Industry news

UK government CIO Joe Harley will retire in March 2012, it was announced yesterday.

This follows the news that his deputy, Bill McCluggage will leave to join IT supplier EMC later this year.

Harley was formerly IT chief at ICI Paints.

In September 2011 40% of government contracts were agreed with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), compared with only 5% in January, according to John Collington, the government's chief procurement officer.

Collington was among government officials at the Cabinet Office's conference - The Crown and suppliers: a new way of working. For the first time, the government will publish information on its future contract pipeline. This pipeline will give an indication of potential ICT and FM opportunities, and potential Government Procurement Service frameworks including the Public Sector Network (PSN), which may be competed over this Parliament and with an estimated value of £5m or more.

Francis Maude, the minister of the Cabinet Office, said: "Already in the last year we have started to see more transparency with the contracts finder website where businesses can survey everything on offer.

Capgemini will leverage on Dassault Systèmes’ PLM Version 6 solutions

IT services provider Capgemini has entered into an agreement with Dassault Systèmes, a provider of 3D product lifecycle management solutions, around the integration of Dassault Systèmes' PLM Version 6 offerings.

Capgemini said it intends to provide its clients in these sectors with the latest PLM solutions to enable quicker, more efficient transformation of their industrial processes.

Southern Water has opened a new Brighton call centre in response to the national private sewage transfer (PST).

Workplace specialists TSK designed the facility which will house 80 people. The site has been developed to help and support the anticipated rise in volume of issues concerning the implication of the PST legislation.

JDA Software Group, Inc. has announced that Marks & Spencer plc, the United Kingdom’s leading retailer of quality clothing, food and home products, has licensed multiple solutions across JDA’s best-of-breed, supply chain management solutions.

“JDA Software has the proven retail solutions that will help Marks & Spencer deliver supply chain efficiencies across a broad portfolio of brands and categories,” said Andrew Skinner, merchandising director, Marks & Spencer.

“By leveraging JDA’s solutions and support, Marks & Spencer expects to improve in-store availability, reduce end of-season markdowns, and increase the efficiency of our supply chain operations. JDA’s technology will provide Marks & Spencer with the inventory visibility we need to make more profitable decisions, help match our strategic and tactical plans with local customer preferences and drive overall profitability.”

Wyse Technology, a player in cloud client computing, has announced that it has acquired Trellia, a cloud-based mobile infrastructure management vendor.

The Trellia acquisition adds a specific set of technology IP and expertise to present and future Wyse infrastructure management software solutions aimed at helping organizations speed deployment of cloud client computing.

"We will extend the benefits of software as a service (SaaS) to intelligent mobile infrastructure and content managemen," said Tarkan Maner, President and CEO of Wyse. "Combining the IP innovation, skills, resources, and our joint focus on customer advocacy, our goal is to enable enterprises, service providers and telcos to deliver secure infrastructure and content management from the cloud for any user, anywhere, and at any time. We are committed to accelerating the fast adoption of cloud client computing, and in expanding Wyse's enterprise-grade management, cloud and virtualization software portfolio."

Centrica plc, the parent company of British Gas, has signed a strategic agreement with Statoil ASA for the supply of 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to the UK.

The 10 year, NBP-linked gas supply contract begins in 2015 and secures sufficient gas to meet around five per cent of total UK annual demand, enough for 3.5 million homes. With Britain currently importing around 50 per cent of its gas requirements, the announcement underlines the strategic importance of the Norwegian relationship to UK energy security.

In a separate transaction, Centrica also announced it has reached agreement with Statoil Petroleum AS to acquire a focused package of producing and development oil and gas assets in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, for a cash consideration of US$1,525 million (£965 million).

Xerox Managed Print Services has been awarded a five-year enterprise print services contract by British Airways (BA) and tasked with cutting the airline's total print and mailing costs by up to a quarter.

The contract, which is for an undisclosed value, marks an expansion of Xerox's existing contract for the delivery of printed materials, which it has held since 1995, to include the mailing contract previously held by Pitney Bowes

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has decided to outsource its IT function to CSC.

The contract is worth £45 million over a 10-year period and was signed during the publication of a NAO report which criticised CSC’s role in the National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

Workday Inc. has announced that Rentokil Initial plc, one of the largest business services companies in the world, has selected Workday as its global human resources (HR) system of record.

"With 66,000 employees in more than 50 countries and a diverse offering of services, Rentokil Initial is the definition of a global company," said Dave Duffield, co-CEO and chief customer advocate at Workday. "Workday is excited to play a role in Rentokil Initial's initiatives to increase efficiencies throughout its company."