Financial services juggernaut AMP has expanded a seven-year IT infrastructure agreement with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) -- denting its bank balance by AU$550 million in the process.
"We [CSC] have had a relationship to provide a number of services to AMP since 1993," Clive Nisbet, Executive, Strategic Business, CSC, told ZDNet Australia. "The existing term is due to expire in a couple of years and we have taken the opportunity to provide expansion of scope and extend the term for five more years," Nisbet added.
The expansion agreement follows AMP acquiring a controlling stake in Australian general insurance company GIO earlier this year and aims to integrate GIO IT infrastructure under one roof with that of AMP.
"Over the past six months we have steadily been integrating the GIO business with the AMP Group of Companies," Justin Kirkwood, AMP Corporate Office, told ZDNet Australia.
Under the terms of the agreement and as part of the AMP-GIO Integration Program, AMP and GIO infrastructure will be outsourced to CSC which will provide improved services and management to support network, desktop, mainframe, and voice and data services.
"Merging GIO IT infrastructure into AMP has critical savings potential," said Kirkwood, who estimates the significant cost savings of having just one service provider will hit the AU$30 million mark in the first year.
According to AMP this is just the tip of the iceberg and claims the revised agreement will save it more than AU$200 million over the five-year term of the contract.
