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Archive for October, 2011

Leading Organizations Join with IAOP to Launch IT Infrastructure Chapter

October 25th, 2011

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®) announces the launch of its newest virtual chapter, IT Infrastructure. The inaugural meeting will take place October 26, 2011 beginning at 11:00 a.m. EDT, and feature the presentation “Mobility Management – How Companies Are Rethinking Expenses Management, Data Privacy Compliance and Revenue Enablement,” by Mike Beals, the COO of M-Core.

The IT Infrastructure chapter is chaired by Blazent Software, Aviva, CSC, Enlighta and TPI.
“With the continued growth of the industry and the rapid pace of technological change, today’s IT infrastructure environments pose numerous challenges,” said IAOP CEO Debi Hamill. “We’re looking forward to having an IAOP chapter dedicated to tackling these issues head on.”

“Today’s economic environment, and the cost cutting measures associated, the introduction of cloud computing and mobile expansion, among other things, make it increasingly difficult to manage and drive value through ITO contracts,” said Jeff McCauley, of Blazent. “The Infrastructure Chapter is focused on helping companies and vendors alike understand how to better govern their contracts, stay in touch with best practices, and review emerging technologies and trends that will drive efficiencies and value.”

The webinar will also give a brief introduction of the chapter, review the chapter charter and governance team, and hold a discussion of potential future chapter meeting topics and schedule polling questions for the audience regarding future topics and the Mobility Management presentation.

The webinar is free and open to users, advisors and providers of outsourcing services who are professional or corporate members of IAOP. IAOP also offers complimentary Associate Membership which allows you to attend up to two chapter meetings as our guest and access select online resources.

Source:http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=120282

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QA in world’s top twenty IT training providers

October 25th, 2011

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QA today announced its inclusion in the TrainingIndustry.com list of top twenty IT training companies for 2011. The global list is based not only on the size of training organisations, but also on their innovation and leadership in the industry.

Selection to the list also considered the breadth of IT training and delivery methods offered, company size and growth potential, strength of client list and geographic reach.

Commercial Director at QA, Bill Walker, comments; “We’re delighted to be listed by TrainingIndustry.com, and our inclusion is a reflection of our strength in the IT training industry. As the UK’s largest provider of IT training, we believe we can make a real impact on skills development, both in the UK and internationally. We provide a wide range of IT training, and our partnerships with leading IT vendors allow us to deliver exceptional training including Microsoft training, VMware training, Oracle Training and Cisco training.

“Of course, IT training is only part of what we do and we are continually working to expand the range of products we offer and introduce new and innovative ways to deliver training. In 2011 we have launched a range of virtual courses, as well as expanding the ways that customers can access our project management training.”

Ken Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, TrainingIndustry.com adds “These are the highest quality providers of IT training worldwide and QA should be proud of their inclusion. It demonstrates that they are providing a market-leading service that responds to their customers needs, both in terms of range of courses available and the ways in which customers can access training.”

Source:http://www.itnewsonline.com/showrwstory.php?storyid=6481

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Cloud computing’s real creative destruction may be the IT workforce

October 25th, 2011

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Cloud computing, which amounts to be the industrialization of enterprise technology infrastructure, will bring a lot of advantages coupled with a lot of lost jobs.

Few disagree that cloud computing will be disruptive to industries, enterprise technology and the way we conduct businesses. The disruption will extend to the workforce.

In other words, humans will be virtualized just like servers are. The upshot from cloud computing is that companies will need fewer data centers. People run data centers. Those jobs are likely to simply disappear.

Johan Jacobs and Ken Brant, two Gartner analysts, made the cloud computing-jobs connection last week at the Gartner Symposium in Orlando. The presentation was categorized as “maverick” in that it may not happen in the allotted time frame. Jacobs and Brant argued by 2020 demand for IT staff dedicated to supporting data centers will collapse.

“The long-run value proposition of IT is not to support the human workforce – it is to replace it,” wrote Gartner in its presentation. In other words, any job loss related to offshore outsourcing may look like a walk in the park once cloud computing gets rolling.

The rough argument goes like this:

Computing will be outsourced to the cloud and become an IT utility.
Business processes will be outsourced to software. That outcome will hit all economies—especially emerging ones like India that now dominate technology outsourcing.
As the data center is virtualized the need for people to maintain that infrastructure will go away. In addition, all the people in sales and services linked to building and designing data centers will also lose jobs. When there’s less technology infrastructure to support jobs will disappear.
Some of those workers will reinvent themselves and find more opportunities. Others will never match those previous positions. Many IT workers will face hollowed out job prospects just like factory workers did as the U.S. manufacturing base disappeared.
This cloud computing-job connection is just a whisper today. But a few executives I talked to see an offshore outsourcing backlash as a possibility for cloud computing.

If Gartner’s post-human industry theory, which dictates that intelligent machines will drive the economy more than people, pans out the economic implications will be huge. There is no need for a human-machine singularity to impact career prospects. Creative destruction looks great on the whiteboard, but there is a human cost.

Source:http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/cloud-computings-real-creative-destruction-may-be-the-it-workforce/61581

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Infosys to Set Up Office in China’s Dalian

October 25th, 2011

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Infosys Technologies (China) Co. Ltd. Monday said it has signed a pact with the government of the Dalian high-technology industrial area to set up a branch company that will focus on software development and outsourcing business in the region.
The new facility in the Dalian High-Tech Zone has the capacity to seat 700 employees and will focus on delivering consulting, technology and business process outsourcing services to clients from the U.S., Europe, Japan and neighboring regions, the China unit of India’s Infosys Ltd. said in a statement.
The agreement also provides a framework under which the region’s administrative committee will help Infosys launch programs with local universities for training and recruitment, it said.
Infosys China, which was incorporated in 2004 and employs more than 3,300 people in China, had revenues of $79 million in the last fiscal year through March.

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204644504576650672538473718.html

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DOST to offer free BPO training

October 25th, 2011

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TO PROVIDE a continuous supply of competent and qualified workers for the country’s booming business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, the Department of Science and Technology, through its Information and Communication Technology Office, will be offering free training modules that will assess and improve the skills of would-be BPO professionals.

One of the programs that will be launched is an online and CD-based training tool designed to help potential employees prepare themselves to be part of the BPO workforce.

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The program is also meant to improve the current average hiring rate in the industry, which the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) placed at only five percent.

During the recent International Outsourcing Summit, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said that education and capacity-building were on top of the DOST’s agenda for the BPO industry.

Recently, the Department of Budget and Management set aside P500 million for the BPO industry, which according to BPAP will be used for the “train the trainer” and faculty development programs.

Meanwhile, to further hone local talents, Aegis People Support Inc. is planning to set up its Global Academy here.

The firm said they are now in negotiations with the Cebu City Government to put up the Aegis Global Academy at the South Road Properties.

Aegis Limited managing director and global chief executive officer Aparup Sengupta said they are now identifying the target market for the academy as well as the kind of curriculum they plan to offer.

According to its website, Aegis Global Academy flagship institute, the Institute of Customer Experience Management (ICEM) is the first to offer an MBA equivalent program focused on customer experience management and “customer-centricity” catered to the services industry.

Sengupta said the program will help the industry address its workforce requirement. He earlier said the pool of local talents in major cities is slowly drying up.

Rep. Tomas Osmena (Cebu City, second district), meanwhile, lauded the efforts of the company in helping Cebu cope with the demands of the industry.

Osmeña said that if the University of the Philippines-Cebu will not set up its MBA facility at the SRP this year, there is a possibility the SRP management might take back the five-hectare lot it donated. Osmena said the UP Cebu-SRP contract will expire this year.

“This is not just a piece of paper. Education for undergraduates to get higher courses has to be planned carefully as this would open the gates of human resource development. However, programs like this should be sustainable,” Osmeña said.

Source:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2011/10/24/dost-offer-free-bpo-training-186822

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Unisys Announces Third-Quarter 2011 Financial Results; Net Income Increases Significantly on Revenue Growth

October 25th, 2011

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Revenue grows 6 percent to $1.02 billion; up slightly in constant currency

Excluding the U.S. Federal business, revenue grows 14 percent

Services revenue excluding the U.S. Federal business grows 12 percent, led by growth in systems integration and IT outsourcing

Technology revenue grows 36 percent, driven by higher ClearPath sales

Operating profit rises 48 percent to $113 million, or 11.1 percent of revenue

Services operating profit margin of 8.7 percent, up from 8.0 percent in 3Q 2010

Net income from continuing operations of $79 million, up significantly

Diluted EPS from continuing operations of $1.63 vs. 50 cents in 3Q 2010

Free cash flow of $65 million

Company announces call of the remaining $66 million of 2012 senior notes

Unisys Corporation /quotes/zigman/572054/quotes/nls/uis UIS +20.93% today reported third-quarter 2011 net income from continuing operations of $78.6 million, or $1.63 per diluted share, compared with third-quarter 2010 net income from continuing operations of $21.8 million, or 50 cents per diluted share. Revenue in the third quarter of 2011 grew 6 percent to $1.02 billion compared with $961 million in the year-ago quarter. Foreign currency fluctuations had a positive impact on revenue in the quarter of almost 6 percentage points.

“This was a strong quarter for Unisys,” said Unisys Chairman and CEO Ed Coleman. “Building on our foundational work to strengthen our competitive and financial position, we grew both total revenue and services revenue and tripled our earnings per share from continuing operations. Strong ClearPath sales, continued growth in our non-U.S. Federal IT outsourcing business, and higher sales of industry solutions within our system integration business more than offset a decline in our U.S. Federal business where market conditions remain challenging.

“We remain focused on achieving our strategic financial goals, delivering innovative products and solutions, and providing consistently high levels of service quality to our customers,” Coleman said.

Overall Company and Business Segment Highlights

Third-quarter 2011 revenue grew 6 percent year-over-year despite a decline in the company’s U.S. Federal business. Excluding the U.S. Federal business, overall revenue grew 14 percent when compared to the prior-year period. The company saw revenue growth in all regions except for Latin America outside of Brazil. On a constant currency basis, overall third-quarter 2011 revenue was up slightly over the year-ago period.

Unisys reported a third-quarter 2011 gross profit margin of 27.9 percent, up from 24.7 percent in the year-ago quarter, primarily reflecting higher sales of ClearPath software and servers and a more profitable mix of services revenue. Operating expenses (selling, general and administrative expenses plus research and development) increased 7 percent, largely attributable to currency fluctuations. Unisys reported third-quarter 2011 operating income of $113.0 million, or 11.1 percent of revenue, up from operating income of $76.1 million, or 7.9 percent of revenue, in the third quarter of 2010.

Third-quarter 2011 services revenue increased 2 percent year-over-year despite lower revenue in the company’s U.S. Federal business. Excluding the U.S. Federal business, services revenue grew 12 percent from the year-ago quarter, driven by the seventh consecutive quarter of growth in IT outsourcing revenue and by growth in systems integration revenue in the quarter. Services gross profit margin improved to 21.6 percent compared with 20.6 percent a year ago while services operating profit margin improved to 8.7 percent compared with 8.0 percent a year ago.

Services backlog at September 30, 2011 was $5.3 billion, a decrease of 8 percent from September 30, 2010. Third-quarter services orders showed a low double-digit year-over-year decline in the quarter, reflecting lower outsourcing and U.S. Federal orders. Services orders increased mid-single digits sequentially from the second quarter of 2011.

Third-quarter 2011 technology revenue grew 36 percent year-over-year, driven by significantly higher sales of ClearPath software and servers. Reflecting the higher ClearPath sales, technology gross profit margins improved to 57.4 percent compared with 47.5 percent in the year-ago quarter, while technology operating profit margin increased to 25.8 percent compared with 7.4 percent a year ago.

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Highlights

Unisys generated $94 million of cash from operations in the third quarter of 2011 compared with $127 million in the year-ago quarter. Capital expenditures in the third quarter of 2011 were $29 million compared with $46 million in the year-ago quarter. The company generated $65 million of free cash flow (cash provided by operations less capital expenditures) compared with free cash flow of $81 million in the year-ago quarter.

At September 30, 2011, Unisys reported $667 million of cash on hand and $445 million of total debt. As part of its debt reduction program, Unisys is calling for redemption its 8% senior notes due October 2012. The $65.9 million of notes will be redeemed in accordance with the provisions of the notes.

Conference Call

Unisys will hold a conference call today at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its results. The listen-only Webcast, as well as the accompanying presentation materials, can be accessed via a link on the Unisys Investor Web site at www.unisys.com/investor . Following the call, an audio replay of the Webcast, and accompanying presentation materials, can be accessed through the same link.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unisys-announces-third-quarter-2011-financial-results-net-income-increases-significantly-on-revenue-growth-2011-10-24

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Government outsourcing gone wrong

October 25th, 2011

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From the beginning, one man’s deal to corner the market on the Official Florida Driver’s Handbook should have drawn red flags at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Instead, the state agency made a colossal headache for itself by allowing a clever, politically connected entrepreneur to create a government-backed scheme that gave his traffic school business an extraordinary competitive advantage. The 1st District Court of Appeal has now ruled the DMV can cut ties with Kenneth Underwood’s National Safety Commission Inc. In the name of fair competition and government transparency, the state should hope the ruling sticks so it can get out of this mess.

The episode, as detailed earlier this month by the St. Petersburg Times’ Susan Taylor Martin and Dan Sullivan, is a lesson in how not to privatize a government service. It was Underwood who first approached the DMV in 2003 with his brainstorm to print the driving handbook for free in exchange for the exclusive right to advertise in it.

When competitors of Underwood’s traffic school learned of the plan, the agency was forced to put the contract out for bid. Then it bungled that process. The invitation to negotiate required the winning vendor to secure a $1 million bond — a bar so high Underwood’s competitors didn’t bother to respond. Only Underwood did, but he submitted a “best final offer” reducing the bond amount to $200,000.

The agency should have restarted the process. Instead, it signed an overly permissive contract that gave Underwood a monopoly to reach teenage Floridians that ultimately drove many other traffic schools out of business. Adding to the stink was the fact that one of Underwood’s lobbyists, Sherry Dickinson, was married to the DMV’s then-executive director, Fred Dickinson. State auditors in 2006 said they found no evidence of “direct influence” in the deal but acknowledged the relationship could undermine public confidence in the agency’s dealings.

Even when state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, tried to scuttle the contract in 2007 through proviso budget language, then-Gov. Charlie Crist, one of several recipients of Underwood’s political donations, vetoed it.

Now Underwood is unwilling to go quietly. He filed suit after the agency declined a five-year renewal, claiming he had unilateral authority under the contract to decide whether to extend it. A trial court agreed. But the appeals court reversed that decision earlier this month in a 2-1 decision. Underwood is now asking for a rehearing by the appeals court.

Highway safety officials never went shopping for a deal like Underwood proposed, nor did they seriously vet it once they embraced it. Outsourcing government services can make sense, but not when the gatekeepers are asleep at the switch.

Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/wisdom-of-the-cloud/story-e6frgabx-1226170447495

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