Industry news

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) has been told by the UK government that it will not get a revised NHS IT deal from the UK government worth up to £2 billion.

As a result, the US IT services firm has warned investors it will potentially get no deal at all. This may mean CSC will now have to write off £1 billion invested in the National Programme for IT in the NHS to date. CSC has withdrawn its financial outlook for fiscal year 2012.

British Waterways has selected SCC to be its sole provider of integrated IT across the entire infrastructure, as a result of the need to transform and improve the services delivered by technology, in addition to ensuring operating costs are as low as they possibly could be.

“We have to respond to pressure for the smartest, fastest and greenest solutions””The transformation journey proposed in its Strategic Review 'A Vision for the Future of Our Canals and Rivers', impacts every area of the business. It has also influenced the decision to review how technology is delivered back to the business to achieve value for money, performance improvement and flexibility.

The fully managed and hosted service includes the support and maintenance of the PC infrastructure, desktop support, Data Centre server hosting, an ISO 20000 certified service desk, Microsoft application support and network security. The supporting SLA goes beyond measuring performance levels, to include relationship management, the success of ongoing transformation and the value of advice in strategic terms.

Callidus Software Inc. has announced it has acquired the leader in next-generation marketing automation and lead management, LeadFormix.

LeadFormixLeadFormix is the leader in next-generation marketing automation software: Marketing Automation 2.0. LeadFormix delivers a game-changing real-time marketing automation solution that converts anonymous online visits into qualified sales leads, determines website visitor interest and intent, and enables sales teams to reach decision-makers more effectively and close deals faster using patented business intelligence and data mining technology

"Every CEO on the planet wants more, faster, and better quality sales leads. Investment in the best, most innovative sales and marketing tools is a number one priority for all businesses. More qualified leads means more deals, and more deals means better Sales Performance," said Leslie Stretch, President and CEO, CallidusCloud.

Samsung Electronics has agreed to buy out Sony's entire stake in their liquid crystal display (LCD) joint venture.

The Korean electronics maker said it will pay Sony 1.08tn won ($939m; £600m) in cash for its stake.

The move comes as Sony has been restructuring its TV business, which has been making a loss for the past seven years.

Bournemouth Council is on track to pay one private firm £18.94million of taxpayers’ money a year, the Daily Echo has reported.

The council has signed deals with Mouchel, or is preparing to sign deals, that put 13.7 per cent of its £142million budget into the firm’s hands.

Lincolnshire Police Authority has selected security firm G4S as a preferred bidder for a £200m outsourcing contract to provide services to support front line policing.

The deal – the first of its kind in the UK – will see middle and back office functions provided by the company for the next ten years. It is likely that further forces will follow suit.

Serco is set to win the East England NHS Trust partnership contract, worth up to £400 million.

In March 2011, the contract to operate the Anglia Support Partnership was offered up for tender. The contract was valued at between £75 million and £400 million. The tender document revealed that ASP turns over £34 million a year, and owns assets worth £3.8 million.

BNP Paribas has implemented Oracle Exadata Database Machine to manage electronic trading floor data.

Electronic trading floor data volume is based largely on volatility, and 2011 has been a volatile year for financial markets. BNP Paribas' data warehouse manages billions of messages in real-time processing a Terabyte of raw data daily. A half-rack Oracle Exadata Database Machine has helped BNP Paribas better manage this data growth and improve system performance.

EarthLink, Inc, a leading IT services and communications provider, has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the IT Solution Center and hosted application business from Synergy Global Solutions.

The IT Solution Center is comprised of a Help Desk, Network Operations Center, and remote technical management and support across a wide range of networking and operating system platforms. EarthLink has also acquired Synergy's cloud-based application service, which provides end-to-end hosted IT capabilities for the environmental services vertical market. Under the terms of this agreement, EarthLink acquires relationships with approximately 120 Value Added Resellers (VARs) that currently sell the Solution Center and hosted application services.

"With the close of this strategic acquisition, we intend to leverage the Solution Center's competency providing leading-edge IT support services and rapidly expand these nationwide in combination with our cloud, security and network connectivity solution to our customers," commented Brian Fink , EarthLink Executive Vice President of Managed Services. "Adding such a skilled and seasoned team, with years of IT services expertise, will be a major benefit as we integrate this offering into our managed services portfolio."

A union fears conditions for civilian staff at Lincolnshire Police could be "eroded" when half transfer to a private company.

In a cost-saving deal thought to be the first of its kind, the police authority is awarding a £200m 10-year outsourcing contract to security firm G4S.

G4S said staff would keep their existing terms and conditions when they transfer on 1 April.

John Gooding, chairman of the Unison branch at Lincolnshire Police, said: "Our members will transfer on their current terms and conditions but as they retire, leave or voluntarily change jobs, then you can dilute the terms and conditions and the working conditions that people do a job under. So gradually it can be eroded - things that we have negotiated over the last 40 years."