Industry news

The first is just a way of getting somebody else to wield an axe you should wield yourself. If the service isn't adding value, don't provide it. If you need the service, you can cut costs yourself instead of paying an outsourcer to make a profit.

The latter is dangerous. Narrowing your areas of specialisation increases the risk of your company's obsolescence as technologies, vendors, or even your own customer markets shift. Focusing on core technologies or applications leaves you highly vulnerable to threats from competitors who adopt new technologies. What happens to your IT department when a core application becomes obsolete? Or if your business has to shift into new markets that need very different applications, or different implementations of those you have?

Too many IT departments focus on optimising performance, forgetting that their real objective is to make the business perform better. What most of them need is more room to experiment, try new technologies, try new applications, try new solutions, seek out new customer market opportunities and find ways to grow the business.

Use outsourcing to free up your resources for these tasks. Active sunsetting of old systems is critical, so use outsourcers to complete end-of-life projects cheaply and quickly. Press your IT shop into setting up white space projects-an approach to innovation in which people have permission to experiment in search of new value-added solutions and are given resources to prove the viability of such solutions.

Know which new technologies you need to deploy before you have to and get out of spending on legacy systems so you can be ready. Always keep your attention on doing the next big thing.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9188820/Outsourcing_for_the_Right_Reasons?source=rss_news

Capgemini Consulting, the global strategy and transformation consulting brand of the Capgemini Group, in cooperation with the Georgia Institute of Technology and global logistics provider, Panalpina, today announced the findings of the 15th Annual Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Study, examining the global market for 3PL services. The report reveals that 3PLs continue to provide important strategic and operational value to shippers throughout the world. However, significant uncertainty about the global economy has impacted spending, with an average of 11 percent of company sales revenues devoted to logistics, and an average of 42 percent of that directed to the outsourcing of logistics services, a decrease of 10 to 15 percentage points from recent years. At the same time, 65 percent of shippers reported an increase in the use of outsourced logistics services relative to total logistics services, suggesting that while outsourcing may have increased, expenditure on 3PL services overall has decreased.

The 2010 Third-Party Logistics Study is based on almost 1,900 responses from both shippers and logistics service providers in regions including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, and also provides an in-depth look at the life sciences and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries. It reveals continued progress and improvement in the shipper-3PL relationship, with 89 percent of shipper respondents overall viewing their 3PL relationships as generally successful and 68 percent indicating that 3PLs help provide them with new and innovative ways to improve operations. However, the report’s findings show that shippers continue their tendency to outsource transactional, operational and repetitive activities and less so those that are strategic, customer-facing and IT-intensive despite a large proportion of 3PLs offering more advanced services.

“Many shippers regard logistics and supply chain management as key components of their overall business success. Increased use of outsourcing and high satisfaction levels suggest that 3PLs can certainly take some credit for helping shippers to weather the economic storm,” said Dr. C. John Langley Jr., Professor of Supply Chain Management, Georgia Institute of Technology. “Despite a challenging environment, 3PLs have an opportunity to continue to mature and grow by offering an increasing number of value-added services for shippers.”

One of the critical capabilities most highly valued by shippers in their 3PL provider is accurate reporting and analysis of total landed cost (TLC) – the sum of all costs associated with making and delivering products to the point where they produce revenue. The benefits of solid TLC calculations include more agility and confidence in decision making, better insight into the financial performance of products and partners and improved supply chain visibility. However, despite the relatively high number of shipper respondents reporting an extensive use of TLC (45 percent), the precision and level of detail of those calculations differ widely.

Calculating the TLC of materials and finished goods is not always an easy task. Difficulty in defining all the factors contributing to total cost, and then obtaining all the necessary data, can be challenging. Too often, businesses rely on only partial data or inaccurate estimates that can lead to incorrect results, with 58 percent of 3PLs reporting a hesitance from shippers to share information with them. That might be the reason why, despite the high value of TLC calculations, just 23 percent of 3PL respondents reported providing extensive TLC analysis to their customers. This level of interaction requires a high level of trust, and considerable discussion is required among 3PLs and their customers to better understand the factors, roles and KPIs to be used in a shared end-to-end calculation effort.

“TLC enables companies to capture both the obvious and hidden costs associated with product movement, revealing the true cost of sourcing and logistics decisions,” said Dennis Wereldsma, Global Transportation Sector Lead, Capgemini. “Transforming from basic to more sophisticated TLC application requires C-level leadership, process change and systems transformation. However, while TLC is highly important, because of the complexities, TLC adoption must be approached as an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary process.”

Spotlight: 3PL in the Life Sciences Industry- Within the Life Sciences industry, careful and expedient handling is often critical for product safety and because of this, control and visibility is essential. Logistics challenges here include product integrity and compliance requirements, an inherently complex trading partner ecosystem and demanding customer service and cost requirements. 54 percent of life sciences shippers surveyed felt the complexity of the supply chain model represents a significant challenge, but 87 percent felt 3PLs could add significant value here by linking together the various different parties involved. In addition, 62 percent of shippers within the Life Sciences industry cite ensuring product quality as a significant challenge and rank quality procedures highly (70 percent) as a service they want 3PLs to provide. Shipment visibility, quality and compliance procedures, stringent inventory control, temperature control capabilities and security are important steps to ensure product integrity, prevent counterfeiting and ensure safe delivery, and momentum is moving towards the use of RFID tags here. Indeed, around half of shipper and 3PL respondents agree that there is a strong business case for RFID in Life Sciences.

Spotlight: 3PL in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry- Large volumes and low margins mean FMCG companies must respond quickly to deliver in-demand, on-trend products to increasingly demanding shoppers. After cost reduction, FMCG companies’ biggest priorities for logistics include perfect order fulfillment (87 percent), rapidly sensing and responding to changes in consumer demand (83 percent) and shortening new product time-to-market and supply chain integration (81 percent). Also, as sustainability grows in importance for consumers, shippers’ interest in strategies such as improving shipment density and load utilization has also increased. Shippers within the FMCG industry value the role 3PLs play here as well as with reducing costs and dealing with supply chain disruption although are less likely to see 3PLs playing a key role in shortening new product time-to-market and supply chain integration. FMCG shippers’ efforts to reduce logistics costs include warehouse and transportation sharing. Two-thirds of those engaging in these strategies have recognized cost savings but this has been limited, with 52 percent of respondents recognizing less than 5 percent cost savings.

“The differences in the priorities reported by shippers in the Life Sciences and FMCG industries show how important it is for 3PL providers to provide industry specific solutions and to work closely with their customers to really understand their needs and provide the best possible service, ultimately helping contribute to their overall business success,” said Sven Hoemmken, Global Head of Sales, Panalpina.

About the 2010 Third-Party Logistics Study- 1,879 logistics executives from both 3PL users and providers in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, as well as other regions and geographies, participated in the 2010 Third-Party Logistics Study via a web-based survey. The findings were supplemented with a significant number of focus interviews with industry observers and experts, primarily relating to the special topics identified for this year. A facilitated workshop was also conducted where shipper participants collaborated on shared issues to help provide a better understanding of the survey’s results and to gain their valuable perspective as 3PL users.

About Capgemini- Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Capgemini provides its clients with insights and capabilities that boost their freedom to achieve superior results through a unique way of working, the Collaborative Business ExperienceTM. The Group relies on its global delivery model called Rightshore®, which aims to get the right balance of the best talent from multiple locations, working as one team to create and deliver the optimum solution for clients. Present in more than 30 countries, Capgemini reported 2009 global revenues of EUR 8.4 billion and employs 95,000 people worldwide.

More information is available at www.capgemini.com.

Source:http://www.uk.capgemini.com/news/pr/pr2144/

Crossrail has identified potential savings worth hundreds of millions of pounds.The company building a new line across London will reveal today that it can point to significant possible savings over the construction of stations in the West End and the City as well as the main tunnels, due to be built from late next year.

An insider revealed that hundreds of millions of pounds could be shaved from the £15.9 billion budget when Crossrail presents the Government with an updated delivery cost estimate by the end of the year. Since January, the company has put every facet under review and has identified station design and tunnelling as key areas where savings can be made. Canary Wharf station has been redesigned, along with Whitechapel, with savings of £30 million. Light fittings, lifts, escalators, signs and other components will be standardised.

One source said: “Crossrail is looking to save several hundred million on the new stations alone. Everything is getting looked at to see where savings can be found, including the major tunnel contracts, and this is putting pressure on the construction industry to drive down costs. Major infrastructure schemes such as Crossrail will be scarce for the next few years and there is a huge amount of competition to win work from Crossrail.” Executives are confident that the railway will survive deep spending cuts expected to hit the Department for Transport in the spending review. However, they are acutely aware of the political imperative to keep costs down. Since April, the biggest companies in London have paid a supplementary business rate of 2p in the pound to raise £3.5 billion over the next 30 years. The DfT has pledged £5.1 billion, Transport for London £2.7 billion, Network Rail will undertake works worth £2.3 billion and BAA, the airports operator, £230 million. So far, £2 billion has been spent on a project first mooted in the 1990s, shelved by the Conservatives, then revived by Labour.

The Government and the Mayor of London are publicly committed to Crossrail.

Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, said: “Obviously the budget is under constant review ... but we want to see this project delivered in its entirety.”

Terry Morgan, the Crossrail chairman, said: “Sensible efficiency savings will be made at every opportunity.” Crossrail and the DfT say that the railway must be built in full from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through 21km of tunnels beneath Central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. However, financiers predict that the extremities may be clipped to save money.The procurement of 60 trains will begin this year. The 200 metre-long, ten-carriage trains are expected to carry up to 200 million people in the first year of operation.

Source:http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/transport/article2741892.ece

Jane Storey, Deputy Leader of Suffolk County Council has issued an interesting response surrounding the reaction to their decision to outsource:

Sir, We are not planning to outsource or sell off services to the private sector (“The great council sell-off. Everything must go”, Libby Purves, Sept 27). What we want to develop in Suffolk is a new model for public services in which the community and citizens play a much more active part in supporting themselves and each other. So we are working with local community groups, town and parish councils, voluntary groups, social enterprises, co-operatives and with our staff to develop new ways of service delivery.

Divesting services to these kinds of organisations and groups of individuals will strengthen local communities and build a bigger society — straightforward outsourcing will not. Building community capacity is fundamental to meeting the financial challenges in the public sector and is one of the three key themes underpinning our new model.

Second, we are not planning — as Unite has claimed — to reduce to a core of 200-500 employees, or any number close to this.

We know that building community capacity at the same time as our funding from central government is reduced will be difficult. But we believe that unless we change the way our services are delivered, we will be less able to support Suffolk residents through the coming years.

Jane Storey

Deputy Leader, Suffolk County Council

Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article2744436.ece

Home business groups are urging the government and other authorities to stop using staff numbers as eligibility criteria, saying the figures do not reflect the way small firms are growing. Some business support, mentoring and export programmes are available only to firms with a minimum of five staff, for example.

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, the advice network, said this ignored the benefits that digital technology had brought to entrepreneurs. “Home business owners are making the most of technology to outsource work and subcontract to other companies and experts. It’s a most modern way to grow, yet is not recognised in business support programmes and policy,” she said.

“We call on central government, enterprise agencies and business support groups to take action to ensure support schemes recognise outsourcing as a form of company growth, and allow for ‘increase in turnover’ as opposed to ‘increase in headcount’ as a factor in being eligible for support and grants or incentives.”

Ecademy, the networking site, will next month launch a manifesto for change called Digital Business Britain. It will demand that “large, influential institutions such as the banks understand that the measurement of a successful business is not employee headcount or office overheads, but can be measured in terms of network size, influence and sentiment”.

Source:http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/small_business/article403605.ece

Suffolk county council voted last week to contract out many of its services to the private sector, a step that will mean all but a few hundred of its 27,000-strong workforce losing their jobs. The Tory-run authority plans to redefine itself as an “enabling council”, employing only people to manage and monitor contracts with its private providers. Highways, libraries, children’s centres and even the council’s records office are expected to be offloaded during the first phase, due to start in April next year. Jeremy Pembroke, the council leader said “bold, imaginative” thinking was necessary to cope with the 25% cut in the council’s £1.1 billion budget that is expected to follow the government’s comprehensive spending review next month.

The public service union Unison was outraged. It said the council had “leapt headlong into a gamble with services and jobs” in its rush to slash more than £300m from its budget and claimed service providers would be unaccountable to voters. The plan has implicit backing from the Conservative party in Westminster, though. Last year, in opposition, David Cameron told the Local Government Association that councils might do “literally whatever they like, as long as it’s legal” to cut outgoings. The plans also resemble proposals made in the 1980s by the late Nicholas Ridley, then a Tory minister. He said councils should have just one annual meeting “to award all the council service contracts to private firms”.

Suffolk is just one of a number of Tory-led councils to announce radical privatisation plans in recent years. Brighton and Hove council is to start restructuring its services in November, outsourcing them to the voluntary sector where possible. In August last year Barnet council in north London announced plans to sell off libraries and outsource elements of its environmental health and planning departments in an attempt to cut £15m a year in spending. The plans were dubbed “easyCouncil”, because householders would be able to pay supplementary fees for improved services, much as the budget airline easyJet charges for extras: applicants could pay extra to jump the queue for planning permission, for example.

Other creative cost-cutters include the Labour-led Islington and Camden councils, which announced plans this month to share a chief executive. This is small fry compared with some measures taken by US authorities. In an attempt to fend off bankruptcy, the Californian city of Maywood announced in June that it was laying off its entire workforce, disbanding the police force and handing services to the Los Angeles county sheriff and the nearby city of Bell. City spokesmen have boasted about the radical changes. “We’re on the cutting edge here. We’re the tip of the spear,” said Magdalena Prado, Maywood’s community-relations officer. Prado works for the city as a contractor.

Source:http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Comment/article403536.ece

Accenture has signed a five-year application outsourcing agreement with DnB NOR (OSE: DnB NOR ASA), Norway’s largest financial services group, to develop, implement and manage a range of applications that support the company’s life and pension insurance operations in Norway. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Accenture will support new and existing applications that manage DnB NOR’s defined-contribution pension plans business, including policy administration applications. The agreement is designed to help DnB NOR improve service for its customers and drive growth in a key sector, while reducing information technology (IT) costs.

“In the defined-contribution business, high-quality financial advice and deep asset management expertise are critical,” said Runar Holen, Executive Vice President at DnB NOR and Business CIO of Vital, DnB NOR’s Life and Pension company. “While Accenture delivers world-class application support for our operations, we can stay focused on providing innovative products matching our customers’ needs within the ever-evolving retirement savings plans market. Accenture’s proven track record of 20 years in application outsourcing and its understanding of the pension industry make it an ideal business partner.”

“By outsourcing its application development and management to Accenture, DnB NOR can be even more focused on addressing its customers’ needs and more cost-effectively managing their defined-contribution plans,” said Martin Fuhr Bolstad, a senior executive in Accenture’s Financial Services group. “Accenture and DnB NOR have been working together for more than 15 years and we look forward to continuing to help DnB NOR strengthen its position as a leader in the Norway life and pension market.”

About DnB NOR

DnB NOR is Norway’s largest financial services group with total combined assets of NOK 2 076 billion. The Group consists of strong brands such as DnB NOR, Vital, Nordlandsbanken, Cresco, Postbanken, DnB NORD and Carlson. For more information about the Group, please visit our websitewww.dnbnor.com

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 190,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Accenture is committed to being a good corporate citizen – dedicated to minimizing its environmental impact and helping individuals around the world get jobs or build businesses. The company generated net revenues of US$21.58 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2009.

Source: http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5063

lcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced a multi-million USD contract with Etisalat Lanka, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates-based Etisalat, to significantly boost its GSM/EDGE (2.5G) network capacity and coverage and build its first 3G HPSA+ (3.75G) wireless all-IP broadband network.

Alcatel-Lucent will be the sole supplier of an end-to-end solution, including the converged radio access, a new all-IP mobile packet core network capable of supporting 2G, 3G and LTE (including next-generation subscriber data management and end-to-end policy control), a full end-to-end IP transport solution and related professional services. In total, 480 GSM/EDGE (2.5G) sites and 515 3G HPSA+ (3.75G) sites will be deployed as part of the contract. Alcatel-Lucent’s solution also includes a MiTV™ application that will enable Etisalat Lanka to offer advanced mobile broadband and multimedia services such as mobile interactive television and video to over 3 million subscribers and businesses in Sri Lanka.

By transforming the network to IP, Etisalat Lanka is building a network that can intelligently deliver new personalized multimedia services to its business and consumer users. This network will also leverage IP to offer scalable bandwidth to accommodate the anticipated surge in mobile traffic and provide the foundation for the seamless future introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

“Alcatel-Lucent’s solution and support will help us expand our network and introduce the innovative wireless services that our subscribers are expecting,” said Mr. Sanath Pilapitiya, CTO of Etisalat Lanka. “Our ongoing relationship with Alcatel-Lucent and their experience in both wireless and IP along with an optimized total cost of ownership were among the key reasons we selected them as our sole supplier”.

Thanks to the company’s in-house IP and wireless capabilities, Alcatel-Lucent’s customers can build on its High Leverage NetworkTM (HLN) architecture which addresses the dual challenge of simultaneously scaling and managing network capacity to meet increasing bandwidth demands while delivering differentiated, revenue-generating services at a lower overall cost.

“Our expertise and our experience in deploying advanced wireless networks both in the region and globally will help Etisalat Lanka to deliver high-speed wireless services that will continue to drive economic development in the country,” said Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Asia-Pacific.

Alcatel-Lucent is a leading player in the wireless infrastructure market having deployed more than 350 commercial wireless networks worldwide. The company is also a world leader in the design, deployment, management and integration of networks.

About Alcatel-Lucent’s solution for Etisalat Sri Lanka

Alcatel-Lucent will provide a full end-to-end solution including its IP-based converged radio access network (2G/3G/4G RAN), mobile next-generation network (NGN) and transport solution that will enable the operator to expand his GSM/EDGE network and introduce W-CDMA. Alcatel-Lucent will also provide a comprehensive set of professional services - including civil works, network planning, radio design and operation and maintenance optimization.

The solution includes the installation of Alcatel-Lucent’s Base Station Subsystem (BSS) together with Twin TRX that doubles GSM/EDGE base-stations’ capacity to meet the requirements of users in high-density urban environments, and offers a wider coverage range making it well suited for less populated rural environments. It is complemented by Alcatel-Lucent’s W-CDMA Radio Access Network which is full IP with a distributed Radio Remote Head solution that easily fits into existing base stations, providing a high quality of service. The solution is field proven and has a large track record in high-quality networks. Alcatel-Lucent’s state of the art Packet Microwave technology will provide service differentiation and a high quality of service, ready to carry next-generation mobile traffic.

Alcatel-Lucent will also deploy its 7750 Service Router (SR), 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR), 5620 Service Aware Manager, as well as its 9500 Microwave Packet Radio for mobile backhaul. The 5780 DSC provides the 3GPP policy charging and rules function (PCRF) function that allows mobile operators to create and deliver new, innovative, and personalized services to their subscribers with scale and velocity. The Alcatel-Lucent portfolio of IP/MPLS products delivers a strong foundation on which a family of packet solutions for mobile networks is delivered. These solutions support reliable, scalable, future-proof, cost-efficient and fully-managed transport allowing mobile operators to take full control of their network and quickly enable the delivery of advanced, revenue-generating new services.

Alcatel-Lucent is also upgrading the current Home Location Register (HLR) system to subscriber data management (SDM) which caters to other types of future subscriber management applications such as Mobile Number Portability, Home Subscriber Server (HSS) for IMS.

Alcatel-Lucent also provides MiTV, an application which offers personalized content, live broadcast TV and made for mobile TV channels that support a broad spectrum of video and multimedia services such as on-demand content, broadcast TV and multi-party video gaming.

About Etisalat Sri Lanka

100% owned subsidiary of Etisalat UAE, who is the world’s 13th largest telco operator with subscribers exceeding 107 million worldwide. Etisalat UAE is on a very sound financial footing with S&P recently upgrading their rating to AA-/A-1+ and Fitch reaffirming their rating to A+ .

With the entry of Etisalat into Sri Lanka and re-branding of the Sri Lankan operation as Etisalat in February 2010, the name Etisalat has become a household name in the Sri Lankan market. The local company, Etisalat Lanka with the support and guidance of the giant parent telco of UAE is making in-roads into the telco market shares in Sri Lanka. Locally one of the most efficient and dynamic operators, Etisalat Lanka will continue to grow in strength whilst contributing to the economic growth of the country too.

This current expansion will take the company’s network coverage to be the best in the country including the North & east. Further the company will also be launch a 3G network with superior technology (HSPA+) and coverage to serve all Sri Lankans.

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris.

Source:http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4w3MfQFSYGYRq6m-pEoYgbxjgiRIH1vfV-P_NxU_QD9gtzQiHJHR0UAAD_zXg!!/delta/base64xml/L0lJayEvUUd3QndJQSEvNElVRkNBISEvNl9BX0U4QS9lbl93dw!!?LMSG_CABINET=Docs_and_Resource_Ctr&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=News_Releases_2010/News_Article_002204.xml

Voice Commerce, an innovative financial services group, is today announcing an agreement to provide payment and mobile money services to mobile operators through Alcatel-Lucent's (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) Mobile Wallet Service (MWS).

Mobile service providers can now deliver fully regulated end-to-end financial services, with the capabilities enabled by this agreement. Voice Commerce, which recently launched its Cashflows® services, operates various financial services under licences covering the provision of payments, e-money services and is a membership of both Visa EU and MasterCard. This offering places mobile operators at the centre of mobile commerce because they can offer secure, regulated financial transactions to their customers.

This global offer is particularly well suited to mobile service providers in emerging markets where the mobile phone is used to deliver financial services, as it will enable them to meet the needs of those customers with a broader range of services such as mobile remittances and payments. The MWS can also be deployed in developed markets where consumers are interested in using the mobile phone for payments, coupons and loyalty programs.

The market for electronic mobile wallet services is growing fast and Gartner Group predicts it could reach $245 billion in value by 2014. Edgar, Dunn and Company predicts that mobile wallet users will reach 1.4 billion by 2015. Nick Holland, senior analyst, M-Commerce, Yankee Group commented: "We expect mobile payments to be an area of significant growth over the next few years as consumers are won over by the convenience, speed and security of paying by phone."

"Together with Alcatel-Lucent and mobile operators, we see the opportunities for consumers to manage their every day financial needs with their mobile phone,” said Nick Ogden, CEO of Voice Commerce. “At Voice Commerce we have focussed on developing new, innovative and regulated services, and this, coupled with the recent launch of our Cashflows® services, we believe will support mobile operators in delivering new services to their customers. Voice Commerce with Alcatel-Lucent’s MWS, enables mobile operations to accelerate their "go to market" offer of electronic wallet services, as all the financial services requirements and technical capabilities are delivered as an end-to-end service.”

“Our goal is to provide a complete mobile money eco-system for the mobile operator,” said Anthony Belpaire, general manager, Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Wallet Service. “For fast adoption of services across existing point-of-sale terminals, our customers need compliance with e-money licensing schemes and interoperability with global payment networks. Voice Commerce provides a unique market accelerator to make MWS a complete solution for mobile operators “

About Voice Commerce Group

Many of the innovations and standards used in internet, electronic, mobile and emerging e-money payment systems since the emergence of the commercial Internet in 1994 were developed by the team at Voice Commerce Group, including the creation of the Internet and Mobile Payments Guarantees, in 2001 and 2010 that protect businesses and cardholders from fraud.

Companies within the Voice Commerce Group are authorised by the UK Financial Services Authority under the Payment Services Regulations and provide a range of payment, electronic, and mobile money services.

Voice Commerce is a Principal Member of VISA and MasterCard and has contractual service relationships with American Express and other payment schemes where it operates as a principal. Voice Commerce Group is required to maintain appropriate financial capital adequacy. Group and certain outsourced operational services are delivered to the PCI DSS Level 1 standard. For further information please visit: http://www.voicecommercegroup.com

About Cashflows®

Cashflows® delivers a range of business to business financial services that are provided from a single account, designed to help businesses manage and maximise their cashflow. The Cashflows® account enables businesses to offer their customers a full range of payment options including retail, online, mobile and e-money payments. The Cashflows® account is fully integrated into the e VoicePay® mobile money service which delivers guaranteed transactions. For further information please visit: www.cashflows.com

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris.

Source:http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd4w3MfQFSYGYRq6m-pEoYgbxjgiRIH1vfV-P_NxU_QD9gtzQiHJHR0UAAD_zXg!!/delta/base64xml/L0lJayEvUUd3QndJQSEvNElVRkNBISEvNl9BX0U4QS9lbl93dw!!?LMSG_CABINET=Docs_and_Resource_Ctr&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=News_Releases_2010/News_Article_002206.xml

The union representing city Water Department employees says the City Council will put jobs at risk and lose control over the city's water rates if it approves an agreement with a private company to run its water, wastewater and recycled water systems.

"Our members have mounted a campaign to speak in opposition to what they want to do," said Tom Ramsey, a supervising labor representative for the San Bernardino Public Employees Association.

The council at a 4 p.m. workshop today will consider selecting American Water to run its water services, and to authorize a council subcommittee to enter negotiations with the company.

Ramsey said he is concerned that any proposed contract with a private company would not necessarily protect what he estimates are about 25 department workers the union represents.

A final request for proposals from the Rialto Utility Authority earlier this year said the agency that takes over the department would be obligated to extend offers of employment to current personnel with a guaranteed term of 18 months.

It also said the offers would include competitive salary and benefits subject to the agency's standard terms of employment, and the agency wouldn't be required to hire or pay city personnel after the 18 months.

"There's no guarantee that those safeguards will be in the contract," Ramsey said.

The union has produced two fliers slamming the potential agreement as a move that would not only cut jobs and cause uncontrolled rate increases, but also a loss of quality customer service.

Councilman Ed Scott, who, with Councilman Joe Baca Jr., sits on the subcommittee overseeing the proposed transaction, said Monday he was disappointed with the union's officials, adding that he doesn't believe they have been acting in good faith on behalf of their employees.

"Folks are not going to lose their jobs. That's an absolute untruth," Scott said. "That doesn't mean they are going to have a job with the city of Rialto necessarily."

Scott said American Water has conducted similar transactions with other municipalities, and the company suggested that as the employees leave the public sector for the private, the deal could potentially mean better pay and benefits.

American Water also has mentioned that the transaction could result in an additional nine jobs, Scott said.

Scott and Ramsey disagree over the implication of American Water wanting the department's employees to fill out applications for the company.

"That's applying for a job. That's not (the company) taking them," Ramsey said.

Scott said the application process allows the company to conduct background checks on the employees.

He said that for those employees who do not want to work for the company, the city would consider allowing them to transfer to the maintenance division of Public Works, where several retirements are coming up at the end of this year.

Scott warned that if the city doesn't find ways to downsize its government, there will be future layoffs anyway.

Officials have expressed concern about what they say are the growing costs of maintaining the city's water and wastewater systems.

Sluggish tax revenues and retirement enhancements set to kick in next year are just some of the economic difficulties that are spurring the city's leaders to scrape up cash wherever they can.

Officials are aiming to get a big payoff at the outset of the agreement to fund an immediate overhaul of the water systems.

City Administrator Henry Garcia said the workshop will include a broad comparison between the department's finances and the potential deal with American Water.

"We're looking to gain a partner while still maintaining ownership of the asset," Garcia said. "We (retain) control in the setting and collection of the rates. We're looking to transfer the operation, maintenance and compliance risks to American Water."

Garcia said the city also would keep its water rights, and there would likely be an option for both sides to terminate the agreement.

Source:http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/news_display/1271617350.html