Industry news

Holland-based telecoms operator E-Plus has paired up with outsourcing service provider Comarch to provide technology services.

The Dutch mobile phone company will receive next-generation planning support from its new outsourcing partner, in the five year deal, set to begin officially in February 2010.

The service provider will deliver planning and configuration management and migrate existing data to the new platform.

The E-Plus Group is a division of KPN Mobile International, the mobile phone arm of Dutch telecommunications group KPN.

Qcom has been appointed to offer sales support to wireless device manufacturer Psion Teklogix in the UK in a three-year outsourcing contract

The technical outsource service provider will deliver a range of network infrastructure services for Psion, including site surveys and installations, configuration and staging, trouble-shooting services and on-site support.

Paul Westmoreland, managing director of Psion Teklogix, said: “Qcom is non-competing and has the bandwidth to support us. The team is professional, and offers both a great service and flexible approach.”

Qcom’s managing director, Neil Anderson, said: “Outsourcing wireless network infrastructure pre- and post-sales support allows manufacturers like Psion Teklogix to focus on their core businesses.”

Psion Teklogix’s customer base includes airports, government departments, the automotive industry, warehouse and distribution, and the retail industry.

The Renault Group has signed a three year outsourcing contract with Capgemini which will see the service provider take responsibility for managing the car manufacturer’s application lifecycle.

More than 180 Capgemini professionals will be involved in the project, including technical support, and applications development specialists.

The capacity for innovation the outsourcing service provider shows would serve to meet Renault’s needs, said its deputy CIO François Gitton.

"To meet the constantly evolving needs of users, a good knowledge of their industry is essential. This enables good alignment between the service provided, current projects and priorities. Capgemini has the functional and industry capabilities required,” added Gitton.

"This contract is a great opportunity to build a strong partnership with Renault. Our commitment can be seen in both the length of the project and in our ambition to assist the group in its future challenges,” added Alain Donzeaud, member of the Capgemini Group’s Executive Committee.

British outsourcing group Capita is embroiled in a row over claims that it overcharged schools for providing IT services. School software provider Bromcom said in a statement it had complained to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over Capita's Children's Services for overcharging by £75 million.

According to a Reuters report, Bromcom said it had made the complaint over what it called anti-competitive practices, including tying and bundling together software products which should be sold separately and charging inflated annual software maintenance charges to schools. It said it believed schools had overpaid over the past 12 years.

In a statement, Capita commented, "Capita Children's Services has already, through its solicitors, robustly rebutted the unfounded allegations made by Bromcom and we have had no contact from the OFT whatsoever with respect to this matter.

"We have served the education market for a number of years and grown our business through supplying innovative products to meet the changing needs of the market, maintaining good client relationships and working successfully with other suppliers."

Chiquita Brands International, an international fresh produce distributor, has signed a finance and accounting outsourcing contract with WNS, a large global BPO provider.

Under the terms of the agreement, WNS will provide finance and accounting back office services to Chiquita's business entities in North America, Europe and Latin America. The contract with Chiquita marks WNS's first foray into Latin America, where the company is currently looking to expand its business.

"This agreement with Chiquita represents a significant global expansion for the company into Latin America," said Anup Gupta, Group Chief Operating Officer of WNS Global Services.

Serving Chiquita in both English and Spanish, the scope of the agreement covers all finance and accounting processes including: general accounting; fixed assets; credit management; billing; collections; dispute management; cash application; accounts payable and travel & expense.

German manufacturing company Siemens will split off its IT Solutions and Services business by 1 July 2010 to form a separate unit, it has been reported.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, CFO Joe Kaeser said: “All options for the unit remain open, including an IPO or a joint venture.”

Analysts also expect to see a restructuring of the business, where a profit margin of 6.3 per cent in 2009 was far below expectations of 11 to 15 per cent.

The company recently revealed the group's fourth quarter results which saw a decrease on Siemens 50 per cent stake in Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) which contributed significantly to its reported €1.98bn loss on equity investments. The company posted a fourth quarter net loss of $1.65bn which has been said to have contributed to the condensation of its IT solutions division.

Siemens have attributed this loss to a significant market deterioration resulting from reduced operator spending and tough competition from Chinese vendors. Siemens also posted a 25 per cent rise in operating profit, which was higher than expected.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has joined forces with IBM in a four-year contract to manage a baggage handling system to speed up the transfer process for bags bound for connecting flights.

Vanderlande Industries and IBM will design and build a system that enables transfer luggage to move quickly between all of the airport's baggage handling areas in an attempt to almost double baggage handling capacity and improve passenger satisfaction, while significantly reducing the handling cost per bag.

Mark Lakerfeld from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol said: "With this baggage transport system we will be able to manage the future growing stream of passengers and baggage."

Schiphol serves the third largest international air travel market in the world and is one of Europe's largest airports with over 40 million passengers a year.

At peak travel periods, more than 52,000 pieces of transfer baggage are handled at the airport each day.

Dr. Stephanie Morgan, psychology lecturer at Kingston University and author of ‘The Human Side of Outsourcing’, is conducting a survey with the NOA. The Cultural Focus Survey, is a continuation of Dr Morgan and Kingston’s research into the way culture and psychology affects the outsourcing industry.

Sourcingfocus.com would love to have reader input into this study to ensure its results are as representative and wide-reaching as possible. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete so, if you’re interested in the cultural side of outsourcing, please get involved. Sourcingfocus.com will cover the results of the survey in the new year.

CIOs across the private sector lack clarity and conviction around desktop virtualisation, with 49 percent of respondents believing that such technologies promise more than they can deliver, research conducted by Fujitsu has shown.

The view came through most strongly from companies with 1001-3000 desktops where 60 percent agreed that desktop virtualisation is over-promised. This view contrasts with larger enterprises (+3000) who are more optimistic with only 38 percent agreeing. Interestingly, manufacturing organisations remain the most sceptical with nearly two thirds believing desktop virtualisation is hyped versus their counterparts in retail, financial services and other private sector companies who remain more open-minded about the potential opportunities desktop virtualisation presents.

Commenting on the findings, Ian Bradbury solution design director at Fujitsu UK & Ireland said: "What's clear from the research is that the IT industry is doing its usual job of over-hyping the benefits of a technology without showing the real and tangible benefits it can bring. We know CIOs remain committed to technologies that combine improvements in both the experience and service to end users, yet also have a positive financial impact as well.

"The industry has been talking about desktop virtualisation in some form for over 15 years – from server-based computing to thin client and blade PCs. Our belief is that desktop virtualisation is coming of age, with the next three years being the time CIOs will really challenge the way they manage and deliver their desktop environment."

The CBI, the employer’s lobby organisation, and private sector chief executives, have urged the UK Government to look more seriously at public sector outsourcing. In a recent meeting on the state of government’s financial affairs members urged Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to balance his books two years earlier than he had first proposed and to consider the option of more outsourcing for the sector.

The CBI hope this move will open up the market for more public contracts and help the government improve the UK’s finances. Through greater reform, the employers’ organisation feels increased numbers of public contracts, will provide increased competition which will be a positive move forward. The organisation is open-minded about whether those contracts are won by private, public, or voluntary bodies, although individual members of the organisation's public services strategy board will have an invested interest in the outcome of any outsourcing deals.

Achieving a budget balance is a “big ticket’ issue, says Jonathan Cridland, the deputy director-general of CBI. However, he also expressed reservations about the government’s commitment to working with the private sector, “The reality we fear is that the government will continue to nibble at the edge and let little bits go out to market".