VAR500: U.S. Army Joins HP's Cloud, CSC Inks BPO Deal
VAR500 Companies In The News
North America's largest revenue-generating integrators are annually ranked on CRN's VAR500 list. This year, to reflect the ever-evolving nature of the value-added reseller's job, the listing will be renamed the Solution Provider 500. (Apply now.)
Headlines this week for these companies include the Army embracing HP cloud services, a business process outsourcing deal with an insurance company, and an integrator welcoming a new CFO. Here's what is happening at HP Enterprise Services, Accenture, CSC, CDW and Glasshouse Technologies.
U.S. Army Contracts With HP For Cloud Services
The U.S. Army is about to become "HP Strong," as it partners with HP Enterprise Services to provide the Department of Defense and other federal agencies with enterprise cloud computing services. The Army aims to consolidate data centers by establishing a secure, cost-effective private cloud. In addition, the Army will use mobile, containerized data centers for contingency operations, or when rapid or temporary cloud computing is needed.
Accenture Studies Customer Service Among Energy Providers
Accenture released a study focused on the perceptions of customers about energy providers. The survey found real growth opportunities exist for those companies that provide greater Web-based connection options and loyalty programs to their customers. Consumers prefer Web portals, mobile applications and e-mail for the majority of their interactions, the survey found. Most respondents said they prefer Web-enabled channels for changing their address (57 percent) and receiving their bills (71 percent).
Glasshouse Appoints CFO
Jeff Wakely is the new CFO of Glasshouse Technologies. His most recent position was at TechTarget, where he served as CFO and treasurer. Previously he was the chief accounting officer, vice president of finance and assistant treasurer at NetScout Systems, a network management provider.
Cloud, Virtualization Top CDW's Green List
CDW published its fourth annual "Energy Efficient IT Report," which features what it calls "solution ratings maps" identifying data center solutions that offer the greatest potential for cost reductions, as well as those that offer the greatest ease of approval and implementation.
Online versions of CDW's Solution Ease Ratings Map and Solution Savings Ratings Map help users identify potential investments in energy-efficient IT solutions for their companies. Survey respondents said virtualized servers or storage (65 percent) and server consolidation (60 percent) were the two top energy-efficient technologies. Sixty-two percent of respondents also said cloud computing is an energy-efficient approach to data center consolidation, up from 47 percent in 2010.
CSC Handles BPO For Insurance Firm
CSC signed a three-year business process services contract with insurance company Amerisafe. CSC will provide business process outsourcing (BPO) services to manage and automate legal expenditures for Amerisafe through its Legal Bill Analyzer, a component of CSC’s Legal Solutions Suite. Amerisafe's goal is to strengthen transparency in legal matter planning and communication with outside counsel. This BPO offering includes services such as bill review, resolution, reporting, invoice management and Web hosting support.