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Welcome to B & M Bulletin, produced specifically for IT specialists. In this issue:
• Choosing a managed service or umbrella company
• Tech View - z/OS.e and the environment
• Specialist profile - Senior systems specialist Sam Martin
• B & M staff member profile - Amanda Meek
• Work opportunities
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Questions to ask when seeking a managed service or umbrella company
HR Manager Melanie Thompson explains what to look for when assessing a managed service company
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Questions to ask an umbrella company...
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Choosing a managed service or umbrella company to take care of your financial needs and expectations can be a worrisome experience. This is especially true if you are new to contracting or if you have operated your own private limited company for a while and you are not quite sure what to expect.
There are many factors to consider when choosing an umbrella or managed service company, not least assessing exactly how it will benefit your financial position. There are however some rudimentary questions to ask when carrying out your investigations:
- What exactly is the company offering to do for you? The range of services varies considerably, so make sure you actually require everything on offer.
- Does the company charge a registration fee and /or a termination fee?
- Is there a ?minimum period? for services where, regardless of whether your contract has ended, you may still be required to pay fees for that period?
- Does the company expect you to pay fees when you are not on contract? If not, is there is a re-registration charge when you do wish to contract again?
Something else to bear in mind is how the managed service or umbrella company structures its fees. Some charge a fixed fee irrespective of how much you actually earn while others charge based on a percentage of your earnings. You would need to consider which would benefit you the most. In many cases, this is not possible without knowing the ceiling on your earnings for the duration of your contract, in which case it is advisable to find this out before you make a decision.
If you opt for the services of a managed service company, in most cases you will become an employee and thus your tax and social security payments will be made on your behalf regardless of the country you are working in. If however you opt for the services of an umbrella company, you may be responsible for the declaration of your earnings and making any payments due. Many umbrella companies will assist you with the completion of your tax return for no additional charge, however some do charge a hefty fee for this privilege and so it is important to clarify this at the beginning.
Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is increasingly required by the employment business?s clients, so you should clarify whether PI cover is included in the basic fee structure, or whether you have to pay an additional charge.
It would be advisable to ask for a detailed Service Agreement so that you know exactly what to expect and can thus determine value for money! And remember, these organisations want your business so you have the advantage in any negotiations.
B & M can point you in the right direction. For more information please contact people@bmeurope.com
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Tech View: z/OS.e and the environment
Paul Smith, Technical Manager at B & M looks at some of the ways that organisations are seeking to improve their green credentials
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z/OS.e is one of IBM?s scenarios for running UNIX on a mainframe and was developed from the UNIX System Services suite currently available under z/OS.
As Gartner noted in its 10 year IT Vision, one of the factors driving change in business is ?a fundamental shift in the balance of power between big business and the consumer and between supplier and customer?. Two factors that can drive this are the desire to be environmentally friendly and the dependence on legacy systems. Newer technology can help with both these problems by reducing costs and the levels of resource needed.
So what can organisations do about costs? Let?s assume that a company has a z/800 2064-002 (rated at 30 MSUs per CPU) and a typical software spread. Using environmentally-friendly EWLC licensing they could have one engine for z/OS at a little over US $12,000 per month, but second engines for z/OS.e at less than US $5,500 per month. The cost benefits are obvious. A company using this approach could save around US $500,000 per year in licensing costs alone (Source: ITJungle). The z8 series, for example, is air cooled, takes up less space due to its small footprint and uses less power than older machines with the same MSU Rating, thus saving on utility and resource costs.
z/OS.e is cheaper than ?zLinux?, but it is not a full-function environment. It supports WebSphere, BEA Weblogic, SAP and Siebel 7 among others, but doesn't allow companies to run many compliers, or traditional transaction servers such as CICS or IMS. One of IBM?s solutions is to run zLinux, z/OS.e and z/OS effectively using the best bits of each platform.
z/OS.e can be exploited to reduce the resources needed by legacy systems by taking the front-end (customer-facing) processing and leaving the back-end (DB) support on z/OS. Environmentally aware organisations are looking at a wide variety of tools and systems offered by IBM and the many ISVs that supply z/OS.e versions of their solutions.
To find out about opportunities in all areas of z/OS, please contact us at people@bmeurope.com
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Specialist profile
This month, we talk to Senior Systems Specialist Sam Martin
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Sam Martin is one of B & M's longest-established specialists and has been working on contract with the company since 1995 - and he has over 33 years experience of working in IT.
He is currently on a long-term assignment with a major financial services company based in Belgium as Senior Systems Specialist, where a major project has been to automate procedural tasks necessary to convert the organisation's systems from ACF2 to RACF.
Sam enjoys contracting and says modestly, that he is 'lucky' to have built a good reputation in the industry, which has helped to ensure that he has virtually never been without an assignment for more than a month.
His tip to younger specialists starting on a career of working on contract is, "Don't do what you want, do what you're asked". He believes that it is possible to have a much more honest relationship with your employer as a contractor than as an employee. As a specialist you can give advice from your experience and in turn the client can tell you what they really want, without the worry of company politics or hierarchy.
But what does the future hold for Sam? "I would like to get back to writing Assembler. I enjoy programming as it's artistic and you get the chance to really shape things".
To find out about opportunities in the financial services sector, contact people@bmeurope.com
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Real Skills. Real People - B & M's Amanda Meek
In this issue, we profile Accounts Controller Amanda Meek
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Following the completion of her BSc in Media Technology at the University of Glamorgan, Amanda worked for the telecoms company NTL where she provided Internet support. Amanda then moved into a role at the Welsh Centre for Learning Disabilities, collecting primary care data to evaluate whether health promotion could be increased by annual health reviews. Amanda relocated to Hampshire in 2001, where she worked as an Accounts Administrator for Vision Re, a company dedicated to the provision of audiovisual supplies. Here she processed the company payroll and carried out purchasing and financial functions. Whilst working for Vision Re, Amanda completed the AAT NVQ2 levels 2 and 3 in Accounting.
Amanda joined B & M in March 2005 where she is now responsible for running the accounts department, maintaining the payroll function for internal staff, ensuring prompt issue and payment of invoices and maintaining regular contact with B & M specialists, customers and suppliers as well as performing credit control.
Since joining B & M, Amanda has completed her AAT NVQ level 4 at Technician level and is currently studying for AAT NVQ2 and NVQ3 in Payroll.
When out of the office, Amanda takes great interest in travelling, particularly where anything to do with Disney or roller-coasters are concerned. Amanda also frequently travels back to South Wales to visit friends and family.
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Current work opportunities
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B & M has specialised in delivering skilled ICT specialists to meet the needs of leading organisations throughout Europe since 1992. We focus exclusively on providing consultancy, technical services and support for z/OS, UNIX and Linux enterprise systems, including third-party systems software, open systems and networking connectivity. We add real value for HR and IT professionals by taking the time to understand their needs and applying best practice methods to deliver results. To find out more about our approach to providing the best skills for each business, go to www.bmeurope.com B & M Europe Limited
www.bmeurope.com
+44 (0)118 981 1880
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