Tax authority begins outsourcing pilot

The HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), UK's tax authority, has begun its offshore outsourcing pilot programme in India with Capgemini in a bid to reduce operational costs, says The Economic Times.

The pilot is part of HMRCs five-year $84 million outsourcing contract for tracking imports and exports. HMRC plans to save $7.5 million through the pilot, with the intent of further outsourcing after studying the initial programme.

“No taxpayer data will be leaving the UK. There will be no job losses in the UK as a result of this pilot, as this is new work,” says Andrew Bennett, HMRC spokesman. “No decisions about any further offshoring will be made until the pilot is completed and the results rigorously evaluated.”

PeoplePerHour.com revealed the results from a survey of its 50 000-plus business users, says OnRec.

The survey states 60% of UK businesses are outsourcing more than they did two years ago. Some 61% of businesses are outsourcing IT requirements to local suppliers instead of overseas alternatives, with only 6.9% of business awarding contracts to the lowest bidders.

PeoplePerHour.com founder Xenios Thrasyvoulou says: “Responses to our survey and analysis of transactions on the site points to one conclusion: outsourcing is growing and offshoring is falling.” He says the fall in offshore outsourcing is attributable to the rise of the freelance economy and the availability of skilled IT professionals.

Odyssey Logistics & Technology (OL&T) has partnered with Momentive Performance Materials in a five-year logistics management outsourcing agreement, states Bulk Transporter.

The partnership allows Momentive's SAP enterprise resource planning system to be integrated with the Odyssey Global Logistics Platform to provide an integrated transport management system.

OL&T will manage Momentive's inbound and outbound logistics including warehousing and transportation in North America, Europe, and Asia.