MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 5 No. 15, 22 May 2006

This issue is sponsored by:

InterSystems and The UK Consulting Industry Report 2005/6

This issue news

1. Accenture strengthens strategy arm
2. LogicaCMG on course for growth
3. Walters steps up at Capita to replace Aldridge
4. CSC wins global development contract
5. Deloitte confirms John Connolly as chief executive
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

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1. ACCENTURE STRENGTHENS STRATEGY ARM

Accenture has bought US strategy house Hagberg Consulting in an effort to enhance its strategic consultancy capability.

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Accenture seems to have acquired Hagberg for its assets as much as its people. The California-based consultancy specialises in assessing organisational culture and its alignment with corporate strategy. The firm's assets include a benchmarking database, comprising corporate cultural data from hundreds of thousands of employees at 400 companies, a cultural assessment methodology and web-based survey tools.

Ana Dutra, managing partner of Accenture's organisation and change strategy practice, said: "Hagberg has a powerful suite of tools that enables us to gather extraordinary insights into underlying cultural characteristics that drive an organisation. As insights are derived from sophisticated data collection and supported by action-driven analytics and a database of information against which to normalise results, findings can be leveraged as a critical input to any significant organisational change initiative."

Hagberg will become part of Accenture's global strategy practice.

2. LOGICACMG ON COURSE FOR GROWTH

LogicaCMG has reported strong trading in the early months of 2006 and says its acquisition of Unilog in France is bearing fruit.

Updating shareholders at its AGM, the company said its first-quarter organic revenue growth reached 9.7%, with the UK experiencing strong demand from the financial services and industry, distribution and transport sectors.

Demand for IT services is continuing to grow, with LogicaCMG citing a recent £80 million win at the UK Ministry of Defence and a memo of understanding covering a €200 million (£136 million) outsourcing deal in the Netherlands with ING.

The company was more cautious about its telecoms products business, suggesting growth prospects are not certain because of the balance of mature and emerging revenue streams in the business.

The integration of Unilog, which LogicaCMG bought in January, is reported to be going well, with the combination of LogicaCMG's vertical market expertise and Unilog's customer relationships winning contracts in France with supermarket group Carrefour, network operator SFR and travel provider Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

Speaking at the AGM, LogicaCMG chief executive Martin Read said: "Trading in the early months of 2006 has been well ahead of last year. Our integration of the Unilog business is proceeding as planned and we are encouraged by the potential of the acquisition."

Read added that expectations for the full-year remain unchanged, with 2006 organic revenue growth expected to exceed the 5.3% growth achieved last year.

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3. WALTERS STEPS UP AT CAPITA TO REPLACE ALDRIDGE

Capita's non-executive chairman Rod Aldridge will be replaced by Eric Walters, a non-executive director of the company, when he retires at the end of July. Aldridge announced in March that he would leave Capita, the company he founded, after its reputation was questioned when Aldridge was discovered to have personally lent money to the Labour Party.

Walters has been a director at Capita since June 2001 and is described by Aldridge as having "a deep understanding of Capita's activities and its culture". Company chief executive Paul Pinder said: "Walters' wise counsel has been a major asset to Capita since he joined the board. I have a high degree of respect for his commercial judgement and I am looking forward to working with him in his new role."

Walters is an experienced company director and venture capitalist. He joined Capita from private equity firm Alchemy Partners, where he was a senior partner, and previously held senior positions at Schroder Ventures, Grand Metropolitan and Lex Services. He is currently a senior partner in Englefield Capital.

4. CSC WINS GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT

CSC has been chosen by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to supply IT systems and services in support of its mission to offer economic development and humanitarian assistance around the globe.

CSC is one of five companies named as a 'Principal Resource for Information Management Enterprise' and given a blanket purchase agreement. The value of all five agreements is $4 billion (£2.1 billion). CSC estimates that its agreement, which runs for a year with four one-year options, will be worth about $800 million if all the options are exercised.

CSC will team with companies including Grant Thornton, HP, Siemens and DynCorp International to provide IT support services including management, operations and maintenance, communications, customer assistance and systems integration.

Jim Sheaffer, president of CSC's federal sector business unit, said: "This contract illustrates the confidence USAID has in CSC's global resources, deep foreign affairs experience and broad expertise to achieve significant operational results in support of its international mission."

USAID is an independent agency that has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.

5. DELOITTE CONFIRMS JOHN CONNOLLY AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Deloitte UK has re-elected John Connolly as its senior partner and chief executive for a third term, after a seven-year tenure in which the consultancy achieved revenue growth of 347% and profits growth of 500%.

Connolly has spent his entire professional career with Deloitte, both in the UK and abroad. As well as serving as senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte UK since 1999, he is also chairman of the global management committee of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. His re-election in the UK gives him leadership until 2011.

Commenting on his appointment, Connolly said: "The firm has achieved success over the past few years by placing a massive emphasis on its people, as well as paying obsessive attention to client service and quality. Our decision to retain a consulting practice when other firms were divesting their consulting arms also proved to be the right decision and today we are benefiting from this bold stance."

As well as leading the firm through its failure to spin-off the UK consultancy business - hence its decision to retain the unit - Connolly spearheaded the hiring of 3,500 ex-Andersen UK people following the latter's collapse in the Enron debacle.

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