Industry news

The Commons public accounts committee have released a report criticising the government, for allowing BT to operate a near-monopoly, in providing superfast broadband in rural areas.

The report revealed that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport allowed BT to receive £1.2 billion in public funding, after the telecoms giant won all of the available contracts on offer.

The committee has now called on the Department to halt the remaining funding, which stands at £250 million, until efforts are made to introduce competition back into the superfast broadband rollout.

The recommendations come as the opposition questioned the peerage of Ian Livingston in June, who had been the head of BT when the contract where awarded.

In response to the report a BT spokesman commented that it was: mystifying that we are being criticised for accepting onerous terms in exchange for public subsidy – terms which drove others away. The taxpayer is undoubtedly getting value for money".

NAO expresses fears over BT procurement position

UK broadband speeds increase rapidly as government spending sees strong results

Public sector reforms are at the heart of a decline of the UK public sector SITS (software and IT services) according to new market research.

Research carried out by analysts TechMarketView, revealed that the SITS market declined by 2 per cent in 2012, with the market now believed to be worth £644 million less in 2013 than 2010.

The research suggested that the market will struggle to achieve any form of recovery before 2016.

Reforms that have contributed to the decline in the SITS market include the Cabinet Office’s move to encourage SME suppliers as part of a drive to increase ICT savings, as well as the renegotiation of outsourcing contracts.

Georgina O’Toole, director at TechMarketView, said that a new mind-set in required in order to operate in the changing market: “Suppliers need to accept the ‘new normal’ and consider changing their commercial and delivery approaches to suit the new environment.”

New Crown Commercial Service takes shape as senior positions are announced

Public sector departments are failing to deliver value from procurement

The London Borough of Harrow has been named the most small business friendly council in the capital for procurement.

Harrow has been recognised for its part in supporting of SMEs in an award ceremony, by the London region of the Federation of Small Businesses, and London Councils.

Harrow Council was recognised for its work in encouraging SMEs to tender for public sector contracts, with council spending with SME suppliers increasing from £21 million to £28 million over 2012 and 2013. The council increased SME awareness of public sector opportunities while improving the bidding process by the introduction of an e-procurement system.

The employment of SME services by the council has resulted in increased growth in the local economy. Harrow council leader Thaya Idaikkadar said: “Our business growth rates are among the best in North West London and we outperform the economic powerhouses of Islington and Camden.”

The recognition of the councils support of SMEs comes as the government moves to encourage SME participation in public sector contracts as a way to improve cost-savings and efficiency, while developing local businesses.

New public sector rules focus on encouraging SME procurement

SMES to receive lending boost

Deloitte has launched a cyber-security centre, designed to provide monitoring, analytic and response services to customers in order to protect against cyber threats.

The Cyber Intelligence Centre is Deloitte’s response to increased demand for cyber security by industries, with the centre complementing the outsourcers existing service offerings to clinets.

According to Deloitte the centre has been in development for more than 18 months, in a response to client demand.

Mike Maddison, head of security and resilience at Deloitte, said: “Cyber risk is a major concern for businesses of all sizes, across all sectors and CISOs are under increasing pressure from boards to protect against evolving cyber threats.”

Government reaches out to industry for cyber security standards

Mobile phone company Blackberry is set to be acquired by its largest shareholder Fairfax Financial for £3 billion, if negotiations are successful.

Shareholder Fairfax, which already holds 10 per cent stock of the Canadian phone company, has signed a letter of intent agreement to acquire the company with Blackberry.

Blackberry said in a statement: “Diligence is expected to be complete by November 4, 2013. The parties' intention is to negotiate and execute a definitive transaction agreement by such date.

Blackberry has stated that current discussions with Fairfax do not prevent further negotiations surrounding other offers.

Fairfax's chairman and chief executive Prem Watsa said: “We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to Blackberry customers around the world."

Negotiations surrounding the sale come after the phone company announced 4,500 job cuts last Friday, in a bid to cut costs.

Blackberry 10 receives U.S. DoD security clearance

Telefónica receives Canadian loan in preparation for new BlackBerry products

BT has overseen the upgrade of Visa’s European communications network framework, which links 350 member sites across 37 different countries.

The network provides services to customers as well as Visa’s own employees. The overhaul will deliver faster payment processing speeds, with increased security, reliability and flexibility, for millions of payment transactions on a daily basis.

Steve Chambers, chief information officer at Visa Europe, said: “We choose to work with BT because we trust them to deliver on their promises. Their expansive global network supports our international connectivity needs and their focus on innovative technology and services aligns with our strategy.”

BT appointed Network Partner for PSNI

New research published by global information services provider Experian has revealed that SMEs are being heavily impacted by supply chain insolvencies.

Research revealed that three-quarters of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have lost money as a result of a customer becoming insolvent.

Of 600 SMEs surveyed, 76 per cent of SMEs have lost money as a result of customers failing over the last five years, with 35 per cent losing over £10,000.

Ade Potts, Managing Director, Experian’s SME business, UK&I, said: “The rate of deterioration is far quicker for companies in today’s climate, so the sooner you can spot the signs of financial stress, the sooner you can react. On-going monitoring, addressing financial issues such as late payment of invoices head-on and not relying on one big customer or supplier will help lessen the risk of further losses as a result of insolvencies.”

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS), the successor to the Government Procurement Service (GPS), is beginning to take shape as the government release the details of four senior positions within the (CCS).

Advertisements placed for the roles of a Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Commercial Delivery Director, an IT Commercial Director, and a Telecommunications Commercial Director, have been revealed by the Cabinet Office, to be for the CCS.

Details of the positions reveal that the newly created CCS will focus on employing technology in order to deliver flexibility and increased efficiency within public sector procurement, while employing increased open-source services.

Public sector departments are failing to deliver value from procurement

New public sector rules focus on encouraging SME procurement

Outsourcing services company Xchanging, has acquired e-sourcing provider MarketMaker4 (MM4), as the outsourcing company looks to expand into the e-sourcing market.

The deal, which is valued at $22 million, will see Xchanging expand its services to include online auction and negotiation services from MarketMaker4.

MM4 has an international client base across a range of sectors and has worked with Xchanging previously. The acquisition will see services from such past commercial arrangements expanded upon.

Ed Cross, executive director of Xchanging Procurement Services (XPS), described how the acquisition would provide: “significant opportunities for XPS to expand its service and product offering into a new market while expanding both MM4 and XPS’ customer base and market opportunity.”

Xchanging and BAE Systems to Sign Seven Year Procurement Outsourcing Services Contract

Xchanging Pays $71.7 mln for Cambridge Assets

NextiraOne has been awarded a contract to provide infrastructure management services for Poundland.

A multi-year contract will see NextiraOne run the high-street chain’s network and data centre, alongside monitoring and optimisation services.

The employment of NextiraOne to manage Poundland‘s infrastructure is designed to increase stability, with the network specialists ensuring that the infrastructure remains operational during high stress periods during peak times.

Mike Gray, IT Director at Poundland, said: “By putting in place proactive and preventative service measures, we can minimise business impact and ensure a stable platform for our ongoing growth.”

Oracle opens new datacentre to support UK G-Cloud

Jaguar Land Rover looks to develop procurement capability