Industry news

HMV is deploying Wax Digital’s web3 e-sourcing platform in a bid to cut costs and boost efficiency.

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) system will replace an Ariba sourcing solution, and according to Paul Barker, procurement manager at HMV, will enable the retailer to negotiate with suppliers more efficiently.

HMV will initially use web3 to source print and stationery products before rolling it out across other divisions.

“We chose Wax Digital for its intuitive platform and local sourcing expertise. It has helped us to procure more efficiently,” said Barker.

Wipro has announced financial results for its second quarter ended September 30,2011.

India's No. 3 software services exporter, beat brokerage estimates with its quarterly profit and forecast better-than-expected IT services revenue growth despite global uncertainty, sending its shares as much as 3 percent higher.

Highlights of the Results:

 IT Services Revenue was $1,472 million, a sequential increase of 4.6% and YoY increase of 15.7%.

 Non-GAAP constant currency revenue growth was 5.5% sequentially.

 Total Revenues were `90.94 billion ($1.85 billion1), an increase of 18% YoY.

 Non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income was `13.06 billion ($266 million1), an increase of 2% YoY. Net

Income was `13.01 billion ($265 million1), an increase of 1% YoY.

 IT Services Revenues were `68.29 billion ($1.39 billion1), an increase of 7% sequentially and 19%

YoY.

 IT Services Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) was `13.64 billion ($278 million1), an increase of

7% YoY.

 Our Operating Income to Revenue for IT Services was 20% for the quarter.

Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, commenting on the results said – “Macroeconomic sentiments continue to remain uncertain. We have seen growth momentum build up in our IT Business with healthy

volume growth. Our focused investment strategy will get the business to a higher growth trajectory. ”

Suresh Senapaty, Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said – “We are continuing to see incremental progress in our client mining strategy with 5 customers contributing more than $100

million of revenues and our top customer hitting a revenue run rate upwards of $200 million. We had an impact on operating margins in the quarter due to salary increases.”

Janet UK plans £80m network deal Suppliers sought for upgrade to higher education and research councils' Janet network

Janet UK has advertised a framework contract worth up to £80m for the managed fibre infrastructure to upgrade its network of the same name for the higher education and research sectors.

According to a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, the framework will supply services for 'Janet 6', the first stage in the replacement of SuperJANET5, the telecommunications network between the regional networks that together form JANET.

Advanced Computer Software Group secures £17m 10-year contract

Advanced Computer Software Group, a leading provider of software and IT services to the UK health, care and business sectors, has signed a 10-year, £17m agreement with the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Care and Public Safety to supply a province-wide finance, procurement and logistics solution.

The solution is part of the Business Services Transformation Programme aimed at saving Health and Social Care (“HSC”) in Northern Ireland in excess of £8m per annum over the 10 year contract. The contract will enable the HSC to streamline processes and reduce administration and purchasing costs.

Vin Murria, Chief Executive of Advanced, commented: “This key contract win is a clear demonstration of our Group-wide capabilities to provide a range of interlocking services and products to enable our customers to materially improve their operational efficiencies and reduce costs.”

G4S has pledged “not to throw in the towel” on its plans to buy ISS for £5.2 billion, despite growing opposition among shareholders who will hold a key meeting this week.

The world’s leading security company needs the backing of three quarters of investors to buy the Danish outsourcer, which specialises in cleaning and catering.

As they prepare for an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, several institutions have indicated that they will abstain or vote against the acquisition, leading to speculation that G4S might abandon the deal or delay the meeting.

An independent tribunal in Australia has ordered a permanent end to the industrial dispute that has grounded all Qantas flights.

Fair Work Australia issued its ruling after hearing evidence from the airline, unions and government at an emergency session in Melbourne.

In August, Qantas announced restructuring and outsourcing plans to combat annual losses in international operation of about $200m. Unions responsed with a series of strikes, pressing for more job security

IBM announced that Medio Systems, Inc., a leading provider of mobile predictive analytics, has selected IBM System x servers to power its cloud-based IT infrastructure that analyzes the behavior of over 90 million users within Medio’s network of game developers, mobile publishers, handset OEMs and wireless operators.

Medio Systems worked with IBM to deploy 230 IBM System x servers powered by intelligent Intel Xeon processors running Apache Hadoop and Linux to offer its predictive analytics solution in a distributed, cloud-based environment. This software and hardware solution is purpose-built for the wireless application and smart device industry.

“With IBM's support, we will continue to provide best-of-breed predictive analytics solutions that allow our partners to take data-driven actions that optimize revenue and increase customer engagement,” says Medio CEO Rob Lilleness. “We’re already seeing the benefits from this new partnership and look forward to extending our industry reach. Our scalable data-driven business is built on IBM’s smarter hardware and software, systems and services.”

Bournemouth Council is to take independent advice on an outsourcing contract after staff unrest over the suspension of a senior official who questioned the deal.

Chief accountant, Stephen Parker, was suspended on full pay after raising concerns over Bournemouth’s plan to outsource its HR and finance services to the troubled firm Mouchel.

Datacentre will be powered mainly by renewables and handle all data processing from Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Facebook is building a ‘green’ datacentre in Sweden, the social networking giant’s first datacentre outside the US.

The company has said that it had picked the northern Swedish city of Lulea, just 100km south of the Arctic Circle, because of its access to renewable energy and the cold climate that is crucial for keeping the servers cool.

Sony has confirmed that it is to buy out mobile manufacturing partner Ericsson taking full control of the Sony Ericsson brand responsible for the likes of the Xperia Ray and Xperia Arc S devices.

In an effort to close the gap on smartphone rivals such as Samsung, Motorola and HTC, Sony has confirmed that it is to purchase the 50 per cent share of the Sony Ericsson collaboration previously held by the Swedish mobile powerhouse Ericsson.

It is believed Sony will part with 1.05 billion euros (£916 million) in order.