Industry news

Dell has revealed that it is to bring its Centre for Entrepreneurs initiative to the UK.

The Centre which has already had success in the U.S., will offer start-ups with £20 million in funding for technology, expert advice and infrastructure services, from the computer giant.

The initiative will also offer two companies the chance to be based in Dell’s Berkshire campus, with free storage, services and hardware for a year.

The initiative and mentoring model allows Dell to create close links with up and coming businesses, linking the computer giant with future market leaders while establishing links with organisations at a very early stage.

Tim Griffin, Dell UK VP and managing director, said: "We believe that technology is a necessary part of growing a thriving business and strive to help entrepreneurs leverage technology to take ideas from start-up to success”.

Shareholders approve Dell buyout

The Indian IT sector is expected to reach a value of $86 billion by the end of this fiscal year, according to Nasscom, with the countries IT industry enjoying rapid growth from in-demand IT exports.

Strong financial results for the first two quarters of this year have led to predictions of a 12-14 per cent rise in growth, compared with 2012.

A rise in use of social media, desire for increased flexibility including remote working and global expansion have all contributed to a good year for India’s IT industry.

Growth has also been driven by the increasing use of SMEs in place of large enterprise businesses.

The IT industry also saw an increase in new employment, with 200,000 new staff employed over last year.

Wipro announce strong Q2 results with 28% net growth

TCS posts strong profit growth as Indian outsourcers enjoy U.S. revival

Paul Pindar, Capita’s chief executive, was criticised during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after he suggested that reduced manpower levels in the Army was due to a lack of on-going conflict.

Mr Pindar said: “We have the disadvantage that we actually have no wars on,” adding that ““Soldiers like to join the Army when they actually have something to do.” Margaret Hodge, chair of the committee, described the comments as “awful”.

MP Richard Bacon, said that he was “doubtful” of the explanation, pointing to the negative contrast between online applications and past practices involving armed forces personal in recruitment offices.

The PAC was held to discuss the reduction in recruitment since Capita took charge of advertising, marketing and application forms.

Capita shares drop following the departure of CEO

Capita awarded nine-year IT contract with Croydon Council

Amsterdam, Barcelona and San Francisco have moved to create a shared services partnership for mobile devices in a bid to harness the potential of data.

The project which is the first of its kind, will see San Francisco's Department of the Environment, Amsterdam's Economic Board and Barcelona City Council, develop a shared services platform for mobile device data.

The program is designed to increase the value of the large quantities of data that generated by ‘smart’ cities, which are being currently collected, but underutilised.

The three cities will work together with open platform developer Cityzenith, to develop apps, allowing users to access data sources from mobile devices, in a bid to gain real insights and created efficiencies and streamline operations.

Cityzenith expects the shared services partnership to expand to include new cities over the next few months.

Big Data for smart cities just ‘around the corner’ according to new report

Government offers £24 million for ‘smart city’ proposals

The 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, are unlikely to see the same IT difficulties that plagued the Olympics, according to security giant G4S.

G4S said that the 2014 Commonwealth Games represented “a very different arrangement to London 2012 and the same issues are unlikely to arise,” which had resulted in the armed services being mobilised to provide additional manpower after G4S failed to meet targets.

G4S has bid to provide stewarding framework services for the Game’s events and will not be involved in delivering services for the event’s security. A G4S spokesperson said: “Should we be successful as part of the stewarding framework, we will deploy trained and experienced staff already working for us at these venues”.

MoJ rejects £24 million overcharge payment from G4S

Serious Fraud Office to investigate Serco and G4S

The cost of data losses to UK companies is more than double the global average a new survey has revealed.

The survey carried out by Vanson Bourne, polled over 1,600 IT and business decision makers, over 16 countries and 10 industry sectors.

The survey found that the main costs from data losses to businesses, related to security breaches, with the average UK cost coming in at $1,158,077, compared to a worldwide average of $860,273.

The disparity comes despite a similar average for the numbers of reported security breaches.

Respondents pointed to a lack of readiness, advanced security and back-up and recovery functions, as being the main causes for data losses.

Shortages in IT security specialists fail to meet demand

Surrey County Council has succeeded in driving significant savings from the renegotiation of contracts. So far the council has achieved savings of £83 million over a three year period.

The council managed to create savings of £27 million over 2012 from the renegotiation of energy and IT contracts, with expectations of savings of around £100 million over 2014/15.

Savings have also been driven by the council’s involvement in a shared services program with East Sussex County Council, aimed at driving procurement savings from increased combined negotiation power.

Councils partner with Telent for communications upgrade

Emergency services organisations have been given the chance to bid for a total £195 million in funding over a three year period.

The available funding is for the development of services and the promotion of joint working and shared services.

The funding will include the Blue Light Innovation Fund, which will be available by 2014/15, and will provide as much as £50 million per year for the development of innovative approaches to improve efficiencies.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will also provide funding of £75 million to develop and reform fire services.

South West Wales police drives savings through shared service centre

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Invests in Network to Handle Emergency Calls

West Midlands Public Services Network has signed a preferred-supplier contract with Virgin Media Business, to deliver a procurement network designed to create significant cost savings.

The network, which forms part of the government’s strategy do drive public services networks (PSN) across the UK, is predicted to deliver savings to members of more than £1.5 million per year, with expectations that this number could rise to as much as £5 million per year.

Partners currently included in the West Midlands programe include Warwickshire County Council, Birmingham City Council, Worcestershire County Council, West Midlands Police, Herefordshire County Council and the Black Country Local Authorities, with Solihull Council leading the procurement process.

The PSN projects allow multiple public sector organisations to share shared services across join infrastructure, improving collaboration and negotiating power.

UK police forces plan for digitalisation of services

Met police move to update IT infrastructure

Sitel UK have created 75 new positions at its contact centre in Watford.

The announcement comes after a recent period of expansion by the outsourcing customer care provider.

The creation of the new positions follows an earlier announcement by the company of 150 new jobs at its Stratford upon Avon site, with Sitel UK now employing 2100 people nationwide.

Joe Doyle, Marketing Director at Sitel UK, says; “We are delighted to announce more job opportunities. It has been a busy year and we are seeing significant demand from businesses across all sectors for outsourced solutions, particularly as brands are now recognising the power of adopting an omni-channel strategy.”

Sitel issues five step guide for customer service in preparation for Christmas surge

Sitel named as global leader in social media services market