European banking firm UniCredit to introduce cloud in its datacentres

European banking and financial services firm UniCredit has signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with IBM to introduce cloud-based infrastructure within its datacentres and to create new IT service models.

The 10-year deal also involves the creation of a joint venture firm between the two companies, which will sell cloud-based IT services to other European companies and institutions.

The long-term IT agreement is aimed at transforming UniCredit’s IT infrastructure that supports all its commercial and private banking activities in Europe. By introducing cloud-based services to its datacentres, UniCredit will gain dramatic IT efficiency and flexibility, according to the financial services firm.

As part of the agreement, a joint venture between UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions – the global service company of UniCredit – and IBM will market and deliver IT infrastructure services to other European companies and institutions.

The joint venture will have employees in Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Czech Republic representing both companies.

Together, IBM and UniCredit will establish a “Value Creation Center” that will aim to harness innovation to provide superior service and drive success for clients on a continuous basis. The centre will monitor trends in the banking and IT industries and identify emerging disruptive technologies to be rapidly introduced into UniCredit’s infrastructure, according to the financial firm.

Cloud-based analytics will enable UniCredit to better predict and understand trading in financial markets, manage spending and provide innovative services to its customers, according to IBM.

“UniCredit’s innovation-driven approach to sourcing reflects changing motivations in the strategic sourcing marketplace,” said Erich Clementi, senior vice-president of IBM Global Technology Services.

“When making sourcing decisions, organisations like UniCredit are moving beyond basic needs, such as cost-cutting, to higher-order business outcomes, such as growth, competitive advantage and, of course, innovation.”

According to the IBM Center for Applied Insights study, Why partnering strategies matter, which questioned more than 1,300 business and IT sourcing decision-makers worldwide, organisations that have made that shift are outperforming on a host of financial measures, including revenue and gross profit growth.

UniCredit operates in 20 different European countries. Its deal with IBM comes as the blue chip reported second quarter revenues of $24.9bn, missing market estimates. IBM’s $3.23bn profit was down by 17% compared with the same period in 2012, but its cloud revenue was up 70%.

In the previous quarter too, IBM's revenue and profit fell short of analysts' forecasts – for the first time in eight years. As a result of the poor first quarter, the company cut 3,300 jobs and turned its focus on cloud computing and data analysis to revive its business.

As part of its focus on cloud computing, IBM bought Israel-based virtualisation management provider CSL International to expand its cloud offerings by adding management capabilities.

It marked IBM’s second acquisition in two months as the company aims to achieve its objective of reaching $7bn annually in cloud revenue by the end of 2015. In June, it acquired cloud computing infrastructure provider SoftLayer Technologies for a reported $2bn.

In European Antitrust Fight, Google Needs to Appease Competitors

The European Commission on Wednesday formally said for the first time that Google’s proposal for addressing antitrust concerns did not go far enough, and demanded that it come up with more far-reaching remedies or potentially face a fine of up to $5 billion.

 
It was a significant setback for Google, which in April struck a deal with the commission to settle its three-year antitrust investigation by making certain changes in the way it displays answers to search inquiries. But the deal was contingent on feedback from Google’s rivals. The commission determined that the proposal was inadequate, and said the company needed to do more to address rivals’ concerns.
The about-face followed an outcry from Google competitors during the market testing phase of the inquiry, in which the commission asked for feedback on the proposal.

 
“What they discovered in the market test was that overwhelmingly, everyone said the settlement was inadequate and doesn’t solve the problem,” said a person with knowledge about the feedback competitors gave the commission, but who spoke anonymously because the filings were not public.

 
Joaquín Almunia, the European Union competition commissioner, said at a news conference, “I concluded that the proposals that Google sent to us months ago are not enough to overcome our concerns.” He said he had written to Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, “asking Google to present better proposals.”
A Google spokesman, Al Verney, said on Wednesday that it would “continue to work” with the commission to settle the case. He added that Google was confident that its earlier proposal “clearly addresses” the commission’s concerns.

 
Mr. Almunia did not give Google a deadline for presenting a new set of concessions, according to a person with direct knowledge of Mr. Almunia’s letter who spoke anonymously. So the case, which both sides had hoped to close this year, could continue for several months or more.

 
The main issue is the way Google, which, according to comScore, handles 86 percent of Web searches in Europe, orders its search results. Regulators have been investigating whether Google favors its own services — like travel, local business, mapping and shopping — over those of competitors. Regulators have also examined whether it disadvantaged competitors by including material from other Web sites in search results and whether its advertising business complied with European antitrust law.

 
Google managed to avoid antitrust charges in the United States, where it has two-thirds market share, after a two-year investigation of similar issues. Google has faced a more hard-line approach in Europe, where critics have accused the antitrust authorities of relying too much on outside complaints from competitors rather than on evidence of consumer harm. That is somewhat of a sore point for European officials, who insist they share the same goals as the Americans when it comes to consumers.

 
In April, Google proposed to change its search results to clearly label results from some of its own properties, like Google Plus Local, and in some cases to show links from rival search engines. It also proposed giving competitors more control over how it used information from their sites in its vertical search results and making it easier for small businesses to transport their ad campaigns to other search engines.
The proposal was the first time Google had agreed to legally binding changes to its search results, and went much further than the minor concessions it made to the Federal Trade Commission in its inquiry.

 
Still, the proposal would not have required Google to change the algorithm that produces its search results. Also, if it had been accepted, Google would have escaped a possible fine of about 10 percent of its annual global revenue of about $50 billion and a formal finding of wrongdoing that could limit its ability to expand in Europe. 

European Commission asks Google for more concessions in antitrust case

Europe’s competition chief confirmed Wednesday that he has written to Google Chairman Eric Schmidt to ask for better assurances from the company in an ongoing antitrust investigation.

“After the analysis of the market test that was concluded on June 27, I concluded that the proposals that Google sent to us are not enough to overcome our concerns,” said European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia at a press conference Wednesday.

Google has been under investigation by the European Commission since November 2010 after rivals accused the search giant of setting search algorithms to direct users to its own services and reducing the visibility of competing websites and services. It was also accused of content-scraping and imposing contractual restrictions that prevent advertisers from moving their online campaigns to rival search engines.
The Commission decided there was sufficient cause for concern, but rather than proceed directly to punitive measures, Almunia opted for a so-called Article 9 procedure, in which the company under investigation can present proposals to rectify the situation. If these proposals are accepted by the Commission, they become legally binding.

A Google spokesman said the Internet giant wants to settle the investigation and “continues to work closely with the Commission.”
On April 25 Google proposed labelling its own preferred links to its own sites in search results. It also promised to include links to rival search engines for specialist restaurant search results that generate revenue for Google, remove exclusivity provisions from all future contracts and any legacy advertising contracts for five years and said it would prevent unwanted content scraping by offering tools allowing content owners to indicate that they don’t want Google using their text in search results.

Interested parties were invited by the Commission to “market test” the proposals. Rivals and complainants said that the measures were not good enough and at Wednesday’s news conference Almunia indicated that he agrees with them.

FairSearch Europe, a group made up of companies that have complained about Google, conducted a survey in Britain between June 18 and 22 as part of the market test.

The 1,888 respondents had a choice on a mock-up page matching Google’s proposals of clicking on cameras in the Google Shopping box, on rivals’ three small blue links at the bottom of the box, or on ordinary search results.

They found that one in five clicked on Google Shopping links, only one in 200 on rival links and more than half of 1,888 surveyed didn’t know “Google Shopping” is paid content.

“The study provides the hard, unbiased evidence for what seemed obvious: if Google gives itself prime placement and rich graphics on the search landing page, while relegating rivals to small links, then Google’s own products will prevail,” said FairSearch Europe spokesman Thomas Vinjein in a statement.

Feedback from the market test will be taken into account in the Commission’s final analysis. However it is the Commission that Google’s remedies must satisfy, not any other party involved. If a solution isn’t found, the Commission could still fine the company up to 10 percent of its annual global revenue. 

Stop spying on us, European Parliament tells US

The European Parliament gave European Commissioners and national ministers some extra ammunition Thursday in discussions with the U.S. following allegations about American spying and the Prism scandal: possible suspension of data-sharing agreements.

The Parliament called on the U.S. to provide full disclosure of any spying activities, and set up an inquiry to look into the allegations, but stopped short of suspending bilateral trade talks due to start on Monday. The resolution was approved by 483 votes to 98 with 65 abstentions.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) said that the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and E.U. member states should consider "all levers at their disposal" in negotiations with the U.S., including suspending deals for sharing air passenger (Passenger Name Record) data and bank data (the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme).

The resolution also expresses grave concern that similar surveillance programs may be run by E.U. member states, including the U.K., Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. It calls on those countries to examine whether their programs are compatible with E.U. law.

The inquiry will be conducted by the Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee and will look into the alleged bugging of E.U. by the U.S. National Security Agency. It will assess the impact of the alleged surveillance activities on E.U. citizens' right to privacy and data protection, freedom of expression, the presumption of innocence, and the right to an effective remedy, and will publish its findings by the end of the year.

Parliament's resolution is not legally binding, but it also calls on E.U. countries to speed up their work on the whole data protection package. Jan Philipp Albrecht, the MEP charged with steering the E.U.'s data protection overhaul through Parliament said, "Boundaries need to be set on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the interests of E.U. citizens. Strict and consistent data protection rules are needed in the E.U. and the United States."

He also said that the current Safe Harbor Agreement between the E.U. and the U.S. should be reviewed.

Some MEPs had called for a suspension of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks. "We refuse to accept that consumer and data protection could be sacrificed for the sake of the TTIP," said Dany Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms in a statement released Wednesday night.

In the final resolution, MEPs said it would be "unfortunate" if E.U.-U.S. trade talks were to be affected by the allegations, but added that "placing increasing free trade above fundamental rights and the rule of law will destroy citizens' trust in the E.U."

The talks will be handled by the European Commission. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement on Thursday that "negotiations on TTIP are and will remain top priority."

But he accepted that concerns over the spying allegations must be addressed. "We expect that the E.U.-U.S. working groups will analyze the oversight of the intelligence activities, intelligence collection, and also the question of privacy and data protection," he said.

"In a recent letter to the Commissioners responsible, the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, said that the United States are ready, as soon as possible, to create these groups to analyse these matters. This Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is of major importance. For it to be a success, we need confidence among partners and confidence can come better if there is a clarification of some issues that are of very serious concern at European level," Barroso said.

Sibling Scores Woolmark’s European Prize

Props to Sibling‘s Joe Bates, Sid Bryan, and Cozette McCreery, who, WWD reports, have won the European leg of the International Woolmark Prize. Selected by a panel of judges that included Angela Missoni, Godfrey Deeny, Susanne Botschen, Franca Sozzani, and Style.com’s Tim Blanks, Sibling will take home $46,108 and will now compete for the overall prize. For the next six months, the London-based trio, who launched their quirky, colorful range back in 2008, will work on a merino-wool-centric capsule, which will be judged alongside those of other international finalists.

And don’t think Woolmark has forgotten about the good ol’ U.S. of A. The U.S.-based competitor will be announced on July 9 (finalists include Altuzarra, Creatures of the Wind, Wes Gordon, Whit, Bibhu Mohapatra, Daniel Vosovic, Ohne Titel, Timo Weiland, Tucker, and Giulietta), and the international honoree—set to be revealed early next year—will receive $92,210 and the chance to be sold in retailers like Harvey Nichols, Saks Fifth Avenue, Joyce, and 10 Corso Como. Photos: Yannis Vlamos/InDigital/GoRunway tags: Bibhu Mohapatra, Cozette McCreery, Creatures of the Wind, Daniel Vosovic, Franca Sozzani, Giulietta, Godfrey Deeny, International Woolmark Prize, Joe Bates, ltuzarra, ngela Missoni, Ohne Titel, SIBLING, Sid Bryan, Susanne Botschen, Tim Blanks, Timo Weiland, Tucker, Wes Gordon, WHIT