VAR500 Roundup: Accenture And The Taxman, CDW Says SMBs May Lead Us Out Of Recession

VAR500 Roundup: Accenture, CDW, ACS And More

Need help with taxes? Nearly every business does. One VAR500 company put its solutions up to the challenge -- for government revenue collections. Also, the GSA inks a deal worth more than $2 billion, Cerner makes a top appointment, Denver uses IT to clear the roads and SMBs may be a leading indicator of an economic rebound.

Accenture And the Tax Man

Accenture (2010 VAR500 rank 5) has launched the Accenture Component Tax Solutions to help government organizations increase revenue by quickly implementing new technologies. As Oracle’s preferred partner for revenue solutions, Accenture has developed a series of technology-led initiatives on Oracle products to increase collections in a short time period.

"Drawing on Accenture’s high performance model for the revenue industry, the component-driven approach allows agencies to prioritize initiatives within a coherent overall architecture," said David Regan, global managing director of Accenture’s Revenue, Customs, Finance & Administration industry practice. "It enables agencies to reuse their existing investments while building an integrated system for managing revenue."

Northrop Signs $2.63 B Deal with GSA

Northrop Grumman (2010 VAR500 rank 9) has been awarded a $2.63 billion task order by the U.S. General Services Administration to install a campus-wide IT infrastructure for secure communications and operations at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security St. Elizabeths headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"We will partner with the General Services Administration and DHS to achieve enterprise efficiency in full life-cycle support of IT access to applications, systems and services for a secure and efficient enterprise IT network that has important implications to national security," said Linda A. Mills (pictured), corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Information Systems sector.

ACS Helps Denver's Easy Riders

Affiliated Computer Services (2010 VAR500 rank 19), a Xerox Co., has partnered with the Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver to implement an advanced fare collection system. As part of a four-year, $15 million contract with ACS, public transportation users will receive smart cards that can be loaded with a pre-paid amount, and then waved in front of a scanner when boarding for a contactless ticket entry. The new system consolidates the different fare options now used by the RTD and will improve the accuracy, cost and efficiency of revenue collection while also tracking data on ridership and service use.

"Denver wanted to improve the accuracy of fare collection at the point of sale, collect and analyze fare collection data in a timely fashion, and reduce its overall costs," said Dave Amoriell, group president of Transportation Solutions, ACS. "For riders, paying fares will be more convenient and boarding time will be reduced."

CDW Says SMBs Buck National Trend

Although the economy appears to be sluggish overall, the CDW IT Monitor, reports that IT decision makers at small businesses are gaining confidence and anticipate increased IT investment for the remainder of the year.

Twenty-seven percent of IT decision makers at small companies anticipate increased IT budgets in the next six months, up eight percentage points from this time last year.

"Although this is just the first step in a long journey toward a recovery," said Thomas E. Richards (pictured), president and COO, CDW (2010 VAR500 rank 17), "we are encouraged by the increased confidence at the small business level and hope to see an improved IT marketplace emerge in the near future."

Cerner Promotes White to Global Role

Cerner (2010 VAR500 rank 57) has named Greg White (pictured) to the role of vice president and managing director for Cerner in the Middle East, Africa and India.

"It is an exciting time of healthcare transformation in [the Middle East, India and Africa]," White said, "and I believe Cerner is uniquely positioned to help governments and private healthcare providers improve patient safety, quality of care and operational efficiency."

White's previous role at Cerner was that of general manager for clients in the eastern region of the U.S. His team was responsible for assisting Cerner clients in the use of healthcare information technology to optimize workflow and transform patient care.