Industry news

Indian outsourcing giant Infosys has posted full year sales growth greater than analyst expectations following a series of outsourcing contract successes.

The second-largest software services firm in India reported that net profit rose by an unexpected 25 per cent to $496 million in the January to March quarter, above analyst expectations, with the company signing 50 new clients during the quarter.

The profit announcement saw a four per cent increase in share price with Infosys now forecasting a nine per cent revenue increase for the financial year.

The increase in profits comes despite a slowdown in the Indian outsourcing market and a recent fraud investigation in the U.S.

Infosys secures contract extension with Philips

Infosys reportedly wins a $98 million contract with TNT

Continued economic uncertainty is helping to drive IT transformation according to analyst firm Gartner.

Gartner said that IT programme and portfolio (PPM) leaders should prepare for increased transformation projects and greater expectations of results, as businesses react to economic pressures.

Gartner vice president Robert Handler, said: “Today, due to the turbulent nature of business, supporting strategic initiatives and adapting to market changes brings greater scrutiny upon all PPM leaders”.

Gartner said that their prediction is driven by increasing pressure on innovation as businesses emerge from the recession.

GPs are to receive a £50 million investment designed to increase the use of digital services in order to support patients.

The Government has announced the creation of the £50 million GP Access Fund which is designed to offer patients the opportunity to have consolations facilitated by digital services such as Skype, email and online booking services.

The GP Access Fund is designed to support 1,147 practices, providing improved GP care to patients with mobility problems or in remote locations by increasing opening hours and allowing for alternate means of GP contact.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “Moving nearly a million people onto proactive care plans is one of biggest changes that we need to make in our NHS. People want to know that their parents and relatives will get constant care if they have a long-term condition.”

He added: “offering more services online will also make it far easier for millions of hardworking people and their families to fit seeing a GP around their busy lives.”

Digital strategy launched by Cabinet Office

Delay to NHS patient data sharing scheme

The internet of things (IoE) has the potential to generate at least $613 billion for private-sector businesses according to Cisco, with £17 billion being generated in the UK alone.

The internet of things which includes concepts including smart meters and machine to machine communications has been predicted to be worth $8.9 trillion by 2020 according to analyst group IDC.

The internet of things is expected to become a key component of government digital initiatives including national services such as the NHS which are expected to improve record accuracy and availability.

In a report, Cisco said that there was growing: "realisation of the IoE in the UK and how this vision will play a key role in fuelling the British economy for years to come".

Committee recommends application of the Freedom of Information Act to outsourcing contracts

Phil Smith, chief executive of Cisco UK and Ireland, said: “this is just the beginning of an amazing future. As connections become smarter, faster and more insightful, we will only see more imaginative and ambitious applications of the IoE, which will quite literally change the world."

Internet of Things receives £45 million investment pledge

The Cabinet Office has launched a ‘Digital Inclusion Strategy’ in a bid to increase the number of people who have access to internet services.

The strategy is expected to reduce the numbers of people who are offline by 25 per cent by 2016, with further reductions of 25 per cent after every two years.

The strategy is designed to bring 2.7 million people online over the next two years and coincides with the government’s digital strategy which is designed to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.

The Digital Inclusion Strategy also includes the creation of a common definition of civil service digital skills and sets out to create a common language for digital capabilities across the public sector.

Civil society minister Nick Hurd said: “A more digitally-skilled nation will help us to boost our economy and strengthen communities. This new partnership is about making it easier for people to build their digital skills and confidence, with the aim of reducing the number of people offline, so that by 2020 everyone who can be online, will be.”

Cisco says that internet of everything could generate £17 bil

GDS moves to combine digital marketplaces

IT services and solutions provider Kelway has announced that it is been awarded a contract by RM Education to provide ICT supplier's service desk and warranty operations for RM Education branded hardware.

The agreement builds on an existing two year relationship, during which time Kelway has provided field engineering support on behalf of RM Education to schools and institutions across the UK.

RM Education provides an extensive range products and services for UK education institutions. The agreement over a seven year period, deepens an existing relationship within which Kelway delivers field engineering support for RM Education.

Kelway will provide full management of RM Education's hardware service desk - encompassing inbound customer call management, case management, allocation of field resources and the ongoing provision of on-site engineers. RM Education will continue to hold overall responsibility to customers, however educational institutions will benefit from the support offered by Kelway's extensive UK operations.

Penny Williams, sales director, public sector at Kelway said: "Our team is delighted to build on two years of excellent work with RM Education, providing the support and services they need to help advance their corporate strategy."

Oxford NHS Trust has revealed that it expects to save more than £1 million over five years from a communications upgrade.

The deal will see the trusts existing phone systems replaced by a cloud-based communications services provided by Vodafone.

The new communications system which will simplify, increase flexibility and standardise services, will be rolled out to 140 sites, throughout Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Dominic McKenny, director of informatics at Oxford Health, described how the new communications system would: “reduce our telecommunications spend, redirect these resources to more productive activities and simplify the service for our users and those supporting our telephones”.

NHS sets out new plans for GP IT services

NHS moves to outsource £1.2 billion in services

A new report has revealed that public sector staff believe that reforms are not being carried out effectively due to skill shortages.

The report from totaljobs.com and Dods Research revealed that IT skill shortages were seen as a key contributor to reform inefficiency.

82 per cent of public sector staff survey said that staffing cuts had created pressure on reforms, 45 per cent said that the public sector workforce did not have the skills needed to carry out reforms effectively while one in six said that cuts will result in the failure of reforms.

Council procurement overhaul saves over £20 million

DWP defends Universal Credit IT

The National Audit Office (NAO) has recommended greater convergence to improve public sector shared services in the latest report on the cabinet office’s next generational programme.

The NAO, while saying that the shared services programme was “broadly on track’, it detailed that the value for money from the shared services programme was still to be established.

The report identified that only two out of the seven recommendations made by the Public Accounts Committee in 2012 had been fulfilled.

The report said that the Cabinet Office needed to work with departments to make them ‘intelligent customers’ of shared services and ensure that the government is gaining full value from the programme.

Francis Maude announces SME purchasing plan

London Councils look to shared service provider for increased efficiencies

Car and bike retailer Halfords have signed a three-year contract with Fujitsu to provide IT maintenance and support.

Fujitsu will replace incumbent supplier Barron McCann, providing maintenance services for a range of services at the retailer, with the new contract designed to reduce overall IT costs while delivering increased capability.

Fujitsu will also provide support for laptops and tablet devices which have been recently introduced to Halfords stores.

The Fujitsu contract comes as Halfords pursues an overall IT redesign programme including a SAP upgrade and the creation of a virtualisation programme.

United Utilities agrees 10-year data centre deal with Fujitsu

Fujitsu announces creation of 192 jobs in Ireland