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November 28, 2007
Top Stories
KPMG REPORTS DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH...KPMG, the global network of professional service firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services, announced that member firm combined revenues increased to US$19.8 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, versus US$16.9 billion for the prior fiscal year, reflecting double-digit growth across all of KPMG's service lines. KPMG's combined revenues represent growth of 17.4 percent in U.S. dollars and growth of 12.7 Percent in local currency terms.
GENPACT EXEC WINS FAO TODAY AWARD...Genpact Executive Vice President Tiger Tyagarajan is one of four individuals recognized by FAO Today magazine for outstanding accomplishment in finance & administrative outsourcing. FAO Today covers the $39 billion finance and administrative outsourcing industry and distributes to more than 22,000 financial executives interested in globalization and best-in-class operational strategies. A total of six awards, recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of four executives and two organizations were announced at this month’s FAO Today ONE Conference for Finance and Procurement Globalization in Atlanta.
CONCENTRIX EXPANDS VOICE DELIVERY SERVICES...Concentrix Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation, has officially launched the offering of voice delivery services in Mandarin and native Korean from its facility in Chengdu, China. Building on a five-year history of providing business process outsourcing (BPO) services in China, Concentrix is now providing North American businesses with true in-language customer service and support in Mandarin and native Korean. Mandarin is the fourth commonly spoken language in the United States and is the most prevalent language in the world with roughly twice as many English speakers.
Posted by jbowles at 07:54 PM
New Business
Capgemini announced the extension of its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) engagement with SKF, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services in the area comprising rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems, for the Group’s US operations. SKF has been a client of Capgemini’s Technology Services for many years. In October 2006, this collaboration extended to include BPO with the signature of a 7 year BPO deal to provide Finance & Accounting services for several of their European operations. This contract extension to SKF’s US operations aims to support the SKF global standardization of Financial Operations across continents and divisions of operation.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded EDS an $11.6 million contract to help the department develop and provide personal identity verification (PIV) card solutions to all VA employees, affiliates
and contractors in accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12). Under the Personal Identity Verification Deployment and
Operations/Maintenance (PIV DOM) contract, EDS will support the VA objective to issue PIV cards for authentication and identity verification services in a commonly accepted identification card recognized across the federal government.
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. announced a seven-year, $35 million extension to its existing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) billing contract with the City of Houston. Under the terms of the contract, ACS recovers ambulance transport fees for the Houston Fire Department from third party payers, such as Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance firms. As part of the billing service, ACS also provides all mobile software and hardware required for the city's EMS operation.
ACS also announced a contract with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to provide pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services for its Medicaid program. The contract has a length of up to 10 years and a total value of $18.5 million, if a three-year option is exercised.
Posted by jbowles at 07:54 PM
International News
Unisys Corporation announced that its UK subsidiary has signed a seven-year IT outsourcing services contract with The Diamond Trading Company Limited (DTC), the London-based sales and marketing arm of the De Beers family of companies. The contract has an approximate value of $16.5 million. Under the contract, Unisys will manage the DTC’s data centre server environment. This includes supporting virtualisation technology, which helps server computers perform more tasks more quickly. The Unisys solution is designed to create a comprehensive IT architecture that supports the DTC’s strategic software applications and helps the company enhance supply chain efficiencies.
Posted by jbowles at 07:54 PM
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Posted by jbowles at 07:53 PM
November 14, 2007
Top Stories
EDS PURCHASES MAJORITY STAKE IN SABER HOLDINGS...EDS has agreed to purchase an approximate 93 percent equity interest in Saber Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of software and services to U.S. state governments, from various sellers, including majority shareholder Accel-KKR, for approximately $420 million in cash. Saber’s Chief Executive Officer Nitin Khanna and President and Chief Operating Officer Karan Khanna will retain an approximate 7 percent interest in Saber and continue to lead the company following the closing. Saber, founded in 1997, is one of the world’s fastest-growing providers of software products and services that enable state and local governments to better serve citizens. The Portland, Oregon-based company, which has operations in 35 states, more than doubled its revenue each year since 2004.
CERIDIAN ACQUISITION COMPLETED...Ceridian Corporation, Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and Fidelity National Financial, Inc. announced that THL Partners and FNF have completed the acquisition of Ceridian for approximately $5.3 billion. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Ceridian stockholders are entitled to receive $36.00 in cash, without interest, for each share of Ceridian common stock that they hold. Ceridian common stock ceased trading on the NYSE before commencement of trading on November 9, 2007 and will be delisted from the NYSE.
CHANGE AT HELM AT ACXIOM...Acxiom Corporation announced that Charles Morgan has retired, effective immediately, from the board and as company leader. Morgan has entered into a transition agreement with the company and has agreed to serve as interim company leader until his successor is selected. In addition, Morgan has agreed to serve as a consultant to the company for up to three years, focusing on technology and innovation. The company also announced that its board of directors has elected Michael J. Durham to serve as the non-executive chairman of the board of directors.
FED TAPS PAYCHEX EXECUTIVE...The board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have elected Jonathan J. Judge, president and chief executive officer of Paychex, Inc., to the board of directors of the Buffalo Branch, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Buffalo Branch consists of seven members, three of whom are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The remaining four are appointed by the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Branch board of directors are leaders representing various industries throughout upstate New York, including banking, manufacturing, health care, agriculture, labor and energy.
ACS NAMES HEAD OF F&A...Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. has appointed Ron Gillette senior managing director, finance and accounting (F&A), to lead and transform its global F&A outsourcing (FAO) business. His focus will be on standardizing the company's F&A processes and management to enable rapid growth in the expanding FAO market. He reports to Ann Vezina, president of the company's Commercial Solutions Group.
ADP RAISES DIVIDEND 33RD YEAR IN A ROW...The board of directors of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. approved a 26% increase in the cash dividend to an annual rate of $1.16 per share, Gary C. Butler, president and chief executive officer, announced today. The new quarterly dividend of 29 cents per share compares with the previous quarterly dividend rate of 23 cents per share. This increased quarterly dividend will be distributed on January 1, 2008 to shareholders of record December 14, 2007. The increased cash dividend marks the 33rd consecutive year in which the company has raised its dividend.
Posted by jbowles at 07:49 PM
New Business
Computer Sciences Corporation has been awarded a task order to provide technical and process support services for the Information and Customer Service Division (ICSD) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). CSC estimates the value of the task order, which has a six-month base period and four one-year options, to be $34 million if all options are exercised.
Posted by jbowles at 07:48 PM
International News
Cablemás S.A. de C.V., the second-largest cable television operator in Mexico, has renewed its billing agreement with Convergys for five years. The renewed agreement continues the licensing, maintenance, and support of Convergys’ ICOMS convergent voice, video, and data billing and customer care solution for Cablemás.
Posted by jbowles at 07:48 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 07:47 PM
November 07, 2007
Top Stories
ACCENTURE SIGNS $400 MILLION DEAL WITH THOMAS COOK...Accenture will provide Thomas Cook Group plc with application management, technology infrastructure management, finance, accounting and human resources services under a US$400 million outsourcing agreement the two companies signed recently. The contract, which supersedes an agreement the two companies signed in early 2002 for similar services, is designed to enable Thomas Cook to integrate a range of MyTravel plc functions into existing Thomas Cook outsourced operations following the merger of the two companies this past June.
UNITEDHEALTHCARE ACQUIRES FISERV HEALTH...UnitedHealthcare will acquire substantially all of Fiserv’s health-related businesses for $775 million in cash. The transaction includes Fiserv Health, a leading administrator of medical benefits; Avidyn Health, a care facilitation business; and the Fiserv Health Specialty Solutions businesses (which include J.W. Hutton, a subrogation and overpayment recovery organization, and ppoONE, a claim repricing and data management service). Fiserv Health’s Pharmacy Benefits Management business (PBM) Innoviant will also be part of the transaction.
CSC TO ACQUIRE FIRST CONSULTING GROUP...Computer Sciences Corporation and First Consulting Group, Inc. have entered into an agreement and plan of merger through which CSC will acquire First Consulting Group (FCG) in an all-cash transaction for $13.00 per share, or approximately $365 million. The transaction is expected to be neutral to reported CSC earnings and accretive to free cash flow within the first 12 months.
DEADLINE FOR OUTSOURCING EXCELLENCE AWARDS IS NOVEMBER 15...The deadline for nominations for Outsourcing Center’s 2008 Outsourcing Excellence Awards, sponsored by Everest Group and Forbes, is now November 15. 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. The nomination form and instructions are available at www.outsourcing-awards.com.
Posted by jbowles at 08:31 PM
New Business
EDS and Daimler Financial Services announced a three-year agreement for transition and data center hosting services. EDS will relocate and then manage the financial services company’s information technology (IT) environment so that Daimler Financial Services can focus on its Mercedes-Benz Financial and Daimler Truck Financial wholesale, retail and lease core business. Under the agreement, EDS will transition and then manage the Daimler Financial Services computing environment, including consolidating and hosting its approximately 150 midrange servers and its mainframe computers and data storage in EDS data centers in Auburn Hills, Mich. and Sacramento, Calif. Daimler Financial Services manages wholesale and retail loans portfolios, hosts Web sites and runs internal systems within this computing environment.
Posted by jbowles at 08:31 PM
International News
Siemens IT Solutions and Services has won two outsourcing orders in Denmark: Siemens will operate the entire IT infrastructure for the biotechnology company Novozymes and the computer centers for the energy utility Dong Energy. Both orders are extensions to existing contracts, will run until 2010 and are jointly worth around 8 million euros.
Posted by jbowles at 08:30 PM
Outsourcing of HR Functions to Regain Momentum in 2008, according to Everest Research Institute
Outsourcing of human resource functions – including the most commonly outsourced functions of payroll, benefits, employee data management, information systems, and contact centers -- is expected to increase in 2008 after remaining relatively flat since 2005, according to the Everest Research Institute. While all market segments present significant growth potential, the Institute’s annual Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) market study predicts mid-sized, North American and European companies will spark the growth. The Institute will hold a Webinar on November 6 at 9 a.m. CST to present study findings and insights.
According to the Institute, the cumulative total contract value of human resources outsourcing transactions reached US $21.2 billion in 2006 and is expected to be US $25.4 billion by the end of this year. The Institute’s study, Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) Annual Report: November 2007, attributes future HRO growth to existing suppliers that have decreased transition costs and timeframes and are promoting standardized offerings. With the current penetration level of HRO being low in all market segments and across geographies, suppliers are focusing on the largely underserved mid-market and are offering compelling price points. According to the study, North American buyers account for more than 70 percent of HRO transactions, but Europe has seen increased deal signings over the past three years. Manufacturing, financial services and high-tech and telecom are the leading buyers of HRO overall.
The annual report is the first of a two-part study of the HRO market. The second part, the 2007 Global HRO Supplier Landscape, will be released in December.
The Webinar will take place on November 6, 2007, at 9 a.m. CST; 3 p.m. GMT; 8:30 p.m. IST. To register, please visit: www.everestgrp.com/Webinars.
For additional information and an extract of the HRO Annual Update, please visit www.outsourcing-center.com. You may also call 214-451-3110 to schedule a personal briefing appointment.
Posted by jbowles at 08:29 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 08:29 PM
