Smart Business June 2011 - UK Edition
Welcome to the June issue of Smart Business, CSC's UK newsletter.
This month we take a look at some of the latest developments that are helping organisations, in a range of sectors, to evolve and improve how they operate.
We look at the opportunities and challenges of the fast-changing applications market and review how more and more organisations are embracing portal technology in the drive to improve efficiency. As smartphones become ever-more popular, we also consider the importance of the mobile channel and how near field communications is changing the nature of customer and employee engagement. Elsewhere there are case studies on recent projects with the French Post Office and Champion Europe, and a look at the success of CSC's ongoing Corporate Responsibility programme.
We always welcome feedback so please let us know if there's anything that's caught your interest in this issue. And if you're on Twitter do come and join us there too.
Andy Williams
President, Northern Europe, CSC
Mobile app-titude
CSC's director of end user services, Gary Beckett, explains why smartphone penetration and sophistication means the time is right for companies to work on their mobile strategy.
Smartphones were once the preserve of the technically savvy but now their shipments outnumber those of PCs. As the technology has gone mainstream, customer expectations of how they interact with favoured brands including banks, shops and social networks has been forever raised. With the addition of near field communication (NFC) turning devices like the forthcoming iPhone 5 into debit and credit cards, brands themselves are having to reevaluate the mobile channel to better engage with customers and prospects. At the same time, says Beckett, they need to consider how to take advantage of the mobile productivity advances in smartphones offer to employees.
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Postal order
CSC has delivered a large-scale transformation project for the French post office resulting in one of the largest SAP data repositories in Europe.
La Poste is the second largest postal services provider in Europe, serving two million customers daily. The provision of services at a local level is managed by l'Enseigne La Poste. With 17,000 offices carrying out thousands of different operations every day, an accounting entry is generated every two seconds. In 2008, the financial management team of L'Enseigne launched an SAP project, with the help of CSC. The programme, named Symponie, has enabled l'Enseigne to overhaul its processes and has been one of the key drivers of its strategic transformation.
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Application form
President of CSC Global Applications Vivek Chopra on the technologies that are changing the applications market and what CIOs must do to get best value from the applications portfolio.
With the advent of the cloud and the proliferation of mobile devices, the world of applications has never been more complex and uncertain. IT leaders see huge potential to drive new levels of business performance but face unprecedented challenges as they seek to rationalise the applications portfolio and transform it for modern service delivery. To find out more Smart Business spoke to Vivek Chopra, president of CSC Global Applications business, to get his take on the changing applications market and the challenges his customers are facing today.
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Champion's League
Sportswear designer Champion has used ERP software from CSC to unify logistics operations and drive a new retail strategy from a centralised location.
After a management buyout athletics apparel company Champion Europe found itself stifled under several disparate legacy systems. Recognising a need for a modern platform capable of handling logistics operations and retail growth from one location, the company turned to CSC and its STEALTH ERP software solutions for the fashion industry. STEALTH has transformed Champion from a number of individual divisions in different countries into one company, centred and managed from Italy. Now fully implemented, significant improvements have been achieved in purchasing, logistics and stock management, and centralised data management.
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Portal power
Deploying portal technology can play a key role in improving organisational efficiency through the centralisation of information.
Instant, secure access to information is a must-have for most organisations today. As user demand for robust access to data continues to grow, finding efficient and cost effective means of delivering this is essential. Deploying portal technology is one method of achieving this that can save time, money and, as Smart Business recently discovered, even lives.
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Social climbing
CSC is hopeful the hard work put in to its CR programme will be rewarded by an elevation from Bronze to Silver in the highly regarded BITC Corporate Responsibility Index.
It is no longer enough to just make profit. Employees, customers and prospects want to work for and with an organisation that looks after the environment and invests in local communities. CSC has a good track record of focussing on people, planet and profit. It has been named the UK's leading IT company for reducing emissions and has received further recognition for its corporate responsibility programme in the BITC Corporate Responsibility Index, published in June. CSC has been elevated from Bronze to Silver in recognition of its ongoing commitment to CR and putting systems in place to improve and report on management performance.
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