MCN Direct Newswire

Vol. 8 No. 15, 30 November 2009

This issue is sponsored by:

CODA, IRIS Project Solutions and 2009 UK Consulting Industry Half-Year Report

This issue news

1. PwC buys Paragon Consulting
2. Satyam sinks into worse financial trouble
3. Capgemini helps Environment Agency go green
4. HP builds services revenue
5. Bank of England invests in Logica
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

Sponsor

CODA

Management consultants 'Discovery! Solution Education' day

Friday 4 December (09:30-13:30), Novotel London Waterloo, London SE1 7LS

Find out why Agresso is the leading ERP provider to public sector organisations (No 1 to higher education and local government) and CODA a leading provider to the retail and financial services sectors at this interactive Discovery day.

This event is educational and not a sales event. To ensure you receive maximum benefit from it we aim to make it as informal and interactive as possible. The agenda is as follows:

09.30am - Registration.
10.00am - Welcome & Introduction.
For those unfamiliar with Agresso & CODA we will provide a brief corporate introduction, an overview of our key markets and details of our target customers and references.
10.20am – Agresso & CODA Solutions Overview.
During this session we will provide an overview of our core solution areas via live product demonstrations. This session will be informal and interactive, giving you the opportunity to get the maximum benefit from the day.
13.00pm - Open Discussion & Feedback.
1.30pm - Close & Networking Lunch.

With just a few places remaining at this Discovery session they will be allocated on a first come first served basis in order to keep the group to an optimum size, to encourage interactivity and ensure all delegates receive maximum benefit from it.

To attend this event simply email your name, company name and contact telephone number to sally.scott@agresso.co.uk or click here to register.

1. PwC BUYS PARAGON CONSULTING

PricewaterhouseCoopers has strengthened its UK consultancy business by acquiring corporate performance management specialist Paragon Consulting Group.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Paragon will add 90 consultants to PwC Advisory's consulting business and 11 years' experience in performance management. Around 40 Paragon staff will join PwC in the UK, with the remainder based in Turkey, Singapore and Dubai.

Ashley Unwin, head of consulting at PwC, said: "This acquisition is an excellent strategic fit with our consulting business. We already offer our clients corporate performance management capabilities, but this acquisition means we can enhance our offering, giving clients full service from ideas to implementation."

Paragon managing director Richard Wyles added: "We look forward to new opportunities to enrich our skills and experiences, to extend our relationships and make a significant contribution to growing the consulting business."

The acquisition of Paragon follows PwC's buy-out of reward specialist Halliwell Consulting and marks another step in the firm's fiscal 2010 strategy to achieve 'transformational growth' in its share of the consulting market.

2. SATYAM SINKS INTO WORSE FINANCIAL TROUBLE

Satyam Computer Services, the Indian IT services firm rocked by financial scandal in 2008 and rescued by Tech Mahindra this April, has slipped into deeper trouble following new charges made by India's Central Bureau of Investigation.

The charges have been filed against former chairman Ramalinga Raju - who was detained in January on charges of cheating and forgery after admitting he had manipulated the company's accounts - and nine other people who have not been named.

The charges state that the alleged fraud at Satyam was larger than initially admitted by Raju and could total 118.8 billion rupees (£1.6 billion), against the 71.4 billion rupees previously stated. Allegations include using forged board resolutions to raise loans, the creation of fake customers and invoices, and acquisitions of land and property made with money taken illegally out of the company.

The new charges will be a blow to the recently formed company, Mahindra Satyam, which has been rebuilding the Satyam customer base and market confidence since the acquisition in April.

Speaking recently, Mahindra Satyam president Atul Kunwar said customer attrition had stopped and that the company was adding clients, including General Electric and Cisco Systems. Mahindra Satyam declined to comment on the new charges.

Sponsor

IRIS Project Solutions

From profit killer to consultant burn out (and the good bit in the middle)

For most management consultancies, the utilisation rate of their consultants is one of their key performance indicators and a key target on which staff are measured. Get it right and the chances are the organisation will be highly successful. Get it wrong and the consequences can be disastrous. Utilisation may be a simple percentage number but there are multiple factors that influence its outcome. So how do you get the balance right?

This white paper from IRIS Project Solutions outlines a seven-step approach to optimising utilisation. Download here.

3. CAPGEMINI HELPS ENVIRONMENT AGENCY GO GREEN

The Environment Agency has chosen Capgemini for a seven-year outsourced IT services contract designed to help it become - appropriately - the Government's greenest agency.

The deal covers infrastructure and applications management outsourcing, including areas such as flood warning and waste management, but leaves applications development within the agency's remit. Around 100 Environment Agency staff will transfer to Capgemini with a further 200 contract IT staff remaining at the agency to work on the project.

The contract aims to cut the agency's IT carbon emissions by 50% over the next few years, with 'green' elements including the production, transportation and recycling of hardware, and energy savings for each user.

Capgemini claims the contract is the first in the UK to formally include such a comprehensive set of green measures.

Graham Ledward, director of resources at the Environment Agency, said: "The Environment Agency is not only reducing its carbon emissions, but also saving money in the long term. We will effectively do more for less."

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.

4. HP BUILDS SERVICES REVENUE

Hewlett-Packard increased its services revenue by 8% in the last financial year, despite an overall fall in net profit and revenue.

Services revenue reached $9 billion (£5.5 billion) in the year to 31 October, generating an operating profit of $1.4 billion, up from $945 million the previous year.

Infrastructure technology outsourcing contributed revenue of $4.1 billion, technology services $2.5 billion, application services $1.5 billion and BPO $778 million. HP said the integration of its subsidiary EDS was ahead of plan, helping it end the year with a surge in services signings.

For the full year, HP's net profit fell 8% to $7.6 billion, on revenue down 3% to $114.6 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 8% to $30.8 billion, with the EMEA region down 17%, the Americas down 3% and Asia-Pacific down 1%.

HP chairman and CEO Mark Hurd commented: "HP's solid performance in services drove record profits, and the accelerated pace in signings creates strong momentum going into 2010. Our operational execution and improving cost structure generated strong quarterly and year-end results. We expect to outperform the market due to our significant scale, broad portfolio and market-leading position."

5. BANK OF ENGLAND INVESTS IN LOGICA

Logica has won a competitive five-year contract with the Bank of England to develop HR services.

The bank was looking for a partner to automate and standardise its HR operations, in turn improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the delivery of services to 1,750 employees and 7.000 pensioners.

Logica will provide a managed software service solution based on an Oracle platform and will offer applications including performance management, recruitment, time & attendance, flexible benefits, self-service, HR analytics and a bureau payroll service. Implementation will be phased, with the service due to go live next year.

Logica's director of BPO UK, Patricia Taylor, said: "We are delighted to have been chosen to help the Bank of England with its HR services. We were keen to demonstrate our ability in a solution that would meet long-term business requirements by using a flexible system and service options."

The contract follows a run of successes for Logica in the HR and payroll market, with new clients including Channel 4, KPN, Martinair and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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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