VAR500 Roundup: McGladrey Sees U.S. Manufacturing Slipping, HP Cloud Service Manages Road Warriors, More

VAR500 Roundup

A couple of VAR500 companies put out reports on issues concerning solution providers, namely outsourcing and manufacturing. Others earned industry kudos, introduced expanded cloud services and promoted math and science curriculum in schools.

McGladrey: U.S. Manufacturing Dominance Is Waning

While company and leadership commitment to innovation is high, signs indicate that U.S. dominance is beginning to wane, according to a report from McGladrey, the brand under which RSM McGladrey (2010 VAR500 rank: 286) operates. C-level executives from 1,061 companies participated in the 2010 McGladrey Innovation Report.

’While U.S. companies are clearly committed to innovation, according to the Manufacturers Alliance, within the last decade R&D spending in emerging Asian economies has outpaced U.S. growth by at least a 2-to-1 margin,’ said Tom Murphy, executive vice president of manufacturing and wholesale distribution, RSM McGladrey.

HP Cloud Service Helps Business Manage Mobile Devices

HP (2010 VAR500 rank: 2) introduced HP Cloud Services Enablement for Device Management as a Service, which lets communications service providers (CSPs) help businesses manage and support employee smartphones, notebooks and other mobile devices.

’As mobile device management becomes more complex and costly, companies need help from a trusted provider,’ said Tim Marsden, director, Communications and Media Solutions, HP. ’CSPs can become that provider. With the HP solution, they can leverage the advantages of the cloud, efficiently manage a company’s mobile devices and, ultimately, build a new business for themselves.’

Accenture Earns Oracle Accolades

At this week's Oracle OpenWorld, Accenture (2010 VAR500 rank: 5) received two Oracle PartnerNetwork North America Titan Awards for its work in public sector and business intelligence/data warehousing.

Accenture, which also received three honorable mentions, was recognized in the category of Industry Solution Award for the Public Sector for its work with the State of Ohio in designing, building and implementing Ohio Shared Services, the first state government shared services organization for financial processes and transactions. Accenture also received the Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Award, in which the solution provider helped the State of Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services improve child welfare delivery using Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition to drive actionable reporting.

Capgemini Studies Outsourcing

Latin America is a top outsourcing destination, according to a recent survey by Capgemini (2010 VAR500 rank: 10), largely due to the low cost of labor. Technology and infrastructure capabilities, language proficiency and the region's stability are also key factors.

’As the economy rebounds, companies are looking to use outsourcing more strategically as a tool to increase efficiency, yield significant cost savings and drive growth; this includes considering locations beyond India,’ said David Poole, vice president and head of Americas Business Process Outsourcing, Capgemini.

Less important factors listed by executives in choosing an outsourcing location are tax benefits (26 percent) and proximity to the U.S. (3 percent).

Cognizant Joins In For Tech Education

Cognizant (2010 VAR500 rank: 35) has joined Change The Equation (CTEq), a CEO-led initiative to cultivate widespread literacy in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

"Investing in and collaborating on STEM education has been a priority for our company," said Francisco D'Souza, president and CEO of Cognizant. "STEM literacy is a business imperative for the economic well being of the United States. Our collaboration will not only help students prepare themselves for the workplace of the future, but will also revive our economy, fuel our competitiveness, and ultimately empower our nation in a globalized economy."

According to a report by the Center on Education and the Workforce, there will be 8 million jobs available in STEM-related fields by 2018.