MCN Direct Newswire

Previous Issue: Vol. 9 No. 1, 18 January 2010

This issue is sponsored by:

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

This issue's news

1. Fujitsu faces more strike action
2. Deloitte buys UK performance consultancy
3. India's IT services firms pick up momentum
4. Capgemini secures contracts in UK and US
5. IBM tops list of gay-friendly employers
6. Further information - feedback/pass on to a colleague/remove from mailing list

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1. FUJITSU FACES MORE STRIKE ACTION

Further strikes are expected at Fujitsu UK as the Unite union continues to fight the company on issues of compulsory redundancy, a pay freeze and plans to close its final salary pension scheme.

The dispute is over Fujitsu's plans announced last September to cut 1,200 of its 12,500-strong workforce, including consultants and professional services staff. The company had already introduced a pay freeze and was consulting with staff on changes to the pension scheme.

Unite objected to the pay freeze, pension change and any compulsory redundancies. In November, the union rejected an offer from Fujitsu to resolve the dispute and staged six strike days, the latest of which was held on Friday 15 January.

Looking ahead, Unite national officer for IT and communications Peter Skyte said: "There are still issues, but the gap could be bridged. It needs effort on both parts. I wrote to the chief executive last week asking HR to sit down with us and negotiate again. We haven't negotiated formally since early December. If Fujitsu was a failing company we could understand its actions, but it is not."

The union says it will continue strike action if the company does not respond to it within a reasonable time. Unite has 1,620 members in Fujitsu, of whom 320 have advised the company they are on strike.

Fujitsu suggests it will not budge. A company executive said the initial plan for 1,200 redundancies to meet cost-cutting targets had been changed, with 876 redundancies needed to meet the targets and only 257 staff being made compulsorily redundant. The last of these are due to leave the company at the end of January.

The executive also pointed out that pay has been frozen, rather than cut, and that any change to the pension scheme has been delayed until March 2011 while discussions with employee representatives continue.

He commented: "If the union will enter discussion with Fujitsu, rather than make demands, it may be possible to end the action through negotiation." A formal statement added: "Fujitsu has taken prudent measures to ensure that service to its customers is maintained."

2. DELOITTE BUYS UK PERFORMANCE CONSULTANCY

Deloitte will add 66 people to its 2,500-strong UK consulting practice through the acquisition of business performance and information management consultancy ReportSource.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Deloitte claims the addition of ReportSource will give it the UK's "largest and best-equipped business performance and information management team".

ReportSource is an Oracle-certified partner and specialises in enterprise performance management and business intelligence solutions for financial planning, reporting and analysis. Managing director Ian Harrison will join Deloitte as a partner when the acquisition is concluded.

David Owen, managing director of consulting at Deloitte UK, said: "Many UK businesses and organisations have invested significant time and money implementing new IT systems in recent years. Business leaders now want to maximise the benefit of this investment by extracting better, more insightful management information. ReportSource is a leader in providing the expertise to help organisations achieve this goal."

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3. INDIA'S IT SERVICES FIRMS PICK UP MOMENTUM

India's two largest IT services firms, Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), have reported strong third-quarter results but warn that further growth could be hit by staffing restraints and rising costs.

Infosys reported better-than-expected results for the quarter to 31 December 2009, with net profit up 1% on last year's comparable quarter to $334 million (£205 million) and revenue rising 5% to $1.2 billion. TCS' quarterly net profit climbed 39% to $384 million, on revenue rising 10% to $1.6 billion.

But reflecting the heady days before the global financial crisis - when India's IT outsourcing industry grew at about 30% a year - Infosys CEO S Gopalakrishnan said renewed growth in the IT services industry is presenting staffing challenges that Infosys will address in part by increasing the proportion of foreign nationals in its workforce from 5% to 15%.

Infosys had about 110,000 staff at the end of the third quarter and is planning to add a further 24,000 before the fiscal year end in March. Like many of its competitors, it froze salaries during the financial crisis but led the way back to wage inflation late last year with a salary rise of 8%.

Commenting on industry growth, Gopalakrishnan said: "Global economic recovery seems to be led by the US and financial services. Even though IT budgets are expected to be flat in 2010, offshore outsourcing is expected to benefit from the recovery."

Meanwhile, TCS added nearly 8,000 employees during the third quarter for a total of over 140,000 and said it was "prepared to meet the growth in demand".

Sponsor

2009 UK Consulting Industry Half-Year Report

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4. CAPGEMINI SECURES CONTRACTS IN UK AND US

Capgemini enjoyed a prosperous new year with a slew of contract wins across the UK and US.

In the UK, Capgemini beat rivals to become the British Library's principal technology partner in transforming the library's range and quality of services for users and online customers. The intention is to develop website services that match or exceed those of leading commercial businesses.

Caroline Brazier, associate director of the British Library, said: "We were impressed by Capgemini's genuine commitment to client collaboration and by the quality of its people, proposals and track record."

Capgemini also started a business process outsourcing (BPO) collaboration with gas industry hub xoserve to transform its information capabilities for all participants in the gas supply chain - from generators, importers and shippers to supply companies, meter operators and end users.

Also in the BPO market, Capgemini renewed and extended a contract with agricultural crop protection and seed specialist Syngenta. The new seven-year deal broadens the scope of accounting services provided by Capgemini and adds procurement services for Syngenta business units in over 50 countries.

In the US, Capgemini secured an $88 million (£54 million), five-year deal with the US army to provide independent verification and validation support for a number of ERP systems. The army wants to reduce the total cost of the software and provide an enterprise view of all its assets.

5. IBM TOPS LIST OF GAY-FRIENDLY EMPLOYERS

IBM has been named the best place to work in 2010 for lesbian, gay and bisexual people by equality campaigning charity Stonewall.

Stonewall's 'Top 100 Employers 2010' ranking is based on a number of indicators including the largest-ever survey of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees, with over 7,000 participants. IBM was named the most gay-friendly employer for the second time in four years, but had to show improvement in a fierce competition with more entries than ever before.

Professional services firms were the leading sector in Stonewall's top 100, ahead of the police and central government. Ernst & Young ranked third in the listing behind Hampshire Constabulary, with Accenture ranked 30th, Deloitte 39th and PricewaterhouseCoopers 63rd.

Brendon Riley, CEO of IBM UK & Ireland, said: "IBM is extremely proud to accept this important accolade. In 2009 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of IBM's global LGB non-discrimination policy, but we're constantly looking for new ways to enrich and broaden the scope of what we can achieve. We pride ourselves on delivering a working environment that reflects equality of opportunity and experience for all."

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall chief executive, commented: "The index is a powerful tool used by Britain's 1.7 million gay employees and 150,000 gay university students to decide where to take their talent and skills."

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Written by Sarah Underwood. Copyright 2012 The National Computing Centre Ltd.

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