MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 3 No. 39, 8 November 2004

This issue is sponsored by:

InterSystems and iGrafx

This issue news

1. IBM secures UK border control project
2. Cornwell set for £24m float
3. EDS postpones results again
4. Charteris buys Cedalion
5. BearingPoint picks up in third quarter
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

Sponsor

InterSystems

InterSystems Corporation has been positioned in the Visionaries Quadrant in Gartner, Inc.'s Application Integration Magic Quadrant. InterSystems's positioning is based on the Ensemble integration platform which enables the rapid creation and fast integration of high-performance applications.

To obtain your free copy of the recent InterSystems survey "The Integration Opportunity" - is it real? click here or click here.

1. IBM SECURES UK BORDER CONTROL PROJECT

IBM has beaten competitors to a £15 million Home Office project to set up electronic borders that will help guard the UK against terrorism and organised crime.

Project Semaphore, the first stage in the Government's e-Borders programme, will identify people who have boarded transport destined for the UK, check them against databases of individuals who pose a security risk, and keep an electronic record of their entry into the country. The system will also allow the authorities to record people leaving the UK, helping to identify those who overstay.

The three-year project is a significant win for IBM, which has a relatively small presence in the UK public sector market.

Immigration minister Des Browne said: "The signing of this contract with IBM marks the next stage in the Government's programme to transform and strengthen UK border controls. E-Borders will use cutting-edge technology and will play an important part in safeguarding against terrorism, serious and organised crime, and illegal immigration. At the same time, it will allow legitimate passengers to travel more efficiently and securely both into and out of the UK."

The IBM system will start processing advance airline passenger information before the end of this year, and will act as a test of the technical and business process design for the main e-Borders programme which will roll out from 2008.

It is also expected to deliver immediate operational improvements to agencies involved in border control, particularly the immigration service, Customs & Excise and police.

The contract follows a similar award by the Home Office to French high-technology group Sagem, which will pilot Project Iris - an iris recognition-based immigration system - towards the end of this year in time for full operation next summer.

2. CORNWELL SET FOR £24m FLOAT

Cornwell Management Consultants plans to float on Aim later this month, testing the confidence of the financial markets in the consultancy sector.

Cornwell, which was founded in 1991, hopes to raise around £6 million through a flotation expected to value the company at about £24 million. Keith Cornwell, founder and owner of 58% of the company, will sell a portion of his shares, along with some 80 other shareholders.

The consultancy has grown to employ more than 60 professionals and also has a network of 300 associates working predominantly in the public sector, but also in selected commercial sectors. Its turnover in 2003 nearly doubled to £13.9 million, with gross profits reaching £2.5 million. For the first half of this year, it made gross profits of £1.5 million on a turnover of £8.9 million.

Managing director Jonathan Broadhurst described Cornwell's approach, saying: "The need for independent advice is a compelling issue, particularly in the public sector. We discover the needs of the client, help to specify the IT requirement, run the procurement programme and manage the suppliers once they are on board."

Sponsor

iGrafx

PARTNERSHIPS WITH METASTORM & COMMERCEQUEST MAKE IGRAFX SET TO PLAY PIVOTAL ROLE IN EMERGING BPM MARKET

iGrafx, a leading provider of Business Process Analysis (BPA) solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Metastorm, a leading Business Process Management solutions provider, to provide BPA technology to support full "roundtrip" business process management.

Through the partnership, Metastorm will embed the iGrafx Process software into its e-Work BPM software suite to deliver advanced modelling and simulation capabilities to its 700+ and growing global customer base. Metastorm will embed the iGrafx technology directly into its new modelling and simulation solution - called e-Work Envision. e-Work Envision will provide customers with powerful forecasting and predictive analysis capabilities that will allow users to both model new processes as well as simulate the impact of changes to existing processes.

For more about Metastorm & iGrafx:
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About iGrafx BPM strategy click here.

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3. EDS POSTPONES RESULTS AGAIN

EDS has delayed announcing its third-quarter results for a second time (MCN Direct last issue), because it has still failed to finish an evaluation with auditor KPMG on asset impairment related to its US Navy Marine Corps contract.

Adding insult to injury, the company has called in lawyers to help KPMG audit committee evaluation, after it uncovered issues relating to quarterly bonus plans in 2003 and 2004.

EDS believes the accounting issues will be resolved quickly without impacting its business, which it said is showing "strong improvement". But until the audit committee's work is concluded, financial statements for the quarter cannot be completed, tarnishing the company's already poor public image.

Ironically, EDS followed the postponement of its quarterly figures with the appointment of a chief risk officer.

Roy Condon, previously security and privacy officer for EDS, has been promoted to vice president, and as chief risk officer will report directly to company chairman and CEO Mike Jordan.

Condon will design and review processes to identify and resolve corporate risk, and advise EDS on potential risk factors. He will also take charge of global strategies for risk management and governance, including operational risk management activities.

4. CHARTERIS BUYS CEDALION

Business and IT consultancy Charteris has paid £3 million to acquire Edinburgh-based Cedalion, a specialist in the finance sector and an expert on Microsoft technologies.

The acquisition is in line with Charteris' strategy of accelerated growth through selective acquisition and adds 40 employees to the consultancy's roster of about 100.

Chief executive David Pickering said: "This acquisition will expand Charteris' offering, widening our reach in the Scottish market and augmenting our offerings to high-growth segments of the market such as infrastructure and risk management."

In 2003, Cedalion made pre-tax profits of £244,000 on revenues of £2.8 million. Ending its year on 31 July 2004, Charteris reported pre-tax profits of £541,000 on revenues of £13.8 million (MCN Direct 3-35).

Cedalion has two operating divisions: a finance unit providing bespoke applications to clients including HBOS, Aegon and Aberdeen Asset Management; and an advanced Microsoft consulting division with expertise in planning and deploying Microsoft infrastructure and platform technologies. This division includes The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the NHS in Scotland and many of Scotland's local authorities among its customers.

Charteris said the integration of Cedalion will have no financial implications and there are good prospects that the acquisition will contribute to its profit in the current financial year.

5. BEARINGPOINT PICKS UP IN THIRD QUARTER

BearingPoint has made a third-quarter net profit of $11.9 million (£6.5 million) - reversing a net loss of $39.2 million in the same period last year when the company took charges against job cuts and reorganisation.

Revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% at $840.9 million, with the company attributing the gain to improved utilisation and stabilising economic conditions in most regions.

BearingPoint chief financial officer Bob Falcone said: "Improvement in utilisation is key for our business right now. We improved our global utilisation to 67.3% this quarter, from 62.3% a year ago. Now we need to continue our progress in reducing our internal costs and improving operating efficiencies to further raise our level of financial performance."

While BearingPoint's US operations fared particularly well in the public and financial services sectors, the company's international revenue rose 3% to a total of $246.5 million in the quarter to 30 September. Revenue from EMEA rose 8.5% to $148.5 million, with Asia-Pacific down 5.2% at $76.3 million and Latin America flat at $21.7 million.

For the first nine months, BearingPoint reported a net profit of $28.7 million against a loss of $24.7 million a year ago, on revenue rising 10.5% to $2.6 billion.

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