Archive for November, 2010

Email Marketing, Pros and Cons of Outsourcing.

November 23rd, 2010

You are going to develop several email campaigns for each website. They will include tiered lists of people who belong to different demographics, typically separated into income levels. You are going to want to offer these people an opportunity to purchase your products and services at regular intervals by sending out an email to them.

THINK ABOUT AUTOMATING FUNCTIONS FIRST

Before you go out and hire someone to manually send out all of these emails, take a look at a better way. You can hire a service like AWeber.com that will automate your email campaigns in a way that makes it cost-effective. It will feel like you’ve hired a team of Internet marketing assistants and not like you’ve just signed up for an email autoresponding service. For a very low fee, you can start to automate all of your contact lists and email campaigns. After that’s all done, you can set up guidelines of items you want brought to your attention and those that can keep on running indefinitely. At that point, you can hire a virtual assistant to keep track of things going on in your email campaigns and to add and remove products and email addresses as you request.

VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS FOR EMAIL MANAGEMENT

Virtual assistants are very good with dealing with emails and phone calls. They excel at these simple tasks and can really open up your day for more important things. You can get a virtual assistant to screen calls, look up emails from customers online, and add them to autoresponder lists when necessary. You can set up business processes that only bring the most important problems to your attention, while the rest of the day-to-day correspondence and email campaigns are handled by your virtual assistant.

You can have them handle your own incoming email too as you start to network with many people online. You can set up different email addresses, have them go in and read each email every day, and trash the spam email or report it. They should learn how to deal with customers and how to relay information to them as a customer service representative for the basic questions and answers that people may have.

Once they go through your email, you can have them forward the most urgent pieces to another email address so that you won’t be overloaded with all kinds of issues that keep you from performing at your peak. You can then call your assistant every day at noon or whenever you want and go over the tasks, issues, and escalated problems that might remain undone or that need your immediate attention. This is one way to manage the time you spend on your email, both with private and with business email campaigns.

Source:http://kenoshagirlscouts.org/email-marketing-pros-and-cons-of-outsourcing/

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Westpac renews IBM outsourcing contract

November 23rd, 2010

Adds five more years to US$2.3 billion deal.

IBM and Westpac have extended a US$2.3 billion, ten-year-long infrastructure outsourcing relationship with a new five-year contract that would begin on December 1 this year.

The new contract was signed in New York last Friday, putting an end to speculation that the bank may replace Big Blue with offshore service providers or a “best of breed” approach.

IBM will retain prime responsibility for operating the bank’s key infrastructure services, including data centre, mainframe, midrange, storage, desktop, print and security operations.

Westpac said it would take “greater accountability in the design and management of IT services”, using other suppliers or solutions where appropriate.

The bank also has outsourcing agreements with HCL Australia, Telstra, Fiserv, and HP subsidiary EDS.

According to Westpac’s group executive technology Bob McKinnon, the new IBM services contract would “drive a very different relationship and set us up for the future”.

The bank is preparing to implement its five-year IT transformation program that was expected to strengthen its focus on customers and productivity.

It reported increases in IT spending in the first half of this year, and plans to build a “private cloud” while consolidating its “dozen” data centres across Australia.

“I’m proud to say that our relationship with IBM has come a long way over the past couple of years and we’ve made significant inroads to improve the reliability of our systems,” McKinnon stated.

“Importantly, we have been able to retain IBM’s extensive expertise and knowledge of the organisation, while also driving flexibility on key aspects of our partnership.

“This new relationship will support the significant IT investment program underway within the Westpac group to improve our customer touch-points and support our multi-brand model.”

IBM’s Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Glen Boreham said its relationship with Westpac had played a key role in IBM’s local success.

Source:-http://www.itnews.com.au/News/239333,westpac-renews-ibm-outsourcing-contract.aspx

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Taiwan testing firms turn focus to outsourcing orders from IDMs

November 23rd, 2010

Taiwan’s King Yuan Electronics Company (KYEC), Sigurd Microelectronics and Ardentec are expected to focus on gaining more outsourcing from international IDMs in 2011, according to industry sources. The three wafer probing service providers generate most of their sales from local Taiwan-based fabless companies.

KYEC, Sigurd and Ardentec saw substantial growth in the contributions of sales from IDMs to their total revenues in the third quarter of 2010, the sources indicated.

KYEC, which mainly provides testing services for LCD driver ICs, memory chips and handset-related solutions, saw Taiwan-based fabless customers’ contribution drop below 60% for the first time in the third quarter. Contribution from KYEC’s non-Taiwan based IDM clients grew to 41% of its total revenues in the third quarter, up from 36% in the second. The rising contribution also buoyed the company’s overall gross margin to 28.5% from 26% in the prior quarter.

Sigurd indicated it has landed more outsourcing from international IDMs, and plans to attract orders from new clients from Europe, Israel and Japan in 2011. Sales contribution from its non-Taiwan based clients is expected to reach 30% in 2011, compared to the 25% as of the end of third-quarter 2010.

Sigurd in end-2009 forged a supply contract with Standard Microsystems Co (SMSC), a US-based developer of smart mixed-signal connectivity solutions. Orders from SMSC contributed 7% to Sigurd’s total sales as of the end of third-quarter 2010, compared to merely 0.5% in 2009.

Ardentec also enjoyed a ramp-up in demand from its IDM customers such as Texas Instruments (TI). Sales generated from IDM orders contributed 64% of Ardentec’s total third-quarter revenues.

Ardentec has said that since the third quarter, demand from Europe- and US-based IDMs has been stronger than that from IC designers. The testing company also noted it is looking to build an operation hub in South Korea, striving to grab new orders from the local foundry vendors.

Source:-http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20101122PD208.html

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E.ON Outsources IT-Services To Deutsche Telekom, HP

November 23rd, 2010

German energy utility E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) said Monday it has struck a deal to outsource parts of its information technology infrastructure, a deal which will allow it to further reduce costs and generate considerable revenue for the two winners of the tender.

In an emailed statement the company said that it has chosen Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTE.XE) key account unit T-Systems–which operates information and communication technology systems for large customers including multinational corporations like E.ON–and U.S. technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) to run its IT infrastructure.

A person familiar with the matter said that the overall volume of the deal is around EUR2 billion, below the originally tendered value of up to EUR3.3 billion.

The outsourcing deal comes as E.ON is cutting investment and dividends, considers asset sales and tries to further reduce costs to help mitigate a decline in market conditions with low power and gas prices and the burden of higher taxes on nuclear fuel in its domestic market eating into its profits.

Outsourcing parts of its IT services is part of E.ON’s existing cost cutting program that aims to generate savings of EUR1.5 billion per year by the end of 2011.

Cost savings from outsourcing contracts often come from reduced personnel costs, with employees working at the business to be spun-off transferred to the payroll of the winner of the tender.

“We’re strengthening E.ON’s competitiveness in this increasingly difficult environment and aim to take an even more strategic approach to the core business in the future,” said E.ON’s Chief Financial Officer Marcus Schenck.

The company added that the outsourcing deal will improve cost efficiency and allow E.ON to “respond even better to changes in the framework conditions of the energy industry, and to enter new markets in the future”.

E.ON said that HP will in future operate all of its data centers and will be in charge of end-user computing. T-Systems will be responsible for E.ON’s network and telecommunications services, it added.

“IT systems and task relevant to security are not part of the outsourcing and will continue to be managed by E.ON,” the company said.

Spokespeople for T-Systems and E.ON said that the duration of the outsourcing contracts haven’t yet been decided. They added, however, the contracts will run for at least five years and seven years at most. Thereafter, T-Systems and HP have options to fully take over the outsourced E.ON IT services and the affiliated employees, an E.ON spokeswoman said.

The contracts for the outsourcing deals will be signed Dec. 9, the companies said. Overall, some 1,400 IT employees will be transferred to HP and T-Systems as part of the outsourcing deal, they added.

Source:-http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101122-707945.html

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Lenders boost IT to stop data theft

November 23rd, 2010

Please use the link to reference this article. Do not copy & paste articles which is a breach of FT.com’s Ts&Cs (www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms) and is copyright infringement. Send a link for free or email ftsales.support@ft.com to purchase rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6259920-f65b-11df-846a-00144feab49a.html#ixzz162XMwvR7

Many of the world’s leading private banks are reviewing computer software and hardware to prevent thefts of confidential client data by rogue information technology staff.

The move follows thefts in Liechtenstein and Switzerland amid the creation of a lucrative market for such information, after multimillion-euro payments by tax authorities in Germany and other countries.

Please use the link to reference this article. Do not copy & paste articles which is a breach of FT.com’s Ts&Cs (www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms) and is copyright infringement. Send a link for free or email ftsales.support@ft.com to purchase rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6259920-f65b-11df-846a-00144feab49a.html#ixzz162XP8dvN

“If there is a subject today that keeps a private bank chief executive awake at night, it’s not stock exchange volatility but the risk of data theft,” said Daniel Bardini of Sungard, a leading software provider.

For obvious reasons, banks have not revealed the measures to counter increased dangers. But bankers privately acknowledge significant spending to upgrade their systems.

“The high-profile cases of criminal data theft were certainly a wake-up call for Swiss banks to review and overhaul their IT security to rule out any possibility of data leakage,” said James Nason of the Swiss Bankers Association.

Hardware improvements have included packages restricting access, such as fingerprint and even retina recognition systems. Banks have also adapted hardware to limit data being copied, including buying specially-adapted computers without USB ports or disc drives.

But much of the focus has been on software to distinguish more effectively between data needed for everyday account operations, such as securities trading, and “core” information regarding a customer’s identity.

“In the old days, it was easier, because so much information was stored on punch cards and it was just physically difficult to remove it,” Mr Bardini said.

Problems in data security are often deeply embedded in computer systems, as they date back to the era when banks switched from physical to electronic storage, he explained.

“The driver was improving productivity and profitability. But often the switch opened the banks to greater risk. Sometimes the dangers were somewhat forgotten in the transition,” said Mr Bardini, whose software unit works for 55 private banks and independent wealth managers, including Wegelin, one of Switzerland’s top private banks.

Industry concerns about data theft have sparked big opportunities for software groups, such as Avaloq, the Swiss market leader in private banking, whose clients include Pictet and BSI.

Sungard has also been a beneficiary, as well as, to a lesser extent, Temenos, which focuses more on retail banking.

One trend has been to enhance data encryption to limit access. “This is relatively easy to implement, but has the disadvantage of leaving the ‘keys’ to client confidentiality with the IT people,” Mr Bardini said.

Sungard and others are pursuing the alternative of greater segregation by keeping the most sensitive data in a different location to the bank’s core IT platform, and heavily policing the links between them.

Other measures include restricting how much information can be accessed by an individual at one time, and monitoring users’ habits to track staff accessing unusually large amounts of data or using computers at unconventional times.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Source:-http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6259920-f65b-11df-846a-00144feab49a.html#axzz162Igk5pi

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United, continental pilots step up outsourcing protests

November 22nd, 2010

Pilots at the world’s largest airline are stepping up their protest against outsourced flying in what could emerge as a key stumbling block in the merger of United and Continental.

Flight crew will start “informational picketing” on Monday against what they view as efforts by management to expand the use of regional partners for commuter flights, a move the pilots’ union said violates their existing labor contract with Continental Airlines.

United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL), the parent of the merged carrier formed Oct. 1, is trying to forge new collective bargaining agreements by the end of next year with unions representing staff at the legacy carriers.

Pilots from both airlines have taken a bold stance against outsourcing, which has become common practice in the U.S. industry as carriers sought to cut costs.

While talks with management continue, flight crew representatives said the merged airline was violating the Continental pact by seeking to put its “CO” code on services flown from its Houston and Newark hubs using 70-seat planes.

Continental has one of the industry’s most restrictive pilots’ deals, effectively barring it from operating regional jets with more than 50 seats, while the legacy United is able to outsource flying of larger 70-seat aircraft.

“We have no reservations about using the full range of legal methods available to bring resolution to this issue and ultimately prevent the outsourcing that we strongly believe violates the Continental pilots’ contract,” said Jay Pierce, chairman of the Continental pilots unit of Air Line Pilots Association, International, which represents flight crew at both carriers.

“We would hope management isn’t attempting to circumvent the bargaining process,” said Pierce in a statement.

United Continental executives have avoided negotiating in public, but have voiced concern about the 50-seat rule. “We have been hampered and competitively disadvantaged,” said Chief Executive Jeff Smisek on a post-earnings’ call last month.

Flight crew at United have already rallied against outsourcing, despite their less restrictive agreement. A trial that sees Aer Lingus operate a service between Madrid and Washington D.C. riled flight crew and led to similar picketing by pilots that drew support from colleagues at Continental and Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLA.XE), a fellow member of the Star airline alliance.

“It is no secret that the issues of scope and outsourcing are paramount in our current negotiations for a joint collective bargaining agreement that will eventually cover both Continental and United pilots,” said Wendy Morse, chairman of the union’s United unit.

The new deal hammered out with pilots will be key in determining the future size and shape of the merged airline.

The companies’ pilots have proposed bringing all flying in-house over a period of years following their merger, a move that would distinguish it from other U.S. network carriers.

U.S. network airlines have outsourced large parts of their domestic networks to an array of regional airlines over the past 20 years in a bid to cut costs, though the amount is capped by “scope” clauses in their pilots’ collective bargaining agreements.

Only Continental’s mainline pilots can fly jets with more than 50 seats, and the airline contracts ExpressJet, which has just been acquired by SkyWest Inc. (SKYW)., to fly more than 200 smaller Embraer aircraft on its behalf.

United has more flexible work practices that enable it to fly more than 150 70-seat regional jets. Rising fuel costs have made 50-seat jets less economic, while the emergence of new aircraft in the 70 to 130-seat range have made airlines look to loosen the restrictions of existing scope clauses.

The proposal from the Continental and United pilots included an initial cap on outsourcing, then a move away from the practice over what Pierce described as “multiple years”.

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101122-700011.html

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Taiwan testing firms turn focus to outsourcing orders from IDMs

November 22nd, 2010

Taiwan’s King Yuan Electronics Company (KYEC), Sigurd Microelectronics and Ardentec are expected to focus on gaining more outsourcing from international IDMs in 2011, according to industry sources. The three wafer probing service providers generate most of their sales from local Taiwan-based fabless companies.

KYEC, Sigurd and Ardentec saw substantial growth in the contributions of sales from IDMs to their total revenues in the third quarter of 2010, the sources indicated.

KYEC, which mainly provides testing services for LCD driver ICs, memory chips and handset-related solutions, saw Taiwan-based fabless customers’ contribution drop below 60% for the first time in the third quarter. Contribution from KYEC’s non-Taiwan based IDM clients grew to 41% of its total revenues in the third quarter, up from 36% in the second. The rising contribution also buoyed the company’s overall gross margin to 28.5% from 26% in the prior quarter.

Sigurd indicated it has landed more outsourcing from international IDMs, and plans to attract orders from new clients from Europe, Israel and Japan in 2011. Sales contribution from its non-Taiwan based clients is expected to reach 30% in 2011, compared to the 25% as of the end of third-quarter 2010.

Sigurd in end-2009 forged a supply contract with Standard Microsystems Co (SMSC), a US-based developer of smart mixed-signal connectivity solutions. Orders from SMSC contributed 7% to Sigurd’s total sales as of the end of third-quarter 2010, compared to merely 0.5% in 2009.

Ardentec also enjoyed a ramp-up in demand from its IDM customers such as Texas Instruments (TI). Sales generated from IDM orders contributed 64% of Ardentec’s total third-quarter revenues.

Ardentec has said that since the third quarter, demand from Europe- and US-based IDMs has been stronger than that from IC designers. The testing company also noted it is looking to build an operation hub in South Korea, striving to grab new orders from the local foundry vendors.

Source:http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20101122PD208.html

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