Business of all sizes and sectors across the country are still worried about the poor conditions of the current economic environment, which is not set to improve this year, as analysts and experts have already announced. With no way of avoiding this situation, organisations can only try to make the best of it, and perhaps use it as an occasion to really assess what expenses are essential to their business and how they can take advantage of the weakened financial setting. It is important to try to make the best of what one has and what is available in order for an organisation to survive or even grow during hard times.

Of course when money is tight the Service Desk is one of the departments more likely to suffer, with all the possible consequences on the rest of the business. With most IT projects scrapped from the beginning, it takes a good justification to invest in anything more expensive than a screen wipe. Yet correct management of the Service Desk, including continuous training of IT staff, an inexpensive absence cover system, continuous service improvement ethos, updating service management processes to the latest and most relevant best practices and meeting the appropriate targets can still be possible without incurring in eye-watering bills. This is the principle behind a Managed IT Service – a Service Desk can work to a good standard at all times, because someone else is taking care of it and all variable costs become fixed.

Various types of IT outsourcing have become popular in the last few year – from offshoring to cheaper countries to having only some Support staff managed by a provider. Different options work for different organisations, but generally speaking the popularity of one over another during a recession or uncertain economic environment depends on a series of factors and in particular: low risk; ROI; ease of adoption/set-up; as well as a financial factor. In times like these, where one doesn’t want to be involved in large projects or revolutionise their whole IT department and have to re-think the way they deliver and use IT Support, a radical option such as offshoring or full outsourcing might not be ideal. With a Managed IT Service Desk, the ‘status quo’ of the IT department should not be affected as the expectation is the supplier will implement a robust framework which ensures that existing Service Levels are at least maintained, whilst transitioning the Service Desk to a ‘future state’ model over an agreed period of time.

This meets the requirements of ease of adoption and risk, as it is easier to set up, reverse, retake charge of or switch provider, when compared with a fully outsourced or offshore solution. This option can also assure a certain level of information security compared to a fully outsourced service, as the Service Desk will be based at close sight within the organisation’s premises (unless otherwise requested) and the system, and therefore the data stored and processed within it, is owned by the company. The minimised risk makes this a good choice when one cannot afford to take risks.

As for the financial factor, most outsourcing models will eliminate the cost of certain projects such as staff training or service management implementations, and make variable costs become fixed: the provider will agree to meet certain SLAs for a set price, and it is up to them to provide the appropriate staff upskilling, best practice processes and so on within their budget, in order to meet targets. But a managed IT service will not require the extra cost of moving the service desk elsewhere, hiring or buying new equipment, sending managers over to another place, city or country to check on how the service desk is doing and, also, the costs involved in switching back to in-house or to another provider if the initial project failed.

Finally, the return on investment is clear and demonstrable. Having an expert provider taking control of your existing IT Service Desk will increase productivity and efficiency, reduce the volume of incidents and Service failures and ensure a significant part of your IT spend is fixed and controlled, giving the company peace of mind (IT becomes someone else’s problem) and allowing business to function at its best.

With these premises, it is likely that managed IT services will be chosen over and over again as an option to meet the demanding IT standards of a modern-day organisation in a time when any investment must be carefully thought and justified, and the return on investment clearly proven. This much needed headache relief can allow companies to carry out their business without having to worry about the quality and sudden expenses related to their IT, and therefore get a better chance to survive or even increase their work in these hard times.

Source:http://www.sourcingfocus.com/site/opinionsitem/4807/

The managed print services (MPS) market is increasingly growing. As per Photizo Group, the leading research and transformation firm for the MPS market, with a 27 percent year-on-year growth in 2010 revenue, the MPS market indicates a 20 percent CAGR (2010-15) and is forecast to top USD 78 billion in 2015. The research also listed India as the fastest growing country for MPS. This report shows that there is a huge opportunity for MPS vendors in India such as Xerox India.

Xerox India is not only focusing on MPS but on its entire services portfolio, which includes Communications and Marketing Services (CMS) and Document Transaction Processing Services (DTPS). Sectors like BFSI, telecom, retail, consumer goods and IT/ITES look very promising to Xerox India to accelerate its services business.

Xerox India claims to be the only player in the market that has the capability of streamlining the entire value chain for its customers. The company feels that it is well-positioned to participate and gain the leading share of the services growth market in India. Vishal Awal, Executive Director – Services, Xerox South Asia says, “There is an immediate need of MPS in the Indian market and the next logical step is print-related jobs that are outsourced. We have in-house end-to-end capabilities to transform and optimize business process and document management value chain. This is a key differentiator that Xerox brings to large enterprises in India. While several players offer compartmentalized solutions in these domains, the capability of streamlining the entire value chain is something that is unique to Xerox.”

Xerox India is looking at ways to expand their services business. The company has formed an alliance with Cisco, to provide its customers cloud-based services and solutions combining network intelligence and print. The two companies hope to use this partnership to improve efficiency for the workforce with solutions such as mobile printing.

To further increase its capabilities and asset base for offering differentiated services in the services space, the company is not just looking at partnerships but also acquisitions. For instance, in 2010 the company acquired Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). Through ACS, Xerox integrates MPS into the IT infrastructure to help businesses convert paper into digital, simplifying and speeding up workflows in ways that save time and money.

“For more than half a century, Xerox has been providing document technology and services. Through our acquisition of ACS, we are now in business process and IT outsourcing, offering global services from claims reimbursement, electronic health records, and automated toll transaction to customer care centers and HR benefits management. The acquisition also added BPO and IT outsourcing capabilities to our expertise,” elaborates Awal.

As a part of its market strategy for 2012, Xerox India has a two-pronged approach. It will continue to strengthen and accelerate its services business with focus on the fast growing verticals like BFSI and telecom. The company will also focus on the simplification of print infrastructure, robust security features and productivity enhancement technologies like mobile and cloud printing.

Source:http://informationweek.in/Services/12-01-23/Xerox_India_to_focus_on_services_business.aspx

Kineta Software has chosen the leading Singapore corporate services agency, Janus Corporate Solutions, as its compliance services partner in Singapore.

The IT services company, which offers software development, consulting and staffing services, was formed by four partners who have been in the software business for more than 20 years. While they were working in Singapore, they grew increasingly impressed with the country’s business-friendly legislation, procedures, environment and Singapore’s tax rates. However, they were unsure about how to proceed with setting up a Singapore company.

“We recognized the immense potential to start and grow business in Singapore. However, Singapore was a completely new business territory for us. Though we have worked here, we haven’t made a foray into business initiatives,” explained Mr. Manjunatha Bageshpura, CEO of Kineta Software.

After a thorough consideration, Kineta Software chose Janus Corporate Solutions to assist them with the Singapore incorporation of their limited exempt company.

“Janus made it possible for us to focus entirely on growing our business while they took care of all the formalities of establishing the legal entity. Janus, obviously being experts in their field, helped us meet all our business needs through excellent service and thoughtful inputs,” added Mr. Bageshpura. “Janus is a reliable, knowledgeable and trustworthy partner. It has been a pleasure working with them. We recommend Janus with complete faith to anybody who intends to set up their business in Singapore,” he affirmed.

Ms. Jacqueline Low, Director of Janus Corporate Solutions said, “Singapore has been named by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most competitive IT market in Asia Pacific and the third most competitive in the world after United States and Finland. With analysts predicting an annual growth of 7% until 2015 for Asia Pacific’s IT services industry, we look forward to Kineta’s continued growth in Asia.”

Other than its Singapore office, Kineta Software has an office in Bengaluru, India. The IT services consultancy also has plans to grow its team in Singapore threefold and establish an outsourcing center in Singapore.

About Janus Corporate Solutions Pte Ltd
Janus Corporate Solutions Pte Ltd is a leading Singapore-based firm that provides comprehensive and cost-effective Singapore company formation, employment visa, accounting and tax filing services to businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide.

Source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/12/29/prweb9062710.DTL

Advisors today released the MW Index®, the first-ever Index measuring enterprise Relevant Products/Services value of technology services companies. The Index reveals that SaaS Relevant Products/Services companies have increased in value by 313% since January 2009, more than double the growth in value of other tech services sectors and outpacing the NASDAQ average growth rate of 168%.

The MW Index is a proprietary analysis by martinwolf, a leading middle market IT Relevant Products/Services M&A advisory. The MW Index is an index whose securities are weighted according to the market value of their outstanding shares. It measures 120 companies traded in the U.S. stock markets (NYSE, NASDAQ and OTC) in the following categories:

• IT Services & Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) – 52 companies, including 7 in BPO
• IT Supply Chain Services – 23 companies
• Software – 45 companies, including 20 in SaaS

The MW Index starts on December 31, 2007 with a value of 1,000. All companies in the Index are on Scoreboard (see: http://martinwolf.com/mw-intelligence).

According to the Index, the January 1, 2009 versus October 31, 2011 enterprise values in each sector were as follows:

•IT Services & BPO +150% growth — (from 708.02 to 1062.45)
•IT Supply Chain +142% growth — (from 559.68 to 793.97)
•Software +154% growth — (from 663.10 to 1021.92)
•SaaS +313% growth — (from 465.97 to 1459.29)

•NASDAQ (actual) +168% growth (from 1540.25 to 2592.41)

According to Marty Wolf, president & founder of martinwolf, “For the next 24 months we expect SaaS companies to continue to increase in value. Growth for SaaS companies in specialized services such as financial services and healthcare will be especially strong. In addition, the growth of specialized SaaS offerings such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) will outpace SaaS growth in the same period.

Source:http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Index-of-Enterprise-Value-Released/story.xhtml?story_id=020000CLGA88

How do you think ICT trends like cloud technologies, amongst others, can affect small to medium sized enterprises in the Nigerian market?

According to a recent survey carried out by Forrester research in Nigeria, cloud technologies are more likely to be seen within SMEs where there has been an adoption rate of 22 percent, compared with 15 percent of larger organisations. I suppose this can be traced to the fact that SMEs are smaller and often more flexible than larger corporations and this means that they are able to react with more flexibility to changes taking place in the market place. Cloud computing is particularly interesting at this time because of the many particular benefits it offers small to medium sized businesses some of which include the very low capital expenditure to acquire IT equipment like servers, etc, the ability to scale usage in a pay-as-you-go like manner and the flexibility it offers the business. All these make this a very attractive alternative for SMEs. As a company, we believe very much in the opportunities that cloud technologies present for every forward thinking business and this is shown in our acquisition of OpSource, a California-based enterprise cloud company with extensive experience in that space. We feel that Dimension Data is particularly well qualified to offer our clients a truly end-to-end solution that covers every aspect of our clients’ ICT needs from infrastructure through to connectivity.

Looking at the market now, how do you see the Nigerian ICT market developing over the next few years?

The Nigerian ICT market has numerous opportunities for us as a company and there are many favourable factors that are enabling the economy. For example there is a shift in the Nigerian market from product to services and solutions and we are seeing the explosion of service industries like retail and banking. There is also a general shift away from capital expenditure towards operational expenditure and this means that businesses are looking for strategic partners that will work with them to grow their revenue, reduce their risk and reduce their costs. With our worldwide network, Dimension Data is truly able to couple our global experience with our local knowledge to help our clients achieve these goals. With drivers like, mobility, cloud computing, collaboration, hosting and co-location services and IT outsourcing, the industry is set for even growth. Leveraging our expertise and network, Dimension Data is ready to offer innovative solutions and services designed to offer improved customer services and give our clients competitive advantage by increasing business revenues and reducing both operational cost and risk.

Having recently taken on the top job at Dimension Data, what are your plans for the future?

To start with, it has been a thrill for me to come back here after having lived here in 2007 and 2008. It is great to be in Nigeria and particularly to be with Dimension Data. The company has been operational in the Nigerian market for over 16 years and in that time we have established ourselves as leaders within our industry. Looking back, Dimension Data has a rich history in Nigeria and the West African region. We are the number one global partner for Cisco, IBM and Microsoft. We were the first in Nigeria and Ghana to deploy IP/MPLS, build a Tier-3 data centre – the only one of its kind in Nigeria – and deploy Cisco Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology. We were also the first to successfully deploy and manage Radio Access Network Optimisation in West Africa. So when you combine our rich history in Nigeria with our global footprint and experience, you have a Dimension Data team that intends to break more records and stands ready to partner with our clients and reach for new heights.

You said that Dimension Data is positioned to be a services-led organisation, how does that translate in the market place?

At Dimension Data, we believe in the power of technology to transform an organisation, we believe that IT makes it work better and takes it to the next level, creating greater satisfaction for you and your customers. But this cannot be achieved through ad-hoc interventions, so what we provide is a lifecycle IT services approach thorough planning, seamless integration and the requisite level of support and management. Working closely with our clients, we are able to provide them with a toolset to create a stable yet agile technology estate – one that sets you up to embrace business changes confidently and securely. When you look at a space like support and managed services where we play very heavily in, and when you consider the shift towards a service economy, what we are offering our partners and clients is an opportunity to gain a competitive edge which will eventually result in greater revenue and reduced costs.

What attracted you to taking a job in Nigeria?

I enjoyed very much my earlier tenure in Nigeria. When the opportunity to join a fantastic company like Dimension Data in Nigeria came along, it was irresistible.

Is Dimension Data using Nigeria as a hub for the West Africa Region and do you think the sub-region has a market?

Nigeria is the base for the entire West African region and we do have projects across the region where we support and manage our installations. Additionally, we have an extensive support structure within the group and we are able to leverage our global network. We currently operate in 49 countries across five continents with offices in 13 countries across emerging Africa and the Middle East, I am not sure any other partner in our space can stake that claim. There’s absolutely no doubt that the sub-region has a market. Africa is not the next big thing; it is the big thing right now. Sectors like services and manufacturing are exploding with interest from African and foreign investors and a company like Dimension Data which has years of experience and knowledge of working within the African terrain are best placed to partner and collaborate with clients that are either already operating in the region or who are thinking of coming into the region.

What are the qualities or achievements that separate Dimension Data from competitors in the West African region?

At Dimension Data, we put the client at the heart of everything we do – they are the reason we come to work every day that is what spurs us to be innovative and partner with our clients to ensure they generate value, reduce cost and risk from their ICT investments. We are also the number one global partner for Cisco, IBM and Microsoft and we are the only company in the Nigerian space which is truly able to offer end-to-end ICT solutions that covers every aspect of a client’s infrastructure, from design to building to support and connectivity. We can boast of extensive experience in network integration and converged communications, data centre solutions, advanced infrastructure, Microsoft solutions and managed services, including operation and optimisation. When you look at the whole picture, I feel strongly that this is one thing that separates us from the crowd – everything we do is centred on the client – meeting their needs and helping them achieve their goals. Earlier this year we had a brand refresh that allowed us not only to refresh our corporate image and branding, but also to reposition ourselves in response to our external environment to be a more services-led organisation as well as reinstating the importance of our clients to our business.

Source:http://allafrica.com/stories/201112051477.html

Eschborn. A gold medal represents the pinnacle of an athlete”s career. The Microsoft Gold Partnership for IT companies is of comparable significance. It denotes a high level of technical competency, strategic thinking and practical skills. The Pentalog group, an enterprise that specializes in IT outsourcing, offshoring and nearshoring, has now joined the ranks of these top players. “We are very proud of this partnership”, says Mircea Popa, Chief Executive Manager of Pentalog Deutschland GmbH, “as it proves that we are one of the leading providers of software development in Europe. The premium support by Microsoft associated with this award will enable us to offer our customers even more quality and reliability, particularly in the field of interfaces to the classical office products.

Membership in the Gold Partner Program offers a company both a better image and superior knowledge. Microsoft Gold partners at the top of their game with regard to tool access and the necessary support from the Microsoft company. They have received intensive training and are informed of changes, updates and product innovations earlier than others. This advantage in knowhow can in turn be passed on to the client. “There is an increasing demand for software solutions in the areas of cloud computing and globally linked IT processes”, Popa explains. In this field, Microsoft”s products SharePoint and the Exchange Server offer significant benefits which are becoming extremely significant to companies. Integration between native software solutions and Microsoft products is also becoming tighter.

The exchange between the Pentalog group as a new Gold Partner is particularly valuable with regard to SharePoint. This relatively new product from Microsoft is partly internet-based and partly based on the individual computers of users. Respective interfaces to the Cloud business allow the sharing of data with single units, different compartments as well as entire companies. This way, SharePoint can be used to coordinate appointments, edit documents or develop shared strategies. SharePoint allows users to share almost every Microsoft business application with others – no matter where the involved parties are currently located.

“SharePoint is not as user-friendly a program as Windows, however”, states Popa, Pentalog”s CEO and Rumania born IT expert. SharePoint must be adapted to the individual requirements of a company by experts to achieve optimal success and ultimate process security. “SharePoint developers are currently in high demand”, acknowledges Popa. “In Bucharest, we are developing a SharePoint Competence Center to meet this enormous demand.” As the economy becomes increasingly global, this increases the demand for technologies that allow us to jointly work on projects from a shared physical presence in one location. This situation requires cost-efficient yet high quality solutions with appropriate interfaces.

The French Pentalog group currently employs more than 600 employees – mostly software developers and engineers – in France, Rumania, Moldova, and Vietnam. These employees develop individual software solutions for companies of all sizes. Outstanding IT skills in these countries and the constantly growing demand for custom-made software that is also compatible with current Microsoft products makes our Gold Partnership a strategically valuable element”, says Popa. On this basis, Pentalog will continue to enhance its position in the field of qualified IT outsourcing, IT offshoring and IT nearshoring.

For more information on the IT services of the Pentalog group and its Microsoft Gold Partnership, visit www.pentalog.biz.
Pentalog Deutschland GmbH is located in Eschborn, Germany, and is the German branch office of the international Pentalog group, one of the leading suppliers of high-end offshore software development solutions in Europe. With branch offices in France, Germany, Rumania, Moldova, and Vietnam, the Pentalog group offers an ideal mix of nearshore and offshore services by employing local workforce in Western Europe. A smooth quality assurance system, professional project management and many years of outsourcing experience guarantee the highest possible efficiency and reliability for outsourced software development.

Source:http://your-story.org/software-development-project-competence-and-worldwide-services-pentalog-becomes-microsoft-gold-partner-287603/

Global services exports revenue in China is projected to increase to US$9.5-10 billion by 2015 at a CAGR of 20-25 percent from US$3.5 billion in 2010, according to Everest Group, an advisory and research firm on global services.

Global services exports from China increased from about US$1.2 billion in 2007 to US$3.5 billion in 2010, according to Everest Group’s study, Global Locations Compass: China. The study reports IT Outsourcing (ITO) services contribute about 65 percent towards China’s total export revenue, largely driven by the in-country presence of several top-tier global IT providers. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) work comprises the remaining 35 percent.

“China offers a compelling regional language advantage and cost arbitrage and is thus best leveraged to serve the Asia region, which accounts for about 60 percent of China’s global sourcing revenues,” said Amneet Singh, vice president — Global Sourcing. “While lack of clear cost and English language skills translate to a limited competitive advantage over India and the Philippines for work exported to North America and Europe, these regions still account for about 40 percent of China’s global sourcing exports. China can serve as a risk diversification alternative to serve North America and Europe.”

Last year’s market growth in China prompted its reclassification as a mature offshore destination on Everest Group’s Market Vista Locations Maturity Heatmap. According to Everest Group’s Offshore Locations Survey of buyers earlier this year, China has emerged as a leading destination after India and the Philippines.

Other findings:

– More than 15 delivery centers were established or expanded across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities during the last 12 months.

– Market growth also has been propelled by several government initiatives, development/promotion organizations and government-backed incentives.

– China offers more than 20 cities for global services delivery, some of which are Tier-2 cities that are emerging as credible alternatives to Tier-1 options.

– Cost arbitrage is expected to remain sustainable over the next 13-14 years.

“Players defining their ‘China Delivery Strategy’ should assess China’s role in their global services delivery models and understand the costs and talent pool available in context of the envisaged role for China. Cities in China offer varying levels of attractiveness across global, regional and local delivery from China,” said H Karthik, vice president — Global Sourcing. “Companies planning to enter or expand in China also need to invest in talent engagement and development, monitor progress of recent data protection guidelines and examine Tier-2 cities to lower delivery costs.”

The report provides an in-depth analysis of China’s global services landscape across captives and third-party service providers for ITO and BPO services to include market characteristics, education system and future outlook. The study also provides detailed data and perspectives on seven key cities — Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Suzhou — spanning across labor pool, cost, market activity and risk analysis.

For more information about the report, Global Locations Compass: China, other Global Sourcing and Location Optimization research reports or other research services, please visit research.everestgrp.com, email info@everestgrp.com or call +1-214-451-3110.

About Everest Group

Everest Group is an advisor to business leaders on the next generation of global services with a worldwide reputation for helping Global 1000 firms dramatically improve their performance by optimizing their back- and middle-office business services. With a fact-based approach driving outcomes, Everest Group counsels organizations with complex challenges related to the use and delivery of global services in their pursuits to balance short-term needs with long-term goals. Through its practical consulting, original research and industry resource services, Everest Group helps clients maximize value from delivery strategies, talent and sourcing models, technologies and management approaches. Established in 1991, Everest Group serves users of global services, providers of services, country organizations and private equity firms, in six continents across all industry categories. For more information, please visit www.everestgrp.com and research.everestgrp.com.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/everest-group-chinas-global-services-market-projected-to-grow-20-25-percent-cagr-by-2015-2011-11-17

The commercial services sector was down strongly last week in sympathy with the market fall, and based on fears of a global recession and its impact on corporate spending, and on the margins and profits of companies that provide various kinds of IT, outsourcing and other commercial services to corporations. This article covers our analysis of the big news and price moves in the commercial services sector last week, evaluating them for buy and sell ideas.
Infosys Ltd (INFY), Cognizant Tech (CTSH) and Wipro Ltd (WIT): All three Indian providers of outsourcing services to global corporations, based mainly in North America and Europe, fell strongly last week on fears that a global recession would severely hurt demand for their services. CTSH, a provider of custom IT consulting, technology and outsourcing services, fell the hardest, and was down 14.9% last week after Goldman Sachs removed it from their buy list on Monday morning before the market opened, falling even more sharply during the market downturn on Thursday and Friday. Peer INFY, a provider of software re-engineering, systems integration, infrastructure management and other IT services, fell 11.6%; and another peer WIT, a provider of consulting, IT, outsourced R&D, and infrastructure and BPO outsourcing services, fell 10.1% during the week.
All three generally move in tandem, and have turned down since peaking in late 2010 to early 2011. Of the three, CTSH is down the least, falling 34% since peaking in April, and it is also the one with the strongest growth, with revenue and earnings up 34% and 22% respectively in the June quarter, and projected revenue growth of 23% going forward for FY 2012 over 2011. Comparable growth rates for WIT are at 23% revenue and 0% earnings growth for the June quarter, and forward growth of 15%. INFY grew revenue and earnings at 26% and 21% in the June quarter, and projects forward revenue growth of 18%. All three, however, trade at a comparable forward P/E of 16 for CTSH and WIT, and 14 for INFY. Thus, from a valuation standpoint, CTSH is the most attractive of the three as it trades at the lowest P/E adjusted for growth. Furthermore, based on our review of the holdings of over 60 high alpha hedge and mutual funds (from managers such as Soros, Icahn, and Mario Gabelli), we determined that of these three, guru funds are most bullish about CTSH, holding $593 million after adding a net $38 million in the June quarter, whereas they hold only $1 million of INFY and none of WIT.
International Business Machines (IBM), Accenture Plc (ACN), and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC): All three are among the largest providers of consulting, IT and BPO services to businesses and government agencies, and they fell strongly last week on no company-specific news, but mimicking the broad sell-off in the markets and due to the possible impact of a deeper recession on consulting and outsourcing revenues. Of the three, ACN dropped the hardest last week, down 13.1%, CSC fell 7.9%, and IBM fell 6.3%. CSC trades the cheapest at a forward 5-6 P/E while revenue growth is in the low single digits at 2%-3% and earnings have been flat to down. IBM in contrast trades at forward 10-11 P/E while earnings growth is in the mid to high teens, and ACN trades at a forward 12-13 P/E while long-term earnings growth has averaged in the low teens.
Thus, from a valuation perspective, IBM is the most attractive based on its low P/E and high relative and consistent growth, and CSC is also somewhat attractive from a deep value standpoint in terms of its extremely low 5-6 P/E even though operating fundamentals are rather poor. Furthermore, of the 60 plus high alpha or guru funds that we track, as a group they are most bullish on IBM, adding a net $278 million during the June quarter to their $709 million prior quarter position in the company. Furthermore, guru funds are bullish on CSC, adding a net $46 million to their $56 million prior quarter position, and they are bearish on ACN, cutting a net $69 million from their $355 million prior quarter position.
Buy Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ): HPQ is currently a provider of IT and outsourcing services, PCs and peripherals, printers and scanners, and servers and storage devices. However, with the announcement late last week of the $10 billion acquisition of European data analytics company Autonomy, and the intent to spin-off its PC division and shut-down its tablet and smartphone business, it is fast morphing into an IBM-kind of software and services model. The street initially rewarded the company with the stock up almost 8% in morning trading Thursday, but panic took over as the market collapsed late Thursday, and the stock ended down almost 8%. Friday, the stock collapsed down over 20% for the day after reporting disappointing forward guidance of $32.1-$32.5 billion in revenue and $1.12-$1.16 in earnings for the October 2011 quarter versus consensus estimates of $33.9 billion and $1.31.
At Friday’s close of $23.60, HPQ looks like a deep value buy, trading at a very reasonable forward 4.4 P/E as earnings are still projected to increase in the mid to high-single digits going forward. However, it is most likely that these forward earnings estimates will be pulled down in the coming weeks as analysts factor in the exit from the PC business into their forward earnings estimates. Even then, we believe that the stock has overreacted to the downside, probably precipitated by weakness in the markets and economy, as well as panic selling by investors who may have been severely disappointed over HP’s plans to exit its core PC business. Furthermore, the stock is approaching a major technical support area in the $21-$23 range that should hold. Looking forward, with HPQ’s transition into an IBM model, it is making a similar transition to what IBM did six years ago in 2005, and a look at IBM’s long-term chart reveals that its stock has more than doubled since it made that transition in 2005. It is conceivable that HPQ may pull together a similar transition, and current shareholders in that case would be handsomely rewarded. Either way, we would be buyers here in the low-$20s as the downside is currently limited based on its attractive valuation, whereas the long-term upside could be huge if the transition is executed well.
Please note that the cumulative price change referred to in the last column of the Table above is used here as a measure of volatility to determine big movers in the group. It equals the sum of the absolute value of the change in daily prices. So, for example, if a security had price moves of 2%, -3%, 4%, -6% and 1% during the five days of the week, the cumulative price change during the week would be the sum of the absolute values of the daily price changes, which in this case would be 16%.
Credit: Historical fundamentals including operating metrics and stock ownership information were derived using SEC filings data, I-Metrix® by Edgar Online®, Zacks Investment Research, Thomson Reuters and Briefing.com. The information and data is believed to be accurate, but no guarantees or representations are made.

Source:http://seekingalpha.com/article/288841-commercial-services-sector-top-buy-and-sell-ideas-based-on-last-week-s-big-movers

Accenture /quotes/zigman/565535/quotes/nls/acn ACN -0.30% has entered into an agreement with Intertek, a leading global provider of quality and safety solutions, to provide Intertek with global IT and finance and accounting (F&A) services on an outsourced basis. The agreement includes the provision of technology infrastructure, application management and back-office accounting services. Financial details were not disclosed.

Under the global agreement, Accenture will provide F&A business process outsourcing (BPO) services to Intertek through an Accenture global delivery centre in Delhi, India. The agreement includes services currently delivered by Intertek across ten English speaking countries and the programme will be implemented over the next two years.

Accenture will also provide global technology infrastructure and manage Intertek’s bespoke technology applications; supporting the group’s strong global growth programme and enabling efficient integration of acquisitions.

Following a sustained period of significant growth, including a number of acquisitions, Intertek is seeking to integrate and standardize its finance and technology functions across a number of geographic locations.

“As part of our Intertek as One programme, our collaboration with Accenture will support Intertek’s growing IT and accounting requirements across ten countries. This change will provide an efficient, scalable platform to support Intertek’s growth program and generate near term cost savings.” said Lloyd Pitchford, Chief Financial Officer of Intertek Group.

“The Intertek and Accenture agreement aims to create a high performing outsourced shared services environment for Intertek’s finance and IT support functions,” said Paul Dillon, senior executive in Accenture’s Industrial Equipment Group. “We are focused on helping Intertek simplify its back office processes in these areas and delivering cost synergies across the Group”

Accenture will deliver the services both from client sites and through its Global Delivery Network using one of its delivery centers in Delhi, India.

It’s a classic scenario in today’s times, where the outsourcing services have grown phenomenally well over the past three decades and the cloud computing concept or cloud-based services are evolving in recent years.

The outsourcing phenomenon, during all these years have lead to the so-called business process outsourcing (BPO) or information technology enabled services (ITeS) industry. And now, the cloud computing concept is also following the path of outsourcing phenomenon with growing number of cloud-based services providers world over.

Was it some kind of disruptive technology behind the outsourcing services growth that added a new dimension to a country like India in the field of IT? And is there the same kind of disruptive technology that is also pushing cloud services?

“Yes, there’s technology but not disruptive technology. It’s the economics of business that has determined, and will determine, the use of cloud services or outsourcing services in future,” says Michael Barnes, Forrester’s vice president and principal analyst.

According to Barnes, outsourcing or cloud-based services are interconnected in some way or the other, as consumers (organizations) are interested in quality services with assured guarantee.

“Fundamentally, there’s a change in services not in technology. For example, the BPO offers services irrespective of location, and the same way through cloud computing, you can access services from anywhere,” Barnes points out.

Interestingly, “It’s a mistaken belief that BPO is good or cloud is good, because in both scenario, organizations want to make sure they get higher business efficiency or productivity, lower down-time, meet the workload demand and reduce the overall cost; getting efficient services is the key for organizations,” he says.

However, Barnes adds, organizations are not going to outsource everything or move everything on to the cloud platform. “But outsourcing service providers will need to match-up the efficiency or transparency of cloud providers, otherwise they will feel the margin pressures.”

Cloud computing is reshaping the business expectations through software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) with web-based user access, along with models of pay per use, shareable resources, dynamic resource allocations and scalability.

According to Barnes, about 70-85 per cent organizations in Asia, including India, are largely focusing on private cloud compared to public cloud, which was happening two years back. Though the cloud adoption is growing, he views that there’s a need of education and awareness about cloud computing in India.

“Besides security and data privacy concerns, India needs to have a good affordable broadband for providing cloud services. Without good connectivity, the cloud-based services will not be provided effectively and efficiently to consumers and it won’t benefit them,” Barnes observes.

He concludes, “Earlier, we used to think of technology but today it is only about accessing services. And that’s the priority for most organizations today.”

Source:http://www.ciol.com/News/BPO/News-Reports/Outsource-services-or-cloud-services/151217/0/

The Shared Services and Outsourcing Network has recruited some of the top HR Shared Services Professionals from around Europe to deliver a highly focused and topical event. Following months of industry research, the HR Directors Summit event will be running in London on the 11th and 12th of October this year.

The event will explore key objectives and challenges specific to utilising shared services to address pressing issues including Attrition and Retention, Change Management, Effective HR Governance Models and Talent Management Strategies.

Innovative case studies and interactive discussions aim to highlight strategic transformation gaps in strategies that can be addressed using the latest technological advances.

Companies including Rolls-Royce, Sainsburys, Electrolux, GSK, DHL and UBS are among those looking at a range of issues affecting organisations at different stages of their Shared Services journey. These companies are meeting to discuss what will in the coming months keep them at the cutting edge of Shared Services, helping them retain their competitive advantage.

Source:http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/15/3701747/shared-services-and-outsourcing.html

The overall IT services market in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is expected to record a strong performance in 2011 thanks to rising demand for datacenter and outsourcing services, says market intelligence firm IDC.

The overall IT services market in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is expected to record a strong performance in 2011 thanks to rising demand for datacenter and outsourcing services, says market intelligence firm IDC.

According to the firm’s recent Asia Pacific Semiannual IT Services Tracker, a robust growth of 13.4 per cent year-on-year is expected, after a good performance in 2010 of 18 per cent.

“We are seeing new rounds of investment from global ICT players to build and expand their datacenters in the region. In addition to cloud services provisioning, the demand for business continuity and disaster recovery services, particularly after Japan’s recent earthquakes, has boosted hosting services in offshore locations as well,” said Natalie Wan, senior research manager of IDC’s Asia/Pacific Services Research Group.

The study suggested that the outsourcing trend has moved towards flexible sourcing, with different selected vendors offering best-of-breed services, alongside competitive offerings with higher flexibility and pricing options.

IDC also believed that next-generation datacenter design needs to enable automation and dynamic provisioning across the entire infrastructure, connectivity across multiple locations and access to virtualised resources by any mobile device.

Globalisation and mobility trends are driving the demand for network and communications services, and more and more users want to access enterprise applications via mobile devices, said IDC.

Source:http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=A690278E-1A64-6A71-CE6AE4A9D53041FF

IT services spending in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, is expected to achieve a year-on-year growth of 8.7 percent over 2010 as more companies turn to outsourcing and embark on new IT projects, a new study revealed.

Released Tuesday, Springboard Research said the IT services market will grow to hit US$52.9 billion on the twin waves of outsourcing and new IT projects that revolve around cloud computing and “smarter infrastructure”.

Delving deeper, the research showed that 64 percent of the spending on IT services will come from discrete services, major infrastructure support and integration-related services, The remaining 36 percent will come from outsourcing services, it noted.

“The high skew towards discrete services in the region clearly highlights the fact that the IT services market in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, is still in the maturing phase as opposed to some of the more mature economies in the West where outsourcing services can constitute close to 50 percent of total IT services spend,” said Seepij Gupta, associate research manager of IT services at Springboard Research, in the study.

The research also showed that China, Australia and India will account for 72 percent of the total spend by 2011. Growth in more mature IT markets such as Singapore and Australia will be led by investments in new technologies such as cloud computing. That said, developing countries such as India and China will also be leapfrogging legacy IT to adopt these new technologies to further drive growth, the research stated.

IT services spending is not expected to slow down, either. Springboard Research identified three factors that will drive IT services investments, namely the shortage of resources and skills, complex IT environments and innovations in the managed services space.

First, organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit, train and retain qualified IT professionals. As a result, companies have to outsource the management of their IT assets, the study revealed.

Secondly, as the IT sprawl continues unabated with companies continuing to adopt new technologies into its existing infrastructure, they are increasingly unable to manage their IT systems effectively. This, in turn, means they would look to service providers that can help them manage it, the research firm stated.

Thirdly, and as an extension to the second point, the study also predicted that 2011 will see an expansion of managed services beyond basic infrastructure management to include more application-related services. As more organizations seek to reap the benefits of a better integrated approach to managed services, there will be a clear move towards application outsourcing that combines infrastructure and application management to yield better application performance at a lower cost, the research paper stated.

“We strongly believe that this shift to new services will transform the way IT is delivered and consumed and, moving forward, “as-a-service” will be an integral element for almost everything IT consumed by organizations,” said Fred Giron, vice president of IT services at Springboard Research.

Source:http://www.zdnetasia.com/apac-it-services-to-hit-us-53b-in-2011-62208569.htm

On Thursday, Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb announced plans to privatize the district’s facilities operations in an effort to save the district $75 million during the next five years.

In the following commentary, State Sen. Bert Johnson, a Democrat from Detroit, argues against outsourcing.

As state and municipal budgets continue to contract, elected leaders from the Governor’s office and the state Legislature to city councils and school boards must be ever more vigilant in finding ways to balance their respective budgets.

Gov. Rick Snyder spoke often during his campaign of “value for money” budget priorities. To date, there is only rhetoric to base judgment of Snyder on, but I do agree that we must get the most out of each public dollar we spend.

Where Snyder and I experience a divergence of opinion on this issue is in the ‘outsource-or-bust’ mentality that he and many in his party cling to.

But Snyder and other leaders, including Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb should be mindful that outsourcing to corporations, based out-of-state, and by nature out-of-touch with the needs of local populations, is not the answer to our budget problems.

Years ago, Detroit Public Schools’ food system was outsourced to a company that has, since the beginning of their contract, done a poor job managing food services in the district.

An out-of-state company called First Student outbid the Detroit-based, minority-owned Safeway Transportation by roughly 1%. But in the real world, we don’t deal solely with numbers on a page. First Student has a history of complaints from around the country, including but not limited to violations of health and safety standards, sexual harassment of children and lack of punctuality in delivering children to school.

Source:-http://www.freep.com/article/20110128/OPINION05/110127079/Guest-commentary-Outsourcing-services-wrong-move-state-cities-schools?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Opinion

Hp Enterprise Services of Virginia has been contracted by NASA to provide, manage, secure and maintain essential IT services for the agency.

The award is a firm fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity agreement. It has a four-year base period with two three-year options. The value of the contract is $2.5 billion, HP Enterprise said, and will be managed at the NASA Shared Services Center in Mississippi.

HP Enterprise said the Agency Consolidated End-user Services contract is to develop a long-term outsourcing arrangement with the commercial sector to provide and manage most of NASA’s personal computing hardware, agency-standard software, mobile information technology services, peripherals and accessories, associated end-user services and supporting infrastructure.

NASA personnel use IT to support NASA’s core business, scientific, research and computational activities.

Additional ACES contract details weren’t disclosed.

The NASA Shared Services Center is a partnership involving the space agency, Computer Sciences Corp. and the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. The NSSC performs selected business activities for all 10 NASA centers.

Source:-http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/12/29/NASA-contracts-for-essential-IT-services/UPI-34071293643206/

Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) services is the key to expanding the country’s Business Processing Outsourcing industry and hauling in US$25 billion revenues in the half decade, announced the BPO Association (BPAP).

Market research, specifically, is a dormant vertical that could be monetized given the right priorities in selling the Philippines as a potential research hub, stressed Germaine Reyes, Managing Director of Synergy Business Consultancy which specializes in market research.

Already, KPO services with focus on market research are catching up in the local BPO industry. Some 9% of BPO companies surveyed offer services involving market research, according to a recent BPAP survey.

“Aside from the Philippines being cost-effective compared with other countries, our edge lies in our ability to look at the client requirement from different perspectives to provide clients more business-focused output,” she explained. ‘This is significant in conducting effective market research that aids in decision-making and marketing program development.”

Synergy, which is pushing for the Philippines as a center for KPO services in market research, has been offering the services for 11 years. “We know how the market behaves and we conduct research effective for our clients,’ Reyes noted.

Synergy’s expertise include quantitative research; qualitative research via focus group discussions (FGDs), ethnographic research; telemarketing, online research, statistical analysis, data mining and analytics; and training. The company has served diverse industries, spanning from the telecommunications, food and beverages, real estate, IT, banking, consumer products, legal and HR services, pharmaceuticals, academe, media, among others.

“We are also pushing to broaden our services in the market research industry by providing outsourcing services not only to clients in Asia Pacific but also to clients in the US. One of these services is analytics outsourcing which we believe will be a key growth area.”

Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/289141/synergy-kpo-service-key-philippines-25billion-bpo-target

Ariba, Inc., a provider of collaborative business commerce solutions, announced that it has completed the sale of its sourcing services and business process outsourcing (BPO) services assets to Accenture .

“The divestment of our sourcing services and BPO services assets is a very positive step in the evolution of Ariba that puts us one step closer to our goal of becoming a network company with on-demand solutions,” said Kevin Costello, President, Ariba.

Originally announced on Oct. 6, the Company said that the acquisition gives Accenture ownership of Ariba’s category expertise, sourcing process expertise and strategic sourcing execution resources. Ariba noted that it has retained its sourcing technology and the resources within its Global Services organization that are dedicated to software implementation, enablement and adoption. Ariba will continue to provide customers with services that help them maximize their use of Ariba’s solutions and the results that they deliver.

Ariba had previously estimated the contribution to fiscal year 2011 of the divested business to be approximately $40M and $0.07 in Non-GAAP revenue and EPS respectively. Based on these numbers, the Company reported that it is updating its previously provided guidance to reflect the close of the divested business.

For fiscal year 2011, Ariba said that it now expects total revenues to be approximately $347 million +/- $5 million. The subscription software and maintenance revenue outlook remains unchanged at $266.5 million to $270.5 million. The services revenue outlook is now expected to be $78.5 million +/- $5 million. Accordingly, Non-GAAP EPS is now expected to be in the range of $0.77 to $0.81, and cash flow from operations before lease loss and restructuring charges at $84 million +/- $5 million.

For the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, Ariba reported that it now expects total revenues to be approximately $86 million +/- $1 million. The subscription software and maintenance revenue outlook remains unchanged at approximately $64.5 million. The services revenue outlook is now expected to be $21.5 million +/- $1 million. Accordingly, Non-GAAP EPS is now expected to be $0.16 to $0.18.

Source:-http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/arba_accenture-acquires-ariba-sourcing-services-and-business-process-outsourcing-services-assets-1319966.html

Vindia is a unique company in the global technological market that enables you, the CEO, project manager or entrepreneur, to utilize an effective and low-cost work force overseas.
Vindia was created in order to provide counseling and solutions for companies seeking to take advantage of the opportunities that the Far East has to offer.
The company was built with the understanding that in this global environment, it is necessary for any company making use of human resources to examine the business opportunities that are available in India.
Vindia’s goal is to provide its clients with a wide variety of services and solutions, while making intelligent use of the knowledge, experience, capabilities and tools that have been gathered and built up over the many years of the company’s work in the Far East.

Manager, CEO or entrepreneur – we will gladly be at your service, to advise and understand your needs, quickly and efficiently custom-design your solution, and propel you on your new path, the way only Vindia knows how. We are glad to be your portal to the Far East – welcome to India.

Source:-http://www.vindiaservices.com/read_more.shtml

Calif.—With its police department set to be taken over by the sheriff’s office, San Carlos is now looking into outsourcing fire services as well.

The City Council voted on Monday to issue a request for proposals from agencies that might be interested in handling the city’s fire calls.

City officials recently dissolved a fire services agreement with neighboring Belmont, saying San Carlos was bearing a higher portion of the costs.

They want a new system in place before their agreement with Belmont is scheduled to end in October 2011.

The Palo Alto Daily News reports that San Mateo’s fire department is among several agencies that have shown interest in working with San Carlos to provide fire services.

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is set to take over San Carlos’ police services in two weeks.

Source:-http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16376417?nclick_check=1

Financial Deals Tracker via COMTEX) — Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS) has acquired TMS Health, a healthcare teleservices company, from Palm Beach Capital, an investment firm. All the entities involved in the transaction are based in the US.

ACS is a provider of customer care services to the pharmaceutical, biotech and healthcare industries.

Deal Type Acquisition Sub-Category Majority Acquisition Deal Status Completed: 2010-10-15 Deal Participants Target (Company) TMS Health Acquirer (Company) Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.

Deal Rationale The acquisition will expand ACS’ information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) service offerings to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

Source:http://voip-phone-service.tmcnet.com/news/2010/10/19/5078305.htm