Industry news

  • 12 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    The cuts, which come on top of up to 900 job losses announced in June, were immediately attacked by Unite as "butchery" of the company's UK workforce while the jobs were exported to different locations abroad.

    Nearly 4,000 jobs have now been shed at HP in the UK over the past two years, with the figure now set to rise to nearly 6,000 by next April, Unite said.

    HP forced Hurd to resign after private settlement Peter Skyte, Unite national officer, said staff morale had hit rock bottom following "quarter after quarter" of redundancy rounds. "It is becoming impossible for the workforce to work while they have an axe continuously over their heads," he said. "Morale has slumped and it is affecting productivity."

    He added: "Lax employment protection in the UK compared to other European countries means that the UK is bearing the brunt of the cuts, as it's quicker and cheaper to sack UK people and export their jobs abroad."

    The world's leading personal computer manufacturer announced in June plans to cut a further 9,000 jobs worldwide as it made a $1bn (£680m) investment in fully automated data centres, although the full impact on UK jobs was not known until Monday.

    Mr Skyte said: "It's not exactly a recipe for efficiency and productivity. It's been nearly five months between the worldwide announcement and the [latest] UK one."

    Unite refused to rule out strikes over the latest job cuts. HP staff who are members of the PCS union and working on government contracts walked out on a two-day strike in March this year in a row over job security and pay. Mr Skyte said: "All action will be considered including industrial action."

    Alex Lock, an employment partner at Beachcroft law firm, said HP was acting within the law when it came to moving the jobs offshore. "Lots of companies are basically shipping off some parts of their basic workforce functions to countries like India and Africa."

    He added the trend had "accelerated" during the recession as businesses were under pressure to cut costs. "You can get people there [overseas] to do essentially the same tasks, or provide the same technical facilities, but pay them a 10th of what you'd pay them over here."

    Last year HP cut more than 700 jobs in the UK as part of a worldwide reduction of 5,700 workers. The job losses were on top of the company's previous plan to reduce its global headcount by 24,600 and shrink its wage bill by 5pc.

    In a statement about the latest job cuts, the company said: "HP is in consultation with the appropriate representative bodies within the UK regarding potential workforce changes which were announced June 1st, 2010. This is an initiative to transform HP's enterprise services business to benefit clients through new offerings and improved service delivery."

    HP has about 304,000 staff in about 170 countries.

    Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8057334/Hewlett-Packard-to-cut-1300-UK-jobs.html

  • 12 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    According to Indian diplomatic sources, New Delhi will use its place at the high table of the world's leading powers to push for UN reform to reflect the rise of growing powers like itself, Brazil and South Africa.

    India will take up its place on the 15 member council as a regional representative of Asia following a vote at the United Nations General Assembly. It will join its ally South Africa, Colombia and two countries out of Germany, Canada and Portugal.

    All four of the 'BRIC' countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China, the world's fastest growing economies – will sit together on the Council for the first time, strengthening the hand of the world's growing powers.

    Pranab Mukherjee, India's finance minister and second most powerful figure in Indfia after the prime minister, last week intensified New Delhi's campaign for a permanent seat at the Security Council and a shake-up of the global power structure which emerged following the second world war.

    During a visit to Washington last week, he said:"I do hope that as and when the expanded Security Council along with the general reforms of the United Nations take place, India's claim for being a permanent member of the Security Council will be considered and accepted."

    India's former foreign secretary and High Commissioner to London Lalit Man Singh said his country will now use its influence, along with its allies, to intensify the pressure for reform.

    "The Security Council needs reform. Permanent membership went to the victors of the Second World War but so much has changed since then. It should reflect the reality of 2010 not the reality of 1945.

    "India joining the Security Council takes us a step closer to permanent membership, things are looking hopeful," he said.

    Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8056489/India-to-be-given-place-at-UN-top-table.html

  • 12 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    Becta, the government body in charge of ICT in schools, will see its research, procurement and interoperability work transferred to other parts of government next year, following the announcement in May that the body will be closed down.

    Becta said that it expects to make an announcement later this month, when negotiations with the Department for Education and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills are concluded.

    “There has been some notification in a general sense that certain functions of Becta’s work will be transferred, such as procurement,” explained a Becta spokesperson.

    “And there is still a need for the research we were doing, as well as the work that is being done on interoperability – but at the moment we’re looking at which elements of that project work will be transferred.”

    Becta has also been involved in researching how the Systems Interoperability Framework standard could work in practice in the UK education sector.

    The spokesperson added that negotiations between Becta, the Department for Education and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills are in the final stages.

    “We’re in talks with staff and unions and will have a more definite idea of functions that are transferring at the end of October 2010,” the spokesperson added.

    Source: http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2271298/becta-confirms-government#ixzz129WJuO5j

  • 12 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has opened a consultation process about its ideas for a new code of practice for sharing personal data between companies and organisations.

    The move comes in the wake of a number of high-profile incidents where personal data has been lost, leaked or stolen by among others local councils. In fact, the NHS is said to be the worst offender in the public sector.

    “We want citizens and consumers to be able to benefit from the responsible sharing of information, confident that their personal data is being handled responsibly and securely,” it says.

    The UK privacy watchdog has in response issued a draft of what it says could become a model for best practice on handling personal data by public, private and the Third Sector.

    The ICO says organisations that handle personal data are invited to offer their comments on the draft code, which would be strictly voluntary if any suggestions go beyond the main UK legislation on the topic at the moment, the Data Protection Act.

    Suggestions include criteria on when or if personal data should be shared at all, when and how individuals should be told about such sharing, the appropriate security and staff training measures that must then be put in place and spells out what rights an individual asking to access such data ought to have.

    The draft code aims to clear up somewhat murky areas like one-off requests for data and how they should be handled – e.g. when a school passes information about a child to a social services department or a GP sends a patient's record to a hospital.

    The priority must be that citizens' and consumers' rights under the Data Protection Act are respected, stresses the Commissioner. this can cause serious harm.

    The consultation runs until the start of the New Year.

    Source: http://www.publictechnology.net/sector/ndpbs/ico-looks-new-way-protect-our-data

  • 12 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC joined a number of rivals in launching new handsets with Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 OS on Monday, a feat HTC's CEO says came together very fast.

    The business behind the Windows Phone 7 launch, including negotiations for network operators to offer handsets or win exclusive handset deals, was the result of cooperation.

    "I'll say everyone cooperated very fast," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, during a press briefing in Taipei ahead of the Monday launch.

    He declined to say what role Microsoft played in negotiations with network operators but did say that the business of the Windows Phone 7 OS, including advertising costs, will be borne by operators, handset makers and Microsoft, together.

    The three groups each have a stake in seeing the new operating system succeed.

    "We Chinese really value partnership and we have been partners with Microsoft for many years and this relationship is valuable," said Chou. He said he values Microsoft's strong software capabilities and assets as well as its marketing power.

    "Microsoft is a powerful company," he said.

    One area where larger smartphone makers such as HTC diverge from smaller phone makers when it comes to Windows Phone 7 is on the licensing fee for the OS. Google's Android mobile software is licensed freely, a factor that has made handset makers large and small build handsets. But some smaller companies, including Innocomm Technology of Taiwan, say the can't be bothered paying a licensing fee to Microsoft for Windows Phone 7 when there is an excellent alternative in Android.

    Chou said,"I don't think the licensing fee posture is a critical factor" for his company.

    It's more important to build handsets around major OSes, he said. Consumers can decide which ones they like.

    "Right now we have Windows Phone 7 and Android, and focus the same on each, but let the market decide," he said.

    He said HTC does not plan to offer any additional Windows Phone 7 handsets this year beyond the five announced Monday. Next year, the company will launch more but he doesn't have a specific number in mind yet.

    The Windows Phone 7 OS "is very smooth, it really has its own style." With the Microsoft mobile Office suite, Xbox Live and Zune music software on board, he said it offers "a very attractive package."

    Source: http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/3243825/htc-joins-rivals-in-launching-new-handsets-with-new-windows-phone-7-os/

  • 12 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    In these hard financial times, more and more organisations are looking at outsourcing to take advantage of lower infrastructure costs along with lower wages.

    Malta is rapidly becoming one of the many nearshoring destinations for companies aiming to cut costs by bringing their technology and business processes closer to home. In order to promote Malta as the cost-effective choice for ICT operations, the Maltese Ministry for Infrastructure Transport and Communications recently hosted a promotional seminar in association with the National Outsourcing Association.

    Many organisations are realising that there is a value in keeping outsourced work close to where the business generally is especially for many companies who are tentative about their initial outsourcing deals. Big names such as HSBC, Crimsonwing and Lufthansa Technick are already taking advantage of Malta’s world-class ICT infrastructure, SmartCity media park, bilingual workforce and various tax benefits.

    Three years after the announcement of one of the most ambitious projects in its country’s history, SmartCity Malta officially opened last month based on the successful clusters of Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village.

    The MITC is hoping that the SmartCity will spur development across many sectors and create a high-tech eco-system, bringing in a minimum of 5,600 jobs with links to Dubai and the rest of the world.

    Malta has some serious competition from Eastern Central European countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary who are becoming increasingly popular as other nearshore destinations. These nations have been working hard to gain a slice of the market and offer businesses a ready supply of high-quality, low cost labour.

    Growth in Poland in particular has surged. Last year Poland was the only member of the European Union which did not fall into recession during the financial crisis with 1.6% growth. Its total exports also climbed 21.23% to $135 billion.

    At the seminar, Jin Choi, SmartCity Malta Executive Director of strategy and business development, said: “Malta is the most cost effective English speaking base to serve EU customers. Quality does not get compromised with Malta. The value and the quality which SmartCity will bring lies in its network of opportunities, market opportunities and technology updates.”

    Malta has a full imputation tax system through which tax paid by companies qualifies for a refund, which is usually equivalent to 6/7s of the tax paid and tax credits are equivalent to between 30% and 50% of investments.

    Commenting on his nearshore experience, David Walsh, CEO at the international IT solutions company Crimsonwing, said: “We have been fortunate enough to experience extremely low attrition rates, which has helped us to offer clients a great deal of continuity on projects. Crucially, the Malta centre has also allowed us to negotiate some of the typical offshore barriers, such as travel time, culture and language differences, all of which have helped us to compete in this competitive global marketplace.”

    Choosing between nearshore destinations can be difficult however by continuing to focus on expert service areas, cost savings and the promotion of SmartCity, Malta will continue to grow and become a viable and attractive alternative in the sourcing industry.

  • 11 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    India's Tata Communications is offering cloud based computing infrastructure services in India, with plans to extend the services to other markets including the US, Europe, Singapore and South Africa. The new InstaCompute service, launched on Thursday, takes advantage of Tata Communications' investment in global communications infrastructure, managed services, and data centres, Vinod Kumar, president and COO of Tata Communications said at a press conference in Mumbai.

    The company has for example a global IP (Internet protocol) network that spans six continents with 150 nodes, and covers both developed and emerging markets, he said. It has also invested 20 billion Indian rupees ($451 million) in data centres in India and abroad.

    The infrastructure services that will be offered include compute services, data transfer services, and storage services. The company has already run beta tests of the service with seven clients in India and one each in Singapore and South Africa. The pay-as-you-use pricing model will free capital that companies can invest in core areas of their business, Kumar said.

    The company has started with a public cloud model, and plans to expand the offering in the first half of next year to include private clouds as well, said David Wirt, global head of managed services at Tata Communications. The company will also consider offering hybrid and community clouds, he added.

    The current public cloud can be offered as a private cloud to customers that use Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), he added. Applications that customers already run on their own infrastructure will be moved to the cloud if it is based on standards and runs on popular operating systems like Windows and Linux, Wirt said. The company may acquire hardware like servers and storage from customers on a case-by-case basis, he added.

    The service will be offered in India and Singapore this year, with similar services offered in the US and Europe by next year. Tata Communications also plans to offer the services in South Africa.

    Tata Communications has also tied up with Google for Google Apps. Its InstaOffice offering to customers will include Internet-based online office collaboration tools like e-mail and chat, and office document applications. The company already offers customer relationship management, contact centre and content storage and management applications through a hosted model.

    Besides online sales through a dedicated website, Tata Communications will work with channel partners, and also engage in some direct sales, Kumar said. Users will have a web-based view of the service they are getting, and its cost, besides being able to provision services, he said.

    A number of Indian telecommunications service providers in India are offering hosted applications and related services to customers with an eye to leveraging their large investments in infrastructure.

    SOURCE: http://www.cio.co.uk/news/3242973/indian-outsourcer-tata-offers-cloud-computing-services/?olo=rss

  • 11 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    Customised desktop virtualisation builds on Citrix Xen Desktop

    Wipro Technologies has introduced Desktop as a Service (Wipro DaaS), a technology aimed at providing users with a range of differing desktop experiences according to their particular needs. The new service, which has been announced in partnership with Microsoft, is based on Citrix's XenDesktop and FlexCast technologies.

    The beta service, which has been designed for specific vertical sectors, such education, manufacturing, banking and healthcare, will become generally available in the first quarter of next year.

    The software can either be hosted at Wipro's datacentres or within the user organisation itself. Its appeal is going to be in saving IT departments of the need to customise each desktop for individidual users' own needs, by offering a plug-and-play, pre-configured set-up. The system would enable desktop virtualisation to be implemented with little capital cost.

    Microsoft's director technology communications server and tools business, Patrick O'Rourke said that the system would incorporate Microsoft's own VDI Premium Suit, which in turn is based on Citrix Xen Desktop to help customers to virtualise, manage, stream and remotely display applications. "It will enable organisations to speed up VDI deployment, delivering appropriate desktops to each user."

    In a statement, Deepak Jain, Wipro senior vice president, technology infrastructure services (TIS) said ""Customers are looking for virtual desktop and virtualized application solutions that allow for a modular approach at a low operating expense (OPEX). We see a need to simplify the deployment and management of desktop virtualisation."

    Wipro said that pricing had not yet been decided for the new service.

    Source: http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/infrastructure/3243398/wipro-and-microsoft-launch-virtual-desktop-offering/

  • 11 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    The government is wasting money by failing to take advantage of its size and credit rating to get the best deals from its suppliers, a billionaire retail tycoon said Monday in a government-commissioned report.

    The Conservative-led cabinet, which plans next week to announce 83 billion pounds of spending reductions over the next 4-5 years, said the report showed that greater efficiency could help soften the impact of spending cuts.

    Philip Green, whose Arcadia Group owns the Topshop clothing chain, was invited in August by Prime Minister David Cameron to study government efficiency. He focussed on procurement of goods and services like computers, travel, print and office supplies and the management of the government's property portfolio.

    Green's review, details of which will be published later on Monday, concludes the government has consistently failed to make the most of its scale, buying power and credit rating.

    "The conclusion of this review is clear -- credit rating and scale in virtually every department has not been used to make government spending efficient," said Green. "There is no reason why Government should not be as efficient as any good business."

    The review found that the data on where and how the government spends its money was of poor quality, the cabinet office said in a statement outlining its main findings.

    A lack of a centralised approach to buying goods and services has allowed departments to pay hugely different prices for the same items.

    The Conservative-led coalition government took office in May, ending 13 years of Labour rule. It frequently accuses Labour of mismanaging the economy and leading the country to the brink of economic ruin.

    "The scale of the waste uncovered by Sir Philip and his team is staggering," Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said in a statement. "His review shows that for too long there has been no coherent strategy to make government operate more efficiently."

    "Every pound that we can take out of the cost of government is a pound we can protect on the front line. Our over-riding aim is to protect the quality of front line services and to protect the jobs of dedicated public sector workers."

    SOURCE: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE69A0EE20101011

  • 11 Oct 2010 12:00 AM | Anonymous

    Sainsbury’s grew its online sales by a quarter in the three months to 2 October, as the firm continued investing heavily in its supply chain and other systems.

    The supermarket said that it had also outgunned arch rivals including Tesco in terms of total sales, with a 2.9 percent increase including in-store revenues.

    The online growth was attributable to “continued record levels of service and availability”, Sainsbury’s said in a statement.

    Sainsbury's signs contract with CA for monitoring softwareSainsbury’s IT efficiency improvements deliver as profits rise 11%

    In May, the supermarket had stated specifically that “continued improvements in IT, supply chain and store-picking processes” had helped online growth.

    Sainsbury’s expanded its online business last year when it started selling 8,000 non-food products via the internet in July. It is also trialling a ‘click and collect’ service in 10 stores from May 2010, allowing people to order online and collect in-store.

    Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s implemented the Spectrum Infrastructure Management solution from CA to support its online shopping supply operations. The software is intended to promptly notify the supermarket of any online ordering problems.

    The supermarket also has a five-year deal with IBM to manage its supply chain systems.

    Source: http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/it-business/3242861/sainsburys-online-sales-jump-25-as-it-invests-in-supply-chain/

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