VAR500: Accenture On Video Over Internet, IBM Invests In Services

VAR500 Solution Providers In the News

Want to learn more about the popularity of streaming video over the Internet? This week, Accenture released a study on viewer's habits. Looking to expand your offerings? See how CSC is doing that with cloud solutions for insurers.

Other VAR500 solutions providers, including IBM, CIBER and DLT Solutions, also made headlines.

Accenture: Video Over Internet Grows

Most consumers of all ages in seven major markets worldwide watch video content over the Internet via their televisions, PCs, smartphones and other electronic devices, according to Accenture’s Video-Over-Internet Consumer Usage Survey. Of the 6,500 consumers surveyed, 85 percent of participants ages 18 to 24, 82 percent of participants ages 35 to 44, and 64 percent of participants over the age of 65 access video over desktops, laptops, Internet-connected TVs and mobile devices. The survey was conducted in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. Tablets, too, are growing in popularity.

’Providers will need to focus on creating video content specifically for smaller screens such as mobile phones and tablets or on creating programming that complements the large TV screen experience," said Francesco Venturini, Accenture’s global broadcast lead.

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CIBER Earns Customer Kudos

A recent study found that CIBER, Inc., Greenwood Village, Colo., is a top-rated IT solution provider partner by its customers. CIBER is ranked No. 2 among the top technology outsourcing vendors worldwide, according to The Black Book of Outsourcing, an independent benchmark for customer satisfaction in the outsourcing industry. For the past three years, CIBER ranked in the top 10 for overall global outsourcing firms.

The IT solution provider ranking is based on an annual survey, conducted by the Datamonitor Group. The questionnaire captures ratings and information from executives and others involved in outsourcing decision-making about their experience and satisfaction with outsourcing providers. More than 31,000 service experiences were collected, and customer feedback responses were audited and validated.

CSC Offers New Cloud Solution For Insurers

CSC signed an alliance agreement with BioSignia, a science and technology company in Research Triangle Park, N.C., to offer North American life insurers and reinsurers Mortality Assessment Technology (MAT), a patented, science-based predictive underwriting tool developed by BioSignia. CSC will host MAT as a secure cloud-based service, while BioSignia will own, maintain and enhance the intellectual property.

MAT technology has been shown, according to a number of industry-reviewed studies, to significantly improve mortality predictions and enhance underwriting accuracy as compared with traditional underwriting methods. The tool helps provide more accurate and favorable pricing.

IBM Hones BPM Offerings

IBM debuted a global consulting and services practice aimed at helping companies improve the performance of business processes. The new services include: marketing, human resources and finance, and industry-specific processes such as insurance claims, campaign management and compliance. IBM also is offering channel partners a leg up in cloud computing.

IBM has identified as a major corporate challenge the ability to see an integrated view of their business processes across their organizations. Doing so lets companies more quickly recognize and take advantage of new market opportunities and therefore more consistently meet evolving customer needs. In response, IBM is delivering a new unified Business Process Management (BPM) platform, IBM Business Process Manager, that provides visibility into critical business operations.

DLT, Autodesk Take Off With USAF Deal

Autodesk said the U.S. Air Force's Office of the Civil Engineer has signed a blanket purchase agreement DLT Solutions for access to the Autodesk complete portfolio of software products and Autodesk-related services and training. DLT Solutions is Autodesk’s master U.S. government reseller. The contract value under the BPA against which future task orders are expected to be issued is $26 million over a five-year period and includes access to the following Autodesk products: AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit Architecture, Autodesk Navisworks, Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, and AutoCAD LT, among others.