Industry news

Global technology company NCR has acquired financial software company uGenius Technology in an undisclosed deal.

The purchase is designed to drive NCR’s remote transactions through ATMs via an interactive teller.

The new teller service is set to be trialled with select US banks in the first half of the year.

Peter Leav, executive vice president, NCR Corporation commented: “By acquiring uGenius, we are delivering against our corporate strategy of innovating for our customers and reinventing NCR as a software-driven business, while allowing us to enhance existing technology platforms and create a new segment of remote assisted service.”

£5 million has been pledged by the UK government for development and research aimed at promoting the uptake of cloud services.

Research will be focused on displaying value from cloud services and how cloud networks can be enhanced through further development.

Research will also be used to explore the employment of hybrid cloud services and solutions to the current difficulties of using more than one supplier.

Iain Gray, CEO of the Technology Strategy Board (a government backed innovation agency) said cloud, “is an area with exceptional potential for growth. Finding the correct balance between trust and flexibility, without compromising security, is vital”.

Global business consultants Celerant Consulting have been acquired by Hitachi Consulting as part of the brands strategy to expand global operations.

The deal is expected to be worth around £43 million. Based in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas with a range of international clients Celerant will provide increased industry awareness and consulting capabilities.

In a press release Hitachi said: “By adding Celerant's expertise across the chemical, consumer, energy, industrial, life sciences, metals and mining sectors to our own skillset, the acquisition will provide Hitachi Consulting with a deeper level of industry-specific and associated process expertise".

The global car sharing firm Zipcar has been purchased for $500 million by Avis.

Zipcar’s business of car sharing is expected to expand with increasing fuel prices driving car sharing uptake.

Ronald Nelson, CEO, Avis, said of car sharing: “highly complementary to traditional car rental, with rapid growth potential and representing a scalable opportunity for us as a combined company".

The deal is expected to generate overall savings of $50 to $70 million per year from the acquisition.

UK online retailers are expecting 2013 to bring greater sales and increased consumer spending according to research carried out by the Royal Mail.

64 percent of respondents are expecting to see increased sales from 2012 despite increased competition.

Increasing market sizes and developing consumer habits including the use of mobile platforms for purchases has also impacted SMEs.

35 percent of respondents are planning to develop mobile apps in a bid to harness mobile consumers.

The expectations for 2013 come despite the poor performance of retailers in 2012 with just over half of SMEs seeing an increase in sales during the year.

The majority of UK contact centres could be based within the cloud by 2013 according to research carried out by OnePoll.

Over 70 percent of UK contact centres already employ cloud services and are looking to migrate operations fully into a cloud based infrastructure.

48 percent of respondents stated they are actively looking or would like to move to the cloud in 2013.

Cognizant has announced the acquisition of six companies belonging to the IT and consulting C1 group based in Hamburg, Germany.

The companies are involved in a range of industry sectors including utilities, logistics and financial.

The announcement comes as Cognizant looks to develop its market share in Europe with a focus on Germany, with Cognizant chief executive officer, Francisco D'Souza, saying: “This strategic acquisition underscores our commitment to the German and the larger European markets, and reinforces our position as one of the top consulting and IT services companies across the region."

The end of 2012 saw the Cabinet Office's Mystery Shopper initiative reach over 300 investigated complaints since its beginnings 18 months ago.

The service which looks to gain feedback from businesses regarding government procurement saw 80 percent of cases based on complaints regarding the procurement process with a focus on unachievable entry requirements.

38 percent of cases investigated involved concerns with complex pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs) which have been viewed as being a competition barrier to SMEs in favour of big business.

Results of a survey by the IT trade body ICASA have revealed that public cloud is still viewed as being too risky.

The 2012 IT Risk/Reward Barometer reported a common global view that public cloud models posed a significant risk, with private cloud being perceived as a viable alternative.

Only 3 percent of companies within Europe and the UK employed public cloud models for mission-critical services with 63 percent of European respondents avoiding the model altogether.

A survey of 200 UK CFOs and senior finance executives within global companies revealed a developing trend of expansion in 2013 from growing confidence in UK markets.

The survey by American Express saw 78 percent of respondents expecting increased profits in 2013 compared to 2012, with 61 percent focusing on prioritising investments in revenue generation.

72 percent of those surveyed said that they intent to expand further in international markets in 2013.