host a Webinar on October 11 at 8 a.m. CDT, to present survey findings and insights.
“Performance is not dependant on the size of the parent company’s operations or industry. Most captives are doing well, despite a few instances, and this survey proves the viability of this sourcing decision,” said Nihal George, Research Director, Everest Research Institute. “We also noted that early stage captives are more challenged in meeting parent company’s service level expectations, but we expect them to overcome these obstacles in the long run.”
The survey, entitled Captive Value Diagnostic Study Market Update, polled 102 key executives from global companies, representing both parent and captive stakeholders, with sophisticated captive operations in India across a wide-range of industry verticals from hi-tech to banking to telecom. The companies also had varying locations, scales of operations and functions undertaken.
“The majority of captives being able to meet performance criteria is an incremental step for the future of captives’ business models,” said Nikhil Rajpal, Vice President of Global Sourcing for Everest Research Institute. “Our research indicates they now have an opportunity to elevate their roles and provide additional value for the company. Parent stakeholders are giving captives support to step up their efforts and deliver beyond cost savings, which creates a multitude of growth opportunities.”
In addition to strong captive performance and confidence from parent executives that they can deliver more value, the survey highlighted insights on the areas captives should focus future delivery on, including:
• Parent stakeholders’ desire to enhance capabilities and attain added value, but first captives must master incremental improvements such as productivity.
• Parent executives do not consider adding scale as a top priority for captives in order to enhance their value.
• Twelve percent of executives are willing to sacrifice short-term cost savings in favor of enhanced value down the line.
The survey noted several key capabilities required for captives’ success, such as the need to invest in multiple areas in order to become more integrated and provide additional value. Areas which stood out among parent executives include a need to focus on leadership skills and a need to build or enhance structured relationship management mechanisms.
“Parent stakeholders want leaders with strong influencing skills to eventually lead key initiatives, and truly enhance their significance within the overall organization,” said Rajpal. “To accomplish this, parent stakeholders must work with captives to establish value priorities and to evolve their capabilities, thereby reducing existing disconnects. Captives must view themselves as a partner in creating strategic value, and as a result, build depth in functional expertise and leadership.”
Following the Captive survey, Everest Research Institute will release Comparison of Outsourced and Captive Solutions for Capturing Value from Offshoring in October that will examine the relative cost of captives and third-party outsourcers plus additional sources of value.
The Webinar will take place on October 11, 2007, at 8 a.m. CDT; 1300 GMT; 6:30 p.m. IST. To register, please visit: www.everestgrp.com/Webinars.
To read more about the survey results, an extract of the report is available at www.outsourcing-center.com. To purchase a copy of the report or get information on other research services, please e-mail info@everestresearchinstitute.com or call +1-214-451-3110.
Posted by jbowles at 04:33 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 04:33 PM
September 05, 2007
Top Stories
THOMSON ACQUIRES DELOITTE PROPERTY TAX BUSINESS...The Thomson Corporation, a leading provider of information solutions to business and professional customers worldwide, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Deloitte Tax LLP Property Tax Services business (PTS). PTS is a national provider of property tax compliance outsourcing and consulting services, such as real estate appeals and complex property valuation, and employs an expansive network of more than 420 professionals.
CSC WINS $820 MILLION AIR FORCE CONTRACT...Computer Sciences Corporation has been awarded a contract by the U. S. Air Force Space Command to provide technical services at the Air Force’s Eastern Range, headquartered at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. CSC estimates the value of the agreement, which has a 10-month base period and nine one-year options, to be $820 million if all options are exercised.
TECHTEAM GOVERNMENT UNIT ACQUIRES RL PHILLIPS...TechTeam Government Solutions, Inc has acquired RL Phillips, Inc. of Carlsbad, California. The transaction closed on August 31, 2007. RL Phillips provides information technology, network engineering and information assurance services to both government and commercial entities and had annual review of approximately $5.3 million for its latest fiscal year.
FREEBORDERS EXPANDS IN CHINA...Freeborders Incorporated has expanded operations in China by opening a new office in Guangzhou. Freeborders already has a state of the art technology center in Shenzhen, which has provided IT outsourcing services to Fortune 1000 US and European companies for nearly a decade.
Posted by jbowles at 06:40 PM
New Business
Belk, Inc., the largest privately owned department store company in the United States, has renewed its existing outsourcing contract with IBM as part of a seven-year, $98 million agreement. The extension strengthens a 60-year relationship between the two companies and will help enhance service delivery in support of Belk's business growth model.
Computer Sciences Corporation has won an information technology (IT) services contract to provide systems engineering and management and administration support to the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare System Center (SPAWAR) Charleston in Pensacola, Fla. CSC estimates the value of the contract, which has a one-year base period and four one-year options, to be $43 million if all options are exercised.
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. has been awarded a contract renewal by the City of Boston to provide full-service parking ticket collections, booting and towing, and fleet management services. ACS has served the city since 1981. The contract has a length of up to three years and a total value of $19 million, including two one-year renewal options, and was reflected in ACS' fourth quarter fiscal year 2007 results.
Posted by jbowles at 06:39 PM
International News
BT has extended its outsourcing contract with Xansa until March 2014. Xansa will continue to manage BT's UK operations for finance and accounting (F&A) transaction processing, ledger and payroll services leveraging a combination of Xansa's onshore and offshore capabilities in shared service centers in UK and India. Building on a 20 year relationship, this extension worth £128 million over six years to Xansa, covers F&A processing, accounts payable, cash, treasury, payroll, ledger and reporting services.
Accenture is helping United Utilities, which manages and operates electricity distribution and wastewater networks in northwest England, improve its customer service performance through a nine-year business process outsourcing agreement. Accenture is responsible for delivering all services across back-office functions related to income, debt recovery and billing operations.
Convergys Corporation announced a new agreement to provide consulting services to Telecom Egypt, the largest fixed line provider in the Middle East and Africa serving over 11 million subscribers. As part of the new agreement, Convergys is providing its industry expertise to implement a Business Process Re-engineering project to enhance Telecom Egypt’s billing operations. Convergys will re-engineer all billing processes to align them with Telecom Egypt’s new billing platform.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Roche, one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics
headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, have announced a partnership to advance Roche's Global Capacity Building Initiative (GCBI).
Anglo-Dutch IT services group LogicaCMG plc has signed a declaration of intent with Royal KPN NV to take over responsibility for all human resources and payroll activities for all KPN workers in the Netherlands. Financial details were not disclosed. The company said roughly 60 KPN employees will be transferred to LogicaCMG.
Ericsson and Finnish operator Elisa, the largest provider of enterprise communication services in Finland, have signed an agreement for managed services under which Ericsson will manage and develop Elisa's multivendor enterprise back-office environment. Ericsson will be responsible for remote maintenance and change management for traditional and IP-based PBXs used by Elisa's enterprise customers. In addition, the contract covers part of the field service in the Uusimaa region of Finland.
Posted by jbowles at 06:39 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 06:38 PM
