According to the report, From Cost to Value, published by KPMG International, the renewed outsourcing focus is symptomatic of CIOs’ wish to place the topic of getting value from their IT as their top priority.

The report suggests that the new, post credit crisis, CIO agenda is dominated by securing value for money but that it also wants to focus on using IT to help transform the business in terms of innovation and productivity.

Outsourcing appears to have fallen some way from the top of the CIO agenda in its own right, suggesting that outsourcing is now just part of ‘business as usual’ to a typical CIO. However, over two-thirds of the 4500 CIOs surveyed for this report indicated that they now expect to pay far more attention to the price:quality ratio they currently experience. Even more expect to be bringing increased pressure to bear on their sourcing providers.

The report makes clear that this is just one aspect of the move towards a value-driven agenda. Eighty-one percent of the survey respondents feel that getting value from their IT must be their top priority. Cost optimisation trailed in a distant second (58 percent of respondents), ahead of portfolio management (51 percent) – although it could be argued that both of these could be seen as sub-sets of the overall theme of extracting value from IT investments.

The transformational shift is evidenced by the fact that sixty-five percent of respondents felt that IT could assist in enabling and driving business innovation while a similar number felt it could assist with increased productivity. Over half also saw IT’s potential for enabling competitive advantage and improving external customer satisfaction. These are not the responses of CIOs who still see IT’s predominant role as an operational cost centre. Accordingly, the survey shows that the bulk of CIOs expect to be judged by how they create business rather than by how they control costs.

Not all CIOs are making this move from an operational mindset to a transformational mindset at the same pace. The KPMG research suggests that CIOs in the financial sector see themselves as remaining heavily involved in operational matters, with a focus on risk and compliance issues; something which may in part be attributable to a credit crisis hangover. By contrast, their counterparts in the manufacturing sectors claim to be focusing more on ways to innovate and transform their business with the help of IT.

Not that this means that financial sector CIOs do not have transformational ambitions or that other CIOs have consigned their risk and compliance requirements to the past. Rather, it simply suggests that both groups have differing priorities at this point in time. In fact, argues Cruickshank, striking a balance between operational and transformational priorities is all part of a new reality whereby risk and compliance objectives are fused with commercial and business objectives. In turn, this is leading to a fundamental change in the way in which business approach the twin challenges of innovation and transformation within their organisation.

Click here to view KPMGs full report

Last week, at the World Partner Conference 2010, Microsoft was publicly previewing Windows Phone 7. The brand new, totally fresh operating system will appear in phones this year, but not until October time. All of the major wireless carriers and every likely hardware maker are backing it, and they’d be stupid not to. It’s amazing. We’ve will have a serious hands on for you to read, but here is everything that you need to know:

The name—Windows Phone 7 Series—is a mouthful, and unfortunately, the epitome of Microsoft’s worst naming instincts, belying the simple fact that it’s the most groundbreaking phone since the iPhone. It’s the phone Microsoft should’ve made three years ago. In the same way that the Windows 7 desktop OS was nearly everything people hoped it would be, Windows Phone 7 is almost everything anyone could’ve dreamed of in a phone, let alone a Microsoft phone. It changes everything. Why? Now that Microsoft has a real phone in its portfolio, the three most significant companies in desktop computing—Apple, Google and Microsoft—now stand to occupy the same positions in mobile. Phones are officially computers that happen to fit in your pocket.

Windows Phone 7 is also something completely new for Microsoft: A total break from the past. Windows Mobile isn’t just dead, the body’s been dumped, buried and paved over by a rainbow brick road. [source GIZMODO]

This service will allow you to engage in immediate interactive communication while you’re on the go. Exchange text messages with other Microsoft® Office Communicator users on your BlackBerry® smartphone*, whether they’re using a desktop computer, BlackBerry smartphone or other mobile device.

Full features to folow soon.

The new WebKit based browser is sure to please users who have felt hamstrung by BlackBerry’s old browser, and the RSS news feed support should also be welcomed.

From RIM blog, Andrew Bocking, VP of Handheld Software Product Management states: “In addition to the new fluid user interface, the video illustrates a few of the new applications and features in BlackBerry 6 that are designed to provide users with a mobile experience that is fun and approachable, yet extremely powerful. We’ll discuss these features in more detail on Inside BlackBerry as we move closer to the point when BlackBerry 6 becomes publicly available”

This looks to be an exciting developent in the SmartPhones market and will surley be welcomed by users.

Cisco Simplifies Mobile Collaboration With First-of-Its-Kind HD Video-Capable Business Tablet. The new Android-Based Computing Device Uses Cisco Collaboration Architecture and Virtual Desktop Integration to Deliver Mobile Computing, Collaboration and Communication Services

Cisco Cius is an ultra-portable device weighing just 1.15lbs (0.52kg) that extends the productivity benefits of Cisco collaboration applications to a highly secure mobile platform. In addition to full telepresence interoperability, Cisco Cius offers HD video streaming and real-time video, multi-party conferencing, email, messaging, browsing, and the ability to produce, edit and share content stored locally or centrally in the cloud.

Based on the Android operating system, Cisco Cius is an open platform for communication and collaboration whose form factor and applications are designed to more securely connect employees on-the-go with the right people in real-time, and to provide those workers with the ability to access and share the content they need from any place on the network.

Cisco Cius offers IT professionals new options when it comes to equipping mobile workers with computing devices. Through virtual desktop integration, Cisco Cius offers flexible computing options with cloud-based services, providing dramatically lower capital costs and cost-per-user for desktop maintenance.

Businesses can also tap into the growing Android developer community that is building business-class productivity applications with appropriate IT controls. The combination of applications and flexible computing options provides a compelling alternative to todays PC-on-every-desktop paradigm.

As we have detailed before, the new OS4 contains many new features, but the most significant one is the new multi-tasking capability, allowing multiple applications to run in the background. This feature is crucial for unifying communications because now the iPhone user can be automatically alerted of incoming chat, voice and video over IP calls, something that was previously impossible.

This new multi-tasking capability of the iPhone OS will spawn the release of several new Unified Communications applications that will ultimately integrated and deliver better communications to enterprise and businesses alike.

Of course all this new technology is only useful if the mobile networks are up to it which means either optimising their existing 3G networks to support video and voice over IP or eventually upgrading to them to 4G LTE technology. 4G LTE (long term evolution) technology is already being tested by mobile networks across the globe including Verizon in the USA and O2 in the UK and can offer speeds of up to 40mb download and 2mb upload – more than sufficient for good quality video conferencing and video calling.

Things are really starting to change in the communications industry, and it has been mentioned once or twice that we really are on the brink of a technology shift, unheard of for a generation.

It isn’t just strikes however, which can effectively directly impact the productivity of an organisation; inclement weather conditions, terrorist alerts, volcanic eruptions and viral outbreaks, particularly in large urbanised areas such as London, can affect whole offices. Indeed, during the winter of 2009/2010, most employees affected by the snow were advised to stay at home, despite the economic domino effect.

It is therefore vital that all commercial and public sector enterprises familiarise themselves with the term unified communications. Many are still of the opinion that they are unable to afford an upgrade in technology at this time but are unaware of the benefits that unified communications can deliver, and the cost savings that can ultimately be made.

Unified communications is effectively a step up, technologically-speaking, from remote working facilitation. Now, rather than simply being able to dial into your office system from your home PC, you can effectively transfer your whole office – software applications, data and telephone communications, into your living room.

Once considered an unaffordable luxury to many businesses, managers are now being forced to realise that working practices are changing. Increased workloads and the demand for flexible working hours, as well as increased geographic dispersement has meant that unified communications are moving from a “nice to have “ to a “need to have”.

So what could be the turning point for some managers and business owners? What will convince them to look at unified communications as a serious option? Well, apart from the fact that it can offer substantial cost reductions, looking at an empty office with employees unable to make it into work might do the trick….

Independently judged, The Comms Business Awards are designed to genuinely recognise excellence in the Channel. Acknowledging the successes of the reseller community, the vendors, distributors and service providers as well as those successful individuals who truly set the standard, these Awards are the industry’s most sought after accolade.

You can read more about the awards here

Microsoft Communications “14” now delivers complete presence, instant messaging, conferencing and enterprise voice capabilities through a single, easy-to-use interface that is consistent across PC, browser, and mobile device. Administrators benefit from a single, consistent management infrastructure, new capabilities to increase availability, and interoperability with existing systems.

Unified Experience

Get easy access to presence, instant messaging, voice, and audio, video, and Web conferencing—all from the new Microsoft Communicator “14” client. Use one set of contacts across Microsoft Communicator “14” and Office applications. Communicate with context from within the applications you use most, including Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft SharePoint. Deliver access to presence, instant messaging, and other capabilities for workers on the go via PCs, browsers, and mobile phones.

Connect and Collaborate

Find the right people, make connections, and communicate more effectively with new rich presence features including pictures and location. Leverage internal expertise more effectively with Microsoft SharePoint-based Skill Search.

Simple, Essential, Reliable Conferencing

Collaborate more effectively with built-in desktop and application sharing, PowerPoint upload, and rich white boarding, including the ability to copy and paste images and other content. Schedule and join meetings with a single click in Microsoft Outlook or the meeting reminder. Place attendees in a virtual lobby for greater security and control over who can attend.

Complete Enterprise Voice Features

A wide range of IP and USB devices, and the ability to work in the office, at home, or on the road. Architect your deployment for high availability using data center resiliency and survivable branch appliances. Manage bandwidth utilization and increase Quality of Experience with Call Admission Control, QoS markings, and an adaptive media stack that works well even on unmanaged networks like the Internet. Meet North American regulatory requirements with flexible Enhanced 9-1-1 capability.

Powerful Deployment and Management Tools

Work with a PowerShell-based foundation for administration consistent with Exchange Server, Active Directory, and other Microsoft server products. Get consolidated management tasks in one location with dramatically improved navigation through the new Silverlight-based, scenario -driven unified graphical management tool. Improve security and administrative productivity with Role-based Access Control (RBAC) with built-in and customer-defined roles. Get support for server virtualization across all roles.

Extensibility

Easily embed Communicator UI elements in your applications, build your own client experience in .NET with open and documented APIs, and enhance contextual collaboration by launching applications right from Communicator. Get platform support for sophisticated contact center and help desk scenarios, enable access to all UC-enabled services from any phone, and deliver state-of-the-art speech technology in 26 languages. Significantly simplify deployment, operations, and interoperability with added features that improve provisioning, load-balancing, fail-over, and draining.