Daily BPO News Alert 19/05/2006

[BPO Business Intelligence]

 

NEW CONTRACT NEWS FLASH

EDS Wins $308Mn Florida Medicaid Contract 
EDS, the Texas-headquartered IT services provider, has won a USD 308 million medicaid contract with the state of Florida. The contract has a duration of six years and nine months. Under the terms of the contract, EDS will design, develop, and implement a medicaid management information system (MMIS) for the state of Florida. The system will provide fiscal agent services to Florida's 65,000 medicaid providers and 2.2 million medicaid recipients. The contract has a twenty one-month implementation period and a five-year operational period. 

ING signs outsourcing deal with U.K.'s Astron
ING Groep NV (ING) on Thursday said it signed a memorandum of understanding with U.K. outsourcing company Astron. The deal is expected to be signed in the third quarter of 2006 and is worth EUR400 million and covers a seven-year period. The outsourcing deal is part of a larger restructuring plan announced in November 2005 by ING, when the Amsterdam-based company said it would outsource 2,200 full-time employees, cut another 500 jobs and downsize its external staff to produce annual cost savings of EUR230 million as of 2008. ING also expects to book EUR180 million in non-recurring costs related to the outsourcing program. In April, ING said it would outsource 350 jobs to Logica CMG , in a deal worth EUR200M. ING is also discussing a separate contract with a consortium over the future of a further 700 jobs. The consortium consists of Accenture, Atos Origin, BT and Getronics. The Astron contract covers the "processing of banking and insurance documents in the Netherlands and Belgium, like printing, scanning and mail dispatch," ING said.

NEW ACQUISITION NEWS FLASH

Mellon Acquires Walter Scott & Partners for Undisclosed Sum 
Mellon, the Pennsylvania-headquartered financial services outsourcing company, has announced the acquisition of Walter Scott & Partners, a Scotland-headquartered equity investment firm. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. With the acquisition, Mellon will have about USD 880 billion in assets under management. Mellon will pay for the acquisition in a combination of cash and stock. The acquisition is expected to be concluded by close of 3Q 2006. Post acquisition, Walter Scott & Partners will remain an independent subsidiary. 

NEW COMPANY NEWS FLASH

EDS’ FIBI IT Contract Facing Scope and Pricing Problems 
According to media reports, the First International Bank of Israel’s (FIBI) eight-year, USD 108 million IT outsourcing contract with EDS Israel, an IT solutions and services provider, is facing problems. The proposed changes in scope and pricing amendments are stated to be the prime reasons for the problems. The proposal of EDS to amend the scope and project fee is reportedly the cause the disagreement. The contract is the biggest ever IT outsourcing deal signed in Israel. At present, EDS manages FIBI’s IT infrastructure and communication network and host the bank’s central, departmental, and personal computer activities. The two parties had signed the contract in January 2006.

Videocon group to set up BPO unit!
The Videocon group, whose core interest is manufacture of home appliances, would set up a BPO unit at Salt Lake, employing 25,000 people, its chairman Venugopal Dhoot said on Thursday. He said the group has sought 100 acres at Rajarhat for putting up a colour TV component manufacturing unit. "The response of the state government is very positive," he said. Videocon had earlier taken over the manufacturing unit of Philips at Salt Lake where it was now producing kitchen appliances. The group had last year bought the lamp manufacturing unit of Philips at Taratala.

Capgemini Ranked Among the World's Top Five Outsourcing Providers
Capgemini on Thursday announced it is ranked in the Leaders Category in the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals first industry-wide benchmark for outsourcing excellence. The 2006 Global Outsourcing 100 list includes companies from around the world providing the full spectrum of outsourcing services, including information technology and business process outsourcing, as well as areas such as facility services, real estate and capital asset management, manufacturing and logistics. Capgemini, ranked fifth worldwide, is focused on strategic, high-value business process and IT outsourcing assignments. Rankings were the product of 18 criteria, including number of employees, skills and training of employees, revenue growth, number of technical and business certifications secured, track record of the management team and customer service. This ranking also results from the outstanding efforts led by Capgemini to increase its portfolio in the outsourcing business.