Search through our UKHotViews and UKHotViewExtra articles plus complete research reports
The harm that social media is doing to our children as Australia bans social media use for under 16s
Reaction to my Nov 24 article
I was pretty stunned by the reaction to my 15th Nov 24 article What have we done? It attracted more views, likes, shares and comments than anything I have ever written – bar my article on Mike Lynch’s death, which attracted over one million views.
Almost every comment was supportive of the views expressed. The only negative reaction came from Benedict Evans – the renowned tech analyst – who questioned the validity of the link between the increase in mental health issues and the use of social media. The fact that mental health issues (and all the other bad stuff) started to rise substantially after 2010 and the rise at the same time in the use of social media by the same under 16 age group is undeniable. Some say that the C-19 lockdown was a major cause. It certainly exacerbated the problem. But the trend was established well before 2020.
The other comments give testimony to the link from the personal experiences of many parents. I was particularly touched by Chris Hickford, CEO at the Eikon Children’s Charity, whose people have to deal with this issue first hand. He said: “Every frontline mental health professional I have spoken to (now in their hundreds) believes intuitively that the [correlation] is right. It resonates with their everyday experience.”
In addition, I would point readers towards the evidence in the Impact Assessment published by Dept for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) on 23rd Oct 24 in support of the proposed new provisions in the UK’s Online Safety Act.
Australia to ban under 16s from using social media Last week Australia became the first country to ban children under 16 from social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook and Snapchat. PM Anthony Albanese particularly cited the risk for girls re body image and misogyny for boys. The legislation will not come into effect for at least a year.
Media reports list France, Norway and some US states which are said to be following suit. A consultation exercise is taking place for its introduction in the UK too. But Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for DSIT, on Friday said that such a ban was “not on the cards at the moment”.
Analogies Nobody suggests that such a ban will be perfect. Albanese cited the ban on underage drinking which we all know is sometimes broken. But most would agree serves a very useful purpose.
My analogy would be with knives.
Clearly, we all need knives and they – like smartphones and social media – have a crucial role in our lives. But no responsible parent would let their young children play with them or take them unsupervised to their bedrooms or school. Instead, we keep sharp knives locked away from our children and as they grow older, we teach them the correct, safe way to use them.
So why do 25% of three and four year olds own a smartphone? Rising to 96% by the age of 12? In my experience, there is little or no supervision over what is viewed. As many readers pointed out, this is first and foremost the responsibility of parents. We all know how easy it is to come across the most disgusting content on the internet. Imagine the effect that could have on a young child?
Conclusion Smartphones have enabled the gateway to social media. It is remarkably easy for any child to lie about their age to get a social media account. That is when all the bad stuff gets even worse. The social media companies don’t even seem capable of policing the current age rules
I am very pleased that this subject has come to the fore and I welcome the continued debate. I hope that the UK will follow Australia and bring in new provisions to ban – or at least severely control and limit – the use of social media by children the under the age of 16.
Posted by: Richard Holway at 10:00
Tags: onlinesafety
Retail-focused software company K3 Business Technologies announced this morning plans to sell its NexSys Solutions business for £36m to SYSPRO, an ERP software provider that K3 acts as a value-added reseller for. The board is looking to return a substantial proportion of the proceeds to shareholders in the first half of 2025. K3 shares are up a whopping 45% this morning at the time of writing.
For the last FY ending 30th November 2023, NexSys generated proforma revenue of £12.1m (2022 £12.5m), adjusted EBITDA of £3.8m (2022 £3.5m) and an adjusted operating profit of £3.6m (2022 £3.4m). A £36m price tag looks attractive at a premium of 28.8% to the total Market Cap of K3, which stood at approximately £28m the end of November.
K3 had a tough first half of the year (H1 revenue down 24% at K3) dragged back by lower levels of activity in its Global Accounts business which predominantly provides specialist services to the Inter IKEA Concept overseas franchisee network. It has also been through recent management changes looking to improve shareholder value and simplify operations / reduce cost. NexSys is already a key reseller of SYSPRO ERP in the UK and Ireland and was a key reason that K3’s performance is typically weighted towards the second half of the year, reliant on inflows of annual software licence fees and maintenance and support contract renewals in Q4. The divestment remains conditional on shareholder approval at a General Meeting scheduled for 19thDecember.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:49
Tags: erp divestment fashion
Atos’ news this morning is positive for its forecast financial leverage. The Group has announced that it has completed the sale of its Worldgrid business unit to ALTEN, valuing the asset at €270m.
Following the sale, Atos’ net debt will be reduced by c€0.2bn. As a result, Atos expects its 2027 financial leverage to be c.1.7x. This is an improvement compared to the previous estimate of between 1.8x and 2.1x, which came after Atos announced the proposed sale of its BDS’ Advanced Computing business to the French Government (see Atos: Proposed sale of BDS' Advanced Computing business to French Government | TechMarketView)
Worldgrid provides consulting and engineering services to energy and utilities companies. It has approximately 1,100 employees and generated revenues of c€170m in FY23. There is a clear fit with French-headquartered ALTEN, which has a strong client base in the energy and utilities market for its IT and engineering services.
Atos created the Worldgrid subsidiary on 1st August 2010, under Thierry Breton, to provide IT services to the smart energy meters market. It initially transferred 550 employees to the entity, which had a presence in the UK, Germany, Benelux, Brazil, and India (with plans for subsidiaries in China and Spain). Its revenues in 2010 were c€150m.
Posted by: Georgina O'Toole at 09:19
Tags: acquisition energy M&A utilities engineering IT+services Energy&Utilties
UK headquartered Regtech specialist, eflow Global, has added to its senior team as it looks to further expand its global footprint in the face of increasing demand for compliance solutions. To support this effort and eflow's growing customer base, the vendor has recruited Ryan Longmire, as its new VP of Sale for the Americas, bolstering eflow’s US presence.
Founded in 2004, eflow Global provides financial services companies with technology solutions to help them use technology to meet with their compliance obligations more eficiently and effectively. The company currently serves around 130 customers globally, providing buy-side and sell-side firms with configurable tools that are equipped to address changing regulatory requirements.
At the start of this year, following its 2023 raise (see: eflow backers go with the flow) eflow announced several senior hires to support its expansion. These included the appointment of former Barclays and Accenture alumnus, Jonathan Dixon as Head of Trade Surveillance to oversee the solution development and Sam Roberts as Head of Marketing. To coincide with its market push, the regtech vendor also launched a new brand and go-to-market proposition.
Recent global events and the growth of AI have contributed to the mounting regulatory pressure faced by financial services firms. In January 2025 the burden will be further increased with the introduction on new UK rules around critical third party suppliers (CTPs) alongside the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act “DORA” (see: Regulators to oversee SITS providers to protect UK Financial Services).
Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:14
Tags: RegTech
EY UK is preparing to both axe 150 senior personnel in its consultancy division and replace the head of this practice, Benoit Laclau, who is stepping down after five years in post. A selection process for his replacement is under way. Word of these moves, which were first reported by The Sunday Times, comes barely a week on from news that Deloitte UK is set to cut a further 180 staff from its advisory payroll (see here).
Following two years of accelerated growth, during which its consulting revenue surged up by almost three fifths, EY UK saw its turnover in this unit shrink by 4% yoy in FY24 (see here). A reduction in the number of large transformation projects was cited as the primary cause of the downturn.
All of the audit and advisory heavyweights to have so far published their UK annual results experienced significant slowdowns their most recently completed financial years. The firms' collective view of the nearer term demand outlook is also muted. While signs that the UK economy is improving are being seen, the expectation is that the market for their services will remain unsettled in the months ahead. Alongside the latest rounds of redundancies planned by EY and Deloitte, more PwC UK partners than usual will take early retirement at the end of 2024. This news was first reported by Sky News.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 08:32
Tags: consulting big+4 layoffs
Today, we have published the latest in our series of PublicSectorViews reports, which delve into each of the six UK Public Sector SITS subsectors. This time it is the turn of the UK Defence SITS market.
In Defence SITS Suppliers, Trends, and Forecasts 2024, we paint a picture of a complex UK Defence landscape. There is a strong imperative for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to invest in digital, data, and tech to support pressing objectives. And, as the geopolitical picture has become more turbulent and unpredictable, the urgency to leverage tech for military advantage has strengthened. However, the MOD continues to be burdened by legacy debt, delays in rationalising its data centre estate, troubled transformation programmes, and numerous barriers preventing it from effectively leveraging innovation.
In this report, we provide TechMarketView’s view of the UK Defence Software and IT Services (SITS) market from a market and supplier perspective. The report includes TechMarketView’s latest Top 10 Defence SITS rankings (with a new entrant in at #10), as well as our view of those suppliers that are ‘on the rise’ and, therefore, threatening to unseat the leading players, plus a handpicked selection of suppliers that are worth keeping a close eye on, due to their renewed interest in the sector, recent successes, or differentiated approach. We also include our forecasts for the UK Defence SITS market through to 2027 alongside our view of the key market trends.
Subscribers to TechMarketView’s PublicSectorViews research can download the report now. If you are not yet a subscriber – or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate-wide subscription – please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how to gain access to this piece of valuable analysis and much more.
Posted by: Georgina O'Toole at 16:37
Tags: markettrends defence intelligence MarketForecasts public+sector marketanalysis supplier+rankings SupplierAnalysis SupplierData defencetech
Agilisys and the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) are launching a strategic partnership to support social care organisations to adopt GenAI, working collaboratively to share knowledge, skills, and capabilities.
Social care organisations and local councils have already been investing in digitally transforming their organisations, with much of the work focused on process automation and driving productivity improvements. SCIE for example has worked with Bromley to deliver a projected a 30% improvement in productivity across core operational processes (assessments, care planning, review). Agilisys Transform’s QuickAction product has been used by Wigan Council to reduce adult social care business support time by est.400 FTE days per year, whilst North Somerset Council and Humber & North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board have used QuickAction to reduce admin time by c.50% for key worker activities.
The social care sector continues to face significant cost pressures against a backdrop of a new government, ongoing inflation, demographic change, rising workforce costs, increasing demand for care, and tightening local authority budgets. GenAI (along with automation) is set to continue to transform services across the sector, helping workers to spend more time on critical tasks, deliver personalised care, and spend less time on administrative tasks. As ever, the challenge is identifying the right areas to transform with AI, and doing so in a cost-effective manner, that also include the necessary governance and ethical frameworks to ensure AI is used safely and responsibly.
For Agilisys, AI is a major investment area, building and enhancing on its existing capabilities in RPA and data analysis and set to be a key driver of growth for the business. Back in July, Agilisys rebranded ‘Agilisys Product’ as Agilisys Transform, a move that seeks to underline the transformative impact that Agilisys’ products are already having on its clients. This part of the business has a clear ‘North Star’: to transform citizen outcomes and public sector productivity through the power of GenAI SaaS products. (See - *UKHotViewsExtra* Agilisys Product becomes Agilisys Transform).
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:33
The UK’s aviation authority, the CAA, has outlined plans to embrace the use of AI technology in the sector. The new strategy reveals the authority’s thinking on some of the possible benefits and likely challenges presented by adoption AI in the UK aviation industry.
The CAA is taking a proactive approach to AI in aviation to facilitate its use in support of its own operations and across the sector as a whole. The authority’s vision is to enable AI to enhance aerospace efficiency, sustainability, and scalability, while ensuring safety, security, consumer protection, and environmental sustainability through proportionate governance.
The new strategy (here) outlines a two-pronged approach. Firstly, for the regulation of AI, (focusing on safety, security, consumer protection and sustainability) and secondly, for AI within the CAA across (regulation, operations and everyday activities). The CAA’s latest communication highlights some of the specific benefits that AI could potentially bring about within aviation:
In outlining its plans, the CAA has stressed that above all, reliability, trust and safety are paramount in respect of the use of AI in aviation. The authority intends to reveal more details in a future roadmap, so that the strategy it has laid out today can be moved forward into action.
TechMarketView subscribers can learn more about the SITS opportunities within the aviation industry and the wider Travel and Transportation sector, by downloading our latest research on the topic (see: Helping your business in Travel & Transportation take flight).
Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:15
Tags: aviation travel transportation
Does your company have access to SustainabilityViews? If so, you can listen to this fascinating podcast from last month hosted by our own Craig Wentworth.
As we all know water is a life-giving substance but is also a massive global issue impacted by climate change, pollution, wastage and much more.
Tune in and find out more about Cognizant’s relationship with Northumbrian Water, how this project came about, where AI is playing a part, and who came up with the absolutely brilliant name for the project: River Deep Mountain AI (a winning project in Ofwat’s fourth Water Breakthrough Challenge).
For more about our Totally Sust podcast series (new episodes on the first Thursday of every month), including how your company can feature, drop us a note at info@techmarketview.com.
Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00
Tags: podcast water pollution rivers
TechMarketView’s latest UK Local & Regional Government (LRG) Software and IT Services (SITS) Suppliers, Trends, and Forecasts report is now available. It is the fourth of six subsector reports, after September’s Central Government report, October’s Education report, November’s Health report, and our UK Public Sector Software and IT Services Suppliers Trends, and Forecasts report, published in August. It will be followed in the coming weeks by subsector reports for the other public sector subsectors as defined by TechMarketView: Defence and Police.
This report provides TechMarketView’s view of the UK Local & Regional Government SITS market from a market and supplier perspective. It provides our analysis of the performance of the market in 2023, a year where we saw continuing financial pressures resulting in the market contracting by 1.0% (representing a contraction of 7.6% in real terms) and a lookahead across our 2024-27 forecast period. Legacy tech replacement (the shift towards platform, digital, and cyber technologies remains consistently behind the overall public sector in terms of both the relative split and rate of change), the scale of the “spadework” still required to prepare infrastructure properly for AI, cyber threats, the cost of climate action, and uncertainty surrounding the new Labour government’s plans for social care are all influencing spending decisions over coming years.
The report also contains an update to our UK Local & Regional Government SITS Top 10 supplier rankings (including a new entrant in the Top 10), with our analysis of what is driving each player’s performance, insight into those suppliers that are threatening to unseat the leading players, and our pick of the ‘ones to watch’.
PublicSectorViews subscribers can find out the size of the UK Local & Regional Government SITS market, its future growth, and who the leading suppliers are by downloading UK Local & Regional Government Software and IT Services Suppliers, Trends and Forecasts 2024 today. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your organisation has corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson find out more.
Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 07:00
Tags: forecasts market+trends local+government supplier+rankings LRG
Civica has acquired Australia-based Loop Software and its core product Daymap in a move that bolsters the GovTech supplier’s offering for schools.
Civica’s education software portfolio already covers a range of capabilities, from library management, digital assessment, and online marking; through school catering, payments, operations, and financial management for Multi-Academy Trusts; to student information management systems (aimed at the post-16 education sector).
Daymap’s Azure-hosted student and learning management platform is aimed at the schools market and boasts 150 customers in the Australian schools sector. It provides attendance-tracking and scheduling features, as well as a parent portal to improve connection between schools and parents. Daymap also includes written and audio feedback tools for teachers, designed to streamline their admin load.
Although designed with the Australian market in mind, Daymap’s features augment and complement Civica’s existing schools management platform well – especially filling out its student management capabilities for the pre-16 sector. There are areas of overlap too – around assessment and comms, for instance – and it remains to be seen how the features will integrate over time.
Civica netted a Top 10 place in our most recent ranking of Education software & IT services suppliers (see UK Education Suppliers, Trends & Forecasts 2024, climbing from #11 the previous year. Blackstone completed its acquisition of the company from Partners Group in May 2024, giving Civica more M&A firepower – with Loop Software being the first example we’ve seen since then (showing continued commitment to the schools market).
Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 10:10
Tags: M&A schools acquisitions
As we enter the final part of 2024, TechMarketView analysts are already thinking ahead to next year.
Yesterday, we launched our new theme for 2025: Sink or Sprint. It captures a critical market shift: rapidly accelerating technology deployment is becoming essential for survival.
Crucially, our analysis reveals why 2025 brings unique market conditions that will create a stronger sense of urgency. A temporary economic uplift will combine with significant legislative changes to create distinct opportunities - and pressures - across the UK tech market. Our launch report discusses the specific conditions pushing organisations to shift from a jog to a sprint, why organisations will start to see their tech investments through a different lens, and how suppliers should position themselves to support clients in the year ahead.
Organisations that have invested in robust digital foundations are now better positioned to accelerate rapidly, particularly in AI and GenAI deployment. But success in 2025 demands more than just speed - it will require precision in execution and, crucially, clear evidence that technology investments directly improve financial performance. This emphasis on measurable returns will reshape how suppliers and their customers work together, creating new dynamics across the tech ecosystem.
The following TechMarketView Predictions for 2025 reflect the breadth of the challenge for tech buyers with the need to simultaneously embrace change, demonstrate value, and move at pace:
TechMarketView clients can read the detail behind the headlines here: TechMarketView Predictions 2025. Stay tuned for deep-dive Predictions for Public Sector, Financial Services, and Sustainability.
To become a client or find out if your organisation already has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson.
Posted by: HotViews Editor at 09:59
Tags: 2025
TPXimpact’s results for its H1 period to end September 2024 have been well trailed in its September trading update (see TPXimpact business challenged by 'Rachel Reeves effect' | TechMarketView) and again earlier this month (see TPXimpact: Autumn Budget (and a big win) brings new confidence | TechMarketView). In summary, there has been significant pressure on the top-line, but profitability metrics have, nonetheless, improved.
All in all, the takeaway is that the digital transformation services business is well-managed and has reacted early to market headwinds, enacting disciplined cost-control measures. All the while, the team has retained a focus on ensuring that the business is in solid shape to respond to improved market conditions when they come. Contributing to this was the earlier-than-anticipated simplification of the business into three core businesses: Digital Transformation, manifesto (digital experience agency), and KITS (IT support services).
Looking at the numbers in more detail, revenue in the period declined by 9.2% to £37.8m. With 90% of H1 revenues coming from public services clients, and 66% from central government, a slowdown in Whitehall decision-making and spending on both sides of the General Election had the biggest impact on performance. Meanwhile, the manifesto business was impacted by continued spending constraints in its core not-for-profit and charitable sector. Bucking the trend was the KITS business (11% of Group revenues), which “showed good revenue growth” and renewed an important contract with the Rural Payments Agency for up to £10m over the next three years.
Selective cost actions, including reducing permanent employee headcount by 4.5% in H1 (to 510 people) and the number of associates by 17% (to 110), are expected to save well over £3m on an annualised basis. In H1, the cost of sales decreased by 11% to £27.1m, largely offsetting the decline in revenues. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 15% to £2.3m, pushing the margin from 4.8% (H1 2024) to 6.1%.
This year (FY25), new business win momentum has increased (Q1: £9m, Q2: 26m, Q3: £29m). The backlog of committed revenue for the year represents over 90% of revenues, giving confidence in the company’s full-year forecast (flat revenues and £7-8m of adjusted EBITDA). However, management continues to express caution concerning the speed at which central government spending will resume. The current expectation is that there will be an uptick in spending after the spring Spending Review, which will positively impact H2. We’d agree with that, as we anticipate that departments and agencies will seek to accelerate their digital progress to be in a stronger position for what will be a far tougher budgetary environment in the years ahead (see TechMarketView’s 2025 research theme revealed: Sink or Sprint! | TechMarketView).
Like all companies, TPXimpact will also be impacted, from April 2025, by the NIC changes announced in the autumn budget. TPXimpact states, “In practice, this means the Company is now targeting an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 9-11% in FY26 (previously 10-12%)”.
Posted by: Georgina O'Toole at 08:43
Tags: results supportservices digital notforprofit experience central+government public sector
NTT DATA looks to strengthen its global Google Cloud integration capabilities with the acquisition of Indian-headquartered Niveus Solutions for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close within the next 30-60 days, subject to the usual T&Cs.
The Niveus buy will add around 1,000 GCP engineers to NTT DATA's Google Cloud Business Unit, that should give it a significant shot in the arm as it looks to develop industry specific cloud propositions, globally. Niveus to date has been quite Asia-Pac focused with operations in Singapore and Australia, and where NTT DATA should act as a springboard to globalise their capabilities. Niveus has a particular focus in financial services, manufacturing, automotive, retail and logistics, all of which will fit well within the NTT DATA stable.
Google Cloud is experiencing real momentum now particularly in helping enterprises deliver AI services (with supporting data infrastructure) across a range of sectors. Indeed, my colleague Craig Wentworth sat down with some of Google Cloud’s execs and customers at the company’s annual Summit in London last month, and has published his thoughts on the firms progress and importance in helping organisations capitalise on the potential of AI here - Google Cloud: Products and progress at the new frontier for AI.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:28
Tags: acquisition
Atos has been selected as the Official Technology Partner for the 2025 Invictus Games, marking another milestone in its impressive history of delivering mission-critical technology solutions for prestigious sporting events. The Games, taking place in Vancouver and Whistler from 8th to 16th February 2025, will feature a brand-new hybrid winter format, combining traditional competitions with adaptive winter sports.
At the heart of this partnership lies Atos' proven ability to deliver reliable and innovative solutions in a pressured environment where there are no second chances. The company's On-Venue Results Systems (OVR) will provide instantaneous - and accurate - timing, scoring, and results data. This real-time capability extends to broadcast integration, with live graphics enhancing the viewing experience for a global audience across television and digital platforms.
This partnership builds upon Atos' 30-year legacy in sports technology. Through its specialist Major Events division, the company has consistently delivered excellence across events of varying scales, from the Olympic and Paralympic Games to more focused competitions like the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival. The recent successful delivery of UEFA EURO 202 in Germany and the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024 in Paris, as well as the ongoing partnership with Special Olympics International, have Atos' ability to handle high-stakes sporting events (see as you can read in Atos & its sporting reference | TechMarketView and on my more recent post on LinkedIn.) This latest partnership further cements that position.
For the 2025 Invictus Games, Atos will also manage the end-to-end IT infrastructure, including critical on-site systems, equipment, and cybersecurity. The endgame is to deliver a seamless operation for the event, which is due to host 500 competitors from 25 nations, each of them with a personal story of resilience.
Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 CEO Scott Moore states, "This collaboration is a game-changer, as it allows us to leverage innovative technology to enhance the experience for our competitors, their families, and our global audience. At the heart of the Invictus Games is the spirit of recovery and resilience, and with Atos’ cutting-edge solutions we can ensure that every story of courage and strength is shared with the world in real-time."
Posted by: Georgina O'Toole at 07:39
Tags: contract events sports
UK education technology specialist RM has announced a 5-year extension to its longstanding partnership with Cambridge University Press & Assessment (Cambridge). The new agreement will support the organisation’s digital assessments ambitions as it makes its way towards fully on-screen examinations.
Cambridge was formed through the merger of Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment in 2021. The organisation serves more than 100 million learners around the world and achieved revenue of £1.025bn in FY24. In the UK, its assessment division includes OCR but it also has significant international reach through its Cambridge International Education awarding body.
In October 2024, Cambridge announced it would launch digital examinations across six subjects for school students in Europe, Middle East, North Africa, and the USA in 2026. In the UK it introduced a digital mock exams service in 2023.
RM has been working with Cambridge since 2009, helping the organisation develop and enhance its e-marking work. In the last five years alone, Cambridge has marked over 27 million exam scripts using RM’s solutions. Over the next five years several digital mock exams will start to be taken using RM’s Assessment Master technology (see RM acquires SoNET to deepen digital assessment services).
The new contract will support RM's strategy of building a Global Accreditation Platform to enable end-to-end digital examinations, authoring and accreditations (see RM’s transformation continues). It builds on the flagship deal the Abingdon-based business secured with The International Baccalaureate (IB) earlier this year (see RM and The International Baccalaureate announce long-term partnership). It also aligns with the recent launch of RM Consulting, a partnership with Searchlight Consulting designed to drive further strategic opportunities with awarding bodies (see RM and Searchlight join forces to support digital assessment).
Posted by: Dale Peters at 19:11
Tags: contract education digital schools assessment edtech partnership e-marking
Omkar Nisal, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Wipro UK & Ireland since the beginning of 2021, has been appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer, Europe Strategic Market Unit, effective immediately. Omkar will report to CEO and MD Srini Pallia and will also join the Wipro Executive Board. Omkar succeeds Pierre Bruno, who is stepping down.
Omkar has been with Wipro since 2012 and ran the firm’s Banking-EMEA business before taking up the helm in the UK. The last three years have been a challenging period for the offshore major in this country with growth proving elusive. Much of the drag on progress in territory, however, has come from the downturn in demand for services of the company’s Capco acquisition rather than the performance of the core Wipro business. The current financial year has seen a notable uptick in the firm’s big deals success. In the UK these have included both a multi-year agreement for the provision of integrated IT services to merchant banking group, Close Brothers (see here), and a four-year extension to the large infrastructure, network and end user services outsourcing contract with John Lewis Partnership.
The vacancy created by Omkar’s promotion is to be filled by Sarat Chand. At present the Managing Director for Wipro Northern Europe, the eighteen-year company veteran will assume his new UK leadership responsibilities as from the start of next year.
We wish both Omkar and Sarat well on the next steps in their careers.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 18:03
Tags: offshore appoinments IT+services
First half results from iomart reflect what the company’s describes as a “challenging” period, with revenue for the six months to end September flat at £62.0m. Lower renewal rates and timing of order billings contributed to this.
That said, order bookings in the first half were at “record levels” and there is significant work underway to target over £1m of annualised gross cost benefits, which should help to support improved profitability.
After the close of H1, iomart sealed the deal on the acquisition of Atech for a total consideration of £57m. Given its size, focus (notably around Microsoft technologies including Azure and security), and high level of accreditations, this was clearly a very clever move by CEO, Lucy Dimes.
This morning, Dimes explained to me how Atech provides multiple opportunities for iomart to remain resilient – and indeed to thrive – in next year’s market. Atech’s cloud and security credentials (for example, it is an Azure Expert MSP, has membership of Microsoft’s exclusive Intelligent Security Association, and was a finalist at Microsoft’s Security Trailblazer’s Awards,) will be hugely beneficial. She said, “customers are increasingly looking for credentials and track record” as they continue their migration to cloud, meaning Atech could prove to be a very valuable addition in 2025.
Dimes has been rolling out her “Bigger, Better, Bolder” strategy and certainly the firm appears to be staying true to this with recent activities. In a period when the headwinds in the market are not going to go away (see the launch of today’s new TechMarketView research theme for 2025: “Sink or Sprint”), the Atech acquisition has the potential to be transformative for iomart, not only from an offering, positioning, and credibility perspective, but also from a cultural point of view as well.
Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 09:50
Tags: results cloud cyber hybrid
The NHS Trust responsible for a group of hospitals in northwest England has declared a “major incident” following a cyberattack on the Wirral University Teaching Hospital.
A statement on the website for the NHS Foundation Trust says: “A major incident has been declared at the Trust for cyber security reasons”, not much else is known about the attack or who was responsible at this stage. However, a staff member at the Trust told local newspaper Liverpool Echo: “Everything is down. Everything is done electronically so there’s no access to records, results or anything so we are having to do everything manually, which is really difficult. The damage is huge.”
Healthcare organisations worldwide, including the NHS, are high value targets for cyber criminals and nation states due to the critical services they supply and the sensitive information they hold, which is ripe for ransom and extortion. Earlier this year we saw a cyber attack on NHS hospitals via pathology supplier Synnovis (See - London hospitals hit by ransomware attack) which caused huge disruption. NHS Dumfries and Galloway was also targeted by the INC Ransom gang. Almost a million people are believed to have had their sensitive medical data leaked online. (See - NHS Scotland receives ransom demand to prevent data leak).
There has also been a major ransomware attack reported against US supply chain software firm Blue Yonder (which occurred 21st Nov). The supplier provides software to over 3,000 customers, including Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, DHL, Proctor & Gamble, and Nestle. Blue Yonder uses AI and machine learning algorithms to help retail customers model demand and respond to market changes by optimising their inventory accordingly.
The attack seems to have targeted Blue Yonder’s managed services hosted environment. Morisons and Sainsburys both confirmed they suffered significant disruption affecting supplies to its stores as a result of the attack. Supply chain organisations provide critical services, especially for areas like food supply, and are highly vulnerable due to the large number of third-party connections they manage. Earlier this month, fleet management technology company Microlise, a supplier to DHL Supply Chain UK was also impacted by a cyber incident, with some UK retail deliveries losing live tracking services.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:44
© TechMarketView LLP 2007-2024: Unauthorised reproduction prohibited see full Terms and Conditions.
