MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 5 No. 12, 2 May 2006

This issue is sponsored by:

Systems Union and PMP

This issue news

1. LogicaCMG wins £200m-plus banking and defence deals
2. Capita riding out loss of Rod Aldridge
3. BearingPoint cuts 2006 forecast
4. Accenture targets converged comms market
5. Atos Origin revenue dented by UK fall
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

Sponsor

Systems Union

Compliance - the quest for ONE version of the truth

Gartner reports that 75% of mid-sized businesses feel compliance brings them no additional benefit. Yet, companies must comply. PwC reports that less than 25% of businesses have upgraded their systems to support the compliance challenge.

Systems Union is keen to work with Consultants and Systems Integrators to ensure that jointly, our clients meet the requirements of the new international regulatory frameworks.

For a copy of our white paper on the practicalities of Sarbanes-Oxley for Finance Directors click here, or for more information on our range of solutions click here.

1. LogicaCMG WINS £200M-PLUS BANKING AND DEFENCE DEALS

LogicaCMG has provisionally agreed an outsourcing deal with Dutch bank ING expected to be worth £139 million and sealed an £80 million contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for integrated healthcare and dental systems.

The ING deal covers a six-year period and includes the transfer of 350 ING employees based in the Netherlands to LogicaCMG. The final contract is expected to be signed this summer, with LogicaCMG taking responsibility for application development & maintenance and IT systems testing at ING's banking operations.

The agreement is the first in a series of several planned outsourcing programmes announced by ING's operations and IT group in 2005.

LogicaCMG's £80 million MoD win is a 10-year contract to deliver the Defence Medical Information Capability Programme, creating single MoD personnel health records that will be accessible any time, anywhere, with ruggedised hand-held devices being used in the battlefield.

The programme is based around an electronic clinical record system provided by Emis, the incumbent supplier of medical record systems to the MoD. LogicaCMG will also deliver a data warehouse and support Cognos business intelligence tools so information on the incidence of disease and battle injuries, and the outcomes of treatment, can be examined by the Defence Medical Services to provide more effective care.

2. CAPITA RIDING OUT LOSS OF ROD ALDRIDGE

Capita has won new and extended contracts worth £655 million in the first four months of this financial year - more than four times the value of the £140 million contracts it won during the same period last year.

Capita's latest win is an £11.7 million, five-and-a-half-year extension to an IT management agreement with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Under the terms of the contract, which is entering its fourth term, Capita IT Services will design, build, deploy and maintain a new motor vehicle registration information system.

Other new business includes support for pension simplification, which came into force this month, and deals with six new and existing life & pensions clients - contracts that are expected to generate revenues of about £100 million over the next five years.

Speaking at Capita's annual general meeting, non-executive chairman Rod Aldridge said the company had grown in value from £160 million to £2.7 billion over the 10 years to the end of 2005, with total shareholder return increasing 17-fold.

Aldridge, who founded Capita in 1984, will leave the company in July after stepping down from his role as executive chairman in March when Capita's reputation was questioned after he was found to have personally lent money to the Labour Party.

At the time, Aldridge said: "There have been suggestions that this loan has resulted in the group being awarded government contracts. This is entirely spurious. While anyone associated with the public procurement process would understand that this view has no credibility, I do not want this misconception to continue as I remain passionate about the group's well-being."

Sponsor

PMP

PMP invites you to meet Gartner analyst Nigel Rayner for a Consultants' Evening Seminar on "Compliance - What it Means to the Mid-Market" on Thursday 25th May in London.

We are delighted to invite you on behalf of our sponsor, Systems Union, to attend this exclusive event featuring Gartner, writer and author Karsten Oehler and a case study by BP Shipping.

For more information and to register click here.
For more information about Systems Union - click here.

3. BEARINGPOINT CUTS 2006 FORECAST

BearingPoint has reduced its 2006 financial expectations as it struggles to strengthen the finance and compliance functions that have failed it in recent years.

BearingPoint's estimate of $3.5-3.7 billion (£1.9-2 billion) revenue for the year has not been changed, but its estimate of operating profit has been cut from $180-250 million to $150-200 million. The company said the adjustment was necessary to account for $80-120 million in higher-than-expected costs associated with expanding its finance and compliance initiatives - including efforts to complete its 2005 financial statements and extra costs for compliance staff.

Cash balances expected at the end of fiscal 2006 have also been cut back from $500-650 million to $450-600 million.

BearingPoint CEO Harry You said: "We remain focused on resolving our infrastructure and process issues with the goal of becoming current in our SEC filings by later this year. The actions we are taking now will enable us to move forward faster with a streamlined infrastructure and stronger systems to support our business strategy."

Despite its ongoing financial troubles - a catalyst behind the departure of CEO Rand Blazer and CFO Robert Falcone in November 2004 - BearingPoint claimed a strong first quarter, with bookings up 15% compared to the first quarter of 2005 at $800 million, headcount up 4% at 15,400, but utilisation down from 70.2% in the first quarter of 2005 to 67.7%.

4. ACCENTURE TARGETS CONVERGED COMMS MARKET

Accenture has integrated BEA Systems' enterprise and communications infrastructure software into its service delivery platform, with a view to winning more clients among communications firms launching converged voice and multimedia services across wireless and fixed-line networks.

Angelo Morelli, a partner in Accenture's communications and high-tech operating group, explained: "Following a period of consolidation and cost cutting, communications service providers are focusing on growth and innovation in their quest for high performance. Companies that can rapidly create and deliver new value-added services can generate top-line revenue growth."

Accenture's service platform will incorporate BEA's WebLogic Communications Platform and WebLogic Platform products, allowing the platform to support next-generation services such as IPTV, mobile content delivery, voice over IP, instant messaging and third-party content management.

Accenture's arrangement with BEA Systems is not exclusive, but the platform is a cornerstone of its communications solutions suite and is designed to be operational in less than three months.

5. ATOS ORIGIN REVENUE DENTED BY UK FALL

Atos Origin has reported first-quarter revenue down 1% at €1.3 billion (£901 million) with the UK a major contributor to the decline following a 10% drop in country revenue.

Global consulting revenue fell 3% to €103 million, although Atos Origin said underlying trends remained good with double-digit growth in France, the Netherlands and Spain, and a buoyant pipeline, particularly in the UK. Systems integration revenue rose 2% in the quarter to €569 million, driven by application lifecycle management and ERP, while managed operations fell 3% to €669 million.

Despite the top-line drop, Atos Origin was at pains to point out that its organic revenue rose 3% in the quarter, after allowing for the disposal of its Nordic and Middle East operations in June 2005 and February 2006, and the impact of currency changes.

Commenting on the results, Atos Origin chairman Bernard Bourigeaud said: "Due to the strong backlog and pipeline, we remain confident of achieving 5% organic growth for full-year 2006, with a progressive improvement in performance quarter by quarter."

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Written by Sarah Underwood. Copyright 2010 PMP (UK) Ltd.