Industry news

Ahead of its inaugural Public Sector Day on Monday 25 April, the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) has started a survey of the UK outsourcing industry to determine how successful they believe public sector outsourcing to be.

Highlighting outsourcing contracts involving the likes of Cornwall County Council, the NHS and the Ministry of Justice, the NOA is asking UK outsourcers why they think there are so many high profile public sector outsourcing failures, and whether they see public sector outsourcing as a “saviour” or a “villain”.

The survey consists of seven questions and takes just five minutes to complete. All those involved with UK outsourcing are encouraged to participate, to ensure that the views of the entire industry are fully represented.

Start the survey.

The results will be announced at the Public Sector Day, along with best practice demonstrations, and free outsourcing training delivered by NOA specialists. The event is entirely free to attend for all buyers of outsourcing and NOA corporate members.

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Related: NHS Blood and Transplant to speak at the Public Sector Day outsourcing conference

Accenture has made its second acquisition of 2016 after buying a majority stake in IMJ Corp, a Japanese full-service digital agency.

The company aims to build on Accenture’s digital business in Japan by boosting the resources of the company’s $3 billion interactive division. This is thought to be the last of a total of five acquisitions to strengthen Accenture interactive division – which focuses on providing digital marketing across US, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Baltics.

Shelly Swanback, the group operating officer for Accenture Digital, claimed that the interactive division is the fast growing across the group. “We are hiring top designers, experienced architects, marketers and technologists”, she added.

Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s CEO, said: “Accenture Interactive is clearly one of the strongest growth sectors in Accenture overall.”

The IMJ Corp acquisition is the eighteenth executed by Accenture in the past 12 months and is part of the established company leadership goal to spend $1 billion in acquisitions – between 2013 and 2015, Accenture acquired 38 companies.

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Related: Accenture is awarded with Met’s application management services contract

Unison, the public service union, has appealed to hospital executives at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust (RCHT) to review its contract for “hotel services” with Mitie.

According to Unison, for months now, the outsourcing giant has failed to meet standards in the delivery of cleaning and catering for the Trust. A situation which, as Sarah Woodward from Unison explains, is putting “patients at risk, which is a huge worry and something our members would want to avoid at all costs”.

The contract was signed in 2014 and is valued at £90m. In the past four months, Mitie has been fined up to 67 percent of its profit because of the anomalies in service provision, which include delays in response to emergency bedside calls, as well as for requests for patient meals or drinks.

The Trust issued a statement in which it informed that it would “continue to require these high standards and work with Mitie to ensure their consistent delivery."

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Related: Mitie’s earnings forecast cut amid fears of a Brexit

The BBC has chosen IBM as its new financial software services provider. The contract will see IBM supplying key financial, accounting and payroll software for the broadcasting company.

IBM will be replacing Steria, BBC’s previous financial services provider. According to the BBC, IBM was chosen due to its cloud capabilities as well as its superior use of data analytics on financial transactions.

The five-year deal will start in November and has the option of a two-year extension. According to Ian Haythornthwaite, BBC director of finance, the BBC “is confident that this contract will bring advantages to the BBC in terms of simplicity and innovation as well as making a significant contribution to our savings targets”.

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Related: IBM takes over as-a-Service CRM provider Opetvia

The giant security company G4S has signed a $120 million deal with Walmart.

The deal is meant to last five-years and includes the provision of cash services across Walmart’s American stores.

G4S has already started the installation of its Cash 360 system across 900 Walmart Stores in the US. This system reduces the need to handle cash and limits opportunities for theft when collections are made in person. Walmart has ordered the 360 system for 1,360 stores but it is believed that this could increase to further 2,750 stores.

This new deal – currently in the hands of the Bank of America for final sign-off – could put an end to several months of bad news for the security giant. Walmart is the US’s biggest private employer with more than 4,500 store in the US alone, 2.2 million employees and 260 million customers.

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Related: G4S makes heavy losses in asylum seekers’ contract

Yesterday, IBM and Pfizer announced in a press release they will be partnering in a ground-breaking research project to develop an IoT solution for Parkinson patients.

The IoT remote monitoring solution will consist of a system of sensors, mobile devices, real-time analytics and machine learning which will make available objective, real-time, around-the-clock disease status.

The new information will then be passed on to researchers and clinicians in the hopes of informing treatment decisions and speed up the development of new and better therapies.

If successful, the programme will transform care for Parkinson patients. According to Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., President of Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, “We have an opportunity to potentially redefine how we think about patient outcomes and 24/7 monitoring, by combining Pfizer’s scientific, medical and regulatory expertise with IBM’s ability to integrate and interpret complex data in innovative ways”.

The system is expected to be inaugurated soon with the rolling out of initial clinical testing. Pfizer and IBM will convene an external advisory board of patient groups, advocacy organizations, clinicians, and neuroscientists for guidance on the use of technology, medical devices, data management, and research protocols, and to ensure the needs of patients guide the program.

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Related: IBM to open first European Watson IoT headquarters in Munich

The NOA has announced Ryan Creighton, Head of Donor Services at NHS Blood and Transplant, will be joining their list of speakers for their Public Sector Day held on Monday 25 April 2016.

Ryan will be a part of a panel of outsourcing buyers discussing the pitfalls of public sector outsourcing and how best to avoid them. He will be joined by Rose Younger, MCIPS, a high profile public sector commercial consultant.

Ryan has 15 years outsourcing experience, nine of that in the BPO sector, with both client side and supplier delivery experience. He has previously worked as a sales director with Concentrix and as an account director at Teleperformance. These experiences have helped him understand the key challenges in the industry and the importance of creating mutually beneficial partnerships.

In May 2015 NHSBT won the NOA’s Professional Award for Excellence in Supplier Management.

Other speakers for the event include Jim Hemmington (Director of Procurement at the BBC), Paul Carter, Commercial Engagement Lead with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) among others. The NOA will also be offering complimentary professional development training, led by Professional Development Director Chris Halward.

The Public Sector Day will provide civil servants with insight into what trends, technologies and skillsets will be essential to public sector outsourcing in the near future. The one-day conference is free to attend for NOA corporate members and buyers of outsourcing.

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Related: Department of Work and Pensions joins line up for Public Sector Day outsourcing conference

After two days of strike and negotiations between the union Unite and the Co-op’s Coventry depot, more than 700 drivers finally backed the outsourcing proposal made by Eddie Stobart, the chain transport and logistics company.

The outsourcing deal consisted of the transfer of 87 drivers from the Co-op’s Coventry distribution depot to the haulier Eddie Stobart. Union Unite – Britain & Ireland’s biggest trade union – recommended its members to accept the offer, leading to a ballot with an overwhelming result in favour of the outsourcing proposal.

After successful negotiations, Acas – the conciliation service – said: “We are pleased that the talks have been help in a constructive manner and collaborative spirit.”

Adrian Jones, Unite’s national officer for retail distribution, added: “We are pleased to announce that our members have voted by a large margin to accept the deal on the table. We are now look forward to a new chapter of constructive dialogue with management and to move forward in a positive fashion for the benefit of the Co-op, their customers and our members”.

In addition, a spokesman for the Co-op said: “We are pleased with the outcome of the ballot and look forward to a continued constructive relationship with Unite.”

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Related: Union threatens legal action over Northamptonshire Council’s revolutionary outsourcing model

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. has announced it will sell its stake in Mphasis, the Indian outsourcing firm. The deal is part of Hewlett Packard’s recent strategy to prop up capital at a time of falling revenues.

Mphasis will be sold to Blackstone Group for about $825m. The Group will acquire at least 84 per cent of Hewlett Packard’s majority stake in the Indian outsourcer for $6.49 a share, signalling some optimism for the firm’s future prospects.

HP Enterprise declared it has recently changed its capital allocation priorities after a recent fall in revenues. Investment will be redirected towards new product and service development, and the company also plans to pursue more mergers and acquisitions.

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Related: HP intends to cut 30,000 jobs through automation and offshoring

It’s been announced that Paul Carter, Commercial Engagement Lead with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), has joined the line-up of speakers at the National Outsourcing Association’s Public Sector Day on Monday 25 April 2016.

Paul will be leading a session focusing on how collaborative relationships can be achieved between public sector organisations and their service providers. He will be drawing on his own experience managing the partnership held between the DWP and Crown Commercial Services.

Other speakers for the event include Jim Hemmington (Director of Procurement at the BBC), Ryan Creighton (Head of Donor Services at NHS Blood and Transplant) and Rose Younger MCIPS (public sector commercial consultant) among others. The NOA will also be offering complimentary professional development training, led by Professional Development Director Chris Halward.

The Public Sector Day will provide civil servants with insight into what trends, technologies and skillsets will be essential to public sector outsourcing in the near future. The one-day conference is free to attend for NOA corporate members and buyers of outsourcing.

Visit the event page.