Industry news

Amazon has launched the AWS Markeplce following the launch of their cloud service. The new site features a similar design to that of the main site and boasts an array of add-ons.

AWS Marketplace will allow users to purchase applications such as software infrastructure stacks, network infrastructure, security and ecommerce software. Developers included in the store include Canonical, IBM, Microsoft and Zend. Open source providers such as Drupal and Wordpress are also included.

Terry Hanold, VP of New Business Initiatives for AWS, said: "AWS Marketplace brings the same simple, trusted, and secure online shopping experience that customers enjoy on Amazon.com's retail website to software built for the AWS platform, streamlining the process of doing research and purchasing software."

He continued: "AWS Marketplace makes it even easier to run software on AWS because you can find a wide variety of AWS ecosystem providers' solutions, in one place, where much of the work involved in building and deploying solutions on top of AWS has already been done for you by these solutions providers."

GlaxomSmithKline have made a $2.6 billion (£1.6 billion) bid for its long term partner, Human Genome Sciences. GSK, Britain’s biggest pharmaceuticals firm, made a bid worth $13 a share for HGS – 80% higher than the closing price last night.

However, HGS rejected the bid and have said they are considering putting themselves up for sale. The board said: “The offer does not reflect the value inherent in HGS... Its board has authorised the exploration of strategic alternatives in the best interests of shareholders, including, but not limited to, a potential sale of the company.”

GSK CEO Sir Andrew Witty said “Having worked together with Human Genome Sciences for nearly 20 years, we believe there is clear strategic and financial logic to this combination.”

HGS, the Us based biotechnology specialist, have worked with GSK on treatments including lupus medicine Benlysta.

The agenda has been released for the NOA’s 25th Anniversary Conference.

The event takes place on Thursday 28th June and will consist of a conference followed by a networking drinks reception.

Taking place at the London Film Museum, the anniversary conference features highly collaborative breakout sessions, key case studies and ample networking opportunities.

To ensure a high quality programme, speaking platforms are only confirmed to those who submit case studies with the most valuable content. This guarantees access to some of the best and most informative outsourcing case studies.

For more information please visit the NOA's website here

The Government has received substantial criticism in a report for efforts in bringing superfast broadband to the UK.

The report, published by The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, details the obstacles facing the implementation of a high speed broadband network by 2015.

The report included a written response from the government industry forum group, Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), which attacked the decision to allow regional authorities to dictate deployments, saying “these projects are of too small a scale for the sector, resulting in too many procurements and insufficient network sizes to be sustainable.”

Supermarket giant Tesco has delivered full year results in line with latest market consensus, and said it would pump one billion pounds into a revamp of its UK operations.

The firm's UK woes were highlighted as it reported UK sales, excluding petrol and VAT, were down 0.6% on the previous year. Profits at the UK operation fell 1% to £2.5bn compared with the year before.

Like-for-like sales in the UK, excluding VAT and petrol, fell 1.6% in its fourth quarter, with analysts saying the company had taken its eye of its home market while chasing expansion in Asia and the US.

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke said: ‘Whilst our International business is delivering excellent growth, contributing £1.1 billion of profit to the group, we fully recognise that we need to raise our game in the UK.'

The Post Office has put out a tender for IT services to support front and back-end operations at its branches and online.

The contract is worth £150m following its separation from the Royal Mail Group.

Post Office Ltd announced plans to transform about half of its network of 11,800 branches across the UK over the next three years as part of an overall £1.34 billion investment and support programme, subject to EU State Aid clearance.

The Post Office is a core part of the UK’s economic and social infrastructure — 99 per cent of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office branch. The investment will provide a more modern and convenient retail experience for customers, whilst maintaining the UK Post Office network at its current size.

Phoenix helps Welcome Break ensure reliable and cost-effective IT services 24/7

A Phoenix client since 2005, Welcome Break recently signed a new three-year maintenance contract covering its nationwide network of service stations. “We are the UK’s leading motorway service station company,” says David Willock, Director of IT, Welcome Break. Of the three major players in this sector, Welcome Break is the UK’s second largest, with 27 service stations.

Willock says, “All sites use Welcome Break systems and processes. All come under my remit as Director of IT – and are supported by Phoenix. We work with many suppliers and a limited number are strategic - Phoenix being one of those.” Working with Phoenix helps maximise Welcome Break’s capacity to trade, across all sites at all times.

Unite members across the country working for IT services giant Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) will take to the streets today to voice their concerns over the company’s redundancy selection.

Unite members from CSC’s Chesterfield, Chorley, Leeds and Solihull sites (see notes) will take part in a lunch-time protest over the company's refusal to listen to proposal which will mitigate any compulsory redundancies.

Following several weeks of consultation over a reduction of staff working on the NHS account (Lorenzo contract), CSC is insistent on issuing compulsory redundancy notices despite receiving sufficient number or volunteer requests to leave the company.

Unite national officer, Kevin O’Gallagher, said: “We will now increase pressure on CSC to listen to its staff and to Unite’s proposals. We have put forward a detailed plan which will avoid any compulsory redundancies in the company.

“However, these plans have fallen on deaf ears. Our members are now taking to the streets to get their voice heard. As a union, we will do everything in our power to support these workers though this very uncertain time.”

The National Audit Office has reported on how government is fulfilling its commitments to promote the transparency of public information. The report recognises the strength of the strategic case for greater transparency, and highlights progress across government in fulfilling most of its initial commitments. However, government needs a better understanding of costs, benefits and use to assess whether transparency is meeting its objectives of increasing accountability, supporting service improvement and stimulating economic growth.

The Government has significantly increased the amount and type of public sector information released. Twenty-three out of 25 commitments by central government, due by December 2011, had been met by that month. However, the assessment of value for money is underdeveloped. While the Cabinet Office has identified six types of potential benefits from open data, it is not yet using this framework to evaluate the success and value for money of its various transparency initiatives. The new Open Data Institute will have a role to improve evidence on economic and public service benefits of open data, although the range and scope of its work is not yet clear.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: "Opening up access to public information has the potential to improve accountability and support public service improvement and economic growth. What the Government is lacking at the moment is a firm grasp of whether that potential is being realised. If transparency initiatives are to be more than aspirations, then Government needs to measure and monitor both their costs and benefits. This is vital for tracking success and learning what works."

CSC has enjoyed mixed fortunes in its recent history with the UK public sector. CSC’s relationship with the government has been erratic, from being attacked in the commons, to winning new contracts

while still experiencing fallout from past failures.

Today employees from CSC belonging to the union Unite took to the streets in protest against redundancies from the UK government’s cancelation of CSC’s NHS IT project. The protest today is just the latest in a long line of negative stories stemming from CSC’s patient records project with the NHS.

While 500 staff face layoffs from the failure of one project, CSC have won a new £400 million contract to provide back office services with the Ministry of Defence. Other recent successes included the renewing of large numbers of extensive contracts with high profile companies including Transport for London, John Hancock Financial Services and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Despite the negative news today surrounding job cuts as the result of the damaging failure of the NHS project, CSC had announced only earlier in the week of its success in winning the MoD contract. The move was met by surprise from many, including analysts, because of the history of the NHS contract. CSC have now moved into final negations in order to finalise the contract which is expected to be completed by mid-May. The company successful bid for the MoD contact against HP Enterprise Services, who had expected by many to win the contract,

The results of the NHS project had seen CSC widely condemned throughout Whitehall. The chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Margaret Hodge had only recently attacked the company in failing to provide “functional” software to the NHS. The recent news of the MoD contract attracted further criticism of CSC from the PAC, with MP Richard Bacon, saying "In my opinion it is regrettable that CSC has been awarded more government work," in an interview with Computerworld UK.

The huge failure of CSC’s NHS project been highly costly for the company and has attracted many detractors from within Whitehall, however it is apparent that CSC has proved itself in many other business arenas, winning extensions on contracts and implementing programs successfully within the UK. The company has enjoyed increased growth with new business awards totalling $4.1 billion, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier. The MoD awarded the contract to CSC due to its ability to meet the stipulations of the programme at a competitive cost.

CSC has come to a crossroads in its turbulent relationship with the UK government. In winning the MoD contact, CSC now faces irrevocably destroying their public sector business prospects in the UK if it fails to deliver on the project, or win the opportunity to erase their past public sector failings, by delivering the project successfully.

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