• Atos Origin Awarded French Biometric Passport Project

  Jun 27, 2008 | Contracts by Rachael Stormonth
  industry: Federal/Central Government

  Atos Origin and biometric identity systems provider Sagem Sécurité have been awarded a contract by France's National Secure Credentials Agency (ANTS) to manage the implementation and deployment of a new fingerprint biometric passport system throughout France.

  Services to be provided by Atos Origin within this project include:

  • Implementation of 5,000 Sagem Sécurité data acquisition systems and processing systems in 2,000 French town halls and 350 prefectures and sub-prefectures before June 2009
  • Change management
  • Training of 13,000+ agents
  • Development and implementation of remote, paperless payment solutions.

  SAFRAN subsidiary Sagem Sécurité has 3,800 employees in over 24 countries, and annual revenues of c. €600m. It provides technology for:

  • Biometric identification systems
  • National ID cards, driver licenses, e-passports and e-visas
  • Smartcards (SIM, bank cards, ID, health care),
  • Biometric terminals.

  Analyst comments:

  This is a significant national project with an ambitious time frame of under a year for deployment, training and change management.

  Sagem Sécurité is expanding geographically: it has just acquired Dutch-based passport and secure ID document maker Sdu-Identification BV and has also made an unsoliticed proposal to acquire the secure ID business of Digimarc Corp for $300m.

  The national ID document market continues to grow, driven by international regulations such as the U.S. Visa Waiver Program which has stimulated directives for biometric passports in a number of European countries in recent years. In the near future, digital facial and fingerprint images will be implemented in all European passports. Middle East kingdoms are also implementing biometric ID systems: those to date include Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Qatar. There will eventually be worldwide biometric-enabled supported border controls

  With this contract win, Atos Origin joins a group of IT services providers well postioned for future opportunities in EMEA around national biometric ID programs. This group includes:

  • The following contractors in the U.S. EAGLE ID/IQ contract vehicle who have a significant European presence: Accenture, CSC, EDS, IBM, Unisys
  • Siemens IT Solutions & Services (SIS), who has been engaged in passport projects in Switzerland, Croatia (2006) and Czech Republic (2007).

  Meanwhile, in the U.S. the DHS published in May a RFI on behalf of the US-VISIT Program for services providers to conduct market research to provide recommended technologies and approach appropriate for a biometric land exit solution.

• Accenture Announces Fiscal Q3 2008 Revenues Up 20% to $6,102.1m

  Jun 26, 2008 | Financial Results by John Willmott
  

  Accenture has announced fiscal Q3 2008 revenues, for the period ending 31 May 2008, of $6,102.1m, an increase of 20% (+12% in constant currency) compared to fiscal Q3 2007.

  Fiscal Q3 2008 revenues (and revenue growth) by operating group were:

  • Products $1,611.0m (+26%) (+19%)
  • Communications & High-Tech $1,387.8m (+16%) (+7% in CC)
  • Financial Services $1,302.9m (+18%) (+8% in CC)
  • Resources $1,037.8m (+22%) (+13%)
  • Public Service $756.3m (+19%) (+13%)
  • Other $6,185m.

  Fiscal Q3 2008 revenues (and revenue growth) by geography were:

  • EMEA $3,031.6m (+23%) (+11%)
  • Americas $2,527.1m (+17%) (+14%)
  • Asia Pacific $543.4m (+19%) (+6%).

  Fiscal Q3 2008 revenues (and revenue growth) by service line were:

  • Consulting & SI $3,701.1m (+20%) (+12% in CC)
  • Outsourcing $2,400.9m (+20%) (+12%).

  New bookings in fiscal Q3 2008 were $6.77Bn, with consulting & SI bookings of $3.98Bn and outsourcing bookings of $2.79Bn.

  Revenues for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 increased 19% (+12% in CC) to $17,387.3m. Revenues for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 (and revenue growth) by operating group were:

  • Products $4,522.9m (+24%) (+18%)
  • Communications & High-Tech $4,038.9m (+19%) (+11% in CC)
  • Financial Services $3,756.1m (+16%) (+8% in CC)
  • Resources $2,912.3m (+21%) (+13%)
  • Public Service $2,139.8m (+11%) (+6%)
  • Other $17,179m.

  Revenues for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 (and revenue growth) by geography were:

  • EMEA $8,705.7m (+23%) (+12%)
  • Americas $7,169.7m (+14%) (+11%)
  • Asia Pacific $1,511.9m (+27%) (+16%).

  Revenues (and revenue growth) for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 by service line were:

  • Consulting & SI $10,511.2m (+19%) (+11% in CC)
  • Outsourcing $6,876.1m (+19%) (+12%).

  Analyst comments:

  Accenture has defied the credit crunch by reporting accelerated revenue growth in both its fiscal Q3 2008 (12% in constant currency compared to 9% in constant currency) and the for first nine months of its fiscal 2008 compared to fiscal 2007 (12% in constant currency compared to 10% in constant currency).

  This growth is driven by strong overall performance and transformational positioning by Accenture rather than trends within specific sectors or geographies. The company achieved increases in revenue growth in fiscal Q3 2008 across all reported operating groups, geographies, and service types with the two exceptions of:

  • Financial services, where revenue growth decreased from 12% in constant currency in fiscal Q3 2007 to 8% in fiscal Q3 2008
  • Asia Pacific, where revenue growth decreased from 37% in constant currency in fiscal Q3 2007 to 6% in fiscal Q3 2008.

  Accenture's new bookings have also increased, with bookings for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 up 12% to $19.13Bn. Perhaps surprisingly, the strengthening in order growth is more pronounced in consulting & systems integration services, where Accenture views SOA as a key driver, up 16%, than in outsourcing services, up 7% in the first nine months of fiscal 2008.

• HP Awarded 5-Year IT Infrastructure Management Contract Renewal by Ericsson

  Jun 25, 2008 | Contracts by Eamonn Kennedy
  industry: Hi-Tech & Electronics

  HP has been awarded a five-year IT infrastructure management renewal by Ericsson. The original contract was signed in 2003.

  Services to be provided by HP under the new contract include:

  • Application hosting
  • Helpdesk
  • Desktop support
  • Output services.

  Approximately 1,000 Ericsson personnel transferred to HP as part of the original deal in 2003.

  Analyst comments:

  With the acquisition of EDS by HP underway, this renewal for HP shows that the company has been able to renew one of its larger outsourcing clients in EMEA as scheduled.

  Separately, Ericsson announced that it has also renewed its application management deal with IBM, a contract that dates from the same time as the original infrastructure deal with HP.

• TCS Awarded $11.5m Tax Administration Systems Integration Project by Uganda Revenue Authority

  Jun 24, 2008 | Contracts by Rachael Stormonth
  industry: Federal/Central Government

  Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been awarded a $11.5m contract by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to design and implement an integrated tax administration system to manage all domestic taxes and duties in Uganda, including income tax, value-added tax and excise duties. URA has received financial support for the project funding from DFID of the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium.

  The system will comprise:

  • A suite of tax administration applications including registration, returns, payments, assessment, tax-payer accounts, audit, compliance, objections, appeals and investigations
  • A citizen portal.

  As part of the project scope TCS will also provide a HRMS, document management system and case tracking system.

  Analyst comments:

  This contract is a good example of TCS penetrating the central government sector outside India as a prime contractor.

  A number of Tier 1 Indian IT services vendors are targeting new opportunities in Africa. The focus is on those countries in the African continent that are likely to see significant economic growth within the next decade, fuelled by their natural resources (China is investing heavily to gain a stake in these resources).

  These Indian vendors perceive with emerging African countries they have the competitive advantage of a good cultural affinity.

• MindTree and Sopra Awarded 3-Year Application Management Contract by ArcelorMittal

  Jun 19, 2008 | Contracts by Dominique Raviart
  industry: Other Process Manufacturing

  MindTree and Sopra have been awarded a 3-year application management contract by ArcelorMittal for its Western European operations.

  Seventy per cent of activity will be from global service delivery.

  Analyst comments:

  The takeover of Arcelor, itself the merger of three firms based in Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and France, by Indian firm Mittal Steel has changed the IT strategy of the firm. The company is moving fast to Indian sourcing. ArcelorMittal has also awarded an application management contract to Satyam.

  While Sopra will be providing front-office services, it is acting as a subcontractor to MindTree. Also of interest is the selection of MindTree, a second-tier Indian vendor with limited credentials in Europe.

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