Aimie Chapple, Managing Director of Accenture’s Management Consulting business in the UK & Ireland, has been elected President of the MCA (Management Consultancies Association), the trade association for management consultancy firms in the UK.

Chapple joined Accenture in 1992, and has worked with clients in many different sectors to deliver major business change. Chapple was appointed to the Managing Director role in September 2010 and previously led the Talent & Organisation practice.

Commenting on her election, Chapple said: “I look forward to working with Alan and members to continue to drive excellence in our industry and ensure that together, as members of the MCA, we are driving value for UK economy and contributing to the communities in which we live and work.”

Commenting on Aimie Chapple’s election, Alan Leaman, CEO of the MCA, said: “Aimie has a superb track record in consultancy and is an exceptional leader of our industry. This is a moment for consulting to be on the front foot so it is a delight to welcome Aimie to this role, where her deep knowledge of the industry and its role will ensure that she is a powerful advocate.

Chapple, who takes over from Paul Winter of Corpra, will be supported by three Vice-Presidents:

• Kirsty Birks, Group Business Director, Propaganda

• Steve Watmough, UK Head of CIO Advisory, KPMG

• Chris Cooper, Founder and Head of Challenge Consulting

Source:  www.top-consultant.com

Panalpina, a leading freight and logistics company, has rolled out the first phase of a finance and accounting (F&A) business process outsourcing (BPO) initiative as part of a seven-year agreement with Accenture signed in October 2010.

Panalpina is working with Accenture to consolidate and standardize finance processes across its global operations, including Purchase to Pay, Order to Cash and Record to Report services. The project aims to deliver consistent processes, uniform technology and a strong control environment for Panalpina’s finance function while achieving significant cost efficiencies.

Accenture first designed the new operating model for Panalpina’s finance function and is now delivering F&A services to the company in 14 languages and in 23 European countries[i], as well as the U.S. and Canada. This represents approximately half of the finance and accounting operations at Panalpina.

“By implementing a financial shared services model, Panalpina is able to achieve significant efficiency improvements,” said Marco Gadola, Panalpina’s CFO. “We chose to work with Accenture because of their proven track record on delivering robust F&A services using the capabilities and flexibility of their global delivery network.”

“Accenture and Panalpina are working to create a world-class finance organization for Panalpina,” said Michael Sturm, a senior executive for Accenture’s Air, Freight & Logistics and Travel Service group. “That means a finance organization that is both efficient and effective – that has consistent processes, uniform technology and a strong control environment to help achieve high performance in a challenging, global marketplace.”

This outsourcing work builds on a strong relationship between the two organizations as Accenture has worked with Panalpina on a number of management consulting projects. Panalpina started the project of optimizing its F&A operations in late 2010 with implementation during the course of 2011. The work is being delivered by teams located on-site at Panalpina and in Accenture Global Delivery Centers the Philippines, the Czech Republic and the United States.

Source:  www.top-consultanct.com

Under an agreement signed July 2011, Accenture is now providing application maintenance services to Shell to support the company’s SAP-based HR and payroll systems, which are being used by 90,000 people in 60 countries.

Accenture takes over HR, payroll application management for Shell

LONDON — Shell recently completed the transition of HR and payroll application management services to Accenture. Under an agreement signed July 2011, Accenture is now providing application maintenance services to Shell to support the company’s SAP-based HR and payroll systems, which are being used by 90,000 people in 60 countries.

The work is being performed under a multi-year outsourcing contract that covers the functional areas of employee administration, self-service, environmental health, and payroll.

Application maintenance services Accenture is providing to Shell include preventative maintenance, change management, data archiving and management documentation. Application support services include service desk support, incident resolution and user access management, application operations and monitoring as well as technical support. In addition, Accenture will design, develop, test and implement enhancements to applications.

The outsourced services are being provided through Accenture’s Global Delivery Network using delivery centres in India and the Philippines.

Accenture has had a relationship with Shell for over 15 years, supporting a range of outsourcing, technology and consulting projects across Shell’s businesses.

Shawn Collinson, global client partner for Accenture’s work with Shell, said, “The breadth of our SAP managed service capabilities allows us to improve service levels, while reducing the costs and risks associated with rich and evolving application environments. Our Global Delivery Network not only allows us to match the global footprint of multi-national clients, but our centres are adaptable to respond to fast-changing customer requirements.”

Source:  www.top-consultant.com

Accenture reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter and full 2011 fiscal year, ended Aug. 31, 2011, with record annual revenues, earnings per share, operating margin, free cash flow and new bookings.

For the fourth quarter, revenues before reimbursements were $6.7 billion, an increase of 23 percent in US dollars and 14 percent in local currency compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010. Diluted earnings per share were $0.91, an increase of 38 percent. Operating margin was 13.8 percent. Operating cash flow was $1.4 billion and free cash flow was $1.2 billion, both quarterly records. New bookings were $8.4 billion, the company’s highest quarterly bookings ever.

For the full fiscal year, net revenues were $25.5 billion, an increase of 18 percent in US dollars and 15 percent in local currency compared with fiscal 2010. Diluted earnings per share were $3.40, an increase of 28 percent. Operating margin was 13.6 percent. Operating cash flow was $3.4 billion and free cash flow was $3.0 billion, which exceeded the top end of the company’s expectations by more than $300 million. New bookings were $28.8 billion.

In addition, Accenture’s Board of Directors has declared a semi-annual cash dividend of 67.5 cents per share, an increase of 22.5 cents per share, or 50 percent, over its previous semi- annual dividend, declared in March. The Board also approved $5 billion in additional share repurchase authority.

Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chief executive officer, said: “Our excellent results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal 2011 reflect the continued momentum in our business as we execute our growth strategy. We hit the top end of our range for both revenues and EPS and are particularly pleased with the growth across all dimensions of our business. In addition, we generated free cash flow of $3 billion for the year, which enabled us to return more than $2.8 billion to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and still close the year with an exceptionally strong balance sheet.

“While we are closely monitoring the economic environment, we continue to see strong demand for our services — demonstrated by record bookings of $8 billion in the fourth quarter and $29 billion in the full year. We are investing in our core business, in strategic initiatives and in our key geographic growth markets. Our industry expertise and technology leadership remain key differentiators for us, and we continue to run our business with rigor and discipline — with a focus on driving profitable growth, increasing market share and delivering significant value to clients and shareholders.”

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2011

Net revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 were $6.7 billion, compared with $5.4 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, an increase of 23 percent in US dollars and 14 percent in local currency.

Consulting net revenues were $3.9 billion, an increase of 25 percent in US dollars and 16 percent in local currency compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

Outsourcing net revenues were $2.8 billion, an increase of 21 percent in US dollars and 13 percent in local currency compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

Net income for the fourth quarter was $683 million, compared with $510 million for the same period of fiscal 2010.

New bookings for the fourth quarter were approximately $8.4 billion. This reflects a positive9 percent foreign-currency impact compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

Consulting new bookings were $4.16 billion, or 49 percent of fourth-quarter bookings. Outsourcing new bookings were $4.28 billion, or 51 percent of fourth-quarter bookings.

Full Year Fiscal 2011

Net revenues for the full 2011 fiscal year were $25.5 billion, compared with $21.6 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 18 percent in US dollars and 15 percent in local currency. Net revenues for fiscal 2011 reflect a foreign-exchange impact of positive 3 percent compared with fiscal 2010.

Consulting net revenues were $14.9 billion, an increase of 21 percent in US dollars and 17 percent in local currency compared with fiscal 2010.

Outsourcing net revenues were $10.6 billion, an increase of 15 percent in US dollars and 13 percent in local currency compared with fiscal 2010.

Net income for the full fiscal year was $2.55 billion, compared with $2.06 billion for fiscal 2010.

New bookings for the full fiscal year were $28.8 billion, an increase of 15 percent in US dollars and 12 percent in local currency over fiscal 2010. New bookings for fiscal 2011 reflect a positive 3 percent foreign-currency impact compared with fiscal 2010.

Consulting new bookings were $15.4 billion, an increase of 13 percent in US dollars and 10 percent in local currency over fiscal 2010. Consulting represented 53 percent of new bookings in fiscal 2011.

Outsourcing new bookings were $13.4 billion, an increase of 18 percent in US dollars and 14 percent in local currency compared with fiscal 2010. Outsourcing represented 47 percent of new bookings in fiscal 2011.

Net Revenues by Operating Group

All of Accenture’s operating groups grew revenues in both local currency and US dollars in fiscal 2011 compared with fiscal 2010. Net revenues by operating group for the full fiscal year were as follows:

* Communications & High Tech: $5.4 billion, compared with $4.6 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 18 percent in US dollars and 14 percent in local currency.

* Financial Services: $5.4 billion, compared with $4.4 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 21 percent in US dollars and 18 percent in local currency.

* Health & Public Service: $3.9 billion, compared with $3.6 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 8 percent in US dollars and 7 percent in local currency.

* Products: $5.9 billion, compared with $5.0 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 19 percent in US dollars and 16 percent in local currency.

* Resources: $4.9 billion, compared with $3.9 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 25 percent in US dollars and 21 percent in local currency.

Net Revenues by Geographic Region

Net revenues by geographic region for the full fiscal year were as follows:

* Americas: $11.3 billion, compared with $9.5 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 19 percent in US dollars and 17 percent in local currency.

* Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): $10.9 billion, compared with $9.6 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 13 percent in US dollars and 11 percent in local currency.

* Asia Pacific: $3.4 billion, compared with $2.5 billion for fiscal 2010, an increase of 35 percent in US dollars and 23 percent in local currency.

Outlook

Accenture expects net revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 to be in the range of $6.8 billion to $7.0 billion, which assumes a foreign-exchange impact of positive 3 percent compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

For fiscal 2012, the company expects net revenue growth to be in the range of 7 percent to 10 percent in local currency.

Accenture is targeting new bookings for fiscal 2012 in the range of $28 billion to $31 billion.

Source:    www.top-consultant.com

Accenture has been awarded a 10-year technology consulting and outsourcing contract by the Thomas Cook Group plc, which includes the transformation and management of the travel group’s technology infrastructure across Europe. The financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, Accenture will design and implement an agile IT infrastructure that integrates the travel services company’s separate European IT structures into a single group organization. This new infrastructure will draw on public and private cloud technologies to help transform IT operations, processes, methods and systems to provide a platform for the efficient growth of the business. In addition, Accenture will deliver technology infrastructure management, IT service delivery, service management, service desk, data center services, workspace services, network services and security services.

Accenture will also provide finance and accounting BPO services to Thomas Cook as part of the contract, in addition to extending by three years a 10-year contract signed in 2007 for Accenture to provide application management, technology infrastructure management, finance and accounting, human resources and payroll services to Thomas Cook’s UK operations, and by seven years, a five-year contract for hotel settlement support services for Thomas Cook Germany.

“We are delighted to expand our collaboration with Accenture to leverage their world-class expertise and capabilities in transforming our IT operations by implementing new, lean technology that is ‘cloud enabled’”, said Gary Edwards, Group CIO at Thomas Cook Group plc. “This will help Thomas Cook deliver significant savings, while creating the agility we need to respond to customer needs.”

“The Thomas Cook Group recognizes the benefits of Accenture’s technology and outsourcing assets, people, processes and tools,” said Martin McPhee, a senior executive in Accenture’s Infrastructure Services group. “This includes the huge advantage that leaner technology brings in terms of flexibility and the ability to react rapidly to both the changes in the market and demands from Thomas Cook customers. By expanding our successful collaboration, Thomas Cook and Accenture will create a simplified European IT platform that supports and enables Thomas Cook Group’s future growth aspirations.”

Accenture will draw on its infrastructure partner ecosystem to deliver a best-in-class solution. With Cisco, Accenture is delivering scalable ‘any-to-any’ connectivity, supporting Class of Service (CoS), ready to transport VoIP, video, unified communications, and collaboration across a simplified and highly optimized single network using Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology.

Cooperating closely with Lufthansa Systems, Accenture will use virtualization, automation and cloud-based services to deliver Infrastructure as a Service. This will enable Thomas Cook to streamline applications and data centers while delivering business-level security and reliability. These services will be provided ‘as a service’ to enable Thomas Cook to scale up and scale down infrastructure capacity without changing the service constructs and the way in which new users are provisioned.

“The Thomas Cook Group has recognized that to achieve high performance, it needs the right infrastructure at the right cost to support both current and future business needs,” said Clare Filby, senior executive in Accenture’s Travel Services practice. “This transformation program underpins Thomas Cook’s wider growth strategy, which supports the company’s focus on its core business of delivering the best travel and travel-related services.”

By working with Accenture, Thomas Cook will also consolidate the number of existing vendors. Accenture will deliver the services from both client locations and Accenture’s Global Delivery Network.

Source: www.top-consultant.com

Accenture has been ranked No. 1 on the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ (IAOP) Global Outsourcing 100 list, marking the fourth consecutive year that Accenture has topped this ranking of the world’s best outsourcing providers.

The Global Outsourcing 100 is designed to help companies compare and select service providers using an objective methodology that mirrors the evaluation process a buyer would use to select a provider. Providers are ranked on quality following a rigorously judged application process that examines 18 criteria. The final rankings are based on a weighted average of the judges’ scores on demonstrated competencies, size, growth, management capabilities and customer references.

“Achieving the number one ranking for four consecutive years is certainly an accomplishment by Accenture, considering the high quality of the applicants and increased competition from around the world each year to hold on to the top spot,” said IAOP Chairman Michael Corbett, who led the judges panel. “The leading outsourcing firms make ranking high on the Global Outsourcing 100 a strategic objective and going through the rigorous application process benefits all applicants as well as helps buyers make better purchasing decisions.”

Mike Salvino, group chief executive of business process outsourcing at Accenture, said: “For the fourth consecutive year, Accenture is honored to be recognized by the IAOP as the best outsourcing provider in the world. This award demonstrates we have a winning team in outsourcing which includes thousands of talented and extraordinary Accenture people across the globe and hundreds of clients from a wide range of industries who are using outsourcing deeper in their organizations to gain better business insight, deliver better business outcomes and create greater value.”

Source:  Top-Consultant

Under the original contract, signed in 2003, RSA outsourced a range of front- and back-office operations to Accenture, including portions of its sales and service, claims, finance and commercial administration functions that support RSA’s direct, affinity and broker customers. The initial agreement was scheduled to expire in 2010 and was extended in 2009 for two additional years through to the end of 2012.

Under terms of the extended agreement, signed in December 2010, Accenture will continue to provide these services through to the end of 2016 whilst enabling RSA to have flexibility to meet its customer needs and explore other opportunities to support the on-line proposition. Services are delivered through Accenture’s Global Delivery Network using centers in Bangalore and Mumbai, India.

“We extended our relationship because Accenture offered us greater flexibility, enabling us to refine services in an efficient and timely manner to reflect the changing needs of our customers,” said David Pitt, Operations Director for RSA UK. “In addition, we have developed a level of mutual trust and respect over an eight-year period that gives us comfort knowing Accenture will provide the necessary support to RSA as markets and requirements evolve.”

“This contract extension is designed to continue to sharpen our focus on customer service, which remains one of RSA’s top priorities,” said Adrian Brown, CEO of RSA UK.

“We are proud of our track record working with RSA,” commented Mark Robertson, managing director of Accenture Property & Casualty Insurance Services. “The extension of this relationship, combined with the introduction of process changes and more sophisticated performance metrics, will bring more value to RSA, its customers and its brokers.”

This agreement complements a current management consulting and application development and management contract between the two companies. Under the agreement, Accenture provides development, implementation and ongoing maintenance services for RSA UK’s IT applications, including those related to customer relationship management, claims processing, commercial lines products, policy management and back-office operations in the UK and Ireland.

Accenture Property & Casualty Insurance Services, a business service within Accenture’s Financial Services operating group, serves more than 60 property and casualty insurance clients worldwide.

Source:  Top-Consultant

Accenture reported strong financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2011, ended Feb. 28, 2011, with net revenues of $6.05 billion, an increase of 17 percent in US dollars and 18 percent in local currency over the same period last year and exceeding the company’s guided range of $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion. Diluted earnings per share were $0.75, an increase of $0.15, or 25 percent, over the same period last year.

Operating income was $772 million, an increase of 19 percent over the same period last year, and operating margin was 12.7 percent.

New bookings for the quarter were $6.98 billion, with consulting bookings of $3.80 billion and outsourcing bookings of $3.18 billion.

Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chief executive officer, said: “With quarterly bookings of $7 billion, including our second-highest consulting bookings ever, demand for our services remains strong, and our growth trajectory demonstrates that we continue to execute our business strategy extremely well. We remain focused on growing market share and, as always, on delivering value to our clients as well as our shareholders.”

Accenture expects net revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 to be in the range of $6.3 billion to $6.5 billion.

For fiscal 2011, the company has raised its outlook for net revenue growth to the range of 11 percent to 14 percent from its previous range of 8 percent to 11 percent.

Accenture continues to target new bookings for fiscal 2011 in the range of $25 billion to $28 billion.

Net revenues by operating group were as follows:

• Communications & High Tech: $1.3 billion (Q2 2010: $1.1 billion)

• Financial Services: $1.3 billion (Q2 2010: $1.1 billion)

• Health & Public Service: $965 million, (Q2 2010: $852 million)

• Products: $1.4 billion, (Q2 2010: $1.2 billion)

• Resources: $1.2 billion, (Q2 2010: $929 million)

Net revenues by geographic region for the second quarter were as follows:

• Americas: $2.7 billion, (Q2 2010: $2.2 billion)

• Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): $2.6 billion, (Q2 2010: $2.4 billion)

• Asia Pacific: $787 million, (Q2 2010: $587 million)

Utilization for the quarter was 86 percent, compared with 88 percent for the second quarter of fiscal 2010. Attrition for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 was 14 percent, compared with 15 percent for the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

Source:  Top-Consultant

The United Kingdom Ministry of Justice has awarded Accenture a five-year, £22 million contract to implement a new world-class shared services solution to support the management of its human resources, payroll, finance and procurement operations.

The shared service will operate across the Ministry of Justice business network, including Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, Her Majesty’s Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice Head Office, creating a common platform and increasing the speed and accuracy of the Ministry’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

The shared services program is expected to deliver savings of £28 million a year by 2014 and is one of the first pan-departmental shared service solutions in the UK central government.

Accenture has been selected as the overall systems integrator, to design, integrate and deliver the shared service system for over 80,000 employees. Accenture also has been engaged as the service management provider to run and maintain the Shared Services IT Service Desk for the duration of the five-year contract.

Accenture will work collaboratively with the Ministry of Justice and its chosen partners, Steria and Savvis, who will deliver the Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application development and the Infrastructure-as-a-Service platform respectively.

The collaborative environment that the Ministry of Justice is creating to manage delivery across multiple suppliers will ensure that expertise is drawn from many parts of the industry and integrated into a coherent solution and service.

Source:  Top-Consultant

Benzecry will assume this role from David Thomlinson, who will continue to serve as Accenture’s senior managing director—Geographic Strategy & Operations, leading all of Accenture’s geographic operations as well as the company’s strategy to build and extend its market-leading position in key geographies around the world. Mark Ryan will continue as country managing director for Ireland, working with Benzecry.

Benzecry, 49, currently serves as managing director of Accenture’s Management Consulting growth platform in the company’s EALA region, which covers countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Prior to assuming this role in 2009, Benzecry served as chief operating officer of Accenture’s Products operating group and of its Management Consulting growth platform globally. He is active with several Accenture clients in the United Kingdom and has also been involved with significant transformational technology outsourcing efforts for clients in the region.

“We are delighted that Olly is stepping into this important role leading our business in the United Kingdom and Ireland,” Mr. Thomlinson said. “His 19 years of experience with Accenture in multiple leadership roles, and his extensive client work across the company, position him well to continue to grow our business in this important region.”

Benzecry said: “I am honored to lead Accenture’s operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. We have great momentum in the business, and I look forward to building on the work that David has done over the last four and a half years. Our focus will remain on accelerating the execution of our business strategy and delivering value to our clients.”

Before joining Accenture in 1992, Benzecry worked for Conoco and British Aerospace. He holds a first class honors degree in Engineering from Churchill College, Cambridge.

Source: Top-Consultant