MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 6 No. 15, 23 July 2007

This issue is sponsored by:

TeleWare, Top-Consultant and The UK Consulting Industry Report 2006/7

This issue news

1. Capgemini wins over £40m in public sector contracts
2. CSC poaches new European president from Unisys
3. IBM reports best quarter in six years
4. Accenture acquires strategy firm
5. LogicaCMG's UK revenue falls 9%
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

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1. CAPGEMINI WINS OVER £40m IN PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS

Capgemini has secured a £40 million contract from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and a £6.5 million deal from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The DCSF project is to build and host ContactPoint, an online directory that will hold records of all children in England and support communication between people working with children. The system will go live early next year and will be hosted by Capgemini until 2014 at a secure data centre in the UK.

The deal follows Capgemini's completion of ContactPoint's technical design under an earlier contract in 2006 and is part of a long-term partnership forged with the DCSF in 2002.

John Cummings, vice president for the education sector at Capgemini, said: "ContactPoint is crucial to the successful delivery of the government's Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme and we are delighted to be entrusted with a project of such evident importance."

Capgemini's deal with the FSA involves designing and building the authority's Mandatory Electronic Reporting system, aimed at easing the reporting burden on 25,000 businesses while tightening regulatory compliance.

The system will be built mainly at Capgemini's applications development centre in Mumbai, India, and is due to go live in July 2008. The contract is part of a long-term applications delivery framework signed by the FSA and Capgemini in July 2006.

2. CSC POACHES NEW EUROPEAN PRESIDENT FROM UNISYS

CSC has chosen Nick Wilson, former MD of Unisys UK, Middle East and Africa, as its new president of northern Europe covering the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Wilson reports to Guy Hains, president of European operations at CSC, and joins the company six months after the departure of former northern Europe head Keith Wilman to Atos Origin.

Hains said: "Nick Wilson brings with him drive and ambition with a proven track record in growing IT services and outsourcing business."

Prior to working at Unisys, Wilson spent more than 10 years at IBM, latterly as general manager of the Global Services business in the UK, Ireland and South Africa.

One of the contracts Wilson will oversee is with UKvisas, a UK government directorate aimed at streamlining the administration of visa applications from people wanting to enter the UK (MCND 6-4). As part of the project, CSC has introduced WorldBridge, a service that will establish visa application centres overseas and provide information to applicants. The first centres opened in Germany earlier this month.

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3. IBM REPORTS BEST QUARTER IN SIX YEARS

IBM has recorded its best revenue growth in a financial quarter since 2001, with Global Services up 10%, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa leading regional growth with a 13% revenue gain.

IBM's net profit for the second quarter to 30 June rose 12% on last year's comparable period to $2.3 billion (£1.1 billion), including a gain from the sale of the company's printing systems division. Revenue rose 9% to $23.8 billion.

IBM chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano said: "This revenue growth underscores IBM's global capabilities, as well as the higher value that clients place on our expanding software product line and wide range of services offerings that are helping them transform their businesses."

Within IBM Global Services, the Global Business Services group climbed 10% above last year's second-quarter revenue total to reach $4.3 billion, based on demand for services oriented architecture offerings and global delivery capabilities. Global Technology Services also rose 10% to $8.8 billion. Services contracts signed in the quarter rose 22% to $11.7 billion, creating an estimated services backlog of $116 billion.

EMEA led geographic growth with revenue up 13% at $8.2 billion, ahead of Asia-Pacific up 10% at $4.6 billion and the Americas up 6% at $10.1 billion.

4. ACCENTURE ACQUIRES STRATEGY FIRM

Accenture has agreed to buy the George Group, a privately held consultancy specialising in strategic process improvement.

Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, but 250 George employees will transfer to Accenture. The group is based in Dallas, Texas and has European offices in London and Geneva.

George Group claims to have supported more global Lean Six Sigma process improvement engagements than any other consultancy and also uses inhouse-developed performance improvement techniques including methodologies called Fast Innovation and Conquering Complexity.

Mark Foster, Accenture group chief executive of management consulting and integrated markets, said: "Both Accenture and George Group share a common vision of partnering with clients to execute strategies that help them achieve high performance. The acquisition is a great strategic fit for both parties and reflects our commitment to grow our management consulting practice and build our expertise in this vital sector."

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5. LOGICACMG'S UK REVENUE FALLS 9%

LogicaCMG has reported a 9% drop in UK revenue in the first half of its financial year, a decline that will have to be tackled by an incoming CEO following the departure of Martin Read in September.

In a trading statement, LogicaCMG said its first-half IT services revenue rose 3% on last year's comparable period, with its Nordic, Dutch, German and French operations outstripping market growth and compensating for poor performance in the UK.

LogicaCMG said its 9% UK fall to revenue of £331.8 million was the result of anticipated weakness in commercial markets and was partially offset by public sector growth of 7%. The firm forecasts full-year UK revenue slightly lower than the £718.4 million achieved in 2006, although total group revenue is expected to be up 4-5%.

LogicaCMG CEO Martin Read, who gave notice of his retirement in May as a result of shareholder dissatisfaction, will leave the board on 21 September. Chief operating officer Jim McKenna will assume the role of interim chief executive until a new CEO is chosen.

The board will be strengthened by the appointment of David Tyler, former group finance director of GUS, as a non-executive director. He will share the role of deputy chairman with incumbent Wim Dik and has also been appointed to the nominations committee that will select the new chief executive.

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

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Written by Sarah Underwood. Copyright 2012 PMP (UK) Ltd.

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