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Many users of managed services and larger outsourcing agreements are today looking for the inclusion of risk/reward in the contract they have with their providers. It is quite surprising to Butler Group how many providers are reluctant to offer this option, instead preferring a fixed fee for the service(s) delivered. However, the reality is that risk is being undertaken by both parties in an outsourcing or managed services agreement, and this risk can be carefully managed through risk-and-reward to be of…
Butler Group Review Articles - published 06/09/2007 - Maxine Holt
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Citrix, a leader in the world of server-based computing and Windows desktop and application virtualisation, last week signed a definitive agreement to acquire XenSource – itself an up-and-coming vendor in the realm of server virtualisation solutions. With its recent acquisitions in the areas of network acceleration and optimisation, client-server performance monitoring, and software streaming, Citrix continues to build-out a compelling end-to-end application delivery and access platform. Consequently, th…
OpinionWire Articles - published 23/08/2007 - Richard Edwards
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As predicted when the intended acquisition of GFI Informatique by Fujitsu Services was announced in May, commercial change in the European services industry has continued apace.
OpinionWire Articles - published 09/08/2007 - Alan Rodger
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Today, IBM announces the latest project in its multi-year effort to consolidate its once-sprawling IT infrastructure into a more manageable, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly IT service capability. This latest initiative has been named ‘Project Big Green’ by IBM, and is an ambitious project to consolidate some 3,900 applications onto approximately 30 System z mainframes. Although this is a logical continuation of IBM’s consolidation effort, one view of the catalyst for this particular project …
OpinionWire Articles - published 02/08/2007 - Rob Hailstone
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Over the last two months, Progress Software has issued a number of press releases around its capabilities in the Software as a Service (SaaS) market. Although Progress has had the capability to operate in this market for some time, these announcements suggest that the company now sees SaaS as an area with significant growth potential for its infrastructure software products, and is putting in place the partnerships to exploit this potential.
OpinionWire Articles - published 29/06/2007 - Rob Hailstone
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In the last few years, the use of outsourcing, managed services, and other variants of external services that fulfil IT or business functions has become mainstream, but the focus of industry-leading practice has shifted from the potential of these approaches to deliver solely cost reduction, to how they can add real business value.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 28/06/2007 - Alan Rodger
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Sterling Commerce Managed Services are Business-to-Business (B2B) infrastructure solutions allowing trading organisations to interact with each other across a secure network. Long considered as only appropriate for large organisations, the Sterling Commerce Managed Services provide organisations of all sizes the ability to trade and collaborate electronically via various methods.
Technology Audits - published 28/06/2007 - Maxine Holt
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As one of the larger, ‘traditional’ outsourcing services providers, several of CSC’s recent activity areas, and its recent results announcement, form part of an interesting view of a company in the throes of change; especially as they come after some minor crises in its fortunes.
OpinionWire Articles - published 21/06/2007 - Alan Rodger
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The Web is awash with new technologies, new business models, and of course new buzzwords. One particular word – ‘mashup’ – is starting to crop up everywhere, from vendor briefings
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/06/2007 - Richard Edwards
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Climate change issues are highlighting the urgent need to reduce the power that is consumed by computers everyday all over the world. The phrase ‘Green Computing’ has come to encompass all aspects of environmentally-friendly IT, and has become a regular hot topic of discussion in the computer media this year. Many companies have spotted the opportunity for publicity and have declared themselves to be green.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/06/2007 - Sarah Burnett
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The beginning of May marked the announcement of an offer to acquire the French IT services company, GFI Informatique by Fujitsu Services, and at the end of the month the offer was formalised for the entire issued share capital of the French company.
OpinionWire Articles - published 31/05/2007 - Alan Rodger
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GXS Trading Grid is a suite of on-demand Business-to-Business (B2B) integration and related services from which customers can select services that fit their requirements. B2B data exchange has long been regarded as something for large organisations only, and expensive for smaller ones to access, as well as tying up scarce IT resources.
Technology Audits - published 23/05/2007 - Teresa Jones
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looking to outsource software or systems initiatives to developing nations must consider a number of variables before deciding where to make their investment. Currently, the most popular options are India and Eastern Europe. However, China is catching up fast, as its status as the world’s most watched economy, combined with the market’s lowest rates for outsourcers, makes it an increasingly exciting proposition.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 10/05/2007 - Annie Combelles
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Smartcards were once thought of as providing a solution for a problem that was yet to be found. This is no longer the case. Smartcards are now deployed for a variety of purposes, from chip and pin payment cards to identity management and authentication in the NHS patients’ record project.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 10/05/2007 - Sarah Burnett
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There are well in excess of 1,000 vendors operating in the IT Managed Services space, therefore the myriad of options available can make it confusing for organisations to decide which vendor is the right one for the Managed Service it is looking to source.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 08/05/2007 - Maxine Holt
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Alphacourt is a specialist integration consultancy providing a range of services that enable system integration and business process improvements, in parallel. Its aim is to always accelerate customer’s business performance by enhancing agility and responsiveness to change.
Technology Audits - published 25/04/2007 - Mark Blowers
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It was reported last week that Computacenter had extended its flagship IT services deal with BT Group to supply and manage its desktop infrastructure. The deal replaces an existing five-year contract that was due to expire at the end of March, which was worth around UK£30 million annually to Computacenter.
OpinionWire Articles - published 05/04/2007 - Maxine Holt
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The model that led to India’s enviable success as an outsourcing location has now been copied or modified in many other countries world-wide – consequently there are numerous low-cost, offshore providers to choose from. While having been ultimately no barrier to its great overall success, the distance of India’s location from many of its customer markets has been a stumbling block with some potential customers and, for European organisations, alternative low-cost provider locations such as the Philippine…
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/04/2007 - Alan Rodger
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The UK public sector is organised in a complex way, and has a culture that does not lend itself to centralised IT project specification and governance. This must be taken into account in large public sector IT projects if the chances of their success are to be improved. In this article, I propose a new approach that I call “Proof-Win” that is based on delivering a successful and realistic proof of concept, followed by extending the project only when the business case is proven and key stakeholders are wo…
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/04/2007 - Sarah Burnett
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Managed IT Services are increasing in popularity, and the practice is already quite established in mid-sized organisations (500-1,500 employees). In the March 2007 issue of Butler Group Review we discussed ‘The Improved face of Managed Services’; however, not all organisations will find that Managed Services is the right option for them in all areas that Managed Services cover.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/04/2007 - Maxine Holt
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Whilst driving to work earlier this week, I heard an article on the radio saying that around 12% of Internet users in the UK have been the victims of on-line fraud. I subsequently followed the article up on the BBC’s Web site, to find it was being reported that fewer than half of the UK’s 29 million adult Internet users believe that they are responsible for protecting personal information on-line.
OpinionWire Articles - published 29/03/2007 - Maxine Holt
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Some organisations look towards outsourcing to assist them in achieving their business objectives, and some prefer to retain the delivery of IT services in-house. However, Butler Group is seeing an increasing number of organisations not only using outsourcing to complement the services they are delivering in-house, but also implementing a multi-sourced model - that is, having a number of different providers deliver various aspects of IT requirements.
Technology Management and Strategy Reports - published 19/03/2007 - Alan Rodger, Maxine Holt, Teresa Jones, Tim Jennings
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Managed Services Providers (MSPs) deliver and manage network-based services, applications, and equipment to customer organisations. Managed services can be delivered as a one-to-many or one-to-one service; the former service being used by multiple customers, and the latter having a dedicated service between provider and customer. Payment for both of these services is generally on a usage basis; for example, the number of desktops supported, or the number of transactions processed.
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/03/2007 - Maxine Holt
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In Accra, Ghana, there is a model example of private business serving public interests. This is the “BusyInternet”, the largest privately-owned ICT and Internet service centre in Africa. BusyInternet started in 2001, and represents a promising approach to helping Africans gain access to Internet, Information Technology, and Business services all under one roof. It is a fairly large roof at that, incorporating a 100 seat Internet café, catered conference and training rooms, serviced offices and project ro…
Butler Group Review Articles - published 01/03/2007 - Terry White
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Last week the UK’s Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) published the results of a feasibility study, carried out on its behalf by London Libraries Development Agency (LLDA), for a single membership card for all of London’s public libraries. The card is likely to be a smartcard and the possibility of linkage with Oyster is being considered. Oyster is a smart ticketing solution that is successfully operated by Transport for London (TfL). There are over five million cards in circulation and it als…
OpinionWire Articles - published 08/02/2007 - Sarah Burnett
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