Industry news

VeriSign has acknowledged that it was hacked "repeatedly" by external entities who stole undisclosed information.


 According to Reuters, the previously unconfirmed breaches occurred in 2010 at the Virginia-based company, which is responsible for ensuring the integrity of Web addresses ending in .com, .net and .gov.

The PlayStation boss will replace Howard Stringer at a crucial time for the consumer electronics giant.

Sony has confirmed that PlayStation boss Kazuo Hirai will be the company's next chief executive. He will take over from current CEO Howard Stringer in April, with Stringer assuming the role as chairman of the board of directors.

The move comes after weeks of speculation – and following a challenging business period for the consumer electronics veteran. The company is facing its fourth consecutive annual loss, and stock value has dropped by more than 50% since Stringer became the company's first non-Japanese CEO in 2005.

Capita plc has acquired Smiths Consulting Ltd for a cash consideration of £10m on a cash free, debt free basis, with a further contingent consideration of up to £2m based on profit performance over the next two years.

Smiths Consulting is a SAP consultancy that specialises in delivering business change enabled by technology .The company has a strong customer presence in markets that include government, aerospace, telecommunications and finance.

The acquisition will enhance Capita's existing in-house SAP consultancy capabilities by creating a core hub of expertise and resource.

Smiths Consulting's employees are spread across the country and its business operations are located in Newcastle, with additional offices in London and Chelmsford. The business has 52 direct employees and is supported by 150 associates.

AstraZeneca to cut a further 7,300 jobs This is AstraZeneca's third restructuring programme since 2007.

Anglo-Swedish drugs maker AstraZeneca has announced a further 7,300 job cuts over the next two years as part of a new restructuring programme.

The GMB Union has said 250 to 300 of the cuts will be in R&D at the firm's site in Alderley Park, Cheshire.

It also said there would be unspecified back office cuts at other UK sites.

Serco Group plc, the international service company, announces that it has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to provide training and support to the British Army prior to deployment on operations around the world.

Known as the Contemporary Operating Environment Force (COEFOR), and awarded by the British Army's Headquarters, the contract will start in April 2012. Including an option year, the contract has a total value to Serco of approximately £55m through to December 2014.

Under the contract Serco will provide critical pre-deployment training including essential language, culture and operational environment skills, and will create realistic training conditions to prepare UK military forces for deployed operations primarily in Afghanistan, but also worldwide. To deliver the programme, Serco has created new partnerships with a number of small and medium sized enterprises to supply some of the specialised training services.

Vodafone and Teleperformance, a UK leader in outsourced customer services, have announced a new strategic partnership which will see Teleperformance taking on some of the work currently managed at Vodafone’s Newark contact centre.

This new partnership will see the transfer of 207 roles in three of Vodafone’s specialist operations team to Teleperformance. This will mean continuous employment for these individuals with the same terms and conditions.

Teleperformance has been chosen for their experience and expertise as a leader in the provision of customer services in the business sector.

The partnership underlines the importance of Vodafone’s operations in Newark and our commitment to provide the best service for all business customers.

Alistair Niederer, CEO of Teleperformance said: “This will be a true collaboration with Vodafone and the partnership will ensure a great future for the Newark contact centre and the services we can provide for business customers. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues over the coming months.”

The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) major BMC Software has announced that it is set to acquire Numara Software, a provider of integrated IT management solutions for medium-sized businesses. The transaction is expected to be closed by BMC’s fiscal fourth quarter, which ends on March 31. However, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Post acquisition, Numara will offer different BMC products like FootPrints and Track-It!, which also complement BMC’s existing portfolio. This strategic move on the company’s part will supplement BMC’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business, and also provide BMC the access to more than 13,000 service and asset management solution providers that enable IT organisations to improve the services they offer end users.

North Lanarkshire Council has announced the completion of a successful customer data cleansing and matching exercise to transform the quality of its citizen records and improve customer service efficiency for citizens contacting the council.

In a council-wide improvement project pioneered by the council to create a complete view of all citizen information, North Lanarkshire Council turned to Experian QAS and The Improvement Service to analyse thousands of customer records from across the council, including council tax and housing benefit information.

Swiss outsourcing company DKSH is preparing to list on the Zurich stock exchange and the Asia-focussed firm has picked bank UBS as lead manager, Swiss newspaper TagesAnzeiger reported on Wednesday.

DKSH, Switzerland's largest privately-held company, helps Swiss and European companies gain a foothold and grow their business in fast-growing Asian markets.

Plans to outsource core council services and dozens of staff to a private firm have been confirmed after it was called in for scrutiny.

Hartlepool Borough Council is to transfer about 65 staff from its revenues and benefits departments to a private sector firm selected as the preferred bidder for the contract.

The plans had originally been backed in December. Details of the 7-year contract are currently confidential.