Brazil represents 47% of the Latin American IT services market, valued at $23 billion. Driven by a booming economy, the Brazilian IT services market has enjoyed the highest growth rate in the region for the past five years, and yearly growth should exceed 10% until 2014.

ACCENTURE GETS $160 MILLION BPO EXTENSION FROM ETS...Educational Testing Service (ETS), the leading provider of education assessments and psychometric research, has awarded Accenture a seven-year, $160M contract extension to continue managing its end-to-end supply chain, under a business process outsourcing (BPO) agreement. The contract was signed in May 2010. Under the agreement, Accenture will continue to manage all aspects of ETS' supply chain, including the printing, publishing, warehousing, distribution, tracking and shipping of tests and test materials to more than 10 million test takers in 160 countries every year.

UNISYS SELLS UK INSURANCE BUSINESS...Unisys Corporation has sold Unisys Insurance Services Limited (UISL) to Diligenta Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services Limited. UISL, which is headquartered in the UK and has operations in Liverpool and Bournemouth, provides business process outsourcing services to the UK life and pensions industry. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

MARKET RECOGNIZES GENPACT'S SEP METHODOLOGY...Leading industry analyst firm IDC has found Genpact's proprietary Smart Enterprise Processes (SEPsm) methodology--launched in late 2009--to be a unique and valuable way for companies to drive process effectiveness and achieve measurable business impact. SEP leverages best practices and proprietary benchmarking data to deliver proven results across industries and key business processes. The report by Mukesh Dialani, IDC's research manager, Worldwide BPO Services, examines how Genpact's SEP methodology addresses lack of optimal process management in the enterprise environment. "Genpact's unique IP enables it to test effectiveness of the clients' process by measuring performance at each step of the entire business process and applying best-in-class benchmarks from within and across industries," Dialani wrote.

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families has renewed an eight-year, $30 million contract with Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS), A Xerox Company, to process child support payments. ACS will continue operating the state's child support payment processing operation, known as a State Disbursement Unit (SDU). ACS has run the SDU since 1998, providing services that include processing and disbursing payments, performing monthly bank reconciliations and managing a customer service call center. Beginning in 2011, ACS will also administer the state's program that offers child support payments on a debit card, providing recipients faster and more convenient access to their funds on a card accepted at thousands of retailers and ATMs.

WNS (Holdings) Limited, a leading provider of global business process outsourcing services, announced a contract to deliver analytics and customer care services for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group). Under this multi-year agreement, WNS will deliver customer care services in several languages including German, Italian, French and Spanish to IHG's entities across Europe. WNS is also providing a dedicated analytics team to support IHG's consumer marketing programs.

Diligenta, a leading business process outsourcing (BPO) provider in the UK and a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), announced major business wins with The Phoenix Group and Old Mutual International following the transfer of Unisys Insurance Services Limited's (UISL) UK life and pensions services business to Diligenta. Diligenta's new contract with The Phoenix Group has been extended by an additional six years until 2018, and both contracts will generate £250 million in revenue for the company over that period, reinforcing Diligenta's position as one of the largest BPO providers in the UK.

MORE SKILLED WORKERS NEEDED...Manpower Inc. advises that unless businesses, governments and trade associations work together to develop long-term strategies to alleviate talent shortages among skilled trades, future economic growth will suffer. Worldwide, skilled trades positions are the hardest to fill, according to Manpower Inc.'s recent global Talent Shortage Survey of 35,000 employers across 36 countries and territories.

GENPACT RECOGNIZED AS TOP SERVICE PROVIDER... Genpact Limited, a global leader in business process and technology management, has been recognized as one of the world's top outsourcing service providers as featured in the 2010 Global Services 100 provider list. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Genpact has been acknowledged as one of the top service providers.

Unisys Corporation has won a five-year extension of its contract to provide end-user support services to Flowserve Corporation, a global leader in supplying pumps, valves, seals, automation and services to the power, oil, gas, chemical and other industries. Under the extension, valued at an estimated $37 million, Unisys will provide ongoing and expanded services to support approximately 10,000 of Flowserve's employees in more than 50 countries worldwide for five years beyond the originally contracted 2011 expiration date.

Global Group, one of India's leading business groups in the Network Services and Telecom Tower Infrastructure business, has engaged Infosys BPO, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of Infosys Technologies, to provide services with regard to setting up of its Shared Service Centre (SSC). As part of the deal, Infosys BPO will provide consulting and implementation services across key functions such as finance & accounting, human resources, sourcing & procurement, sales & fulfilment, legal services & IT. The scope includes assessment, design and implementation services coupled with operational support, to be provided for an estimated 20 months.

IBM has signed an agreement with Sunoco, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products, to provide managed business process services and application support services. Through this agreement, IBM will help Sunoco drive improvements to a number of its back office processes by leveraging IBM's experience in the oil and gas industry, and deep business and applications process expertise, existing tools, and operational knowledge.

Patni has been appointed to deliver application management services to the Codan group in Scandinavia. The IT and BPO service provider secured the seven-figure contract over three years for which it will provide managed services for some of the core insurance platforms in Scandinavia. Codan Group, a part of the insurance giant RSA Group had invited five leading outsourcing companies including Patni to bid for the application management contract in September, 2009 out of which it shortlisted three vendors in March, 2010 and finalized to appoint Patni in June this year.

Patni also landed a seven year contract to deliver an information management platform for schools for Serco Learning. The platform, named 'Progresso' is being designed by Serco and developed by Patni. 'Progresso' is a centrally hosted management information platform that provides relevant data, tools and services directly to schools, parents and local authorities. It will be available at the end of 2011

HP WINS $200 MILLION MEDICARE CONTRACT...HP Enterprise Services has been awarded a contract worth up to $200 million by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide application services that improve Medicare Part B claims processing as well as the delivery of healthcare services to beneficiaries. The Medicare Part B Shared System Maintainer contract is for one base year with seven one-year renewal options. Medicare's Multi-Carrier System (MCS) is utilized by CMS' Carriers and Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to process approximately 750 million Medicare Part B claims annually.

Under the contract, HP will provide applications support and maintenance services, including full development life cycle support for system maintenance and enhancements. HP services will deliver production and user support for the processing of an ever-increasing volume of Medicare Part B claims, as well as MAC transition support.

CAPGEMINI BUYS BRAZILIAN FIRM...Capgemini and Sonda Procwork, the Brazilian unit of Chilean IT systems integrator Sonda, announced that Capgemini Brazil has acquired Sonda Procwork's facility in Gaspar, in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil and will now deliver BPO services to global clients in the region who were previously serviced by Sonda Procwork. The acquisition of this facility is in line with Capgemini's Latin America expansion strategy

Barclays Bank PLC has outsourced management and maintenance services for 550 remote and host operated ATMs to NCR Corporation under a two-year contract. NCR will be responsible for delivering a complete managed services solution which includes helpdesk services, incident management, first and second line maintenance and managing cash replenishment services in partnership with Cash-In-Transit management company Loomis.

IBM ACQUIRES DATACAP...IBM announced the acquisition of Datacap Inc., a privately-held company based in Tarrytown, NY. Datacap is a leading provider of software that enables organizations to transform the way they capture, manage and automate the flow of business information to improve business processes, reduce paper costs or manual errors and meet compliance mandates. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition strengthens IBM's ability to help organizations digitize, manage and automate their information assets, particularly in paper-intensive industries such as healthcare, insurance, government and finance.

GENPACT WINS 7-YEAR MORTAGE SERVICE CONTRACT FROM MERS...Genpact Limited, a global leader in business process and technology management, will provide mortgage services support and member-facing helpdesk services for MERSCORP, Inc. (MERS), the mortgage finance industry's electronic loan registry system. Under this significant seven-year agreement, Genpact will perform business process services in the United States for MERS, including managing the receipt, identification and delivery of mortgage-related correspondence on behalf of MERS 2,500 members while working to improve the quality and accuracy of the underlying business processes. Genpact, through its Mortgage Services business, delivers specialized mortgage support to a number of leading industry participants, leveraging its unique Smart Enterprise Processes (SEPSM) approach that combines process excellence, technology, analytics, re-engineering and insights into one framework to drive the overall effectiveness of its mortgage clients' critical business processes.

CSC EARNINGS UP FOR FIRST QUARTER...CSC reported first quarter fiscal 2011 revenue of $3.94 billion and fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 compared to first quarter fiscal 2010 revenue of $3.90 billion and EPS of $0.85.

The University of North Texas System (UNTS) has selected Accenture to assist in developing a plan for implementing IT and HR/payroll shared services for its component institutions. The project is focused on developing a multi-year strategic plan to implement shared services. It will include prioritized campus-level and system-wide strategies for improvement, with a goal to increase efficiency and improve the services provided by IT and the HR/payroll functions across all UNTS campuses and offices. Working with the UNT System Vice Chancellor of Finance and the UNTS Shared Services Council, Accenture will develop a shared services implementation roadmap and five-year plan for IT investment covering capital, operating and personnel expenditures.

CSC announced that the U.S. Army awarded the company a task order to provide technical and engineering support for its Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). The task order, which was awarded during CSC's fiscal 2011 first quarter, has a one-year base period, four one-year options and an estimated total value of $104 million. The task order was awarded under the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command's Expedited Professional and Engineering Support Services blanket purchase agreement, which CSC won in 2005.

TravelSky, the leading provider of information technology solutions for China's air travel and tourism industry, has renewed its commitment to Unisys services and server technology in a major contract with Unisys China to support the transaction peaks driven by China's growing aviation sector. The US$43 million deal was signed in the first quarter of 2010.