Industry news

ISN solutions have received £4.6 million in funding from private equity firm Maven Capital Partners.

The IT firm, which specialises in providing outsourced services to oil and gas businesses, will use the investment to expand services and create a new office in Aberdeen, where Maven is based.

The IT firm has around 50 employees with annual sales of nearly £6 million.

David Greenwood, the managing director of ISN, said: "We have ambitious growth plans for the business, which will be backed by the extensive experience and resources of Maven.”

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed that it has employed the digital services framework to trial the beta version of Universal Credit (UC).

The transformational programme of UC will be digital-by-default, with the programme designed to improve the DWP and the welfare system through the consolidation of services and greater efficiencies.

The release of the beta version of UC comes after the Government Digital Service (GDS) pulled out from working with the DWP to facilitate the digital-by-default policy.

The DWP said: "DWP’s future development approach will be based on previous ways of working with GDS colleagues".

The Beta version will be rolled out to a small selection of jobcentre claimants later this year, with plans to release a full version to all customers after the trial period.

Government prepares to launch national IT procurement strategy

DWP move to scrap jobs website

NHS England has introduced new plans for IT service funding for GPs, the IT fund of £230 million will be used to upgrade current systems and services used by GP practices across England.

The funding plan is designed to provide increased funding while driving greater value for money and create centralised service.

Beverley Bryant, director of strategic systems and technology at NHS England, said: “This operating model sets out how we will achieve high quality primary care digital systems that support the provision of a more efficient, responsive and integrated service for patients whilst empowering them to have greater control over their health and care.”

OnQ has announced the launch of its healthcare labor outsourcing and contact center solutions, designed to meet increasing demands within the healthcare services centre, as the sector reacts to increasing completion and regulatory pressures.

The OnQ operated contact centre employs college-educated staff who are bilingual in English and Spanish, who deliver services backed up with real-time data, monitoring capabilities and video access.

The new contact centres are focused on providing transformative services designed to improved healthcare outsourcing including support and increased operational effectiveness.

Basildon Borough Council employs Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform designed to promote greater citizen engagement.

The platform is designed promote the councils “Customer Experience Programme” and allows for the collection of customer details within a single system, allowing for the creation of a timeline and insight based responses.

The new CRM platform will allow for future growth and expansion of services while allowing for greater CRM integration with other public services.

Borough residents will be able to request assistance via online applications, they will also be able to track the progress online.

James Dansey, Dynamics CRM implementation project manager at Basildon Borough Council, said: "We see Dynamics CRM as being a key enabler of change and the catalyst for the realisation of significant efficiency savings”.

Customer relationship management drives future technology

Greater Manchester council tenders for CRM framework

Capita has purchased British network provider Updata in a deal worth £80 million as the outsourcing firm continues with a round of acquisition purchases.

Updata delivers connectivity and network services to public and private sector clients including big name finance organisations such as HSBC and RBS.

The deal will see Updata, which employs 160 staff ibn six sites across the UK, join Capita’s IT services Division.

Capita has posted that the deal has helped the outsourcing company raise projected revenues from £41.8 million in 2014 to £74 million in 2015.

The acquisition comes after Updata worked with Capita on various projects in recent years including the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN).

Andy Parker, Capita chief executive, said: “As part of Capita, Updata will strengthen our network capability and ensure we continue to meet the needs of our clients across the UK.”

Capita awarded contact centre contract by John Lewis

Capita awarded £24 mil contract for children’s IT services

FTSE -100 engineering contract company Babcock International has secured a contract to manage London’s Fire Brigade, in a deal worth £800 million over the next 21 years.

The London fire service contract success comes after a series of successes for the engineering firm after Babcock was named as the preferred bidder for the largest ever UK outsourcing contract on Monday, valued at £ 7 billion, for the decommissioning of nuclear reactors in the UK.

Babcock also recently completed the purchase of emergency service helicopter group Avincis for £1.6 billion.

The fire service management success has seen shares sore at Babcock as the markets react to the company’s rapid expansion over the last week, with shares closing up 3pc at £13.88.

Emergency services bid for shared services funding

Fire and rescue authorities are urged to collaborate

Capgemini UK has been awarded a contract to upgrade the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) enterprise resource planning (ERP) system over a two year period, in a contract valued at £6.3 million.

The upgrade programme will see Capgemini provide the latest software to the FCO, the upgrade will allow the ERP system to support a smaller and more flexible team designed to increase cost-savings.

Tim Gardner, FCO corporate services centre director, said: “With the change in approach to service delivery, this new deal with Capgemini will allow us to make significant cost savings, while ensuring systems continue to support a large number of government departments that reside on the overseas platform provided by the FCO.”

Capgemini and Aston University join to provide IT degrees

Capgemini awarded seven year police contract

Non-disclosure agreements in BTs contracts to provide rural broadband have been criticised by MPs sitting on the Public Accounts Select Committee (PAC).

The PAC said that a lack of transparency made it difficult for the government to operate a competitive procurement process and ensure that it was properly informed for future broadband infrastructure tenders.

The members of the PAC said that non-disclosure agreements had: “allowed poor cost transparency and lack of detailed broadband rollout plans to create conditions whereby alternative suppliers may be crowded out”.

The committee chairman, Margaret Hodge, said: “we see the lack of transparency on costs and BT’s insistence on non-disclosure agreements as symptomatic of BT exploiting its monopoly position to the detriment of the taxpayer, local authorities and those seeking to access high speed broadband in rural areas.”

A BT spokesman claimed that the PAC’s comments were unfair being that “BT was the only company willing to accept the challenging terms on offer and make a significant investment in rural areas. This was at a time when others walked away when they realised easy pickings weren’t to be had. Claims that BT is a monopoly are simply inaccurate given more than 100 ISPs are offering fibre across BT’s open network.”

Union defends BT against monopoly claims

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

Management and outsourcing company Accenture has been awarded a second contract by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to attract foreign companies to relocate to cities business zone (Special Zone for Asian Headquarters).

The contract will see Accenture continue to seek to bring foreign businesses to Tokyo through March 2015 after Accenture successfully completed its previous contract requirements in bringing foreign firms to Tokyo.

The contract renewal comes as Tokyo continues to raise its international competiveness and investment appeal.

Hiroshi Goto, who leads Accenture’s Health & Public Service, said: “We will do our best to recruit foreign companies, based on the experience and knowledge we’ve gained during the first year of this project.”

Bank of Ireland selects Accenture for outsourced technology role

Accenture extends seven-year with leadership provider