Telstra eyes outsourcing for back office

Telstra this morning confirmed it was talking to suppliers about a potential move to outsource some back office functions in a move which could reportedly affect some 1200 jobs.

The telco has long had extensive outsourcing agreements with the likes of IBM and HP's Enterprise Services division (formerly EDS), but the Australian Financial Review reported this morning that a new business process outsourcing contract could see many jobs shifted to India.

"We are in the market for a request for proposal [RFP] process for some back of house services, but it is very much early days and no decisions have been made yet," Telstra said this morning when asked to confirm the news.

"The RFP is an initial step as part of Project New to test the market for some limited back of house functionality in terms of what the possibilities could be."

Project New is an extensive internal program of reforms that Telstra's chief executive David Thodey believes will transform the company's customer service experience and simplify its complex operations.

Overall, the project will see some 500 Telstra staff implement 27 separate programs with the aim of reducing spending on external suppliers, improving customer service and field workforce productivity as well as simplifying prices and reducing the company's ongoing costs.

Project New was kicked off three months ago, and is being led by a new Telstra group managing director, Robert Nason, who joined Telstra in February after a senior role at wagering business Tabcorp. He has also held spots at EDS, AT Kearney and KPMG.

The Australian Financial Review reported that AT Kearney was managing the request for proposals.