Industry news

Parliamentary ICT (PICT) on behalf of the House of Commons and House of Lords is seeking to procure a contract for the provision of strategic web hosting for the Parliament website (www.parliament.uk), Parliament Intranet and other online channels.

Parliament’s online channels are high profile increasingly business critical and in the last 12 months received 16 000 000 visits, from 10 000 000 unique visitors, with daily visitor traffic varying from a low of 6 000 visits to a peak of 158 000.

The supplier will be responsible for providing a service which meets service levels around availability, support and issue management. The supplier will be expected to demonstrate flexible commercial models which ensure Parliament can get value for money and be proactive in ensuring that Parliament’s online channels are delivered in a resilient, secure and robust way.

We are keen to work in partnership with the supplier to take advantage of new opportunities that technology can provide and provide a flexible and scalable service that can accommodate all Parliament’s web hosting needs over the next three to five years.

Sitel and LifeScan, won the Best Outsourcing Partnership of the Year at the European Call Centre and Customer Service Awards. The event, which saw the coming together of the European Call Centre Awards and the National Customer Service Awards, recognised the best and brightest shining stars of customer service in Europe.

Sitel and Lifescan were recognised for having a very tight and effective client/outsourcer relationship based around clear goals, mutual respect and a high-quality multilingual operation with an engaged workforce.

“We are delighted that our work with Lifescan has been recognised with the Best Outsourcing Partnership of the Year award,” said Lawrence Fenley, Sitel Managing Director for UK and Ireland. He added “winning this award last year was a great success, but to win this award for the second year running is a phenomenal achievement.”

Aviva Insurance Ireland, is reported to be planning to announce around 850 redundancies and the outsourcing of an additional 300 staff.

The company, employs over 2,000 staff in Ireland. In addition to the 850 redundancies, 300 workers will be outsourced. However, information on the outsourcing is not available.

The recent TPI Q3 results show a broader market, at an all-time 3q high. 31% up q/q and 41% y/y on a €5.8b acquisition-related mega deal

All three regions saw tcv up for the quarter and ITO up 50% q/q.

- 3Q11 TCV is notably up, primarily the result of a single acquisition-related mega deal

- Without the mega deal, 3Q11 sustained typical global performance

- EMEA 3Q ahead of the recent third quarter TCV performance

- ITO – without Mega Deal- drops Q/Q though ahead by 10%Y/Y in EMEA

- BPO 3Q steady; should end 2011 with a solid performance

- Expect EMEA to support and Asia Pacific to strengthen the outsourcing market going forward

- Outsourcing market should end the year, well within the historical norms

The BBC has leaked a memo from the RBS CFO, Chris Kyle, revealing 11 new cost cutting initatives with IT spending freeze at the top of the list.

The memo states that a "Freeze on hardware and software spend to be implemented for the remainder of the year. Direct approval rights to be withdrawn from cost centre users. All hardware and software spend must contain the approval of the relevant ExCo member and Regional CFO so that it can be considered on an exceptional basis."

RBS is also set to cut up to 5,000 jobs, according to reports, with up to 1,000 UK jobs threatened. The bank is 83% owned by the UK public.

IBM has announced that Westpac New Zealand has renewed its strategic information technology (IT) outsourcing agreement for a further five years to 2017. Under the new contract, which expands on an agreement first signed in 2000, IBM will deploy new technologies to improve customer service and sustainability, and upgrade existing systems.

IBM has prime responsibility for Westpac's key IT infrastructure services, including mainframes and midrange systems, storage, security, data center raised floor services, data center network services, workplace services, and workplace printing.

"Westpac is pleased to renew what has proved to be a successful and constructive long term relationship. It supports the Bank's strategy of making it easier and faster and providing an experience that delights our customers," said Jim Stabback, General Manager Customer& Technology Services, Westpac.

Dell has opened a new 5,000 square foot data center in Slough, United Kingdom.

The data center, which will be in operation on November 3rd, is part ofthe company's two-year, $1 billion global data center expansion strategy that it first unveiled in April.

"We are excited to announce the expansion of Dell's global footprint with the opening of a next generation data center in the United Kingdom," said Don Mann, VP infrastructure and cloud Computing at Dell Services. "[The new facility] reinforces our commitment to deliver industry-leading services and solutions that help our customers innovate and drive business results."

Procure4London, is the pan-London procurement portal sponsored by Capital Ambition. Procure4London provides details of contract opportunities of all values for London local authorities. The councils collectively spend approximately £8.8 billion on goods and services across more than 5,900 contracts. Suppliers can browse through contract notices for free and express interest in the opportunities. Procure4London also provides news and information to help suppliers respond to and deliver services for the London public sector.

Procure4London is a one-stop shop for local government procurement in London and allows authorities to share and create better streamlined practices. It promotes and supports collaborative procurement opportunities across London councils to generate greater savings and efficiencies.

Infosys, a global leader in consulting and technology, has announced the launch of Finacle e-Banking Version 11 at the 2011 BAI Retail Delivery Show in Chicago. The solution is a comprehensive offering that empowers banks to achieve quick global rollouts of online banking services.

The new version of Finacle(TM) e-banking provides unique personalization capabilities, industry-leading security features and intelligent customer insights to drive adoption of online banking channel and enhance customer loyalty.

Nicole Sturgill, Research Director at TowerGroup, a Corporate Executive Board company states, "As consumers continue to bank more often outside the branch, it is important that banks look for ways to build customer relationships through electronic channels. One of the best ways to do that is to position the bank as the customer's financial home page by giving them all of the tools they need to manage their finances in one place. Providing a simple, intuitive user interface will further increase the adoption and effectiveness of the online channels."

Philips is to cut 4,500 jobs as it reported a sharp fall in third-quarter profits as a result of lower margins, falling sales and a loss at its TV division.

Its group-wide net profit for the three months to 30 September was 74m euros ($103m; £65m), compared with 524m euros a year earlier.

Philips has issued two profit warnings in the past seven months.

Philips chief executive Frans van Houten said: “We are focused on improving the performance of Philips, driven by our change program Accelerate! We see the first signs of traction to accelerate growth through step-ups of investments in innovation and to win customers. We are still in the early stages of a multi-year overhaul to become a more entrepreneurial and lean company, but we are encouraged by the response of our employees.

"Our cost reduction plan of EUR 800 million has now been detailed, and we are in the process of deploying it across the organization as we optimize all overhead and support costs not directly involved in the operational customer value chain. The cost savings program will lead to the loss of approximately 4,500 jobs, which is a regrettable but inevitable step to improve our operating model to become more agile, lean and competitive."