Industry news

Cisco Connected Stadium Wi-Fi solution, Real Madrid C.F. is poised to make the Santiago Bernabéu one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the world.

Once the new high density Wi-Fi network is deployed, fans will be able to easily utilise their mobile devices and smart phones to quickly and reliably access several applications specifically designed to engage with the Stadium, as well as accessing Internet and social media during the game. Encouraging fans to use the Connected Stadium Wi-Fi network for Internet connectivity will also help to free up cellular networks, allowing spectators to text and call throughout the games, something that can be challenging nowadays.

Google has offered businesses the chance to use its servers to crunch huge amounts of their raw information.

The firm's BigQuery service is designed to help organisations identify and analyse trends from their datasets. Google said small businesses struggled to access such tools in the past.

Esure, a leading provider of insurance in the UK, has chosen dynaTrace as its platform for application performance management. Selling car, home and travel insurance on the phone and over the internet, esure will use dynaTrace to gain visibility across its online applications and inside its systems to ensure optimal business and technical performance of critical IT services.

esure’s business infrastructure relies on specialised Java applications, and operates in a sophisticated environment. Using dynaTrace PurePath Technology®, esure will benefit from a continuous, end-toend view of all processed transactions from the web servers through the company’s application and web tiers back to the database.

Dashboards that show data as it is collected in real-time will allow for smart prioritisation of actions and give a business-savvy perspective on application performance.

Visa Europe has taken a minority stake in leading customer insight group, Beyond Analysis. The investment will strengthen Visa Europe’s data analytics capabilities and forms part of its strategy to deliver increased value for consumers, retailers and banks through electronic payments.

A key feature of Visa Europe’s data analytics is that all cardholder information is anonymous and does not include personal or private details.‬

Peter Ayliffe, President and CEO of Visa Europe said, “This investment in Beyond Analysis reflects Visa Europe’s commitment to redefining its relationship with retailers, helping them to build stronger relationships with customers and secure increased market share. Enhanced data analytics forms a key part of our vision for the future of payments alongside new technology such as mobile payments and e-wallets.”

Fujitsu has announced Hybrid Cloud Services for Microsoft Windows Azure, an extension of its global cloud portfolio and its relationship with Microsoft. The offering enables government and enterprise customers to benefit from hybrid cloud solutions and in doing so achieve operating cost reductions of typically 30% or more.

Hybrid Cloud Services gives organisations choice when they embark on a cloud strategy, putting their workloads and data wherever it is most appropriate for them –in a public, private, or mixed environment. The solution helps companies address the challenges of interoperability, data security, governance and compliance when delivering across multiple platforms.

“Our research shows public sector organizations in most countries are concerned about data security,” said Frank Gens, chief analyst, IDC. “Providing options to meet this concern could open up a much larger market for public cloud services and in our opinion is definitely a trend to watch.”

Luton Borough Council is to outsource its ICT services through a partnership agreement set up with the Luton Learning and Community Partnership (LLCP) through which, Civica, a market leader in specialist IT systems and business process services, will provide ongoing support to the Council. The 10-year agreement, worth more than £34 million to the company, is part of a broader programme to deliver cost savings in total of £12.6 million.

Effective from 14 November 2011 ‘Project Genesis’ will see LLCP, for which Civica is an IT partner, deliver all core ICT operations for the council in order to achieve savings and enhance services including ICT-based innovation to change access to and use of local services. The partners will also set up a new programme management office to support and focus Luton’s transformation initiatives in order to secure further savings.

Councillor Robin Harris, Deputy Leader Luton Borough Council, said, “This programme will enable us to improve front line services without additional cost. The transfer of Luton’s ICT service to the partnership provides a strong basis for creating IT-based savings and at the same time seeking improved service delivery to meet local residents’ current and future needs.

“We’re particularly excited that the partnership’s service centre model will concentrate work in the town to help support the local economy and jobs.”

India-based ICT and business process outsourcing company Wipro Technologies plans to set up a strategic delivery centre in South Africa that will create job opportunities for about 1000 skilled professionals over the next three years.

Wipro currently has an office in Johannesburg, and has around over 500 employees, both onsite and offsite, servicing its clients in the region.

According to a statement this week, the company says it views South Africa as a market for potential growth and has created a special structure to drive global presence and business growth in the region.

"South Africa's IT end-user spending, as a portion of real gross domestic product (GDP), will reach 8.6% in 2013," said Wipro Technologies senior vice president Manoj Punja. "This positions the country at the upper-middle level of IT spender nations within emerging markets."

The privatisation of public services has been branded a scandal by unions who say that leaked tender documents reveal that the opening-up of the prison system to competition is "heavily biased" in favour of private firms.

The Ministry of Justice has introduced competitive tendering for five jails as ministers seek to expand the role of the private sector. They claim that competition will result in more efficient services and a better deal for the taxpayer, but unions fear that it will result in widespread redundancies, poorer working conditions and reduced pensions for workers.

Bank of America has announced plans to cut 150 jobs at MBNA in Chester but create up to 1,000 new posts in a global technology and operations centre.

Another 100 jobs will be lost from the MBNA base in Ireland. In October, Bank of America Europe Card Services, which operates the MBNA brand, started a collective consultation process in Chester, where it has 3,200 staff. Around 400 job losses were forecast at the European credit card division.

Capita’s library division announces it is to support the UK’s first fully integrated university and public library.

The Hive project, a library and history centre bringing together Worcestershire County Council and the University of Worcester, has selected Capita’s library management system (LMS) to manage a range of library services. This will benefit over half a million citizens and over 9,000 students who will have access to more varied and numerous resources than ever before, including books and journals as well as local historic collections.

The LMS will allow the project to provide improved library facilities for users, with intuitive services such as a fully integrated catalogue and extensive self service features including payment of charges via kiosks. The single catalogue will allow citizens and students to join the service online, request items online and receive notifications via email and potentially SMS.

It will also enable efficiency savings to be realised by automating some of the back office processes such as managing interloan requests or enabling individuals to join the library.