Industry news

Insurance firm – Motaquote – is closing a number of its offices as work is increasingly carried out through its call centre and online.

The firm is closing its Welsh offices in Aberdare, Cwmbran, Ebbw Vale, Mountain Ash, Neath, Risca and Treorchy because of falling footfall. Less than half of Motaquote’s turnover was from its branch network last year, as the contact centre and online channel increased share of total sales.

Two Atos Healthcare employees are being investigated over allegations they made inappropriate remarks on Facebook about the people they assess for sickness and disability benefits.

One employee commented: "Oh god another day here with the down and outs arggggg!" And: "Well that's the end of my holidays! Back to work tomorrow with the down and outs I suppose..."

And: "Thank god it's Friday last day in this god forsaken place with the down and outs!"

The company told us: "Atos Healthcare is investigating the claims made about inappropriate comments written by one of its healthcare professionals on a social media website. Atos Healthcare is committed to providing a high quality, professional service to the DWP and expects the same of all its employees. Where it is found that these standards are not adhered to, this is taken very seriously and appropriate disciplinary action taken."

Dell’s investment in differentiated enterprise solutions and services continued to drive substantial gains in the company’s profitability in the fiscal second quarter as operating income rose significantly on a 1 percent revenue increase.

Dell’s mid-market design focus on next-generation computing solutions and intelligent data management; services, security and cloud; and end-user computing is driving the shift in the company’s mix to a higher-value portfolio and resulting in sustainable, improved results. The company’s GAAP operating income of 7.7 percent of revenue year to date and 7.3 percent of revenue over the past four quarters is in line with its long-term value creation framework goal of more than 7 percent.

-Revenue in the quarter was $15.7 billion, up 1 percent over last year and 4 percent sequentially.

-GAAP earnings per share was 48 cents, up 71 percent; non-GAAP EPS was 54 cents, up 69 percent. Vendor settlements resulted in approximately $70 million in benefit in the quarter that increased non-GAAP gross margins 50 basis points and non-GAAP earnings per share by 4 cents.

-GAAP operating income was $1.1 billion, or 7.3 percent of revenue. Non-GAAP operating income was $1.3 billion, or 8.5 percent of revenue.

-Cash flow from operations was $2.4 billion for the quarter and $5.2 billion over the last four quarters. Dell ended the quarter with a record high $16.2 billion in cash and investments and repurchased $1.1 billion in stock in the quarter.

Vineet Nayyar, chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (SCS), has commented on the impact of the U.S. credit-rating downgrade on the information technology services industry.

Vineet said: “The impetus to send work to lower cost destinations will be even more. Still, these are uncertain times.

‘‘The U.S. has always run a deficit -- that is not new. The act of a downgrade doesn’t worry me at all. In the short term, there will be some negative sentiment because of this. But I would only worry if the fundamentals have changed, and that hasn’t happened.”

Infosys Ltd has said that it is facing a "challenging environment," as the Indian software services exporter's main outsourcing markets--the U.S. and Europe--remain weighed by a spiralling debt crisis and slowing economic growth.

"We are definitely in a challenging environment today, but we clearly believe that the strategic direction we are taking and the operational changes we are making today will make us stronger," Chief Operating officer S.D. Shibulal, who will take over as the new chief executive officer on Aug. 21, told analysts in a conference.

Under the Coalition government, more academies will be opened than in the first 8 years of the programme. More than 1200 schools have now applied to become academies - publicly funded independent schools, free from local authority and national government red tape.

Not only are academies free to deliver the curriculum they see fit, they are now in full control of the purse strings…with great power comes great responsibility. Funding is falling, yet standards need to be raised. A difficult conundrum. How will academies get the most out of their allocated funding?

Companies such as Capita have already stepped into the breach. “Capita will deliver what we need to the benefit of both pupils and employees at the schools, while also meeting today's budgetary challenges," said Gerald Meehan, strategic director for children and enterprise, at Halton council.

“By providing a robust and resilient IT infrastructure for the schools, we can free up their resources to focus on the most important aspects - supporting, teaching and learning."

I couldn’t agree with him more. Already around 900 schools have been declared ‘excellent’, and fast-tracked towards full academy status - there is a huge market opening up for outsourcing companies to rise to the challenge and make a positive difference.

Budget cuts means public sector investment is at its lowest for a generation; redeveloping existing school buildings, and erecting new ones, is not a priority. Yet local authorities are under pressure to create more pupil places. The private sector has money to invest, and is willing to speculate.

There are lots of vacant buildings out there that could be put to good purpose. Social enterprise academies, with private sector investment, could be a way to extend the education system’s capacity, without resorting to the dreaded class-size increases.

As competition opens up, and you get more choice in which school you send your child to, tracking pupils’ progress becomes ever more pertinent. Especially as funding levels might rely on how well a school is performing. ITO suppliers provide services that facilitate reliable, accurate data collection and reporting: making sure that your school gets the funds it deserves.

There are numerous other areas where private sector providers - who have the experience to get things right first time - can save money by eliminating the learning curve and being more efficient: catering, cleaning, information technology, security, the list goes on…

Outsourcing non-core activities allows a school to focus on its raison d'être. Teachers should not have to worry about procuring books and computers or getting the windows cleaned. They should be educating our children, and nothing more. Good teachers live long in the memory for how inspirational they were, not how well they collected in the dinner money! Teachers should spend their time teaching, lesson planning, marking work, and not worrying about admin.

Of course, the private sector has its usual pecuniary motive; a good outsourcing contract has got to be beneficial for both sides. If the private sector is to contribute an initial investment, providers are likely to insist on contracts of a sufficient length to allow them to make a profit long term. If schools are funded at a fixed amount per pupil per year, and outsourcing companies increase their fees there may not be enough to pay the teaching staff.

Equally, if teachers’ unions strike, leading to pay levels being raised, academies on tight budgets may struggle to pay the outsourcers. It’s about striking a balance - all National Outsourcing Association advice is based on relationship forming; building flexible contracts that move with the times, where all stakeholders stand to win. In the first instance, everyone needs to appreciate that they are a stakeholder, with something huge to win - a bright future for our children.

Richard Leslie, e-sourcing solutions manager at Due North, discusses the current issues facing SMEs that are keen to collaborate.

Collaborative working, at any level, is a challenge. This is particularly true when it comes to SMEs and the government.

An air of mystique surrounds the government’s procurement processes and this is arguably acting as a barrier to SMEs. From reams of paperwork and short, untenable timescales through to their complex selection criteria - there are a few things to deter SMEs from the outset, not to mention the time invested in putting together a worthy bid.

SMEs I’ve dealt with share the perception that the government has an established, closed list of contractors that they use time and time again, so the sentiment is very much ‘why should I bother putting together a bid?’ And with figures being bandied around - such as 80% of central government spend going to about 10-11 suppliers - it’s easy to see why this view persists. The status quo is very much the order of the day when it comes to procurement practice; with some procurement officers sticking to what they know and remaining blinkered to other players in the marketplace and the benefits they could offer.

According to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, SMEs account for 48.6% of private sector turnover. This emphasises the pivotal role of SMEs within our economy and the unplugged potential they could offer the public sector.

So what can an SME bring to the table? We all know that by opening up the market to SMEs, you can drive down costs and improve quality. SMEs also tend to have a greater affinity for change within the marketplace – they swiftly respond to technological advancements and innovate quickly. The management structure isn’t as convoluted as that found in larger organisations – you can expect to deal with key decision makers within the business who can offer a personable, tailored service. These are all strong plus points.

It has to be said that a void also exists when it comes to awareness of tendering opportunities. It’s clear that the government needs to engage with SMEs more effectively and strike up a meaningful dialogue with them. In the simplest of terms - the government needs to let SMEs know that they’re open for business.

Admittedly, the government has recognised that something needs to be done when it comes to its procurement processes. It launched its own Contracts Finder website in February to help SMEs locate suitable tendering opportunities. This facility, however, is still in its infancy and it would appear that not all of the government’s departments are making full use of the site. For a system like this to work, support has to come from everyone - otherwise it becomes another half-hearted attempt at initiating reform.

Departments are also now required to publish a set of specific targeted actions to increase their business with SMEs. Another measure laced with a veneer of positivity, but by no means quantifiable at this stage.

There was also the Lean review – a six week study of the government’s procurement process to identify and measure impact of waste in current processes. This led to the implementation of pilot projects where a ‘lean’ approach was mandated across all government departments. It will be interesting to see if this translates into additional tendering opportunities for local SMEs.

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, who leads on public sector efficiency and reform, stated that the government’s overall aspiration is to do 25% of its business with SMEs. Like so many issues facing the government at the moment, it’s clear that implementing new strategies and targets is one thing – seeing the results is another.

It’s not just about figures though - as I’ve seen from my dealings with SMEs, there needs to be a shift in mindset too. SMEs need to feel like welcomed bidders in the marketplace and that they’ve got something of value to offer. Current procurement practices tend not to foster this outlook.

Encouragingly, there has been a push for greater transparency in the sector which should hopefully prevent contracts from being awarded to a procurement officer’s ‘favourite’ supplier, and the new Bribery Act, which came into effect in July, reinforces this message.

There are examples of best practice out there when it comes to collaborative working. The London Tenders Portal is one such example. The portal is used by 15 of London’s councils, accounting for almost half of the capital’s boroughs. The system not only enables the boroughs to comply with the government’s directive on collaborative procurement - it helps them to engage more effectively with their SME base by consolidating opportunities in one place.

Representatives from the London boroughs also meet up every quarter to discuss the portal, its functionality as well as collaborative initiatives. To date, more than 17,500 suppliers have made use of the system, with over 1100 contracts being placed through the portal, totalling a value of £4.5 billion. This is a model for collaborative working and highlights how important it is for joined up thinking within the government – if enough people get on onboard a particular project, it transforms it into a success story for all the stakeholders involved.

SMEs want to collaborate – there are just too many bureaucratic hoops to jump through at the moment. Looking ahead, processes need to be streamlined and simplified. Crucially, the government needs to get the message out there to SMEs that tendering opportunities are available, only then will collaborative working across the private and public sectors become something of a success.

For more information about Due North, visit: www.due-north.com, twitter.com/DueNorthLtd or tel: 01670 597120.

Junior ISAs represent a great opportunity for banks and other product providers – but outsourcing is the way forward.

HM Treasury has recently announced that the limit for Junior ISAs (JISAs) will increase from £3,000 to £3,600 from 1st November. JISAS will work in the same way as an adult ISA, allowing children to shelter £3,600 a year from tax. Likewise, as with adult ISAs, money can be invested in cash or stock market investments.

Clearly, this is good news for UK consumers and for children in particular, as a JISA will not only streamline and simplify savings for younger people, but will also allow them to maximise their savings and teach them about financial responsibility from a very early age.

ISAs have proved to be a popular product with savers ever since they were first launched in April 1999, and savings and investment 'wrappers' like these continue to offer savings in terms of both income tax and capital gains tax. As such, JISAs could have an important role to play in helping younger people save for university or a deposit for their first home.

At the same time, JISAs also represent a very exciting opportunity for UK banks and other vendors. Firms that do not currently have a Junior ISAs proposition – or that will need to change their existing proposition to take advantage of this new increased limit – should consider outsourcing in order to bring these products to market very quickly. In fact, under an outsourced model, many firms could bring a Junior ISA product to market in less than six weeks.

When used in this way, not only will outsourcing avoid the need to review and alter your current internal systems, (which often struggle to adapt to the ‘new world’ of product lifecycles anyway), but it will also slash the time that it would take to modify existing product engines and policy administration systems in order to support these products.

With any kind of new financial services product, time-to-market is everything. So if outsourcing can provide a much-needed shortcut, then why not take it?

Shared services consortium overpaid contractors to the tune of £4.3 million following delays to an SAP-based automated payments system.

SouthWest One used a software program called SAP to pay the suppliers to Avon and Somerset Police, the county council and Taunton Deane Borough Council.

Delays in the automated system resulted in SouthWest One staff sending out cheques to prevent further delays.

The firm's spokesman said more than 95% of the money owed had been recovered.

Northern Ireland's Department for Social Development has awarded Atos Origin a contract to provide support services for benefits processing.

The deal will run for seven years with options to extend for a further three and is valued at £82.2m.

The business process outsourcing deal is for the delivery of medical services and supporting administration, but will also involve the implementation of IT systems to support the operation.