Self-service spending is up

According to ePaymentsnews Network, US-based consumers have spent $548 million on the self-service payment systems in 2007, a sum which has increased by 19% as compared with the 2006 sales, a report points out.

The report titled "The Self-Service 'Buy-and-Pay' Market: Kiosk, Vending and Foodservice Trends in the US" and published by consumer market research provider Packaged Facts also says that a 17% compound annual growth rate is expected to boost sales to $1.2 trillion by 2012.

The report predicts that self-checkout kiosks will witness a rise in the share of transaction volume from 30% to 35%, while vendings share will remain in the low single digits in spite of an expected improvement in the annual growth from 3% in 2007 to 8% by 2012.

Call center self-service increasing

The use of automated self-service tools in call centers has surged over the past decade, to the point that only 50% of users ever interact with a human being, says VNUNet.

In 1997, 90% of contact centre calls were handled by an operator but today that figure has fallen by almost half. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and web-based systems now respectively account for 15.5% and 13.7% of all transactions.

Cost savings have been a primary driver behind the switch, according to Dimension Data's global benchmarking report for the sector. The average self-service operation costs a business £2, compared with £17 for one handled by a human agent.

Application Lynx implements Oracle

Application Lynx, a provider of HR and payroll solutions, has implemented the Oracle Human Capital Management solution, part of the Oracle E-Business Suite, at Bradford & Bingley, states ComputerWeekly.

The project involved the implementation of the Human Capital Management HR Self Service, Learning Management, and Daily Business Intelligence modules.

They will enable Bradford & Bingley's HR department to support the HR business requirements for more than 3 000 staff across the UK.

Author: Vicky Burger @ www.itweb.co.za

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Oracle named top telco OSS vendor for 2008

Oracle, the world's largest enterprise software company, recently received the Telecom OSS Vendor of the Year award at the 5th Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards ceremony in Singapore held last May 23.

Oracle's OSS solutions were cited for topping the judges' criteria on revenue and revenue growth, portfolio diversity, major wins and key achievements. The company's OSS solutions currently automate the order-to activate provisioning cycle by integrating key service fulfillment processes, including back office order orchestration, network and service inventory management, network intelligence, service activation and configuration management.

Aside from Oracle, telecommunications provider Ericsson Mobile and mobile handset provider Nokia won awards for Wireless Infrastructure Vendor of the Year and Mobile Handset Vendor of the Year.

The list of winners are as follows:

Enterprise Vendor Awards

Contact Center Applications Vendor of the Year - Avaya
Network Security Vendor of the Year - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd
Application Networking Vendor of the Year - F5 Networks
Business Intelligence Vendor of the Year - SAS
Conferencing Service Provider of the Year - InterCall
Contact Center Outsourcing Vendor of the Year - IBM Daksh
Enterprise Telephony Vendor of the Year - Avaya

Telecom Vendor Awards

NGN Infrastructure Vendor of the Year - Alcatel-Lucent
Broadband Equipment Vendor of the Year - Huawei Technologies
Telecom BSS Vendor of the Year - Comverse

Telecom OSS Vendor of the Year - Oracle Communications
Optical Vendor of the Year - Alcatel-Lucent
Wireless Infrastructure Vendor of the Year - Ericsson
Mobile Handset Vendor of the Year - Nokia

Service Provider Awards

Mobile Content Developer of the Year - Faith Inc
Satellite Communications Service Provider of the Year - IntelSat
Data Communications Service Provider of the Year - BT
Broadband Service Provider of the Year - Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Next Generation Network Service Provider of the Year - Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd.
Emerging Market Service Provider of the Year - Ufone
Competitive Service Provider of the Year - StarHub
Wireless Data Service Provider of the Year - Telstra
Wireless Service Provider of the Year - Bharti Airtel

Best of the Best

Most Promising Innovative Application/Product of the Year - Gifticon by SK Telecom
Most Promising Vendor of the Year - Blue Coat Systems
Most Promising Service Provider of the Year - Bakrie Telecom
Vendor of the Year - Huawei Technologies
Service Provider of the Year - China Mobile
CEO of the Year: Service Provider - Mr. Solomon D. Trujillo, Telstra

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

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SAP CFO sees no out-of-court settlement with Oracle

The chief financial officer of business software maker SAP does not believe an out of court settlement with Oracle is likely at present, he told German Sunday weekly Euro am Sonntag.

"That is a possibility that we never ruled out, but for the moment it is not an issue. There are no talks over and above the regular court proceedings," Werner Brandt said.

Oracle had filed a lawsuit against SAP in March 2007, accusing it of corporate theft and copyright infringement.

The two are bitter rivals in the battle to supply customers with software to automate, integrate and manage everything from human resources to accounting.

When asked about the company's outlook, Brandt said he continues to expect an adjusted operating margin of 35 percent in the mid-term.

"I see no reason why we cannot generate 100 basis points of additional margin annually in the coming years, and even slightly more if business is good," he said.

For 2008, SAP expects its non-GAAP operating margin at constant currencies, which excludes a non-recurring deferred support revenue writedown from the acquisition of Business Objects and acquisition-related charges, to be in the range of between 28.5 and 29.0 percent.

Brandt also forecast organic growth in software and other software-related service revenue, which doesn't include maintenance sales, would be a clear two-digit percentage figure on average in the coming years.

By comparison, the company has said this would rise by 12-14 percent in 2008, when the contribution from the acquisition of Business Objects is stripped out.

Source: (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; editing by Elaine Hardcastle @ www.forbes.com)

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