News briefs

Oasis, the business consulting arm of Sybase, has been selected to implement the Web site for the Management Consultancies Association.

The move follows a #20,000 grant to the MCA from the Department of Trade & Industry under its Trade Association Network Challenge, a scheme designed to encourage trade associations to get into electronic commerce.

All MCA members will be connected to the site, which will also provide services for clients choosing a consultancy.

Cap Gemini has signed a systems integration partnership with BroadVision, a supplier of applications that support one-to-one business on Web sites.

The firms predict the applications will be particularly relevant to the media, travel, banking and insurance industries.

Research by Bossard Consultants suggests that the retail sector lags behind the financial sector in investing in advanced IT strategies, and that the sector is already achieving payback from this strategy.