Industry news

MphasiS, a leading IT services company, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wyde Corporation, an international software vendor and creator of Wynsure- an industry leading Insurance Policy Administration Solution.

This investment is the second acquisition by MphasiS in the Insurance industry vertical, after acquiring AIGSS (AIG Software Systems), the AIG captive center in India in 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, MphasiS will hold a 100 per cent equity stake in Wyde. The closure of the deal is subject to completion of customary conditions.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, USA, with a modern Research & Development (R&D) centre in Paris, France, Wyde has developed and deployed Wynsure, a proven software platform, at many of the leading insurance carriers in North America and Europe. Wynsure is a multi-language, multi-currency, easily customisable software that offers policy administration, claims and billing solutions across Life & Annuities (L&A), disability, health, and Property & Casualty (P&C). Wynsure platform can be deployed at an insurance carrier either one business line at a time, or as a complete end-to-end solution. Wyde has over 200 employees who possess significant domain expertise.

Wyde was founded in 1997 by Pierre Barberis, Chairman, and Jean-Rene Lyon, CEO, both distinguished leaders from the insurance industry. Pierre Barberis, a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and Institute of French Actuaries, has held executive leadership positions in several global corporations including being the Deputy Chairman and CEO of AXA. Jean-Rene Lyon, a graduate of Stanford University and Centrale Paris, has held CIO roles in leading financial services and insurance companies.

Wyde caters to a robust customer base which include Tier I as well as mid-market insurers across the US, France and Canada. Wyde’s Wynsure platform complements MphasiS’ current insurance practice by offering customers a range of software, business consulting and professional services. The acquisition of Wyde will extend MphasiS’ insurance footprint in Life & Annuities segment and strengthen its existing capability in the Property & Casualty segment. MphasiS’ offering will encompass a broad range of IT, platform based BPO and integrated services in areas such as policy administration, claims and billing while branding Wynsure as a market leader in the insurance industry.

“This acquisition demonstrates our focus on strategy execution. Enhancing our value proposition to insurance companies was central to our thinking in this case. I am thrilled to find such a partner for this acquisition. Wyde brings with it world class IP, world class people and a marquee customer base. This IP holds tremendous potential across both mature and emerging markets” said Ganesh Ayyar, CEO MphasiS.

“We are excited about the prospects of growing our global footprint. MphasiS’ strategic focus on the Insurance vertical combined with Wynsure a powerful,full functional, scalable, and easily customisable insurance policy administration system will enable us to elevate Wynsure as a game changer for many more clients. MphasiS will provide Wyde with access to new markets andscale to provide implementation and integration services to our clients” said Pierre Barberis, Chairman of the Board of Directors – Wyde Corporation.

Oracle has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire InQuira, a leading provider of best-in-class service knowledge management software that supports web self-service and agent-assisted service.

InQuira is a privately held company with headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 85 blue-chip customers. Companies need the ability to provide a high-value, differentiated customer experience online and in the contact center.

“The acquisition of InQuira provides Oracle with a complete knowledge management suite, integrated with self-service support, online customer forums and agent-assisted CRM,” said Anthony Lye, SVP of Oracle CRM. “We expect InQuira to be the centerpiece for Oracle Fusion CRM Service. With InQuira, Oracle will provide an integrated suite of proven solutions that deliver a comprehensive and highly personalized experience for every customer, across all channels.”

“With integrated knowledge management, companies have the ability to capture, create, understand and deliver the right answers when customers need it,” said Mike Murphy, CEO of InQuira. “We are excited to join Oracle and offer a comprehensive cross channel customer support solution.”

Cabinet Office calls for government departments to move to shared services model

In line with this, the Cabinet Office had a commitment in the Cabinet Office Business Plan to publish a model for Whitehall shared services in July 2011.

According to the document, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice have already made respective savings of £35m per year, £13m and £20m through their back-office shared services centre.

"To ensure we maintain our trajectory to reduce the deficit, by achieving sustainable savings and making government efficient, we must simplify and standardise back office services and functions," the Cabinet Office says in an introduction to the strategy.

The Cabinet Office's lessons learnt from shared services to date:

Independence is important to incentivise a better quality of services at a lower cost.

Delivery of shared services is not a core government skill and bringing in operational and commercial expertise is vital to improving current capability.

Smaller organisations need an affordable solution as recruiting a bespoke service can be expensive.

Shared services should be thought as comprising a range of key components that influence cost and require standardisation, such as infrastructure, IT platform, ERP, business change, and business processes.

Strong governance is essential and efficiency gains are proportional to the level of mandation in the use of shared services.

India's HCL Technologies has been questioned by the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee around the phone-hacking scandal at News International.

The move follows allegations in parliament that the outsourcer was involved in destroying data on behalf of News International and its News of the World newspaper.

Proposals for Northamptonshire Police and Cheshire Constabulary to share a number of non-frontline services have been agreed by Northamptonshire Police Authority.

The decision - which will result in elements of Human Resources, Finance and Procurement being shared between forces and delivered from a single location - means that the Authority will now proceed to the contract stage with Cheshire Police Authority and technology provider Capgemini, before moving into the design and build stages of the technology.

The decision re-enforces the Forces’ position to protect front-line services to the public as much as possible during this challenging time. Shared services will mean working differently behind the scenes, however crucially there will be no change to the way our communities can access our front-line services.

Deirdre Newham, Chair of Northamptonshire Police Authority, said:

“Today is a milestone in the history of both police authorities and forces and the Police Authority considered this matter in great detail before reaching a decision today.

“The challenge set by government is that, by March 2015, Northamptonshire Police will have to operate on a budget that is reduced by nearly £20m compared to the 2010 position.

“Our responsibility is to respond positively to this challenge, ensure the Force prioritises frontline services and identifies opportunities to make savings in areas that will not jeopardise those services. The proposals agreed today mean that a number of ‘back office’ functions can be delivered at a significantly reduced cost – essential if we are to balance the budget in the months and years ahead.”

Business IT security is a perennially favourite topic of discussion. From SMEs to multi-national corporations (and even in government circles), the security of IT systems is much discussed and yet there is a feeling that maybe it is not always given the consideration it deserves. At a recent conference, CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux suggested that it would be sensible to allocate 10% of a company’s IT budget to providing security, and yet the evidence suggests that in reality this is often not the case.

For example, a Gartner survey recently found that the industry average spend on IT security is only about five percent. Perhaps even more startling is a report by the Ponemon Institute, Cenzic and Barracuda Networks which found that 88% of companies surveyed indicate they spend more on coffee than they do on securing Web applications!

In my experience this isn’t unusual. If we took a poll across a cross section of small businesses I suspect many would say they either don’t have a specific budgetary allocation for IT security or that it is a minimal amount. So why is there a shortfall between the professionally suggested levels and the reality of IT security within the business world?

Having spoken to and worked with countless IT managers and business owners the anecdotal evidence is that providing IT security is, to many, a task with somewhat intangible benefits. Like buying insurance, investing in IT security doesn’t give an immediate, visible, business benefit in the same way that purchasing a smartphone or company car does. In fact, very much like insurance, it’s a purchase that will only really remind you of its worth when disaster strikes – and then it will also make it very evident whether you have bought the right or wrong product for your needs.

Whilst failing to find the right level of protection could potentially leave your business open to serious problems, paying over the odds for products you don’t need makes equally bad business sense. So like most business decisions, finding the right balance is vital. The suggested 10% of budget may be a good guide, but naturally all organisations are different and the appropriate amount will vary depending on a wide range of factors, including the type of business and the potential threats to it.

When considering IT security for a business it is vital to understand the types of threats that could be a problem and the weak points in the organisation that leave it vulnerable. For companies that run an online ordering or sales system this could mean a specific threat to customer’s account or financial details by IT-savvy criminals. Most businesses hold personal details on their systems and there is a potential risk that these can be hacked remotely without proper protection being in place. At the most basic level, all businesses are open to threats via email viruses or lax security at the organisation’s premises, both on a physical level and also with regards to IT safeguards.

The physical security of premises is a vital, if sometimes overlooked consideration with regards to information security. Allowing unauthorised people to enter the premises opens up the likelihood that a malicious visitor could infiltrate systems and pilfer valuable information or even remove hardware. Despite the ability to remotely hack business systems, physical intruders are still a very real danger.

Businesses often forget the protection they already have through existing IT investments, which may not be fully utilised. Business systems often incorporate a certain degree of security built in, such as password protection which is vital to IT security. A robust policy that ensures employees and the management use unobvious and hard-to-break codes will significantly tighten security, as long as users don’t just keep the details on their desk!

Despite all the planning, in my experience many organisations lapse in their IT security from time to time, often when security software needs upgrading or renewing. Being an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ technology, cash-starved businesses may let this important stage slip and undoubtedly this can be one of the most vulnerable periods for IT security within an organisation.

Much like insurance, IT security is something that will cost a business dearly if it doesn’t consider the potential ramifications of not having the right cover in place. Whilst additional financial outlay is never welcome, IT security should be seen as a necessity much like other critical business expenses such as telephones or an office. After all, you wouldn’t do without fire alarms and fire extinguishers just because you haven’t had a fire!

As he unveiled his strategic review, Lloyds TSB chief executive António Horta-Osório said “This bank is losing money. We have to get this bank supporting the UK economy, we have to get this bank profitable and we have to repay taxpayer support.”

Indeed, as 41% of the bank is owned by the UK taxpayer, it is imperative that Lloyds are expeditiously proactive in their approach to getting back on track - they owe as much to the British public.

Although the strategy wasn’t as detailed as many of us would have liked, its sentiments are simple - Lloyds TSB needs to boost its revenues at the same time as dramatically slashing its costs. The targets are formidable - they include cutting costs by a further £1.5 billion per year and increasing revenue per investment customer by 50%+ by 2014.

The strategy will involve Lloyds TSB reshaping its business portfolio to fit its assets, capabilities and risk appetite - which, it appears, will be decidedly more conservative than under the previous strategy. Disciplined controls are to be put in place - there will be none of the wild gambling that led to the financial crisis.

Now Lloyds’ analysts and traders will seek out only the safest bets to stake the taxpayers’ money on - they must be assiduous in this quest, which will take time and strenuous effort. But investment strategy is a bank’s core competency, its main money spinner, so it’s crucial to train their focus on this area.

Lloyds TSB’s other initiatives include investing in being the “best bank for personal customers” by delivering “a simple, efficient and fair customer experience” and aiming to become the “best through-the-cycle partner” for businesses large and small.

This is exactly what a bank nearly half-owned by the Government should be doing - supporting the people, and giving the best possible opportunities to businesses - lending prudently and offering sage financial advice, especially to SMEs. Good old fashioned banking; another core competency where Lloyds is looking to raise its game.

These strategies will require major funding. The struggling bank needs to save billions before it starts pulling its weight for the UK taxpayer. Announcing that it will shed 15000 jobs internationally - as part of a strategy to focus its international efforts only on UK expatriates and organisations with strong existing UK ties - is just the start of the cost cutting.

Further to this, Lloyds will reduce the number of agreed suppliers from 17000 to less than 10000. On the face of it, this looks to be an unfavourable turn for the outsourcing industry - but I believe there are many positives to be taken from it.

Lloyds TSB, as witnessed through its work with the NOA, has long been a forerunner in managing outsourcing contracts and is fully aware that doing more business with fewer companies is a real opportunity to forge stronger working relationships with key partners.

Outsourcing could well be key to fulfilling Lloyds’ desire to “redesign processes,” “increase productivity,” “reduce complexity and costs” and create “digital distribution channels” - this is core work for many BPO and ITO providers who bring experience, expertise and technology to the table.

In order to make Lloyds TSB “leaner and more agile” we may also see a drive for innovation in outsourcing contracts. In my opinion, collaborating with the right partners, and trusting them to innovate, will let Lloyds TSB focus on its bread and butter: investing and lending wisely.

Intellect has said that the recent PASC report on government and IT includes allegations of anti-competitive behaviour and collusion, and suggestions of a 'cartel' operating in the ICT industry.

Intellect stated: "As the trade body for the ICT sector, we want to make it clear that this is not the case and cartels do not exist in our industry. On the contrary, this is a highly competitive market. Intellect would cooperate with any investigation into such allegations, but we believe it would be a waste of public money."

Everything Everywhere, formerly T-Mobile and Orange, has reported savings of £21 million in the first half of the year following IT integration work.

Everything Everywhere, jointly owned by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, achieved the savings by transferring IT infrastructure activities to T-Systems and through a five-year IT testing services outsourcing agreement with Capgemini

Tom Alexander, CEO of Everything Everywhere, said: “The first half of 2011 was a period of good progress for Everything Everywhere. We are delivering on our strategic plan set out in September 2010 and are ahead of plan with our synergy capture [cost savings].”

Capita's software services division announces it has secured a five year contract with Melin Homes, a provider of affordable homes in south east Wales, to enable a number of its departments to work as one collective team. Aligning its housing management, direct works and finance divisions will help Melin to create increasingly efficient working processes and streamlined services to the benefit of its residents.

Mark Gardner, chief executive at Melin Homes, commented: "We aim to make a positive difference within the communities in which we work and in order to achieve this, it is key that we maintain a fresh and dynamic outlook. Our use of IT and software is one way in which we can ensure this and we chose Capita because of its reputation in the market and its understanding of our needs. Now we look forward to working closely with the team to continue to develop our business efficiencies, which in turn will benefit our customers and their communities."