Industry news

French IT services company Atos Origin recently announced that it has been appointed by France's National Secure Credentials Agency to manage the development and rollout of the biometric passport system in France.

The new passport, which is the result of a European Union directive, is expected to improve personal security and reduce fraud. The introduction of a biometric passport is part of France's modernisation strategy and secure identity programme, and will see Atos working with identity systems supplier Sagem Securite.

The value of the contract was not disclosed, but it is clearly an ambitious programme and an important win for Atos. Under the deal, Atos and Sagem Securite will deploy nearly 5,000 data acquisition and processing systems in 2,000 French town halls and 350 prefectures and sub-prefectures before June 2009, making it possible to include fingerprints on passports.

Cynics might say that being French helped Atos and Sagem win this contract, which has clear national security implications. However, both companies have a good track record in the area of security and identity globally.

It is not a surprise to see Atos winning a biometrics contract: the company has extensive expertise and relationships in this field through its UK public sector business. It undertook a biometric technology trial for the UK Passport Service and defined an implementation strategy, framework and business case for the rollout of a citizen multi-application smartcard in Scotland.

It also has strong relationships with GCHQ and the Border and Immigration Agency and, as IT partner for the Olympic Games, has security-specific offerings high on its agenda.

Despite these existing relationships with key UK public sector security and identity organisations, it missed out on the e-Borders contract and has failed to win a framework contract as part of the procurement for the national ID card scheme (CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, IBM and Thales were the successful suppliers here).

So it is likely that Atos is hoping that this flagship project in France will prove a useful reference site as it looks to grow its security and identity business across Europe. Biometrics will increasingly become important to many European governments as a way to monitor the flux of populations. If Atos can deliver this project successfully, to time and to expectations, then it could put itself in a strong position to meet future demand for these capabilities.

Atos' next major opportunity to demonstrate its security and biometric credentials could be the Olympic Games. As the official IT partner to the International Olympic Committee since 2002, Atos plays a key role in the supply of IT systems and services during the Olympic Games. With the threat of terrorism ever present, a large part of the IT requirements will be focused on security, and in particular identity management.

The NHS Connecting for Health (CfH), a division of the health service charge with implementing the National Programme for IT, has appointed IT health specialist, CSA Waverley, as a specialist SME supplier for its Additional Supply Capability and Capacity (ASCC) framework.

The framework agreement will see CSA deliver and manage a large range of end-user and other hardware services and provide ongoing consultancy services.

The deal has been implemented to aid the NHS CfH in its delivery of the National Programme for IT and to help it comply with a range of wider NHS business requirements.

The NHS Connecting for Health (CfH), a division of the health service charge with implementing the National Programme for IT, has appointed IT health specialist, CSA Waverley, as a specialist SME supplier for its Additional Supply Capability and Capacity (ASCC) framework.

The framework agreement will see CSA deliver and manage a large range of end-user and other hardware services and provide ongoing consultancy services.

The deal has been implemented to aid the NHS CfH in its delivery of the National Programme for IT and to help it comply with a range of wider NHS business requirements.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) have taken on Steria to transform the MPS’s Human Resources (HR) function.

The contract will support a significant improvement in the delivery of the MPS’s HR service, and will drive cost savings through the creation of a new HR Service Centre in Central London and implementation of HR business partnering.

The MPS expects to generate significant efficiencies to release additional funds for front line policing. In addition, the new system will help the MPS improve the quality and consistency of the service, bring the ratio of HR professionals to employees in line with the public sector, and more effectively support the strategic aims of the organisation.

The programme, which goes live in Autumn 2009, will ensure the provision of a more efficient and effective HR service to the MPS’s 55,000 employees. Steria’s implementation team will begin working on-site this month to begin the next phase of the Transforming HR programme. Steria will also provide ongoing support for the technology implementation for two years after the service has gone live. The Shared Service and business partnering model that underpins the new HR provision will comprise of: 

- A 24/7 Advisory Centre: which will be the primary point of contact for employees, managers and external contacts to obtain HR advice and guidance through a single telephone number and email address 

- An Expert Centre: qualified teams to manage the main administration and case management responsibilities and respond to queries that have been escalated from the Advisory Centre 

- Business Partners to support the MPS’s strategic HR and organisational objectives 

- Strategic HR Advisors who will support the Business Partners working closely with line mangers advising them on policy interpretation and delivering solutions which enable them to achieve their business objectives 

- A Strategic Centre: which will design and implement HR programmes, processes and policies; manage consulting projects; and monitor the compliance and effectiveness of HR strategies, policies and standards 

- Operational Support Teams managed by the HR Shared Service Centre, providing face-to-face support for managers relating to performance issues, absence management, and recruitment interviews

Martin Tiplady, HR Director, Metropolitan Police Service, commented: “The HR requirements of the MPS are different to those of other organisations. Finding a strategic partner that understood the unique needs of our service, from the organisational structure to our culture, was vital. Steria demonstrated not only the capability to work with us through the changes that the upgrade to our service would create, but a genuine ability to deliver real cost and efficiency benefits, and the best possible HR service for our employees.”

The service provided by the Service Centre will benefit the MPS’s workforce by providing timely access to consistent and relevant information through the organisation’s intranet. The new self-service functionality will be a vital step forward in enabling managers to view and approve requests for job or personal circumstance changes for their employees. Steria will also manage the deployment of Oracle’s Human Capital Management, iRecruitment and Learning Management software as part of the new HR service, and the software company’s applications will also underpin the technology in the new Service Centre.

The Canadian subsidiary of Unisys, Unisys Canada, has won a contract from NEC Corporation of America to provide outsourced IT support services for 470 7-Eleven retail convenience stores throughout Canada.

Under the contract terms, valued at approximately $6 million, Unisys Canada will provide maintenance and support services for IT back-office equipment, on-site wireless networks, point of sale (POS) and inventory ordering systems for the 470 Canadian 7-Eleven retail stores from Ontario to British Columbia. In addition, Unisys will provide deployment services for new systems that 7-Eleven rolls out to its stores for the next three-years.

Sharon Stufflebeme, CIO for 7-Eleven, commented: “Unisys outsourcing expertise combined with NEC’s retail solution integration skills will assist us in growing our 7-Eleven business in Canada. We’ll be able to serve our customers more effectively and efficiently through enhanced in-store technology support.”

As part of a global alliance between the two companies, Unisys is the preferred provider of technology support and maintenance services for NEC in markets outside Japan.

The Directorate General for External Relations, the body responsible for the external policy of the European Commission has signed a four year ITO deal with Fujitsu Services.

The deal will allow the Directorate to deal with various new organisational changes including the increased workload of its delegations. The new contract covers the supply of IT services, the management of the helpdesk, infrastructure management, user support and the management of the projects of the Delegations of the European Commission across 5 000 users and 134 Delegations worldwide.

According to Yves Schellekens, Managing Director Fujitsu Services Belgium and Luxembourg, “This new contract will allow us to pursue and develop our activities among the European Institutions, which, for Fujitsu Services, represent a strategic sector of activities”.

The contract will start on the 1st of June 2008.

Virgin Mobile USA, a leading national provider of prepaid and hybrid wireless plans to North America, has signed off on a new IT services agreement with IBM.

Under the terms of the agreement IBM will manage Virgin Mobile’s IT operations and new applications development. This will entail the migration of existing it infrastructure and applications to IBM systems and the ongoing development of differentiated wireless applications and service offerings in partnership with Virgin. IBM will also provide data centre outsourcing and application management services

Virgin Mobile USA expects that, as a result of its new relationship with IBM, the company will achieve IT-related operational cost savings over the next five years, while increasing the company's competitive advantage in new product and service delivery. The expected benefits of the company's new relationship with IBM are key components of Virgin Mobile USA's focused expansion and value creation strategy.

Jonathan Marchbank, Chief Operations Officer for Virgin Mobile USA, said: "We have built our success as a customer-centric innovator, and always seek to enhance our product and service offerings. These steps will continue to raise the standards in the prepaid market overall and allow us to stay current with, and ahead of, trends and evolutions in the overall wireless industry. With over 5 million customers, the scale we've achieved now puts us in a position to take advantage of IBM's proven best practices, scope and unparalleled experience in running and building IT infrastructure."

The company expects the transition of its existing IT infrastructure and application suite to IBM to be completed by December 31, 2008.

Excelon Corporation, one of the largest electric utilities companies in the US, has signed a new five year IT services deal with CSC.

The contract, reported to be in excess of $150 million, will see CSC provide Exelon with a broad spectrum of infrastructure support services, including help desk, desktop support, database administration, telecommunications and data network support and server management services. Work will be performed at various locations in the US as well as CSC’s World Sourcing delivery centres in Malaysia and India.

Daniel Hill, Senior Vice President and CIO of Exelon, commented: “We are pleased to have CSC bring their experience and expertise to Exelon. Exelon is committed to operational excellence and providing superior value for our customers, shareholders and employees. We believe CSC will be a valuable partner in helping Exelon deliver on our commitments."

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded EDS subsidiary, NHIC Corp., a $148 million contract to administer Medicare claims payments to health care providers for parts of the US Northwest.

The contract, lasting an intial one year, will see NHIC serve approximately 54,000 physicians and practitioners and 233 Medicare hospitals within Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Lockheed Martin, a US group of technology companies, has won an $89 million information convergence contract from the US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to help enhance the performance of the military's distribution network. 

The Lockheed Martin team, including SAIC, Data Networks Corporation, PRTM, BearingPoint, Rainbow Data Systems, Innolog, Business Objects, Teradata and Oakland Consulting, was awarded the fixed-price, multi-year contract, which includes provisions for supplemental contract extensions in future years.

The contract will see the Lockheed Martin team merge DLA's ‘Integrated Data Environment’ (IDE) distribution system with USTRANSCOM's ‘Global Transportation Network’ (GTN) into a unified system using the increasingly popular, SOA technology.

The finished product will be a common information platform that enables the military to more collaboratively and cost-effectively improve end-to-end supply visibility, responsiveness, decision-making, service and logistics processes.  The platform includes a single repository and universal access to logistics data so that any user or developer can easily find, access or manage supply chain information.