Industry news

Visa Europe has taken a minority stake in leading customer insight group, Beyond Analysis. The investment will strengthen Visa Europe’s data analytics capabilities and forms part of its strategy to deliver increased value for consumers, retailers and banks through electronic payments.

A key feature of Visa Europe’s data analytics is that all cardholder information is anonymous and does not include personal or private details.‬

Peter Ayliffe, President and CEO of Visa Europe said, “This investment in Beyond Analysis reflects Visa Europe’s commitment to redefining its relationship with retailers, helping them to build stronger relationships with customers and secure increased market share. Enhanced data analytics forms a key part of our vision for the future of payments alongside new technology such as mobile payments and e-wallets.”

Fujitsu has announced Hybrid Cloud Services for Microsoft Windows Azure, an extension of its global cloud portfolio and its relationship with Microsoft. The offering enables government and enterprise customers to benefit from hybrid cloud solutions and in doing so achieve operating cost reductions of typically 30% or more.

Hybrid Cloud Services gives organisations choice when they embark on a cloud strategy, putting their workloads and data wherever it is most appropriate for them –in a public, private, or mixed environment. The solution helps companies address the challenges of interoperability, data security, governance and compliance when delivering across multiple platforms.

“Our research shows public sector organizations in most countries are concerned about data security,” said Frank Gens, chief analyst, IDC. “Providing options to meet this concern could open up a much larger market for public cloud services and in our opinion is definitely a trend to watch.”

Luton Borough Council is to outsource its ICT services through a partnership agreement set up with the Luton Learning and Community Partnership (LLCP) through which, Civica, a market leader in specialist IT systems and business process services, will provide ongoing support to the Council. The 10-year agreement, worth more than £34 million to the company, is part of a broader programme to deliver cost savings in total of £12.6 million.

Effective from 14 November 2011 ‘Project Genesis’ will see LLCP, for which Civica is an IT partner, deliver all core ICT operations for the council in order to achieve savings and enhance services including ICT-based innovation to change access to and use of local services. The partners will also set up a new programme management office to support and focus Luton’s transformation initiatives in order to secure further savings.

Councillor Robin Harris, Deputy Leader Luton Borough Council, said, “This programme will enable us to improve front line services without additional cost. The transfer of Luton’s ICT service to the partnership provides a strong basis for creating IT-based savings and at the same time seeking improved service delivery to meet local residents’ current and future needs.

“We’re particularly excited that the partnership’s service centre model will concentrate work in the town to help support the local economy and jobs.”

India-based ICT and business process outsourcing company Wipro Technologies plans to set up a strategic delivery centre in South Africa that will create job opportunities for about 1000 skilled professionals over the next three years.

Wipro currently has an office in Johannesburg, and has around over 500 employees, both onsite and offsite, servicing its clients in the region.

According to a statement this week, the company says it views South Africa as a market for potential growth and has created a special structure to drive global presence and business growth in the region.

"South Africa's IT end-user spending, as a portion of real gross domestic product (GDP), will reach 8.6% in 2013," said Wipro Technologies senior vice president Manoj Punja. "This positions the country at the upper-middle level of IT spender nations within emerging markets."

The privatisation of public services has been branded a scandal by unions who say that leaked tender documents reveal that the opening-up of the prison system to competition is "heavily biased" in favour of private firms.

The Ministry of Justice has introduced competitive tendering for five jails as ministers seek to expand the role of the private sector. They claim that competition will result in more efficient services and a better deal for the taxpayer, but unions fear that it will result in widespread redundancies, poorer working conditions and reduced pensions for workers.

Bank of America has announced plans to cut 150 jobs at MBNA in Chester but create up to 1,000 new posts in a global technology and operations centre.

Another 100 jobs will be lost from the MBNA base in Ireland. In October, Bank of America Europe Card Services, which operates the MBNA brand, started a collective consultation process in Chester, where it has 3,200 staff. Around 400 job losses were forecast at the European credit card division.

Capita’s library division announces it is to support the UK’s first fully integrated university and public library.

The Hive project, a library and history centre bringing together Worcestershire County Council and the University of Worcester, has selected Capita’s library management system (LMS) to manage a range of library services. This will benefit over half a million citizens and over 9,000 students who will have access to more varied and numerous resources than ever before, including books and journals as well as local historic collections.

The LMS will allow the project to provide improved library facilities for users, with intuitive services such as a fully integrated catalogue and extensive self service features including payment of charges via kiosks. The single catalogue will allow citizens and students to join the service online, request items online and receive notifications via email and potentially SMS.

It will also enable efficiency savings to be realised by automating some of the back office processes such as managing interloan requests or enabling individuals to join the library.

Salesforce.com, the enterprise cloud computing company has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Model Metrics, a mobile and social cloud consulting services company.

Model Metrics has more than 500 customers, including Blue Shield of California, Heidrick & Struggles, and Standard Register. With its focus on disruptive mobile technology, Model Metrics has completed more than 1,000 Salesforce deployments for companies of all sizes, including some of the Fortune 100.

George Hu, COO, salesforce.com, said: “We are thrilled with the incredible response from customers and partners to the social enterprise vision. The addition of Model Metrics’ mobile and social expertise will accelerate salesforce.com’s ability to lead the shift to the social enterprise and empower partners to develop their social enterprise practice."

UK’s largest LTE trial network launches to explore the technology before national introduction

O2 today will switch on the first 4G (or LTE - Long Term Evolution) network in the capital, offering a unique glimpse into the future of superfast mobile broadband. The trial, which will run for the next nine months, will see O2 equip hundreds of consumers, businesses and venue owners with the latest 4G technology and give exclusive access to the first and largest urban 4G network in the UK.

Over 25 4G sites will go live across London this month, covering a combined area of 40 square kilometres, between now and summer 2012.The network will stretch from Hyde Park to The O2 in Greenwich and has been carefully designed to cover key areas of the capital, including Canary Wharf, Soho, Westminster, South Bank and Kings Cross.

Intel Corporation and MasterCard Incorporated has announced a multi-year strategic collaboration to further enhance the security and consumer payment experience for online shopping.

The collaboration will combine MasterCard’s expertise in payment processing and commerce with Intel’s strengths in silicon innovation and chip-based security. It is designed to provide more options for a safer and simpler checkout process for online merchants and consumers using Ultrabook™ devices and future generations of Intel-based PCs.

“Our goal is to enable users of Ultrabook devices and future generations of Intel-based PCs to enjoy the convenience of e-commerce while making online payments safer from malware and hackers with the advanced security capabilities of Intel Identity Protection Technology,” said George Thangadurai, general manager of PC Client Services Division, Intel Corporation. “Online commerce is a key focus area for Intel, and through this partnership with MasterCard, we intend to deliver an innovative, personalized and safer e-commerce experience to consumers.”