Daily BPO news alert 16/05/2006
BPO Business Intelligence
GENERAL
Atos Origin to Double Malaysia IT
Specialists’ Headcount in '06
According to media reports, Atos Origin, a French IT
services provider, is expected to double the IT specialists’ headcount at its
service desk in CyberJaya, Malaysia, to about 100 by the end of 2006. The
company plans to establish a BPO center in Malaysia to handle fleet card
management for the oil retail sector. The CyberJaya facility of the
company at present has a data center and an enterprise management center.
Company officials stated strong infrastructure, availability of IT specialists,
political stability, a sizeable IT workforce, and cost effectiveness as
prime reasons for choosing Malaysia to establish as one of its outsourcing hubs.
The company’s CyberJaya-based service desk was launched in July 2005 with
a headcount of about 50. Source:
Globalsourcingnow.com 15/05/06
CSC India
to Hire 2,000 in GIMS Division by March ’07
CSC, the US-headquartered IT
consulting and outsourcing services company, is planning to hire about 2,000
employees in India for its Global Infrastructure Management Services
(GIMS) division by March 2007. The new employees would be located at the
company’s three delivery centers at Hyderabad, Chennai, and Noida. The company
at present has 1,500 people for its global infrastructure management
services in India. The Indian operations of the company, as a whole, employ
about 5,000 people at present and expect the overall Indian headcount to
reach 9,000 by March 2007. Source:
Globalsourcingnow.com 15/05/06
CSC, EDS,
and IBM Lead Forrester Wave on IT Outsourcing Deal Transformation
Management
The latest Forrester Research Wave(TM) on IT sourcing deal transformation
management found that CSC is the overall leader and is challenging for supremacy
in both current offering and strategy. However, the analysts note that
rumors of acquisition continue to surround CSC. Rounding out the top three
leaders are EDS, for its current ability to launch sourcing deals and
transform customer environments, and IBM, for its strong capabilities today and
strategy for future supremacy. Forrester evaluated leading outsourcing
vendors on their ability to implement IT sourcing deal transformation management
across 55 criteria. Source: Tekrati.com
15/05/2006
PUBLIC
SECTOR
RM announces H106 results and remains confident of outcome
for full year
RM, supplier of ICT and other services to education, has announced
interim results for the six months to 31st March 06. Organic revenue growth of
5% boosted turnover to £114.2m, from an operating loss of £1.0m in H105 RM has
produced a profit of £1.2m, and a loss before tax of £0.9m has turned into a PBT
of £2.0m. Diluted EPS previously -1.1p is now 1.6p. The season nature of RM's
business means that H1 performance is not a good indicator of the outcome for
the year as whole (with the majority of revenue and profit coming through in the
second half). Source: Ovum
15/05/2006
Leeds
Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust plans 430 job cuts
An NHS trust in Yorkshire has
announced hundreds of jobs cuts in a bid to save millions of pounds. About 430
posts will be cut at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as part of a plan aimed
at saving £84m in the next three years. Chief executive, Neil McKay, said there
were no current plans for redundancies and it is hoped the cuts can be met
through leaving vacant posts unfilled. The trust will meet its targets by
reducing the amount of money spent on temporary staff and using the workforce
more flexibly, McKay said. Source:
PersonnelToday.com 15/05/2006
Government
does not measure up to the knowledge economy, says IT industry
Government’s current
performance measurements will not support the delivery of a successful UK
knowledge economy, IT trade association Intellect has warned.
Government must review and update measurement systems that feed into policy development if we are to increase UK competitiveness and move swiftly and effectively towards a knowledge economy. Intellect’s new report Navigating the New Economy promotes thinking on measuring progress and success towards a knowledge economy. The report defines a knowledge economy, looks at what needs to be measured and how these measures need to be achieved to drive the UK economy forward. To help government get to grips with this new paradigm, Intellect has developed the Intellect Index Framework to measure progress towards a knowledge economy. The framework presented in the report, helps assess the UK’s assets and its ability to exploit them. It looks at factors from creative skills and successful innovation, broadband availability and utilisation, all the way to availability and take-up of eGovernment services. Source: publictechnology.net 15/05/2006
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
Abbey may expand in UK
Retail bank Abbey will open up to
100 new branches across the UK, trebling the British operations of Spanish owner
Banco Santander. The chief executive of Banco Santander, Alfredo Saenz, told The
Times the company plans to open the branches as part of a program to expand into
areas where Abbey does not currently have a presence. The bank has a strong
footprint in the southeast, but is weaker in the midlands and the northeast. Mr
Saenz also played down rumors that the bank is poised to make a bid for Alliance
& Leicester, although he did not rule it out. In addition to the new
branches, Banco Santander is also preparing to launch a wholesale banking
division in the UK called Santander Wholesale Financial Markets UK, situated on
Abbey premises. The venture would use the bank's strong position in south
America to attract European investors interested in the region. Source: Datamonitor 15/05/06
PRIVATE
SECTOR
Boots scales back $1.3bn IBM deal
UK retailer Boots Group
Plc is to scale back its 710m-pound ($1.3bn) outsourcing deal with IBM Global
Services, and bring 100 IT staff back in house. The original deal, signed in
2002, saw IBM take over the renewal and management of Boots' IT infrastructure,
including its data center, data networks, telecoms, and in-store systems.
However, Boots announced in March this year that it was renegotiating the terms
of the contract, claiming that the overhaul was running ahead of schedule.
Reports suggest that the employees returning to Boots would be responsible for a
number of areas including help desk services, electronic point-of-sale software
development, and business analysis. Despite its decision to scale back its deal
with IBM, Boots remains committed to outsourcing. In September last year, the
retailer extended its contract with Xansa Plc by a further two years, with the
deal now scheduled to end in 2011. In April, Boots also signed a seven-year
payroll and human resources outsourcing agreement worth over 16m pounds ($30.2m)
with Northgate Information Solutions. Source: Datamonitor 15/05/06
UTILITIES
RWE improves first quarter net income
by 7%
The unexpectedly long winter had a positive effect on RWE's results in
the first quarter of 2006. The firm improved its earnings situation due to the
positive operating performance generated by its energy business in continental
Europe. Both net income and the operating result rose. At the same time, the
company invested heavily in security of supply and its leading market position.
Earnings per share were up about 7% to E1.86. For the time being, RWE says it
maintains its forecast for the current fiscal year. In the first quarter, RWE
was able to increase consolidated net income by 7% to E1.05 billion. Strong
organic development was contrasted in particular by lower capital gains realized
as a result of fewer divestments, the statement said. In the first quarter of
2006, cash flow from operating activities totaled E1.3 billion, and was thus
E214 million lower than in the same period last year. Source: Datamonitor 15/05/06
NORTH
AMERICA
Delaware Electric Cooperative customers face electricity
bill hike
Delaware Electric Cooperative customers will pay a little more for power
beginning June 1. Monthly rates for the co-op's 65,000 members in Kent and
Sussex counties will go up by about 4.5 percent. The increase will bring the
average bill to $111.44, according to the co-op, about $4.75 higher than the
current average. The co-op still charges less than Delmarva Power, which
implemented a 59-percent hike May 1 that brought the average residential
customer's monthly bill to $145. Source: Energy
Central 15/05/2006
Regards
Anish
Agarwal
Mob: 09811801202