Industry news

Gartner’s findings go on to predict the global enterprise applications software market will reach US$8.8bn in 2010.

SaaS will have a role in the future of IT, but not the dominant future that was first thought. Companies should carefully assess their software needs in light of the current promises delivered on by SaaS.

From a market perspective, most of the spending for SaaS is occurring in content, collaboration and communication and the customer relationship management markets. Collectively, they represented 65% of the global enterprise applications software market in 2009.

SaaS may not have delivered on its early grand promises - of the current SaaS deployments we estimate that a total of 90% of SaaS deployments are not pay-per-use, but it has re-energised the software market and added choice.

The three-year framework contract provides telent with the opportunity to supply a range of assurance and professional services for BT Global Services and their customers, across large and often complex multi-vendor estates.

These networks range from small PBX switches through to large unified communications platforms and call centre applications.

The collaboration will provide BT with a vehicle upon which to procure and broaden its range of assurance services. It will also enable BT to further broaden opportunities across the UK voice market, increasing our ability to respond to business opportunities around emerging technologies.

Existing suppliers, telent alongside, Carillion and Openreach are said to be readying to provide added support to BT. The telecoms group is putting together contingency plans for the first strike at the firm since 1987, after talks with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) collapsed last week.

The union rejected BT's initial offer of a 2% pay award this year, and called instead for a 5% pay rise following profits at the telecoms firm. BT then raised its offer to a 2% this year followed by a 3% rise in 2011.

The union will send out ballot papers to its 55,000 members on Friday and will announce the result on 5 July. CWU needs a simple majority of members who vote to give it a mandate for industrial action.

The extension, signed in the first quarter of 2010, has an estimated value in excess of £30m.

Under the extension, Unisys will continue providing outsourced cheque processing and image archiving services to The Co-operative Bank until 2015.

As part of the contract extension, The Co-operative Bank will also have access to Unisys online cheque image archive – the Unisys Payment Information Engine (PIE).

This system, designed specifically for storage of cheque images, provides visual, online access to cheques, so staff can quickly perform critical tasks such as resolving customer queries or investigating allegations of fraud.

Unisys has been an outsourcing services partner to The Co-operative Bank since 1994. The Co-operative Bank is part of The Co-operative Group, the UK's largest consumer co-operative.

The newly formed venture is a 51:49 partnership between act between JR Kyushu System Solutions Inc (JRQSS), the IT systems arm of Japan’s Kyushu Railway Company and Patni Japan.

The JV will provide high quality, cost effective IT and product engineering services to the Japanese enterprise market. It will also seek to expand into other Asian markets in the future.

Those companies that outsourced, spent an average of $104m ACV each year, according to outsourcing consultancy TPI’s Momentum 2010 Market Trends & Insights Vertical Industries Report.

It also reports that approximately 40 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 outsource for the first time each year.

The report goes on to illustrate the significant differences in average spending by vertical. The consultancy firm is currently tracking an active outsourcing contract in 34% of G2000 companies, up 2% over 2009.

Cost-cutting imperatives brought on by weak economic conditions are affecting outsourcing activity in all verticals, including several that traditionally have outsourced only sparingly. Outsourcing spending is falling in some of the largest verticals, including diversified financials, consumer durables and banking.

In telecommunications services, ACV averaged more than $300m, while in construction it was less than $25m.

Because of the precarious situation, it may come as a surprise to learn that North Korea has been positioning itself as an interesting ITO destination in recent years.

How has this come to happen? Part of the answer could lie with Pyongyang relations with China, which has been a longstanding IT destination and production factory of the world.

In a very short period of time, China's software industry has emerged to become a global player. ITO providers, the likes of TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam, have all established a Chinese presence.

And now, Chinese companies are outsourcing IT work to North Korea. This may have provided enough spark to light a small fire and drive the country to invest in the IT sector.

The government’s emphasis on IT and innovation can be seen in the increased number of computer engineers and scientists graduating from universities. But as a destination the country also offers business process outsourcing (BPO) services and has also been reported to possess the skills necessary for high-quality animation.

While US firms may be banned from carrying out business with North Korean companies, most other countries don’t face such restrictions.

Could the quality and level of skills offered overcome the political and economic conditions of the country? Time will tell.

The new centre will create 300 jobs in the first instance, and a further 200 jobs in the future will have a significant impact on the town.

Regional development agency One North East, has given a grant of £1.9m for the project.

Firstsource, one of the UK’s main investors and according to the FT FDI Index, already has three UK contact centres employing over 1,900 people between Belfast and Londonberry.

Based in London, he brings a wealth of insurance industry and IT experience to his new post. He will be looking to leverage Capgemini’s global capabilities in life, property and casualty insurance, including its world-class transformation skills in claims processing and policy administration, as well as its offerings around risk (including Solvency II), business information management, testing and managed services.

McQuade started his career as the classic ‘Man from the Pru’ before progressing to senior sales management positions and taking responsibility for introducing new CRM technology at the Prudential.

He was recruited by IBM in 2000 where he played a key role in founding and managing the company’s CRM practice.

The appointment highlights the role of IT in Tesco’s business and follows 18 busy months of IT implementation.

Over the last decade Clarke has overseen a number of large IT changes at the supermarket chain, including introducing systems to improve sales, the supply chain and efficiency across the company.

Last year the group made £550m in savings following the implementation of its Step Change efficiency programme, which involves IT improvements as well as general process efficiencies.

Clarke has been with Tesco for 29 years occupying various positions through the years. He joined the Tesco board in 1998, and then he assumed the responsibility for the group supply chain, taking over the role of looking after group IT a year later.

In January 2004 he was made responsible for international operations in addition to his IT responsibilities. Outside of his tech role he has overseen the opening of new stores and operational improvements across Asia and Europe.

Clarke replaces Sir Terry Leahy who has been at the helm of the group for 14 years.

Officials expect to save £86m once all exit costs are met and are currently renegotiating two contracts worth £650m with companies who had agreed to deliver parts of the project.

Various reasons have been quoted for the scheme’s failure. The advantages to the holder were slowly eroded while the voluntary nature of the scheme meant that few people would pay the £30 processing fee; the fee on which the government relied to recover some of its investment.

However, what appears to have sealed the fate of the scheme was concerns by civil liberties activists regarding privacy issues and how secure the information stored would be. Who would be able to potentially gain access to the information and their reasons behind it, certainly became a concern in the minds of the public.

The fear could well be founded after all the HMRC breach is quick to come to mind. Two years after the publication of the Poynter that folloed the breach, a similar breach could occur again.

Indeed, a survey by security firm Cyber-Ark, found that 19% of businesses still use couriers for transferring large files. Alarmingly, the number using the postal service has increased from four per cent in 2008 to 11% this year.

Meanwhile, research by service-oriented architecture (SOA) provider Software AG has shown that in the UK public sector bodies are failing to keep records on inter-organisational secure data transfer procedures and costs.

The research questions were asked to local authorities and central government departments across the UK. A total of 14 organisations out of 26 were unable to provide any information at all.

The issues pertaining to secure data storage and transfer also resonate with the private sectors, and in particular the financial services sector.

While the vested interest of Cyber-Ark and Software AG is clear, the issues raised are real.