MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 3 No. 38, 1 November 2004

This issue is sponsored by:

PMP Research Industry Report, TeleWare and MCA

This issue news

1. EDS wins flagship defence project
2. CSC selects Hains as European president
3. PA secures US government access
4. Weinbach bows out at Unisys
5. MCA membership hits 50
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

Sponsor

PMP Research Industry Report

Download the latest PMP Research "Industry Report" on INTEGRATION TECHNOLOGY - Free

Integration technology is widely regarded as one of IT's biggest growth areas in recent years - is this really happening? Are companies getting value from enterprise integration tools? Are emerging integration technologies such as business activity monitoring (BAM) producing the goods?

To answer these questions and get a range of information including market research and independent expert commentary click on link below: click here.

1. EDS WINS FLAGSHIP DEFENCE PROJECT

EDS has been chosen to implement a personnel system that will save the Ministry of Defence £600m over 10 years. The value of the Joint Personnel Administration contract was not disclosed, but it is a key element in the MoD's Defence Change programme.

EDS also remains in the running for the £4bn Defence Information Infrastructure contract, which will be awarded later this year and overarch the personnel system - although the company recently lost out to Atkins in the bidding for the MoD's £6bn FRES new armoured vehicle project (MCN Direct 3-35).

Working with the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency, EDS will roll out the Joint Personnel Administration system across the RAF, Royal Navy and Army in turn between 2006 and 2007, modernising and harmonising multiple legacy systems.

The development is in line with a 10-year service delivery contract awarded to EDS in 1997 under which it is obliged to modernise the Agency's centralised infrastructure to reduce complexity and operating costs.

EDS Defence managing director Graham Lay said: "EDS will significantly improve the ongoing service delivery cost within the new service structure and has guaranteed this cost saving in the signed agreement. In terms of teaming, financial gain share arrangements and delivering an agile government model, this partnership sets a benchmark for the future."

* While EDS' UK staff celebrate, their US colleagues are being offered a voluntary early retirement scheme aimed at speeding up the process of cutting 20,000 jobs (MCN Direct 3-31). The company has offered early retirement to about 9,200 US employees, with some 4,600 expected to take up the offer. The retirement programme is expected to create a pre-tax charge of $150m (£82m) in the fourth quarter and savings of $150m in 2005.

EDS has also postponed the announcement of its third-quarter results until this week, saying it needs more time to consider the impairment of assets related to its ill-fated US Navy Marine Corps contract.

2. CSC SELECTS HAINS AS EUROPEAN PRESIDENT

CSC has named Guy Hains as president of its European group, pulling him off an assignment running the company's Royal Mail contract. He replaces George Bell who has led the group since Hains' departure in April 2003 and now becomes senior capture executive for large IT services opportunities.

Hains is widely regarded as the driving force behind CSC's success in the European outsourcing market in 2001 and 2002. He spearheaded the company's successful effort to win a Department of Health contract from incumbent Fujitsu Services and competitor SchlumbergerSema. CSC's European operations then went on to secure contracts with clients including Marconi, Royal Mail, Allders, Gallagher, BT, Danish facility services group ISS and Scandinavian beverages company V&S Group.

Commenting on the appointments, CSC chairman and CEO Van Honeycutt said: "Guy Hains possesses the broad skills and international experience necessary to manage effective, flexible global organisations that meet client needs and produce favourable business results. These appointments provide the operational leadership to position the corporation for continued growth and success, particularly in Europe."

Both Hains and Bell will report to CSC president and chief operating officer Mike Laphen. Hains first joined the company in 1994, taking responsibility for major client BAE Systems, while Bell joined from IBM in 1998 as managing director and chief executive of CSC's Australian operations.

Sponsor

TeleWare

TeleWare enhances Business Accessibility and Contactability at PwC.

Communication is key in every business venture, successful organisations are continually searching for ways to improve competitiveness. The TeleWare solution deployed at PricewaterhouseCoopers addresses the issues of increasing staff accessibility and contactability, providing local and wide area unified communications capabilities.

TeleWare solutions play a critical role in supporting new life style options such as hot-desking and homeworking.

For more information on the PwC case study click here.
To join the TeleWare consultants programme register at: click here.
For information on the TeleWare Intelligent Office solution click here or click here.

3. PA SECURES US GOVERNMENT ACCESS

PA Consulting has won a five-year extension to a US framework contract, ensuring it can continue to compete for federal government work against US giants such as CSC and EDS.

The so-called Mobis - management, organisational and business improvement services - contract extension from the US General Services Administration (GSA) allows PA Government Services to continue providing management consulting, project management and survey research work to the federal government.

Over the past five years, PA has completed $20m (£11m) worth of work under its initial contract and has expanded its use of GSA schedules to provide expertise not only in infrastructure and development services, but also in energy, finance, life sciences, manufacturing, telecoms and transportation. Functional expertise covers management, organisational and business improvement efforts.

Ken Rubin, a member of PA's management group, said: "This award represents the GSA's continued confidence in PA as an important supplier of management consulting services to the entire administration. From our perspective, the contract will enable PA to continue to support our principal federal clients in the US Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services."

Sponsor

MCA

Report on Transformational outsourcing: the business model of the future?

Commissioned in August by the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) in conjunction with PMP this research has been incorporated into a 20 page report written by the MCA. A summary of the research is available for all. Click here.

The full report, priced £100 plus VAT, is now available from the MCA by emailing joy.hewgill@mca.org.uk or telephone 020 7321 3994.

4. WEINBACH BOWS OUT AT UNISYS

Larry Weinbach has stepped down from his position of CEO at Unisys, marking the end of an era in which he pulled the company away from its roots as a hardware manufacturer and promoted its IT services business.

In a planned succession, Unisys chief operating officer Joe McGrath will take over as president and CEO on 1 January 2005, with Weinbach continuing as chairman until January 2006.

Commenting on McGrath's promotion, Weinbach said: "Joe is the right person with the right skills to lead Unisys at this point in our evolution. In the five years that Joe and I have worked together, he has made major contributions to our successful transformation to a services led, technology enabled provider."

McGrath left Xerox to join Unisys in January 1999 as senior vice president of major accounts sales and chief marketing officer.

Weinbach joined Unisys in September 1997 after nine years as managing partner and chief executive of Andersen Worldwide. On his first day at Unisys, Weinbach committed to reducing the company's debt by $1bn before 2000, a goal that was achieved more than a year early. He also set about repositioning the company to be "services driven and technology enabled", a pitch that he backed up with two advertising campaigns, the most recent carrying the tag line "Imagine It. Done".

5. MCA MEMBERSHIP HITS 50

Watson Wyatt has joined the Management Consultancies Association, bringing its membership to a record 50 firms.

The MCA has increased its membership by 22% - eight new entrants - since January and has seen its member firms' income rise from £3.1bn in 1999 to £5.1bn last year.

Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm specialising in employee benefits, HR strategy, and insurance and financial services has more than 6,000 associates in 30 countries with corporate headquarters in both Reigate, Surrey and Washington DC.

The firm's managing partner for Europe, Babloo Ramamurthy, said: "We are looking forward to working with fellow members and using our accreditation as a platform for extending our relations with the media and government."

MCA director Sarah Taylor added: "Although the membership base is growing, we are committed to keeping a very close eye on the standard of new members joining the association, so that clients can be assured of the highest quality when choosing to work with an accredited MCA firm."

6. FURTHER INFORMATION - FEEDBACK/PASS ON TO A COLLEAGUE/REMOVE

• For more information or if you have any feedback on MCN Direct, please email editor@pmp.co.uk
• If you no longer wish to receive MCN Direct, simply send a reply to mcndirect@pmp.co.uk. In the BODY of the message please type MCN DIRECT REMOVE.

Please visit http://www.pmp.co.uk to view any of these publications, all of which are fully searchable and represent thousands of pages of information relevant to the consultant community.

Publications include:
Management Consultants' News
Consultants' Advisory
International Consultants' Guide
International Consultants' News

Copyright 2010 PMP (UK) Ltd.