Industry news

Indian outsourcing giant Infosys has been awarded a five year IT services contract with car manufacturer BMW.

The contract included infrastructure maintenance, support and operation, covering web services, CMSs and overall IT systems.

In order to deliver the contract, Infosys are creating a new delivery centre in Munich, in proximity to BMW’s headquarters, as part of a global framework management service.

For the Indian outsourcer the expansion into Germany fits well with the organisations goal to increase its European market share.

Infosys has recently increased its European capabilities in the end of 2012, with the multi-million acquisition of Swiss based SAP development consultancy Lodestone.

BMW set to invest £250 million in UK factories

The government has announced a preference for opens source software in the new Government Service Design Manual, designed to standardise government service approaches.

The manual released on the 14th March detailed how open source software should be used: “in preference to proprietary or closed source alternatives, in particular for operating systems, networking software, web servers, databases and programming languages.”

The manuals promotion of open source services isthe first time that the government has stated such a preference for open source services over the commonly employed licenced services of the past.

By promoting a move to employ open source services and software, at time where such services are able to compete effectively with licenced alternatives, the government seeks to generate significant costs savings and increase agility and ease of use, while avoiding obstacles posed by proprietary product licences and T&C.

Open source cloud services see slow uptake

Sitel has been recognised for innovation with its UK branch being shortlisted for 3 awards in the European Outsourcing Awards 2013.

The global contact centre giant was shortlisted in categories including: Outsourcing Service Provider of the Year’, ‘Offshore Destination of the Year (Serbia)’ and ‘Outsourcing Works’ in conjunction with John Lewis.

Joe Doyle, Marketing Director of Sitel UK, comments; “We are delighted to have our efforts in delivering innovative outsourcing solutions recognised by industry experts. To be shortlisted in one category is a great achievement, but to have been shortlisted in three is amazing and reflects the hard work of the team over the last year.”

Sitel UK having now been shortlisted to win join a select range of companies, with the finalists finding out if they secured the prestigious awards at the upcoming ceremony in Amsterdam on April 25th.

European Outsourcing Association Awards Winners Announced

Service provider Phoenix has secured a five-year contract to provide IT infrastructure services to waste management firm Biffa.

The contract will see Biffa migrate core services and data to Phoenix operated scalable data centres, in turn Phoenix will allow Biffa access to online services through a cloud infrastructure, including backup of core-services, and the provision of 24/7 support services.

The contract came after Biffa experienced success with the employment of Phoenix’s contact centre service during the London Olympic Games to meet increased demand.

The contract comes as Biffa invests in modernisation projects, having signed a multi-million contract earlier in the month to consolidate and unify its communication services.

Welcome Break award Phoenix IT services contract

Cornwall Council has awarded a £14m outsourcing deal to BT, which is set to be finalised next week, after some minor changes.

Circa 300 staff will TUPE from the council to the joint venture with BT.

BT will deliver savings of £17.6m over a 10-year contract, and will create 510 new jobs in Cornwall.

Council leader Jim Currie said: “This proposal has been subject to a great deal of discussion and the contract has been thoroughly examined. As a result, all the partners are confident that the offer can be delivered, and we all now need to work together to achieve this."

The National Outsourcing Association has today announced the results of its leadership elections – and 8 new people will take seats on the new strategic council, with a range of new positions accounting for the prevalence of outsourcing in all vertical sectors. Incumbent board members will continue in similar roles to their previous positions within the NOA. The core objective of the new council will be to help the NOA further its work in developing the outsourcing profession through the proliferation of standards and qualifications. The first meeting of the council is on April 22nd 2013.

Inaugurated at the first meeting of the NOA council on April 22nd 2013 will be:

• Stephen Hayers, Head of Business Process Outsourcing, Astrazeneca

• Kevin Devoy, Head of Procurement (outsourcing), Centrica

• James Cuthell, Financial Service Relationship Manager, Everything Everywhere

• Orla Keady, Director, IT Sourcing, Deloitte

• Jim Reed, Director of Procurement, University of Nottingham

• Mark Devonshire, Head of Business Development, Capgemini

• Derek Parlour, Head of Commercial, National Rail Enquiries

• Sue Tompkins, Director, EQ Partnering

NOA Communications Director Kerry Hallard said: “We are delighted to welcome the incoming council members, who bring a wealth of sector-specific experience that reflects the ever-broadening outsourcing marketplace. By offering the only university-accredited qualifications in outsourcing, developing industry standards in collaboration and launching a new awards ceremony to recognise individuals who make outsourcing work, the NOA is working hard to professionalise the industry, and we are excited to have such a strong strategic council to help us unite the industry and drive it forward.”

After the collapse of 2e2 which provided IT services including data centre hosting facilities for Barnet Council, the public body was looking at the imminent and real proposition of having its websites taken offline, now Capita has taken on the terminated service.

The restored service contract is valued at £72,000 per month, 3 thousand pounds more than 2e2. However the rapid restoration of the service prevents Barnet Council from seeing large parts of its infrastructure disappear.

2e2 which folded into administration has been carved up by competitors, with Logicalis acquiring four of 2e2’s subsidiaries and the Daisy Group acquiring 2e2’s data centre business.

Capita has already emerged as the preferred bidder for a £320 million major BPO deal, which is expected to go ahead after regulatory approval.

Barnet Council confirms £320 million Capita BPO contract

Supermarket retailer Asda is in talks surrounding the possible takeover of high-street entertainment retailer HMV.

The talks between administrators Deloitte and Asda are expected to revolve around the preservation of the entertainment chain, rather than site conversions into supermarkets, according to a story appearing in the Telegraph.

HMV holds debts of £170 million from years of profit fall, with 1,500 jobs currently remaining in the balance.

The talks come as 100 stores are set for closure over the next few weeks, supermarket chains have already moved to capitalise on HMV’s estate, with Morrisons buying six sites which it has turned into local Morrisons stores.

Major Film and Music distributors back HMV rescue bid

Carlsberg has revealed that it is looking to increase its market share in the UK.

The announcement comes as the world fourth largest brewer opened a new bottling line in Northampton.

Carlsberg invested £20 million in the new line, which will produce at peek times, 60,000 bottles per hour.

A move to increase market dominance comes at a time when alcohol consumption fell to its lowest in 2012 since 1988, with sales being hurt by poor weather and increase tax on beer duty, leading to an overall fall of 5 percent in beer and cider market sales.

The drinks company is looking to capitalise on customer trends including a turn towards drinks with lower alcohol content.

Overall through increased production and greater efficiency in raw material sourcing, Carlsberg is looking to increase its operating margin by 0.5 percent every year, for the next five years.

Carlsberg agrees probably its best outsourcing deal

The fibre optic broadband roll-out across Scotland is set to expand coverage, with BT increasing the number of locations it will bring connectivity to by more than 39,400 across the country.

New homes covered by the superfast broadband roll-out will include an extra 35,000 locations in Edinburgh, 2,000 across Livingston, Mid Calder and Whitburn and 2,400 spread across Dumfiers, Stranraer, Cockenzie, Prestonpans and Tranent.

The upgrade across the country will provide customers with broadband speeds of up to 80Mbps, with direct fibre into premises providing speeds of up to 330Mbps.

The new premises covered by BT’s fibre optic roll-out are expected to have access to the service by Spring 2014.

Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: "Fast, sophisticated communications are the cornerstone of a successful community, helping local people to build their skills and knowledge and encouraging the creation of new businesses and jobs. This exciting technology will transform on-line education, training and leisure for households and enhance the competitiveness of local firms."

BT secures a further two superfast broadband projects