MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 8 No. 10, 5 October 2009

This issue is sponsored by:

CODA, 2009 UK Consulting Industry Half-Year Report and Symantec

This issue news

1. Dell and Xerox join IT services super league
2. CSC closes in on $2.4bn mega-deal
3. Accenture results reflect recession
4. MCA to choose Britain's top talent
5. Deloitte takes two leaders from Detica
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

Sponsor

CODA

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1. DELL AND XEROX JOIN IT SERVICES SUPER LEAGUE

Hardware manufacturers Dell and Xerox have followed the trend to build services revenue with acquisitions worth over $10 billion that propel them into the top 20 global IT services firms.

Dell has bought veteran IT services and solutions company Perot Systems for $3.9 billion (£2.4 billion). It says the companies together will generate $8 billion in services revenue out of a total of $15 billion.

Dell has been trying to break into the services market for years, leading CEO Michael Dell to say: "We consider Perot Systems to be a premium asset with great people that enhances our opportunities for immediate and long-term growth."

Xerox, best known as a document management specialist, is pushing into the BPO market through its $6.4 billion acquisition of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). Xerox says the deal will create a $22 billion global company, with services revenue tripling from $3.5 billion to about $10 billion next year.

Xerox CEO Ursula Burns said: "This is a game changer for Xerox. By combining Xerox's strengths in document technology with ACS's expertise in managing and automating work processes, we are creating a new class of solution provider."

As Dell and Xerox expand their presence in the services sector, the brand name of former IT services leader EDS has disappeared. Following its acquisition by HP last year and subsequent integration into the company, 'EDS, an HP company' has been rebranded as 'HP Enterprise Services' and will operate within HP's enterprise business unit.

2. CSC CLOSES IN ON $2.4bn MEGA-DEAL

CSC has been selected to enter exclusive negotiations with Zurich Financial Services Group for an outsourcing contract valued at about $2.4 billion (£1.5 billion) over 10 years.

This is one of the few mega-deals to be offered in the recession and, if CSC pins it down, it will be a fillip to both its revenue and reputation. The contract covers the provision of data centre and IT infrastructure managed services in Europe and North America, including data centre centralisation and server virtualisation.

The 10-year master service agreement will allow country-specific deals to be made between Zurich and CSC, building on previous relationships between the companies. In 2004, CSC signed its first contract with Zurich, a $1.3 billion, seven-year deal covering applications outsourcing. This was followed last year by a $399 million, six-year global IT desktop outsourcing agreement.

CSC declined to discuss the new contract, saying only that the exclusive negotiation period is for six months and that services are expected to start under the master agreement with one or more contract-specific agreements in the first half of next year.

CSC emphasised: "There can be no assurance that CSC and Zurich will reach a final agreement on the master service agreement or any particular country agreements, that required approvals will be received, or that a transaction will take place."

Sponsor

2009 UK Consulting Industry Half-Year Report

The UK Consulting Industry Half-Year Report is the shorter sister, publication to the UK Consulting Industry Report, produced annually by the Management Consultancies Association and published jointly with MCN Direct (owned by NCC).

The Half-Year Report January-July 2009 provides unique data and insight into the state of the UK consulting industry over the last half year, which has been so critical for the UK and global economies. This 11-page report looks at industry performance across sectors and service lines; changing growth rates, fee rates and income; year-on-year comparisons; and the outlook and challenges for the second half of 2009 and beyond. It provides detailed statistics as well as hard-hitting analysis.

For more information and to order your copy, please click here. Alternatively contact the publishers, NCC.
Tel: +44 (0)1494 732830. Fax: +44 (0)870 134 0931. Email: reports@ncc.co.uk.

3. ACCENTURE RESULTS REFLECT RECESSION

Accenture's net profit and revenue slipped in the last financial year though it successfully sustained its operating margin at around 12%.

Accenture's net profit fell 6% to $1.6 billion (£1 billion) in the year to 31 August, the drop being partly the result of a $253 million restructuring charge. Revenue was down 8% at $21.6 billion.

Accenture's consulting revenue fell 11% to $12.6 billion, with outsourcing revenue down 3% at $9 billion. The company's operating margin was 12.3%, down from 12.9% in fiscal 2008.

Admitting that its business continues to be affected by global economic conditions, Accenture reported that only its public services operating group increased revenue in the year, while revenue dropped in EMEA and the Americas and only Asia-Pacific achieved an increase.

Total new bookings for the year were down 11% on 2008, with consulting bookings down 14% at $12.8 billion and outsourcing bookings down 7% at $11.1 billion.

Accenture CEO William Green claimed: "Our fourth-quarter and full-year results clearly show that we continued managing our business well in challenging economic conditions. We remain focused on operational discipline and superior execution to ensure that we continue to deliver value to our clients and shareholders. Importantly, this has allowed us to take proactive steps that have positioned us very well for the upturn."

Sponsor

Symantec

Data Centre 2009 - Optimisation and security briefing

3rd, 10th and 12th November in Belfast, Manchester and London
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Speakers include:
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• Case Study, Barclays Bank plc
• Security Implications of the Virtualised Data Centre, Independent expert
• Creating Appropriate IT Recovery Strategies, Symantec
• Best Practice for the Protection of Data and Hosting Centres, ECA Limited

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4. MCA TO CHOOSE BRITAIN'S TOP TALENT

The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) has shortlisted candidates for its Consultant of the Year Awards 2009 and will reveal the UK's top talent at a ceremony later this month.

The awards include nine categories, with Accenture and CSC leading the competition with six shortlisted consultants each. Other consultants in categories including strategy, change management, IT, HR, marketing and performance improvement consultant of the year come from Tribal, IBM, Deloitte, Xantus, Ernst & Young, Propaganda, KPMG and BT Global Services.

On the shortlist for the 'Future leader of the year' award are Alex Phelps, a senior manager dedicated to financial management in KPMG's advisory business; Claire McCormack, a senior manager specialising in insurance within Accenture's financial services consulting practice; Lisa Henneghan, a director in Deloitte's technology integration practice; and Tahir Ayaz, a principal consultant and business process architect at CSC.

If these are tomorrow's consultancy leaders, they will be highly regarded by those on the shortlist for 'Young consultant of the year'. In this category are Devyani Gupta of Avail, Farida Bendahmane at CSC, Frances Lysak of Deloitte and Kimberley Hurd at Accenture.

MCA chief executive Alan Leaman said: "These awards recognise the top talent in the British consulting industry. The MCA works constantly with its members to attract the best people into consulting and our code of practice puts high standards and clients' interests first. This year's entrants all displayed outstanding consulting skills."

5. DELOITTE TAKES TWO LEADERS FROM DETICA

Deloitte has recruited the managing director of Detica's UK consulting business and one of its top practice leaders in the wake of the security and business intelligence consultancy's acquisition by defence giant BAE Systems last year.

Former Detica Consulting MD Carl Bates has joined Deloitte's telecoms data team. He has worked in the telecoms and technology sector for the past 18 years, including four years as a director of Deloitte.

Ed Marsden is joining Deloitte's technology, media and telecoms (TMT) data team from a similar role at Detica where he led the company's TMT practice. He has worked in the telecoms sector for 14 years, including eight years at Accenture in the UK and Australia.

Both Bates and Marsden will focus on telecoms, specifically covering data, security and technology transformation.

Jolyon Barker, global leader of Deloitte's TMT practice, commented: "The importance of data and security is clear to Deloitte's clients. They are focusing on the commercial challenges of better understanding and serving their customers, and on using enterprise data to improve performance and competitiveness in a mature market."

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

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Written by Sarah Underwood. Copyright 2010 The National Computing Centre Ltd.

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