Industry news

Breakfast cereal manufacturer Weetabix has announced plans for a news SaaS procurement system. It replaces a paper-based method that has been in use for 30 years.

The new system gives 400 users access to 1,100 suppliers, and allows them to select from a catalogue, instead of typing in names and quantities of products.

We’re going from a 30-year-old system slap bang into the 21st century," said Head of Procurement Anthony Bowdidge. "We anticipate the time taken to raise a purchase order will reduced by at least 50%"

New secure cloud will satisfy the regulatory requirements of US government departments, with data stored in and only accessible from within the USA.

GovCloud features enhanced security measures, allowing government departments to utilise the service and still meet their regulatory obligations.

Mahindra Satyam is growing again, investing in a data centre in Eindhoven, which will initially employ 45 people to support customers in Holland.

The Indian IT service provider has opened a centre in Eindhoven, Holland, which will initially employ 45 people and support customers in Holland. This means they now have six European delivery operations inc. three in the UK and two in Germany. The centre’s purpose is to act as a local interface between the client, and the back-end work in India.

They need to be in the local area for communication and comfort," said Vineet Nayyer, chairman at Mahindra Satyam.

MPs have today released a report that is highly critical of the Government’s use of Private Finance Intiatives (PFI). It warns that PFI are not a cost-efficient method of building hospitals, schools and roads.

The Treasury Select Committee says that ministers are using PFI as a way to keep capital spending from adding to official debt figures. According to the committee, PFI debts cannot be used to exceed departments budgetary limits. Using PFI, the cost of capital is 8%, twice as high as the Governments own borrowing rates.

Insurance firm – Motaquote – is closing a number of its offices as work is increasingly carried out through its call centre and online.

The firm is closing its Welsh offices in Aberdare, Cwmbran, Ebbw Vale, Mountain Ash, Neath, Risca and Treorchy because of falling footfall. Less than half of Motaquote’s turnover was from its branch network last year, as the contact centre and online channel increased share of total sales.

Two Atos Healthcare employees are being investigated over allegations they made inappropriate remarks on Facebook about the people they assess for sickness and disability benefits.

One employee commented: "Oh god another day here with the down and outs arggggg!" And: "Well that's the end of my holidays! Back to work tomorrow with the down and outs I suppose..."

And: "Thank god it's Friday last day in this god forsaken place with the down and outs!"

The company told us: "Atos Healthcare is investigating the claims made about inappropriate comments written by one of its healthcare professionals on a social media website. Atos Healthcare is committed to providing a high quality, professional service to the DWP and expects the same of all its employees. Where it is found that these standards are not adhered to, this is taken very seriously and appropriate disciplinary action taken."

Dell’s investment in differentiated enterprise solutions and services continued to drive substantial gains in the company’s profitability in the fiscal second quarter as operating income rose significantly on a 1 percent revenue increase.

Dell’s mid-market design focus on next-generation computing solutions and intelligent data management; services, security and cloud; and end-user computing is driving the shift in the company’s mix to a higher-value portfolio and resulting in sustainable, improved results. The company’s GAAP operating income of 7.7 percent of revenue year to date and 7.3 percent of revenue over the past four quarters is in line with its long-term value creation framework goal of more than 7 percent.

-Revenue in the quarter was $15.7 billion, up 1 percent over last year and 4 percent sequentially.

-GAAP earnings per share was 48 cents, up 71 percent; non-GAAP EPS was 54 cents, up 69 percent. Vendor settlements resulted in approximately $70 million in benefit in the quarter that increased non-GAAP gross margins 50 basis points and non-GAAP earnings per share by 4 cents.

-GAAP operating income was $1.1 billion, or 7.3 percent of revenue. Non-GAAP operating income was $1.3 billion, or 8.5 percent of revenue.

-Cash flow from operations was $2.4 billion for the quarter and $5.2 billion over the last four quarters. Dell ended the quarter with a record high $16.2 billion in cash and investments and repurchased $1.1 billion in stock in the quarter.

Vineet Nayyar, chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (SCS), has commented on the impact of the U.S. credit-rating downgrade on the information technology services industry.

Vineet said: “The impetus to send work to lower cost destinations will be even more. Still, these are uncertain times.

‘‘The U.S. has always run a deficit -- that is not new. The act of a downgrade doesn’t worry me at all. In the short term, there will be some negative sentiment because of this. But I would only worry if the fundamentals have changed, and that hasn’t happened.”

Infosys Ltd has said that it is facing a "challenging environment," as the Indian software services exporter's main outsourcing markets--the U.S. and Europe--remain weighed by a spiralling debt crisis and slowing economic growth.

"We are definitely in a challenging environment today, but we clearly believe that the strategic direction we are taking and the operational changes we are making today will make us stronger," Chief Operating officer S.D. Shibulal, who will take over as the new chief executive officer on Aug. 21, told analysts in a conference.

Under the Coalition government, more academies will be opened than in the first 8 years of the programme. More than 1200 schools have now applied to become academies - publicly funded independent schools, free from local authority and national government red tape.

Not only are academies free to deliver the curriculum they see fit, they are now in full control of the purse strings…with great power comes great responsibility. Funding is falling, yet standards need to be raised. A difficult conundrum. How will academies get the most out of their allocated funding?

Companies such as Capita have already stepped into the breach. “Capita will deliver what we need to the benefit of both pupils and employees at the schools, while also meeting today's budgetary challenges," said Gerald Meehan, strategic director for children and enterprise, at Halton council.

“By providing a robust and resilient IT infrastructure for the schools, we can free up their resources to focus on the most important aspects - supporting, teaching and learning."

I couldn’t agree with him more. Already around 900 schools have been declared ‘excellent’, and fast-tracked towards full academy status - there is a huge market opening up for outsourcing companies to rise to the challenge and make a positive difference.

Budget cuts means public sector investment is at its lowest for a generation; redeveloping existing school buildings, and erecting new ones, is not a priority. Yet local authorities are under pressure to create more pupil places. The private sector has money to invest, and is willing to speculate.

There are lots of vacant buildings out there that could be put to good purpose. Social enterprise academies, with private sector investment, could be a way to extend the education system’s capacity, without resorting to the dreaded class-size increases.

As competition opens up, and you get more choice in which school you send your child to, tracking pupils’ progress becomes ever more pertinent. Especially as funding levels might rely on how well a school is performing. ITO suppliers provide services that facilitate reliable, accurate data collection and reporting: making sure that your school gets the funds it deserves.

There are numerous other areas where private sector providers - who have the experience to get things right first time - can save money by eliminating the learning curve and being more efficient: catering, cleaning, information technology, security, the list goes on…

Outsourcing non-core activities allows a school to focus on its raison d'être. Teachers should not have to worry about procuring books and computers or getting the windows cleaned. They should be educating our children, and nothing more. Good teachers live long in the memory for how inspirational they were, not how well they collected in the dinner money! Teachers should spend their time teaching, lesson planning, marking work, and not worrying about admin.

Of course, the private sector has its usual pecuniary motive; a good outsourcing contract has got to be beneficial for both sides. If the private sector is to contribute an initial investment, providers are likely to insist on contracts of a sufficient length to allow them to make a profit long term. If schools are funded at a fixed amount per pupil per year, and outsourcing companies increase their fees there may not be enough to pay the teaching staff.

Equally, if teachers’ unions strike, leading to pay levels being raised, academies on tight budgets may struggle to pay the outsourcers. It’s about striking a balance - all National Outsourcing Association advice is based on relationship forming; building flexible contracts that move with the times, where all stakeholders stand to win. In the first instance, everyone needs to appreciate that they are a stakeholder, with something huge to win - a bright future for our children.